Juice Head Salts Review

Juice Head Salts

Juice Head Salts Review

Juice Head Salts are manufactured by California-based Juice Head e-Liquids. This unique salt line has only 6 flavors to choose from, unlike many of its competitors. However, all six nic salt flavors in the Juice Head Salts line are true top selling vape flavors. Each flavor combines two different fruit vape flavors for the perfect all day vape. All Juice Head Salts are blended specifically to be used with vape pod systems.

Flavors

Blueberry Lemon
Guava Peach
Watermelon Lime
Peach Pear
Strawberry Kiwi
Pineapple Grapefruit

E-liquid contents: 30mL

Nicotine Strengths: 25mg and 50mg

VG/PG Mix: 60% VG and 40% PG.

Unboxing

It’s just juice so unboxing was pretty much what you’d expect. In the box was a bottle of juice. To get the lid off the bottle, push down on the cap hard (toward the bottle) and turn the cap counterclockwise to open.

The juice smells lovely and gives you good idea what the juice will taste like. If you get a good whiff of it you can easily tell if it is a flavor you will like.

TOP SELLING FLAVORS

Juice Head E-Liquid Top Selling Flavors

#1 Blueberry Lemon #2 Guava Peach #3 Watermelon Lime #4 Peach Pear

Even though Juice Head only has six flavors, they are six well thought out flavors that are pleasing to vape and tend to sell incredibly fast.

How it Hits

The juice hits well. It is less powerful hitting and less flavorful than some other brands. There were a few advantages to having this in my juice bar. I was able to take both mouth to lung hits (MTL), and by letting a little air from the sides of my mouth could do a device to lung hit (DTL). This juice has less of a throat hit than other salts so my DTL hits are effortless.

For doing DTL hits this salt is perfect. It is not overly sweet or juicy. For all-day vaping it is ideal. I didn’t get vape tongue after going through six pods in one day for this review. My other salts are so powerful that I often must give vaping a break when I invariably get vape tongue after vaping it a few days straight. During this time, I usually switch to a nicotine gum or pouch to give my vape tongue a rest.

I was able to switch to Juice Head juices from my other brands to give my vape tongue a rest. Two days on Juice Head and my vape tongue was gone, and I didn’t have to stop vaping for two days.

REVIEW OF THE JUICES

BLUEBERRY LEMON

Juice Head Blueberry Lemon

This is my “go to” Juice Head Favor. I am not a big fan of fruit mixed with mint even though it is very common these days to combine them. This blueberry lemon tastes like lemons and blueberries without the icy after taste of mint or menthol. I didn’t care as much for the fact that it produced less flavor when hitting it mouth to lung (MTL), but when I hit directly from my device to lung (DTL) it was the perfect strength and flavor.

Sometimes when trying new flavors, you must develop a taste for the blend, or it tastes 80% as good as you hoped it would, so you settle. There is no settling with this flavor. It tastes like blueberries and lemon. I liked it from the first time I hit it to the last drop in the bottle. I smoked it DTL all day long and enjoyed it immensely.

PEACH PEAR

Juice Head Peach Pear

The flavor is less “in your face” than some other peach brands. It was nice to have on hand when my “go to” flavors are gone. It reminds me of a light fruit flavored watermelon, reminiscent of peach/pear like the label suggests. It is a nice fruity flavor markedly different from their other fruity offerings. It is great for DTL hits. The same flavor that is too restrained for my taste when taking a MTD hit is in fact the perfect strength and flavor profile for a DTL hit.

Many of these fruit flavors go overboard and you can taste a bit of chemical or unnatural flavor with the fruit on the exhale. This is not the case with Juice Head’s Peach Pear or any of their fruit flavors. Peach Pear has a nice taste on the inhale and (as importantly) maintains its flavor profile on the exhale. I can literally vape these all day and not feel like it is too much.

WATERMELON LIME

Juice Head Watermelon Lime

I can taste the watermelon and the lime. Again, the flavor is not too intense or too sweet like many brands. It tastes like watermelon and lime is supposed to taste on the inhale and on the exhale.

True to form for Juice Head, the flavor is understated in the first few hits if you are coming off one of the intense flavored juices but tastes good (if not powerful) like fruit without the ice flavor added or weird aftertaste. The watermelon part tastes like a sweet fruit (maybe not watermelon exactly) but a good sweet-smelling fruit with an aftertaste of lime.

GUAVA PEACH

Juice Head Guava Peach

This flavor reminds me more of the harder hitting flavors. It is a little sweet and gives a decent hit. With a name like Guava Peach I would expect it to be sweet. It does not disappoint. The exhale is less what I would call chalky tasting than some of their other flavors on the exhale. This flavor is sweet and strong much like the other eJuices, but without any icy, minty, mentholated juice to change the flavor.

STRAWBERRY KIWI

Juice Head Strawberry Kiwi

This juice is heavy on the kiwi, light on the strawberry. My favorite flavors are strawberry cream liquids, so I was surprised to not taste the strawberry as strongly in this juice. If you like kiwi or melon flavor with undertones of strawberry, then this juice will appeal to you. It is strong kiwi with slight undertones of strawberry. If someone told me this was a melon flavored juice I would have believed them and enjoyed it as a melon juice.

As with the other Juice Head flavors the taste is good and fruity, but not overwhelming. In my book it is superior for DTL hits. It gives me the “expand” feeling in my lungs, a good feeling nicotine hit and a perfect exhale as a DTL hit. As a mouth to device (MTL) hit I found the juice less enjoyable than as a DTL juice because the flavor hits are not as vivid as some other brands of salts for mouth hits.

In Summary

During this review, I found Juice Head salts to be the perfect juice for big DTL hits through my AIO device. It is not overly sweet, and the flavors are fruity goodness without too much mint or menthol added to enhance the flavors. Hiding the flavor under “icy” does not make for a better tasting juice vape as Juice Head has discovered. In certain situations, like having vape tongue, wanting to hit DTL, or just a break from overly minty fruit flavors, this would be my “go to” E-Liquid.

4 Ideas for Spicing Up Your Vape Juice Routine

One of the worst things that any vaper can experience is boredom. When vaping no longer excites you – you just continue puffing mindlessly throughout the day because that’s what you’ve always done – that’s when problems can start to creep in. That’s when you might find yourself reminiscing about your days as a smoker and wondering if it would really be such a terrible thing if you just smoked a cigarette one more time.

Spice Up Vape Juice Routine

Well, you don’t want to go down that road, because that’s exactly how vapers end up backsliding and becoming smokers once again. Believe me – once you’ve gone back to smoking, quitting again won’t be any easier than it was the first time. If vaping doesn’t seem as interesting or exciting to you as it did when you first made the switch, it’s because you’ve become too set in your ways and haven’t tried anything new in a while. It’s time for us to fix that. These are some simple things that you can try to spice up your experience the next time you shop for Vape Juice.

A few of these ideas are things that you might have already thought of, and maybe you decided against them because you were afraid of ending up with a product that you didn’t like. I encourage you to try them anyway. Part of what makes vaping so enjoyable is the incredible variety of experiences that you can have, but you’ll never have those experiences if you continually buy the same e-liquid and the same coils every time you stock up on vape gear.

Try a New E-Liquid Flavor

If you’re reading this article, you already know that the average well-stocked vape shop has literally hundreds of different e-liquids available. Even though there’s a virtually endless variety of vape juice on the market today, experiencing all of those flavors isn’t difficult at all because of how good the distribution channels for vaping products have become. The major distributors all carry the large mainstream e-liquid brands, so maintaining a stock of hundreds of different flavors is really no problem at all for a good vape shop.

The fact that you are reading this article, however, suggests that you’ve never really taken the time to explore what’s out there. If you had done a bit of exploration, then you wouldn’t be feeling bored with vaping right now because you’d be too busy reading the latest e-liquid reviews and thinking about what you’re going to try next. Don’t just think about trying some new vape juice flavors – actually do it. It’s nice to have a few favorite e-liquids that you know will consistently leave you feeling satisfied, but if you’re starting to toy with the idea of trying tobacco again, the fact is that you’re not very satisfied at all. Trying some new e-liquids can help you get back on the right track.

