A bit of good news, at least for anyone on the fence about buying after reports about the weak taste of the glass-core model. I've been emailing Hermes about my experiences, and they still offer the teflon-core model as an option and plan to continue doing so.
Apparently, Vapor Nation requested only glass-core models, which is why we ended up with those as replacements. So, if you're looking to buy a MiniVAP, and prefer taste to clouds, you can still buy the teflon-core model directly from Hermes.
The advantage of the new glass air path is that there is more conductive heating in the loading chamber, which will increase the density and decarboxilation.'
Very interesting... it really sounds like the glass core is intended to mimic the experience of using the decarb kit. However, it also seems like people using that kit are reporting better taste than the people using the glass-core. Hermes tells me they're running a bunch of tests and should have the results shortly. It will be interesting to see what they find.
They should be working on a seven temperature update, including lower temperatures, apparently the taste on the glass cores currently out is like that mainly because they run so hot.
I have to admit... I'm a little skeptical that will solve the problem. As I told Hermes, it seems to me the issue isn't just the higher temperature, but also the higher conductivity of glass. I'm not an engineer, so maybe that's a distinction without a difference. But I do know the taste even on blue is nothing like it used to be -- weaker than red on the old model.
Is it me or is it a bit surprising they are making this change?
Little bit, yeah, especially given that the whole reason they developed such a fanatic following in the first place was because of the amazing taste of pure convection. However, it's ultimately a question of preference, and as you can see from the responses, there are some who don't share our preference for taste over clouds.
Sheer speculation, but I'm guessing Hermes got a lot of requests for decarb kits, some questions about the health effects of teflon, and criticism over the long heat-up time. So, they came up with the new heating technology in an effort to capture that portion of the market. It makes sense, especially now that we know they will continue selling the teflon-core model.
Do you think using the metal baskets would take away taste from the all glass core?
It seems the all glass would be better for direct loading.
Doubtful. My Cloud EVO uses metal baskets with a glass airpath, and its taste is far superior to my glass-core MiniVAP (but slightly inferior to my old teflon-core unit).
The idea that metal affects the taste makes intuitive sense, but has little or no basis in reality, at least in my experience. The teflon-core MiniVAP with the metal basket connected to the Flexicone delivered the best taste of any vaporizer I have ever tried -- hands down. It was truly a revelation, like that moment in Ratatouille where the food critic tastes the eponymous dish.
