Velo Mini Nicotine Pouches - Review. 7 March 2022.

BAT has been gradually branding their Lyft nicotine pouches line to Velo, seemingly to have more international uniformity.  It seems as though it is in the final stages, so I felt it was time to review the re-named Velo products so as to update my reviews here.    Today we're checking out three mini products in the Velo line:  Tropic Breeze, Royal Purple, and Easy Mint.  All of these previously existed as mini products in the Lyft series.  In terms of these three products, really the only things they have in common are the contents.  Each can weighs 10 grams and has 20 portions, for 0.5 gram portions.  

The road to Velo has been an interesting one, and I wanted to briefly cover it before the review.  Back in 2014, Winnington in Sweden launched Epok, a white tobacco product.  British American Tobacco purchased Winnington in 2017, and would launch Lyft, a tobacco free nicotine pouch, in 2018.  Epok would stay on the market in some smaller markets like Norway and Switzerland.  In 2019, RJ Reynolds in the US would launch a long/slim nicotine pouch called Velo that came in a square tin.  This name would begin to translate internationally in 2020, with some European markets rebranding their Lyft products to Velo.  In 2021, BAT would acquire a company making Dryft, and rebranded their US market mini-dry pouches to "Velo", existing alongside the previously mentioned square-tin Velo products.  And now, as we see in 2022, the Lyft brand is being completely phased out and transitioning to Velo.

Before we get into the reviews, I want to discuss what these have in common before we get into their differences (basically just nicotine, aroma and flavor).

Commonalities

Portion - The pouches are all small, soft, and moderately moist.

Longevity - Each one tends to last between 40-45 minutes.

Velo Tropic Breeze (Mini)

Flavor Description:  "Flavors of mandarin, passion fruit and mango".

Nicotine Strength:  6mg/portion = 12mg/g (1.2%)

Review:  I first had this one when it launched as Epok Tropic Breeze (white tobacco) in Switzerland in December of 2020.  A Lyft version would launch in April of 2021, and this one is basically the same thing.  When you open the can, this one has a tropical aroma; it's lightly citrusy, and has some mango in the background.  It's lightly sweet in aroma, and in flavor.  The taste isn't that different from the aroma, it's a tropical flavor.  It's mostly mango, but with some citrusy hints to it.  The nicotine on this one feels a little lighter than regular strength.

Velo Royal Purple (Mini)

Flavor Description:  "Taste of red grape"

Nicotine Strength:  6mg/portion = 12mg/g (1.2%)

Review:  I first had this one when the Lyft version of it launched in October of 2020.  A white tobacco version launched in Norway in October of 2021, Epok Royal Bloom.  This Velo version is identical to the Lyft version I had before.  It has a lightly sweet, fresh aroma of grape.  The flavor is very much the same.  It's a straightforward taste of grape.  It's pretty fresh in nature, and lightly sweet.  The nicotine strength on this one feels a little below regular strength.

Velo Easy Mint (Mini)

Flavor Description:  "Full-bodied sweetness from mint and cooling freshness of menthol anytime, anywhere".

Nicotine Strength:  4mg/portion = 8mg/g (0.8%)

Review:  I feel like I've had this one a few times already.  I first had a white tobacco version of it from Switzerland in December of 2020:  Epok Easy Mint Mini.  A Lyft version of it launched in January of 2021.  I recently had a version of it sold in Norway:  Epok Frosty Green Mini.  When it comes to this one, it has a pretty sweet, smooth aroma of spearmint.  In the flavor profile, it has a straightforward taste of spearmint.  It's smooth in nature, and a little on the sweet side.  It is weaker in strength, feeling about half the regular level.

Rating and Final Thoughts

In terms of rating for these, I'll do a rating.  Velo Tropic Breeze and Easy Mint rated at 3.21/5, and Royal Purple right behind at 2.96/5.  These scores sound low, but keep in mind, I don't really use a lot of nicotine pouches, nor do I use a lot of mini portions.  But, if you're a fan of nicotine pouches, and like mini portions, you may enjoy Velo.  If you've had Lyft mini portions before, you will enjoy these Velo ones as they're the exact same thing.  If you're a nicotine pouch consumer and looking for a new product line to try out, check out Velo, it's pretty solid.

Velo/Lyft Nicotine Pouches are available from SnusDirect.com.