Try an Old E-Liquid Flavor in a New Way

If you’ve been vaping for so long that you can’t remember the last time you used a mouth-to-lung vaping device, it’s likely that you greeted the nicotine salt e-liquid trend of the past few years with a big yawn. With nicotine strengths usually starting in the 20-25 mg/ml range, nicotine salt vape juice generally holds no interest whatsoever to the committed direct-to-lung vaper.

Since you haven’t paid much attention to nicotine salt, though, there’s something else that you might not have noticed: Many of the biggest e-liquid companies have gotten in on the nicotine salt game over the past couple of years. In fact, many companies have released nicotine salt versions of their most popular flavors.

Now, why should a nicotine salt version of your favorite e-liquid flavor matter to you? It should matter because it gives you an opportunity to experience a vape juice that you love in an entirely new way. Grab a cheap refillable pod vaping system and try a bottle of the nicotine salt version of your favorite e-liquid. Most nicotine salt vape juices are available in two strengths, and you’ll want to buy the lower-strength 20-25 mg/ml version since you’ve already switched fully to vaping and consume less nicotine than a smoker would. Experiencing your favorite e-liquid flavor coupled with a bit more of an assertive throat hit could be exactly the thing that makes vaping interesting for you again.

Try an E-Liquid Specifically Selected for Mixing

If you don’t want to try an entirely new e-liquid, another thing that you can do is buy an e-liquid specifically selected to use as a mixer. Adding a few drops of that vape juice to the e-liquid that you usually vape is another way of experiencing an old favorite in an entirely new light. Let’s suppose, for instance, that your favorite e-liquid is a decadent dessert flavor like custard or ice cream. Creamy e-liquid flavors pair very well with fruit flavors, so you might consider pairing that e-liquid with a few drops of a strawberry or blueberry e-liquid.

On the other hand, maybe your usual e-liquid has a tropical fruit flavor like mango. A tropical fruit e-liquid always tastes great with a little dash of icy coolness, so you could pair it with a menthol vape juice. Just a few drops of menthol can transform a fruity e-liquid into an experience reminiscent of drinking a fruity cocktail.

Give Your Vape Tank an Upgrade

When it comes to adding some spice to your vape juice shopping experience, your vaping hardware is something that you should never neglect. If you haven’t upgraded your vape tank in a while, for instance, there’s a good chance that you’ve missed out on the mesh coil trend that’s swept across the vaping community over the last couple of years. A mesh coil heats up instantly when you press your mod’s fire button. It produces enormous clouds. The droplet size of the vapor is extremely consistent, so you won’t ever feel like you’re “drinking” your e-liquid when you use a mesh coil. It’s a better experience in every way, and if you’re not using a tank with a mesh coil already, you really need to get one.

Choosing a UK E-Liquid Supplier: What to Look For

Are you new to vaping? If you are, I have two pieces of advice that are going to serve you well. The first is that you must get a refillable vaping device if you don’t already have one. Vaping, as you will quickly learn, is all about flavor – and the only way to experience all of the amazing flavors that the world of e liquid has to offer is by getting a device that you can fill yourself. No pre-filled e-cigarette can give you an experience that compares to bottled vape juice.

UK ELiquid Supplier

The second piece of advice is that you must find a reliable e-liquid supplier. You don’t want to spend all of your time looking for a good seller every time you need some e-liquid – you want to spend that time browsing all of the tasty flavors that are out there. As it turns out, finding the best e-liquid supplier in the UK is a special challenge because the regulatory environment for the vaping industry is so favorable. Some brands have been around almost since the beginning. Others, however, are brand new.

So, how do you find the best UK e-liquid supplier? These pointers will set you on the right track.

Authentic Products

The good news about shopping for e-liquid in the UK is that counterfeit products are extremely rare. The most counterfeited products in the vaping industry – products like JUUL and Puff Bar – either aren’t available or aren’t particularly popular in the UK. Nevertheless, it’s still wise to ensure that an e-liquid supplier doesn’t use gray-market product sources before you buy. A good vape juice seller gets its e-liquid only from the original manufacturers and from authorized distributors.

Both 10 ML and Shortfill Bottles

Since it provides a way to get around the draconian 10-ml size limit on e-liquid bottles, shortfill e-liquid has been nothing less than a revolution in the UK and Europe. In case you’re unfamiliar, the Tobacco Products Directive – which applies to vaping products sold in the UK and EU – limits the size of any bottle of e-liquid with nicotine to a maximum of 10 ml.

If you use a powerful vaping device with a sub-ohm tank, 10 ml is actually a fairly insignificant amount of e-liquid. You might use that much in a day, making the bottle size limitation extremely inconvenient. Since shortfill bottles include no nicotine – you add the nicotine after buying the bottle – the 10-ml size limit does not apply to them. A good UK e-liquid vendor should carry a large selection of shortfill vape juice, but it’s also a good idea to have plenty of 10-ml bottles with the nicotine already mixed in for those who prefer to buy their vape juice that way.

Good Selection of Brands

If you buy from a seller that makes its own e-liquid, that’s a huge win for you because it’s going to save you a massive amount of money. See for yourself – click the link at the top of this article and look through the e-liquid selection. You’re going to see an extremely impressive and inexpensive assortment. Many of the top UK vape shops got to where they are today specifically because their house e-liquid brands became widely known for their quality, consistency and value.

With that being said, you’ll quickly learn as a vaper that experimenting with new flavors is a big part of what makes vaping so much fun. No matter how good a vape shop’s house e-liquid is, it’s still a good thing if they carry a wide variety of third-party brands as well.

Top-Notch Buying Experience

The final key feature of any UK e-liquid supplier has nothing to do with the products themselves. Rather, it’s about offering a shopping experience that’s as fun and easy for the customer as possible. When you’ve found the seller that offers the right buying experience for you, you’ll know. However, here are just a few points that can make shopping considerably easier for you.

When a vape shop offers shortfill e-liquids, it’s always a great thing if the shop offers to include the correct number of nicotine shots for free. That way, you never have to worry about whether you’re adding the right amount of nicotine to the bottle.
A vape shop should offer a simple explanation of the costs and delivery times for all available shipment options, and those options should be made clear to you before you begin the checkout process.
A great vape shop should offer replacement coils and pods as well as e-liquids. You’ll need plenty of replacement parts for your tank or pod system, and it’s ideal if you can buy those and your e-liquid in the same place.

What Does the Term “Premium E-Liquid” Really Mean?

“Premium e-liquid” is perhaps one of the most overused terms in the entire history of the vaping industry. Are you really having an experience that qualifies as a premium vape? The manufacturer of your e-liquid would certainly like you to think so.

The fact that the term “premium” is so overused in the e-liquid industry might make a little more sense when you consider the term’s origin. The e-cigarette is a Chinese invention. Most vaping hardware is still made in China, and there was a time when all of the world’s vape juice came from China as well.

Premium ELiquid

Many of the Chinese companies that produced e-liquid were happy to let companies in America and elsewhere in the world buy their vape juice and resell it under their own brands. At the same time, some companies were beginning to produce their own e-liquid domestically. Since it wasn’t always easy to tell who was selling Chinese-made e-liquid and who wasn’t, the companies that sourced their products domestically often used the term “premium e-liquid” to help set their products apart.

That, however, was more than 10 years ago. Today, almost every company in the vaping industry now manufactures its e-liquid domestically – but after all these years, the word “premium” still appears prominently in the marketing language on just about every e-liquid manufacturer’s website. It’s almost as if the word doesn’t mean anything anymore.

Well, I propose that the vaping community should take term “premium e-liquid back” and make it actually mean something.

So, what does the term “premium e-liquid” actually mean – or what should it mean? Here’s what I think.

