CiM Tester Feedback
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We asked our testers to compare Grape Ape, Evil Queen, Poi, & Thai Orchid.
"I had a tough time with all of these purples because they all looked the same to me. Poi is lighter in color, but it is relatively close to Effetre violet, so then you have the price thing to consider. Evil Queen isn't a bad purple, but my complaint about it is just that it is too dark. Grape Ape striated a lot." – Bethany Lemasters
"All these purples look fairly similar when made into spacers. But I like Evil Queen because it is a slightly brighter purple. It’s a toss-up between Poi and Thai Orchid because they both got great reactions when used over Hades, so I think they can do some neat effects." – Lori Bergmann
"Poi is my favorite." – Sue Stewart
"Evil Queen is the best of the bunch even though it is expensive. Poi is my favorite when encased due to lines of deeper purple that develop. Thai Orchid is my favorite for pulling out a deep silver luster." – Starleen Colon
"For me, I find Grape Ape, Poi and Thai Orchid to be very similar in hue, but with different densities. They definitely have their place in the current palette of purples, but they are very similar. Evil Queen is a very nice medium purple and would get my vote for my favorite of the four. I think Evil Queen is a better neutral medium purple than the Italian colors." – Renee Wiggins
"Grape Ape sometimes has a dirty look to it. Evil Queen can work for flowers if put over Peace. Poi is kinda washed out looking. Thai Orchid is my favorite, dark and opaque." – Pat O'Brien
"Evil Queen seems too close to Moretti in a shade that is less interesting to me. I like Thai Orchid the best. It’s a very rich, pure and dark purple that doesn’t seem to have any gray or other colors in it." – Marcy Lamberson
"If I have to choose, I guess Grape Ape is my favorite because it seems to be the darkest." – Maija-Leena Autio
"Evil Queen is hands-down my fav, but it costs quite a bit more, so I generally try to make use of one of the lower priced purples, usually Grape Ape." – Kathy Coon
"I love Grape Ape because it really is a grapey purple opaque. This color fills a hole in the glass palette. I definitely like Evil Queen the best as it is the most opaque. Poi has a lot of gray tone to it. Thai Orchid is my second favorite of the CiM purples. It’s a bit on the grey side, but is nicely opaque and is easy to use. It melts well and makes a great base bead color." – Gail Witt
"I like Evil Queen the best because it is a more true purple. The others have a touch of gray." – Elizabeth Long
"Grape Ape is my favorite. Evil Queen is equivalent to 272 violet to me but more purple than gray, and more lavender than Thai Orchid. Poi is a great purple, I like it. Thai Orchid is a true dark purple to me and I like the reactions with silver glasses." – Elasia
"To me, they are all virtually indistinguishable. I put them all side by side on mandrels, and even under an Ott light it was virtually impossible to see any differences. Two other lampworkers looked at the beads as well, and they saw no difference in them either. The only one a bit different was Evil Queen: it is slightly prettier, a bit purpleier, but considering it’s over 3 times the price of Grape Ape, I don’t see any way to justify the cost difference." – Donna Dorman
"Thai Orchid is my favorite - I just like the colour the best!" – Claire Morris
"Grape Ape is one of my favorites. Love the color and how it works. Evil Queen is a favorite of some of my customers. Can’t seem to make anything that I like with Poi. Love how Thai Orchid works but it does get a bit metallic at times." – Chris Haussler
"I really love Grape Ape. I also think it has nicer working properties [it's firmer and easier for me to work with] at the torch than E Violet. Grape Ape has a richer and deeper color saturation and does not seem to get as dirty as E Violet does. I also really love Thai Orchid because of the richness, depth, and tone of the color." – Bonnie Polinski
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Special thanks to Bethany Lemasters (x2), Carol Oliver (x2), & Genea Crivello-Knable (x2) for providing the photos in this section.
| Vickie Christian uses Grape Ape frit to create 104 compatible frit blends. Find more blends at Vickie's Emporium. |
| "Here the base is Grape Ape, and the bead on the right has nice, purple Evil Queen dots. The bead on the left is Grape Ape dots on a Grape Ape base. Whoa - they show up. I wonder if other colours do this?" Read more at DragonJools blog. |
"You can see from this picture that there is a difference - they are a very similar value [shades of light and dark] - but the Grape Ape [on ends] is a little redder, and the Evil Queen [in the middle] is closer to a balance between red and blue." Read more at DragonJools blog. |
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| "[Grape Ape] is very reminiscent of the Moretti Dark Violet - even down to the slight grey discolouration it develops. And the slight streakiness." Read more at DragonJools blog. |
“I love each and every one of the Messy purples. Comparing the four, Poi, Grape Ape, Evil Queen and Thai Orchid would be the order of my 'favoriteness' from highest to least favorite.”
– Sue Stewart
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| "I tried and tried to capture the richness of the colour of these beads and I think I've finally got there. These 'Blackcurrant Jam' beads are very shiny which I think may have something to do with the base glass. These are CiM Grape Ape with Effetre Rubino." Read more at Laura's blog. |
"Grape Ape is very reactive but does not have quite the tendency to reduce that the Effetre and Vetrofond opaque violet glasses have. Grape Ape tends to swallow other colors, while colors will remain on top of Thai Orchid."
– Carol Oliver
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