Bateman's

Bateman's is not a new recipe book so much as an old one with a new cover. Four separate UK shortfill ranges were folded into a single brand, West Country Dairy Co for the custards, Prime Fruits for the tropicals, plus Occult Owl and the Lemonade Project. The labels changed, the liquids did not.

That history is still legible in the eighteen 100ml bottles listed at this UK vape shop. The dairy side gives Custard Deluxe, Clotted Custard, Custard Slice, Banana Custard, Raspberry Custard and Strawberry Trifle. The fruit side brings Tropical Twist, Pineapple Passion, Icy Mango, Cherry Berry and Apple & Blackcurrant. The lemonades run Limonada, Electric Lemonade and Blackcurrant Lemonade, with Lime Slushie alongside them.

The custards are what people keep reordering. Custard Deluxe leads, a thick vanilla with nothing else in it, then Clotted Custard, which drops Cornish clotted cream into the same base, then Custard Slice with its pastry and sticky icing. Tropical Twist is the best of the fruits, an orange and mango blend with dragon fruit rather than the usual fizzy sweetness.

Every one of the shortfills is 70VG/30PG at 0mg, 100ml in a 120ml bottle, so two 18mg shots take it to 3mg. One detail worth knowing: the custards ship pre-steeped, and the maker still suggests another fortnight after the nicotine goes in before the flavour properly settles.