Premium E-Liquid Is All About the Flavor

Most e-liquid tastes good. There are two different ways, though, to achieve the goal of creating a good-tasting e-liquid. One of those ways is significantly more difficult than the other.

One way to develop a tasty e-liquid involves significant research, development, trial and error. You imagine a flavor profile in your mind, and then you go about sourcing the various elements of that flavor profile from as many flavor providers as you can find.

Even if your proposed flavor profile is a simple one – strawberries and cream, for example – there are lots of flavor houses out there making strawberry and cream flavors. If you want your e-liquid to be as good as it can be, you’ll want to get them all.

Next, you’ll want to test those flavors in every combination and proportion possible. If you have six strawberry flavors and six cream flavors, that’s a great many possible combinations and ratios. You may even find that the perfect strawberry flavor for your e-liquid isn’t a single company’s product but is rather a blend of several products. The more complex your desired flavor profile is, the longer the development process might take.

What’s the benefit of all that work? The first benefit is that an e-liquid born out of a sense of true perfectionism tastes like nothing else on the market. The second benefit is that a true premium e-liquid tastes great with minimal added sucralose – or even no sucralose at all. Therefore, using premium e-liquid often leads to longer-lasting coils.

The alternative, of course, is to throw any strawberry flavor and any cream flavor into a bottle and add tons of sucralose. That e-liquid would taste good as well – but it would also taste like every other company’s strawberries-and-cream e-liquid. The sucralose would also kill your coils.

It has to be said that producing a premium e-liquid almost always costs more than producing an e-liquid that has just a couple of flavors along with a lot of sucralose. The higher production costs are evident in the retail price. However, paying a little more for an e-liquid on the front end can save you an enormous amount of money on the back end when you no longer have to replace your coils every couple of days. My usual e-liquid has no sucralose. My coils last for weeks at a time. Can you say the same thing about your vape juice?

Premium E-Liquid Doesn’t Need Loud Packaging or Marketing Language

I find that the true premium e-liquid brands often have some of the most understated visual designs in the vaping industry. Premium e-liquid is classy rather than loud. Premium e-liquid doesn’t need cartoon character mascots, and it doesn’t need to copy the visual cues of popular snack, drink or cereal brands. That philosophy carries over to the brand’s website, where you’ll find an absence of hype-filled language and plugs from social media influencers. A true premium e-liquid brand doesn’t need any of those marketing tricks because it lets the product speak for itself.

Premium E-Liquid Is Completely Consistent From Batch to Batch

One thing that you can always count on with a premium e-liquid is a product that’s completely consistent from bottle to bottle, batch to batch, year to year. That’s because, long ago, the best vape juice brands invested their earnings heavily into building the world’s top e-liquid production facilities. They’re the brands that produce their products in true pharmaceutical-grade clean room environments using equipment that automates mixing and production from start to finish. They’re the brands that produce their nicotine-free e-liquid on separate lines to ensure that there’s no chance of contamination. Perfect product consistency is simply understood when you buy premium e-liquid.

Premium E-Liquid Always Comes in Top-Quality Packaging

The last thing that separates the premium e-liquid brands from the rest of the pack is a real focus on quality packaging. In the past, the premium e-liquid brands always packaged their products in cobalt or amber glass bottles to ensure that nothing could interact with the flavors within. Today, glass bottles aren’t very common because most consumers prefer plastic for its ease of use. Nevertheless, if a vape juice company is still using glass bottles, it’s a sure sign that they’re extremely confident about the quality of their flavors. For the vape juice companies that have transitioned to plastic bottles – and most of them have done that at this point – you can still be certain that the premium brands are using the best plastic bottles on the market.

Best E-Liquid Tips You Will Read This Year

Vaping is super popular these days, and with the Coronavirus lockdown, people have been getting into vaping much more. That is why we’ve decided to help you learn a couple of insider tips on Vaping.

Best E-Liquid Tips

We here believe that you should be allowed to vape as much as you desire, especially in stressful times like this nasty pandemic. So without further ado, let’s get into our top ten tips about vaping juice you will learn in 2020!

Purchase From Reliable Sellers

You should never purchase vape juice from unknown and unreliable sellers. Buying from the best suppliers will ensure you’re getting a high-quality product. Lower quality vape juice might have inferior ingredients and can be quite unhealthy.

Ordering from an online retailer is also a safe way to purchase vape juice, as you’re not going out and risking catching the deadly COVID-19 virus.

Check The Best By Date

Once you purchase your vape juice, you’re going to want to check the best by date. Vape juice can’t expire or go bad, but if it’s old, it can lose its taste and potency. That might even cause nausea – so make sure to always check the best by date on your vape juice bottle.

Store Your Vape Juice Properly

If you want to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck, and that your vape juice will last as long as possible, you’re going to have to know where to store it. The best place to store your vape juice should be cold, dry, and free of light – such as your house refrigerator.

Experiment With Vape Juice

You can experiment with vape juice. At Zamplebox E-Liquid, you have an unmatched selection to choose from. Make sure to purchase different flavors to find the one that best suits your unique pallet. If you want to make your vape juice as individual as you like, you might want to try making your own or mixing two.

Don’t Buy In Bulk

Never purchase vape juice in bulk. While it can’t expire, it might lose its potency even if it’s stored properly. The best kind of vape juice is fresh vape juice – so make sure to buy only as much as you need.

Educate Yourself On Vape Juice

Educating yourself on different vape juice options is a must before you get into vaping. Vaping nicotine-based e-liquids isn’t exactly healthy, so if you have pre-existing conditions that could deteriorate from vaping, it’s best to stay away.

Vape juice itself also comes in a wide range of flavors, types, and even with our without nicotine. Educating yourself properly on the vape juice will give you a board idea on what you want – and you can find your perfect fit from there.

Don’t Buy Cheap Vape Juice

Would you purchase a cheap set of breaks for your car? Of course, you wouldn’t, and you shouldn’t buy cheap vape juice either. Cheap vape juice can be a knock off from the real thing, stale, or even contain harmful additives.

You can purchase original, high-quality, and affordable vape juice on renowned online retailers.

Buy A Good Vape Pen

Good vape juice will only get you so far. You’re going to need a good vape pen to go along with it if you want to get the most out of your vaping. Investing in a good vape pen is a good investment, as it’s going to last you a long time, and it’s going to perform continually.

Don’t Vape Too Much

Vaping too much could have some nasty health side effects. Vaping isn’t the healthiest thing in the world, but vaping in moderation is pretty tame and safe. Vaping in excess, on the other hand, could be detrimental to your health.

Go Non-Nicotine If You Can

If you’re not a recovering smoker or don’t consume nicotine – now is not a good time to start. A lot of the dangerous vaping side effects come from nicotine in vape juice. You can purchase non-nicotine vape juice if you like. It’s not likely going to cause addiction, and the health side effects are negligible.

Final Thoughts

Getting into vaping is as easy as remembering these insider tips and tricks. In the wake of this worldwide pandemic, now is the best time for you to practice some gnarly vape smoke tricks, so make sure to visit Zamplebox E-Liquid now, and get the best vape juice around!

Nicotine-Free E-Liquid Can Be Great – Just Ask the Australians

You don’t think that nicotine-free e-liquid has any use. I’m about to change your mind.

If you’re an American who vapes, I’d wager there’s a greater than 99 percent chance that your first e-liquid contained nicotine. I’d also bet the chance is nearly as high that you’re still using e-liquid with nicotine today. You’ve almost certainly seen e-liquid without nicotine at your local vape shop, but it probably hasn’t occurred to you that people actually buy it. After all, isn’t it always the nicotine-free e-liquid filling up the shop’s bargain bin?

Nicotine-Free E-Liquid

It might surprise you, then, to learn that many people actually use and enjoy nicotine-free e-liquid. There are entire nations, in fact, in which e-liquid with nicotine isn’t even legal to purchase over the counter. Australian vape shops like Ivanna Vape sell nothing but nicotine-free e-liquid and do perfectly well with it. Clearly, then, e-liquid without nicotine can have a place in your vaping routine if you have an open mind.

