Videos on this post were originally streamed on December 1st. Watch the full livestream here.
The Blue Lotus is Stunning!
The guys from Vapman didn’t just save the Lotus, they upgraded its look big-time! The Blue Lotus is one of the most beautiful vapes in my collection. Pair it with the j-hook, or put it on a bubbler – it will class them both up.
The Blue Lotus gets its blue from a new base plate, and the purple wood is now amaranth. They go together amazingly for a stunning look.
The Lotus is a full convection, torch-powered vape with great taste and punchy hits. I used one on a bong for years and, once I got my technique down, it served up some smashing sessions.
WTF is the Flower Kettle?
The Flower Kettle is the love-child of a long-time member of the fuckcombustion community who goes by ShayWhiteGrow. But his real name is Jerry…I like that. Jerry’s favorite vape is the Sublimator – a little known vape from a few years back that had its own controversy. Before ball vapes, it was one of the hardest-hitting vapes around, but was always hard to get. It was either out of stock or insanely expensive, and became the stuff of legends in some circles. Now that it’s out of production, Jerry felt compelled to build his own.
The Flower Kettle is very much like the sublimator, except for the guts. While the Sublimator was a hunk of solid metal that took forever to heat up, the Kettle is powered by balls, and this has caused some confusion. I don’t consider the Flower Kettle to be a ball vape in the classic sense, even though it is powered by balls. It’s really a Sublimator replacement, with a similar shape, air flow, and signature. The good news is this one is powered by a standard PID and coil, instead of the proprietary controller that came with the Sublimator.
As of this live stream, I don’t think the Flower Kettle is complete. The glass bowls are an interim solution that waits for the Electropath – a heated metal bowl that is due out in January. This will complete the Sublimator replacement, and be much more flexible. That’s the package I’m excited for, not the current heater on a glass bowl.
Tips and first impressions
Blue Lotus
- Take pictures before you use it and tarnish the top heat plate. It’s beautiful and you’ll want to capture it in its pristine state!
- When you hit the Lotus, keep the flame steady and just change the speed of your hit to change the temperature. I used to also move the flame, but the Lotus guys said that wasn’t necessary, and they were right!
- If you buy a bubbler just for the Lotus, make sure the gong is configured so the stir tool on the lotus has room to extend down the side of the gong. Recessed joints can be a problem.
Flower Kettle
- It’s hard to scorch your weed with this vape. Don’t be afraid to put the heater really close to, or even right on top of the herbs.
- If you use the bigger bowl that has a decent gap between the heater and herbs, turn it way up. On my fc-enail, I had the temp over 700F in this configuration.
- This isn’t a one-and-done vape unless you press the heater up against the herb. Most of my sessions got thick on the second or third hit with the larger bowls and no contact between the heater and weed.
- The balls and quartz rod are just there for power, so feel free to change them up and reconfigure things. It’s pretty easy to get inside to change things up.
The Gallery
Here’s some eye candy while you wait for the stream to start Friday night!
This Blue Lotus with j-hook is gorgeous!
Get ready for a hit…
POV shot
Or you can put the Lotus on a bubbler.
The stainless steel water pipe adapter mates the Lotus with a bubbler or the j-hook. That’s a metal handle extending to the upper left of the photo.
The handle has a little lotus flower on the top to match the vape.
The Lotus is abviously blue, but the shade and tint change as you rotate it in the light.
See…all I did was turn it a little bit.
The Blue Lotus is made from amaranth wood that has a beautiful purple color to it that perfectly contrasts the blue plate on top.
Bunghole shot! Let’s patent this one…
It’s kind of hard to do, but this pic captures the color of the wood and base plate really well.
Let’s move on to the Flower Kettle. Here’s the head resting on the stand.
Flower Kettleon the stand with the carb cap in place. Don’t do this unless in use.
Close up of the Kettle. That dimple in the middle is a known blemish on my head. The chamber inside the heater coil holds the balls. The tapered chamber below can hold a glass rod…mine does.
Top of the heater head, or the fresh air intake. This is also where you can dab. I probably won’t, though.
The bottom of the head, where the hot air exits to the side, instead of straight down.
Here’s the current kit. Flower Kettle on the stand, carb cap, and three glass bowls to choose from.
This is a standard Canabis Hardwaare carb cap.
Underside of the carb cap.
The bowl on the right with the carb is smaller and shallower than the bowl on the left. If you use the shallow bowl the head will rest directly on the herbs.
The clear glass bowl is also a shallow bowl.
Flower Kettle on the deep bowl.
Flower Kettle with carb cap on the shallow bowl.
Zoomed out so you can see the whole kit.
See how the holes shoot out to the side and hit the glass? That’s like the Sublimator.
If you use the short bowl, the herbs quickly fog up in there, but don’t burn. This felt weird at first.
After shot. This was after one hit with the shallow bowl, where the heater rests directly on the herbs.
Tell us what you think!
Got questions for the stream? Drop them in the comments below. Got a question about the new Blue Lotus or the Flower Kettle? Drop those below, too. Let us know what you think of these things!
Planet of the Vapes
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The Lotus almost looks like it has different colours at different views, does this come across in real life.
Yes! mostly between blue and black, but it’s definitely blue