Why would you buy nicotine-free e-liquid in a place like the United States where nicotine is perfectly legal? Actually, there are several reasons, and a few of them might not have ever crossed your mind before. Let’s dig in.

Nicotine-Free E-Liquid Often Costs Less

As I mentioned in this article’s introduction, nicotine-free e-liquid is often what you’ll find when you check the bargain bins at your local vape shops. Although plenty of people do buy e-liquid without nicotine, it’s not typically the fastest seller and sometimes ends up getting sold on clearance when it’s time for a product refresh.

Well, after you’ve read this article, you’re not likely to ignore those e-liquid bargains again. Have you found a nicotine-free version of an e-liquid you like in the bargain bin? Is 3 mg your usual nicotine strength? Grab the bargain e-liquid and mix it half-and-half with the same flavor at the 6 mg nicotine strength. Now you’ve got the equivalent of two bottles with a nicotine strength of 3 mg, and you’ve saved a bunch of money.

Don’t forget that grabbing those nicotine-free e-liquids from your local vape shop’s clearance bin is also a good way to try new e-liquid flavors without paying full price for them. If you end up not liking a flavor, then at least you didn’t pay full price for it – and if you do like the flavor, you can turn it into an e-liquid with nicotine by mixing it with another bottle at double your usual nicotine strength.

Nicotine-Free E-Liquid Is Best for Vape Tricks, Video Reviews and Cloud Competitions

Did you know that people who vape professionally – whether they’re performing vape tricks, recording video reviews for YouTube or attending cloud competitions – almost always use nicotine-free e-liquid when they’re on the job? If you’re spending hours chucking clouds in front of a camera – or in front of crowds at vape expos – you’ll make yourself sick if you’re using nicotine the whole time.

In fact, the truth is that most of those people aren’t even using actual e-liquid – they’re using pure vegetable glycerin. That’s the way to get those huge, luxurious clouds that look so great on camera. If you’ve got your sights set on becoming a famous personality within the vaping scene, nicotine-free e-liquid is going to become a major part of your vaping routine.

Nicotine-Free E-Liquid Delivers Nothing but Flavor

Nicotine can definitely contribute to the overall flavor profile of an e-liquid, but nicotine itself isn’t a flavor. If you want to taste the flavor of a vape juice in its purest form, you’ve got to try the nicotine-free version of that e-liquid.

Now, no matter how much you may love a particular e-liquid, you might not have a great deal of interest in experiencing what that e-liquid tastes like without the nicotine. You might feel differently, though, if you ever decide to enter the world of DIY e-liquid making. If you get really serious about it, you might decide to share your favorite recipes with your friends. You might decide to join an online community and discuss the finer points of e-liquid creation with others. Who knows; you may even start a vape juice brand of your own one day. The only way you’ll ever know that you’ve gotten a recipe completely right is by trying it without nicotine.

Nicotine-Free E-Liquid Helps You Lower Your Nicotine Intake

If you use a modern sub-ohm vape mod and tank, there’s a good chance that your preferred e-liquid nicotine strength is 3 mg. If you’ve been vaping for a while, though, there’s also a good chance that your current vaping setup produces dramatically more vapor than the setup that you used when you first started using the 3 mg nicotine strength. Is it really still necessary for you to use that much nicotine?

I bet that you could cut your nicotine strength in half without even noticing, and nicotine-free e-liquid provides an extremely easy way to do that. Mixing equal parts of two e-liquids with nicotine strengths of 0 mg and 3 mg yields a final nicotine strength of 1.5 mg. Few e-liquid companies offer that nicotine strength, so it makes sense to try making it yourself. In this age of tanks with triple-mesh and quadruple-mesh coils, you’ll probably have no issue at all with cutting your nicotine strength.

Nicotine-Free E-Liquid Is Perfect for Bedtime Vaping

Are you a heavy vaper who sometimes has trouble falling asleep at night? If you are, I’d like to open your mind to the possibility that heavy stimulant use right before bed could make it more difficult for you to fall asleep and may also contribute to poor sleep quality. Now, being a vaper myself, I know what it’s like to have your mod in your hand pretty much from the moment you wake up until the moment you turn out the lights. Discontinuing all vaping a couple of hours before bedtime, in other words, is definitely much easier said than done. If you can’t manage to stop vaping late at night, try switching to nicotine-free e-liquid for the last hour or two before bedtime. Yes, it might take some getting used to – but there’s a good chance that you’ll sleep better as a result.

VG/PG Ratio: What’s Right for Your Vape Tank?

This is your introduction to the world of VG/PG ratios in vape juice.

When you step inside a well-stocked vape shop like The Vape Bar, you’re going to find a large and impressive selection of e-liquid. Almost every bottle on the shelves will have its ratio of vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol printed on the label. You might ignore the VG/PG ratios and simply choose your e-liquids based on how tasty the flavor descriptions sound – and with some vape tanks, that might work out fine. These days, many vapers are using high-end hardware like mesh coil tanks. E-liquid companies know that, and they try to develop vape juices that work with the widest possible variety of hardware.

VG PG Ratio

In other cases, though, buying an e-liquid simply because it sounds tasty can work out horribly. Have you ever bought an e-liquid that caused your vape tank to leak incessantly? Have you bought a juice that caused your tank to produce a burned flavor even though your coil was brand new? In both cases, an e-liquid with a VG/PG ratio that’s inappropriate for your tank is the most likely cause of the problem.

Let’s get you one step further on your journey toward knowing how to buy an e-liquid that’s perfect for your needs every time. This is your introduction to the world of VG/PG ratios in vape juice.

Why Do We Need Different VG/PG Ratios?

E-Liquid During the Early Years

To understand why different VG/PG ratios exist, it’s necessary to learn a bit about the history of e-cigarettes and other vaping hardware. In the beginning, glycerin wasn’t a standard ingredient in e-liquid at all; the earliest e-liquids contained only propylene glycol as a base. The only exceptions were 100-percent vegetable glycerin e-liquids sold mainly as specialty products for the few people who were allergic to propylene glycol.

VG-Based E-Liquids Find Favor Among Enthusiasts

As the vaping community evolved, people discovered different ways to vape. Dripping became popular among enthusiasts, for instance, and many of the people who preferred dripping found that they liked the thick, creamy clouds that VG-based e-liquids produced. Other members of the vaping community also wanted to experience those thicker clouds, but 100-percent VG e-liquids were too thick to work well with the cartomizers and clearomizers in common use at the time. Thus, e-liquid makers began blending VG and PG.

Owing once again to the small cartomizers and clearomizers in common use at the time, the earliest blended e-liquids had VG/PG ratios skewed heavily toward propylene glycol. VG/PG ratios such as 85/15 and 90/10 were common at the time. The e-liquids were thin enough to work with small tanks, but even a small amount of VG made a tremendous difference in perceived vapor production.

Vape Tank Manufacturers Adapt Their Products for High-VG E-Liquids

Over the years, vape tanks steadily became larger and more powerful. To produce large vapor clouds, the atomizer coil in a vape tank needs to let plenty of e-liquid in. So, as tanks grew larger, atomizer coils’ wick openings became larger as well. An atomizer coil with large wick openings can accommodate a thicker e-liquid, so vape juice makers began to add more VG to their products.

Today, 100-percent VG e-liquid is the preferred choice for many vapers who use atomizers designed for dripping. E-liquid containing only PG, on the other hand, is a niche product that few people want. The roles of VG and PG in e-liquid have been almost entirely reversed – and between those two extremes, you can find almost any VG/PG ratio that you want. Some specialty e-liquid companies will even let you select your own VG/PG ratio when you buy e-liquid.

So, now you understand why different VG/PG ratios exist. How can you tell what’s right for your vaping hardware? That’s what we’re going to discuss next.

What’s the Right VG/PG Ratio for My Vaping Device?

If learning about VG/PG ratios has left you feeling a bit overwhelmed, take heart because the most common ratio of 50/50 works very well with almost all vaping hardware released in the past few years. That’s because it’s usually in an e-liquid maker’s best interest to develop products that will work with the widest variety of hardware possible. In that sense, it’s usually fine to buy any e-liquid that appeals to you when you shop for vape juice. Suppose, however, that you want to tweak your VG/PG ratio for an even better experience. That’s what we’re going to discuss next.

Adjusting your VG/PG ratio in favor of VG changes your vaping experience by making your e-liquid thicker and by reducing throat hit. A high-VG e-liquid produces large, creamy vapor clouds. VG also has a slightly sweet flavor and can make some e-liquids taste sweeter when it’s used in high concentrations. Because high-VG e-liquids are so thick, though, they may not work well with smaller vaping devices. I’ll explain that shortly.

Adjusting your VG/PG ratio in favor of PG changes your vaping experience by making your e-liquid thinner and increasing throat hit. A high-PG e-liquid produces thin vapor clouds that dissipate quickly. Compared to VG, PG has less flavor of its own and helps the flavor of an e-liquid come through more clearly. Some tanks, however, may not work well with an e-liquid that’s too thin.

How to Know if Your E-Liquid Has Too Much VG

The atomizer coil in your vaping device has a cotton wick, and the coil assembly has holes that allow e-liquid to travel from the tank’s reservoir to the cotton. The smaller a vape tank is, the smaller the wick holes will be – and a very thick e-liquid may have trouble getting through those holes. If your e-liquid is too thick, you’ll experience harsh “dry hits” randomly when you vape, even if your tank or pod is full.

How to Know if Your E-Liquid Has Too Much PG

If you have a vape pen or box mod with a refillable tank, your tank’s atomizer coil assembly likely has fairly large wick holes to accommodate thicker e-liquids because most people these days buy e-liquids with at least 50 percent VG. If you use a high-PG e-liquid that’s too thin for your tank, the e-liquid will seep through the wick holes in the coil assembly and leak out the bottom of the tank.

How Do I Know if My Vape Juice Has the Right Nicotine Strength?

Are you vaping the right nicotine strength for your needs? Find the answer with these simple guidelines.

One of the things that manufacturers realized during the early years of the vaping industry is that, with such an enormous variety of vaping devices on the market – and considering that each person is a unique individual with unique needs – having a wide range of different nicotine strengths for vape juice is incredibly important. The number of different nicotine strengths available for e-liquid, in fact, have only increased over the years as new types of vaping equipment have emerged.

Vape Juice Nicotine Strength

Buying the right nicotine strength for your needs is perhaps the most important part of having an enjoyable and satisfying vaping experience, and several factors influence that decision.

Heavier smokers tend to need more nicotine. Otherwise, vaping won’t satisfy them.
Lighter smokers tend to need less nicotine. Otherwise, they’ll find the vapor irritating and unpleasant to inhale.
Some people decide to reduce their nicotine intake gradually after they switch to vaping. Buying a lower-strength e-liquid is an easy way to do that.
Higher-power vaping equipment uses a large amount of e-liquid and generates very large vapor clouds. This type of equipment works best with lower-nicotine e-liquid.
Lower-power vaping equipment uses a little e-liquid at a time and generates smaller vapor clouds. This type of equipment works best with higher-nicotine e-liquid.

With all of these different factors, it’s understandable that your first vape juice purchase might actually end up being the wrong one for your needs. In this article, we’re going to rectify that by explaining exactly what you should consider when choosing the nicotine strength for an e-liquid purchase. Let’s begin!

The Right Nicotine Strength for a Pod Vaping System

When you shop at a well-stocked vape shop, you’re likely to see a new type of e-liquid called nicotine salt e-liquid. With nicotine strengths ranging from about 25-50 mg, nicotine salt e-liquid is the highest-nicotine vape juice on the market. Because this type of e-liquid contains such a high concentration of nicotine, it’s only appropriate for use with low-power vaping devices.

Nicotine salt e-liquid works best with pod vaping systems. If you own a vaping device with a removable plastic pod that you fill yourself, you have a pod system and will probably have the best experience with nicotine salt e-liquid.

Most companies that produce nicotine salt vape juice sell their products in two nicotine strengths: a low-strength version with a nicotine concentration around 25 mg and a high-strength version with a nicotine concentration around 50 mg.

If you are currently a smoker and are about to try vaping for the first time, you’ll probably have the best experience with a higher-strength nicotine salt e-liquid.
If you have already switched to vaping and are thinking about trading in your current device for a pod system, you’ll probably have the best experience with a lower-strength nicotine salt e-liquid.

If you have a more powerful vaping device with a large glass tank, you should avoid nicotine salt e-liquids. Vape juices with nicotine strengths of 25 mg and higher are intended only for low-output vaping devices.

The Right Nicotine Strength for a Vape Pen

Vape pens vary in the amount of vapor they can produce per puff. Some vape pens are nearly as powerful as box mods, and others are just slightly more powerful than pod vaping systems. The right vape juice nicotine strength for a vape pen ranges from about 3-18 mg, and you can get a general idea of the right nicotine strength for your vape pen by looking at the vape pen’s mouthpiece.

If your vape pen has a mouthpiece that’s around the same diameter as a pencil, you have a lower-output vape pen and should choose an e-liquid at the high end of the above range.
If your vape pen has a mouthpiece that’s around the same diameter as a permanent marker, you have a higher-output vape pen and should choose an e-liquid at the low end of the above range. A higher-output vape pen typically works best with a vape juice nicotine strength of 3-6 mg.

The Right Nicotine Strength for a Box Mod

Box mods are the most powerful vaping devices on the market, and they come equipped with high-output vape tanks. Today’s high-end vape tanks can produce enormous clouds of vapor, and to produce those huge vapor clouds, they have very smooth and unrestricted airflow characteristics. In fact, using one of these vape tanks means that you’ll inhale in a way that differs from the inhaling style you use when smoking a cigarette.

To get the best possible vapor production with a box mod, you’ll usually inhale the vapor directly into your lungs. Most beginning vapers don’t prefer that vaping style, so box mods usually aren’t best for beginners. When you do decide to upgrade from your pod system or vape pen to a box mod, though, you should start with a vape juice nicotine strength of 3 mg and switch to a higher strength only if necessary.

Am I Using the Right Vape Juice Nicotine Strength?

Now that you know which e-liquid nicotine strengths work best with the most common types of vaping equipment, it’s time to consider your personal needs and decide whether you need to adjust from the nicotine strength you’re currently using. Luckily, it’s very easy to determine whether your current nicotine strength is the right one for you.

Are you finding it difficult to vape because the vapor irritates your throat and makes you cough? Are you having a hard time tasting your e-liquid because you can’t taste anything but peppery nicotine? E-liquid should taste great, and the vapor should be smooth and easy to inhale. If that’s not the experience you’re having, your nicotine strength is probably too high.
Are you still craving cigarettes like crazy even though you’re vaping constantly and going through your supply of vape juice at a rapid pace? If you can’t manage to feel satisfied regardless of how often you vape, your nicotine strength is probably too low. Increase your nicotine strength gradually until you feel satisfied.

Apollo Smoozie E-Liquid Review

Smoozie e-liquid review: With the new Smoozie e-liquid line, Apollo has developed a range of fruity e-liquids that truly brings something new to the table.

When I examine recent trends and changes in the e-liquid industry, one thing becomes abundantly clear to me: Many of the old standby flavor profiles seem to be on their way out. Maybe it’s partially because we’ve had a hotter summer than usual, but I definitely feel as though there are less people talking about flavor profiles such as custards, cereals and baked goods than in years past. These days, people definitely seem to have a strong preference for fruity e-liquids, and if those e-liquids have a bit of menthol coolness on the exhale, so much the better. You can thank Malaysian e-liquid companies like Nasty Juice and Horny Flava for that. Malaysians love their fruit-and-ice blends, and it turns out that much of the worldwide vaping community does as well. That’s where the new Smoozie e-liquid line from Apollo comes in.

Browse the selection of Smoozie e-liquid at the Apollo Vapes website. The e-liquids cost $19.95 (30 ml nicotine salt) and $21.95 (60 ml freebase nicotine).

Apollo Smoozie E-Liquid Review

Smoozie E-Liquid by Apollo: Overview

When the tastes of the vaping community begin to shift, the last thing that an established e-liquid company should do is rest on its laurels and wait for the trends to come back around; that might never happen. It’s better to do what you can to satisfy the community’s tastes as quickly as possible, and no one understands that fact better than Apollo. This is a company, after all, that’s been in the vaping industry for nearly a decade. There aren’t too many brands in the vaping industry that have been around since 2010; I would bet that hundreds of vaping companies around the world have launched, lived out their entire lifespans and folded in the time that Apollo’s been around.

So, Smoozie is an e-liquid line that both answers recent trends and brings several new ideas of its own to the table. This is definitely not just another “me too” line of fruity e-liquids; it’s a virtual trip to your favorite smoothie shop.

Next, let’s explore the tasty flavor profiles that Apollo brings to the table with Smoozie e-liquid.

Smoozie E-Liquid: Flavor List

Smoozie E-Liquid Review

The Apollo Smoozie e-liquid lineup consists of five different flavors, and each of those flavors has multiple variations available. You can buy the standard e-liquid with freebase nicotine, and you can buy it with nicotine salt. You can also buy each flavor with or without an added menthol-like coolness. The fruit-and-ice flavor profile isn’t for everyone. Even the Malaysian e-liquid makers have no-ice versions of their most popular flavors. If you do like your fruity e-liquids on the cold side, though, you’re going to love what Apollo has done with the fruit-and-ice flavor profile; it’s almost like drinking an actual smoothie with some extra ice thrown in before blending.

Here’s what you’ll find in the Smoozie e-liquid line:

Awesome Apple Sour

This one is a sour apple e-liquid, plain and simple. Now, if you’ve had a few sour apple vape juices, you know that it is incredibly difficult to capture that “green Jolly Rancher” flavor that sour candy lovers absolutely adore. Sweeteners tend to overpower sour additives in e-liquid, so many “sour” e-liquids end up tasting much the same as all the other candy flavors. I think that Apollo has done a really good job here. If you’re having trouble finding a green apple e-liquid that really hits the spot, you should try this one.

Ki-Berry Pear Sour

There’s a certain bottled juice brand that’s extremely well known for its kiwi-strawberry juice (and its peach tea, but I digress). Ki-Berry Pear Sour tastes a bit like what you might get if you used that famous juice as a base and added some sweet pear juice before garnishing the resulting beverage with a few lemon wedges. If you’ve ever found yourself wishing that a certain bottled juice maker could add a sour edge to its kiwi-strawberry juice to balance out the sweetness, Ki-Berry Pear Sour is an e-liquid that you must try.

Maui Waui

Maui Waui is a tropical fruit smoothie, through and through. In Hawaii, some mango cultivars produce fruit so heavy and laden with juice that growers need to reinforce the fruits by tying them to the trees’ branches. It also goes without saying that Hawaii’s pineapples are the world’s best – try the Hilo White variety if you ever have the opportunity – so I couldn’t imagine a better celebration of the 50^th state in e-liquid form than the pineapple-and-mango concoction that is Maui Waui. Just to jazz things up and give this e-liquid a bit of an orchard vibe, Apollo also added a generous helping of strawberry flavor. Did you know that strawberries can actually grow in Hawaii at higher elevations? Yep – Apollo truly thought of everything!

Strawberries Gone Wild

Looking over the list of Smoozie e-liquid flavors, you’ve probably noticed that strawberry appears more often than any other flavor. I bet it’s because, when the mixologists at Apollo were developing the Smoozie brand, they discovered a strawberry flavor – or perhaps a blend of strawberry flavors – that they knew was truly going to be a home run. I bet they were so happy with their work that the discovery of the strawberry flavor influenced the development of the entire brand. I could be wrong, but that’s how I imagine things. Strawberries Gone Wild is the only e-liquid in the Smoozie lineup in which the strawberry flavor is fully front and center. Behind that note, you’ll taste a bit of extra complexity from the addition of a slightly tart raspberry note and an even more sour green apple note.

Wondermelon Berry Sour

No line of fruity e-liquids would be complete without a melon flavor, and Wondermelon Berry Sour is so refreshingly different that you’ll wonder why the e-liquid makers of the world haven’t been making sour melon flavors for years. In this vape juice, you’ll taste notes of cantaloupe and watermelon along with – you guessed it – Apollo’s magic strawberry flavor. It’s the sour finish of this e-liquid, though, that makes all the difference. After you’ve tried Wondermelon Berry Sour, I doubt that you’ll ever want to vape one of those super-sweet melon candy e-liquids again.

Browse the selection of Smoozie e-liquid at the Apollo Vapes website. The e-liquids cost $19.95 (30 ml nicotine salt) and $21.95 (60 ml freebase nicotine).

Short Fill E-Liquids

If you’re a sub-ohm vaper tired of buying box after box of 10 ml TPD-compliant e-liquid bottles, short fill e-liquid is your answer. Find out how it works.

Here in the United States, vapers have it easy — at least as long as the pending FDA regulations remain under postponement. You can buy as much e-liquid as you want if you’re of age. You can choose the nicotine content of the e-liquid, and you can inhale an entire bottle every day if that’s what you want to do. In other areas of the world, though, e-cigarette users have special challenges. The European Union, for example, has established regulations governing the vaping products that are permissible to own and sell. The United Kingdom has adopted Europe’s Tobacco Products Directive, and it appears likely that Norway will adopt it soon as well.

Short Fill E-Liquid

The TPD Limits E-Liquid Bottle Sizes

The benefit of the TPD is that it establishes a legal framework for the vaping industry. Vapers in Europe don’t have to worry about the products they love one day becoming unavailable — which is still a possibility in the United States even if the now-postponed date of FDA regulation still seems very far away. The downside of the TPD, though, is that it makes some aspects of vaping inconvenient. These days, people love sub-ohm devices and huge vapor clouds. In nations that observe the TPD, though, a bottle of e-liquid containing nicotine can’t be larger than 10 ml. If you use a sub-ohm vaping setup, 10 ml of e-liquid might be more than you use in a day!

Short Fill E-Liquids Make TPD Compliance Easier for Sub-Ohm Vapers

The Problem: Boxes of Small Bottles Are Elaborate and Costly

Suppose you run an e-liquid company that sells to customers in regions that must comply with the TPD. What can you do to make a product that’s not terribly inconvenient to people who use sub-ohm vaping setups? Some companies sell bundles of several 10 ml bottles. That’s a way of complying with regulations, but bottles and boxes aren’t free. The elaborate packaging will eat into your profit margins. Selling a gazillion small bottles at a time is also wasteful of resources because many of your customers may choose not to recycle their empty bottles.

Short Fill E-Liquids Comply With the TPD Because They’re Nicotine Free

Faced with the dilemma of either selling box after box of tiny bottles or potentially losing the patronage of sub-ohm device users, someone realized that the TPD bottle size limit doesn’t apply to nicotine-free e-liquids and got the genius idea of inventing short fill e-liquid. Short fill e-liquids are very large vape juice bottles — often up to 120 ml in size — that contain nicotine-free e-liquid and aren’t completely full. You’ll buy the nicotine separately and add it to the bottle yourself. In the end, you’ll have a large bottle of e-liquid — that’s totally TPD-compliant — in a nicotine strength appropriate for sub-ohm vaping.

Short Fill E-Liquids May Help You Save Money

The major benefit of short fill e-liquids is that they take the inconvenience out of sub-ohm vaping in TPD regions. In many cases, though, you’ll also save money when you buy short fill e-liquid. Since the manufacturer isn’t adding nicotine or selling an expensive package of many small bottles, short fill e-liquids should cost less to produce — and you should enjoy some of those savings.

Short Fill E-Liquids Are Beneficial Where Nicotine Is Illegal

In some regions such as Norway, vaping products are legal to sell — but nicotine is not. In Norway, people can import nicotine for personal use from nations within the European Economic Area, but Norwegian vape shops cannot sell e-liquid with nicotine. In addition, Norwegians can import no more than a three-month supply of nicotine at a time. Nicotine-free e-liquid certainly has its benefits, but you probably aren’t too interested in hearing about those benefits if you’re looking for something to help you stop using tobacco. Some Norwegian vape shops may sell nicotine under the counter, but availing yourself of that service is highly illegal and potentially unsanitary.

So, suppose you’re a Norwegian e-cigarette user, and your only option for obtaining e-liquid with nicotine is to import it from another country. You’ll be importing from a country in which the TPD applies, so you’ll need to buy an awful lot of 10 ml bottles if you want a three-month supply of e-liquid. You’ll be looking at some pretty big exchange fees and shipping charges. Short fill e-liquids make it possible for Norwegians to buy their e-liquid domestically and import only the concentrated nicotine at a much lower cost. Rune Stulen, owner of Norwegian online vape shop FriskeDrag.no, says that short fill e-liquids have been a godsend for his customers who want to minimize their costs while remaining on the right side of the law.

How to Use Short Fill E-Liquids

The most common short fill e-liquid bottle sizes are 60 ml (containing 50 ml of nicotine-free e-liquid) and 120 ml (containing 100 ml of nicotine-free e-liquid). To complete the bottle of e-liquid, you’ll need one or more nicotine shots. A nicotine shot is a 10 ml bottle of unflavored e-liquid that usually has a nicotine strength of 18 mg. Add one shot to a 60 ml short fill bottle — or add two shots to a 120 ml bottle — and you’ll have an e-liquid with a final nicotine strength of 3 mg. To fill the bottle, you’ll pry off the cap and dump in the entire contents of your one or two nicotine shots. Replace the cap, close the bottle tightly and give it a good shake. Your e-liquid is ready to use!

Do Short Fill E-Liquids Have Any Drawbacks?

When you add a flavorless nicotine shot to a short fill e-liquid bottle, you’re diluting the flavor of the e-liquid. To achieve the correct flavor concentration in the finished product, the e-liquid maker should add a bit more flavor to a short fill e-liquid than it would add to an e-liquid with the nicotine already present. If an e-liquid maker creates its short fill e-liquids properly, you should have virtually the same experience whether you’re using the company’s short fill e-liquid or a standard 10 ml bottle of the same product. If you try a short fill version of your favorite e-liquid and find the flavor a bit muted, the maker of the e-liquid isn’t doing things right.

The second drawback of using a short fill e-liquid is that you’ll need to shake the bottle periodically to keep the nicotine in suspension. If you don’t, you won’t have the correct nicotine concentration throughout the entire bottle. I would think, though, that the need to shake a bottle occasionally is a minor inconvenience compared to the major inconvenience of opening one 10 ml bottle after another.

What is Nicotine Salt E-Liquid?

You may not have noticed, but the e-liquid industry changed forever in 2015. That’s the year in which PAX Labs released the Juul e-cigarette. If you were already a full-time vaper in 2015, the release of the Juul might have been completely irrelevant to you. If you use a sub-ohm vaping device and buy your e-liquid in a nicotine strength of 3 mg, after all, what use could you possibly have for an e-cigarette with a nicotine strength of 50 mg? People who use sub-ohm devices simply aren’t the target market for the Juul. In the beginner segment of the market, though, the Juul proved truly revolutionary. People who had found it impossible to switch fully to vaping using other mainstream brands like Blu and Vuse had finally found the answer with the Juul. Juul became America’s most popular mass-market e-cigarette, and that’s when everything changed.

Nicotine Salt E-Liquid

Nicotine Salt Is the Secret of Juul’s Success

As you’ll learn from reading my review at the link above, Juul made a big splash largely because its pods contained e-liquid with a new form of nicotine: nicotine salt. Pax Labs obtained a patent for its e-liquid formulation and produced a study showing that the Juul closely mimics the spike in blood-nicotine levels that you’d get when smoking. The fact that the Juul had a unique and stylish design didn’t hurt, but it was the new e-liquid that really captured the public’s imagination.

What Is Nicotine Salt E-Liquid?

To understand nicotine salt e-liquid, you must understand where the nicotine for standard e-liquid comes from. Although synthetic nicotine does exist, most nicotine for e-liquid comes from tobacco leaves. Laboratories extract the nicotine using a solvent — typically ammonia — that maximizes the yield of the extraction and simultaneously changes the molecular composition of the nicotine. Ammonia increases the pH of the nicotine and converts it — a salt in its original state — to a free base. Freebase nicotine is what standard e-liquids contain.

A nicotine salt e-liquid is simply a standard e-liquid with an added acid — usually benzoic acid. The acid converts the nicotine back to a salt while also lowering its pH. When the acid reacts with it, the nicotine returns to a state more like its original state within the tobacco leaf.

In short, then, nicotine salt e-liquid is e-liquid that contains the salt form of nicotine rather than freebase nicotine. A nicotine salt e-liquid also has a slightly lower pH than a standard e-liquid.

How Did Nicotine Salt E-Liquid Change the Vaping Industry?

The release of the Juul e-cigarette marked the beginning of a gradual change in the vaping industry. The change began with a flood of Juul clones. At first, manufacturers attempted to capitalize on the profitability of the Juul’s closed-system design by releasing vaping systems that used non-refillable pods. Not all who vape are willing to buy closed-system devices, though; since open-system devices allow you to buy bottled e-liquids and fill your own pods, they cost less to use than closed-system devices. More importantly, open-system devices give you access to a much greater variety of e-liquid flavors. It wasn’t long before open-system pod vaping devices began to appear on the market. Even those, however, weren’t right for many people who already vaped. In a pod vaping system, the pod functions like the tank in more traditional e-cigarettes. With a tank system, though, you only have to buy the tank once. The only replaceable part is the atomizer coil. If you use a pod vaping system, you have to replace the entire pod every several days. It can become expensive.

New vaping devices like the Aspire Breeze 2 represent the culmination of the changes that began with the release of the Juul e-cigarette three years ago. The latest small vaping devices are perfect for those who want to experiment with nicotine salt e-liquids. They’re just as small as the devices with disposable pods, but their replaceable atomizer coils make them much less expensive to operate.

Aspire Breeze 2 Nicotine Salt Pod Vaping System

Nicotine Salts and Sub-Ohm Vaping

If you’re an owner of a sub-ohm vaping device, you might be wondering at this point why you can’t try nicotine salt e-liquids with the vaping device that you already have. If you’d like to experiment with nicotine salt e-liquids, you need to use a smaller vaping device because most nicotine salt e-liquids come in strengths of 25 or 50 mg. With sub-ohm devices, on the other hand, most people prefer e-liquids with nicotine strengths of 3 or 6 mg. Even if you use the lower nicotine strength of 25 mg, you’ll make yourself sick if you use a nicotine salt e-liquid with a sub-ohm vaping device. A few nicotine salt e-liquids with sub-ohm strengths exist, but they aren’t common.

What Are the Potential Benefits of Nicotine Salt E-Liquid?

Increased Satisfaction

The biggest potential benefit of nicotine salt e-liquids is that they make smaller vaping devices far more satisfying to use. Throughout the first several years of the vaping industry, the biggest problem with the e-cigarettes marketed to beginners was that they weren’t satisfying enough for smokers to use. They didn’t generate enough vapor or contain enough nicotine. Nicotine salts have changed that; a lot of new vapers start with devices like the Juul and find the switch from smoking to vaping easy and painless. They’re happy with their vaping experience as it is and never bother upgrading to larger devices.

If you currently smoke and do not vape, you should consider starting with a vaping system that uses nicotine salt e-liquids.
If you vape but have not stopped smoking, it probably means that your current vaping system doesn’t satisfy you fully. Nicotine salts may also be a good fit for you.

Smoother Throat Hit

If nicotine strengths of 25 mg and higher are what people need to make the switch from smoking to vaping easy, you might ask yourself why it wasn’t possible to find an e-cigarette with a nicotine strength of 50 mg until the release of the Juul. The answer is that, with standard e-liquids, many people find the throat hit overly harsh at nicotine strengths above 18 mg or so. People report — perhaps because of the lower pH — that nicotine salt e-liquids are much smoother and easier to inhale without irritation. If you tried vaping in the past and couldn’t get enough nicotine into your system because you found the vapor too difficult to inhale, you are probably a good candidate for nicotine salt e-liquids.

Reduced E-Liquid Consumption

One of the most interesting aspects of the nicotine salt trend is that many long-term vapers are ditching their sub-ohm vaping devices and low-nicotine e-liquids in favor of pod systems and nicotine salts. Why would anyone want to do that? For one, it’s possible that some of those people never wanted to blow huge vapor clouds in the first place. Some may have started using sub-ohm devices because they weren’t able to derive full satisfaction from the small devices available when they started vaping.

Other people might decide to switch from low-nicotine e-liquids to nicotine salt e-liquids because they worry about the amount of e-liquid they’re consuming. Think about it; nicotine might be relatively benign on its own, but you go through an awful lot of e-liquid with a sub-ohm vaping setup. You’re inhaling several milliliters of vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, flavors and sweeteners every day. Some people ultimately decide that they aren’t really okay with that. Nicotine salt e-liquids appeal to those people because they make it possible to get the same level of satisfaction while consuming significantly less e-liquid — and probably spending a bit less money in the process.

Is Nicotine Salt E-Liquid Just a Fad?

At this point, you understand the elevator pitch for nicotine salt e-liquid — and you might have a question on your mind. Are any of the claims about nicotine salts actually true, or are nicotine salts just another vaping fad that’s going to pass when the next big thing comes along? I don’t have the answer to that question, and there are two things about nicotine salts that I find odd.

Are nicotine salt e-liquids actually more satisfying because of the nicotine salts — or is it just because the nicotine strengths of those e-liquids are so high?
Back in the ’60s, Marlboro maker Philip Morris began adding ammonia to cigarette tobacco to create freebase nicotine — the same type of nicotine in standard e-liquids — because they had conducted studies showing that people found ammoniated tobacco smoother and more satisfying. Now, we have e-liquid makers canceling the effect of the ammonia with acid because doing so is supposed to make the e-liquid — you guessed it — smoother and more satisfying. How could both statements be true?

Those two things being said, I don’t think that nicotine salt e-liquid is going away any time soon. I also think that some people have begun to wonder what the point of all the cloud chasing is. Does anyone really need to fill every room with clouds like they’re hotboxing? Do we really need to consume 10 ml, 20 ml — or more — of e-liquid every day? Reading the news, it seems like someone is putting out a fire in their home — or far worse — every few days because they don’t have the first idea about e-cigarette battery safety. For mainstream vapers, maybe cloud chasing has had its day. Maybe we actually need a product like nicotine salt e-liquid for those people who want to get back to the simpler experiences that drew them to vaping in the first place. If any of those statements ring true to you, you’re probably going to love nicotine salt e-liquid.

Lightning Vapes Review

With extremely cheap e-liquid at $22 for 120 ml, Lightning Vapes wants to be your one-stop shop for wick, wire and all things vaping. Read my review.

I recently contributed to an article for eCig One — an ultimate guide to sub-ohm vaping. While I was working on the guide, I found a vaping superstore called Lightning Vapes. Although there is no shortage of sources online for wick and wire, I appreciated the fact that the selection at Lightning Vapes is well organized and includes just about everything that anyone could possibly need for coil building. Lightning Vapes also has a tutorial section for rebuilding various RTAs — almost none of them seem to include manuals — that I found very helpful when I was writing my iJOY Tornado Nano review.

I decided that I would buy from Lightning Vapes the next time I needed coil building supplies. I’ve bought from Lightning Vapes twice now, and I’ve had nothing but good experiences. I intend to continue updating this Lightning Vapes review as I try more products.

View the Lightning Vapes website. Lightning Vapes ships most products anywhere and accepts PayPal for purchases not including e-liquid. Use the coupon code LV15 for a 15 percent discount on your order.

Lightning Vapes Review

What Does Lightning Vapes Sell?

Lightning Vapes sells consumable vaping supplies. They don’t sell e-cigarettes, in other words. Lightning Vapes does sell wires, wicks, batteries, coil building tools, replacement parts for tanks, pre-built replacement coils and the like. They also have their own line of extremely affordable e-liquid, which I’ll discuss shortly.

I’ll begin with an overview of the products available at Lightning Vapes.

Wires

Clapton
Kanthal (round and flat)
Nichrome
Stainless Steel
Nickel (annealed and tempered)
Titanium

Wicks

Native Wicks
Cotton Bacon
Silica
Ekowool
Stainless steel (cable and mesh)

Other Vaping Supplies

Coil building tools
Batteries
Battery cases
Pre-built coil heads
Replacement o-rings, insulators and other parts for tanks and atomizers

As you can see, it’s a pretty wide selection. If you build your own coils, Lightning Vapes makes it possible to buy pretty much all of the supplies that you could ever need from one retailer. The prices also happen to be extremely reasonable.

Lightning Vapes Review: Wick and Wire

About the time that I was contributing to the aforementioned sub-ohm vaping guide, I began to run low on wick and wire. Having seen the very low prices for Kanthal, I decided that my next order of vaping supplies would be from Lightning Vapes. I bought a spool of Kanthal wire and a package of cotton from Native Wicks. The Kanthal cost less than $5.00 for 100 feet of wire. The Native Wicks product was three feet of cotton for $7.99. In all, I spent less than $20 for months of coil building supplies. I’m still nowhere near running out of Kanthal. I paid for my order by PayPal, which was hugely convenient.

Native Wicks, by the way, makes an excellent product. I was previously using Cotton Bacon. Comparing Native Wicks vs. Cotton Bacon, I would say that the Native Wicks product is both longer lasting and easier to work with. I attribute both to the very long fibers in the Native Wicks product. It wicks very well and does an excellent job resisting heat. I find that my coils built with Native Wicks last quite a bit longer than those built with Cotton Bacon — although both are infinitely better than the Japanese cotton pads that I was using.

Native Wicks vs Cotton Bacon Lightning Vapes Review — Comparing Native Wicks vs. Cotton Bacon, I find that Native Wicks seems to use much longer, sturdier fibers.

Lightning Vapes Review: E-Liquid

Lightning Vapes also sells their own e-liquid — and the company’s e-liquid prices are remarkably good. A 30 ml bottle is $6.99, and a 120 ml bottle is an incredible $22. I was paying around 37 cents per ml of e-liquid and thinking that I was getting a pretty good deal. Less than half of that price, though? I definitely had to give it a try.

Lightning Vapes E-Liquid Review

Bread Pudding Pulse E-Liquid

To date, Bread Pudding Pulse is the only e-liquid that I’ve purchased from Lightning Vapes. Since the e-liquid prices at Lightning Vapes are so low, I expect to pick up a new flavor each time I need to order wicks or wire. I’ll update this review each time I try something new.

Bread Pudding Pulse is an interesting e-liquid. Lately, I’ve really been into e-liquids with cereal and grain flavors because they provide a nice change of pace from the fruity/tropical flavors that seem to be so common right now. I wouldn’t say that Bread Pudding Pulse quite scratches that itch, but it’s still very pleasurable — and absolutely worth the $22 price for 120 ml. The nose of this e-liquid is definitely custard, but the primary flavors are cinnamon, vanilla and browned flour. If you’ve ever had a sugar cookie e-liquid — like Halo‘s, for example — you’ll find that Bread Pudding Pulse tastes somewhat similar. I enjoy it — especially for the price. I probably wouldn’t buy it again, though.