Whether you are a vaper or a smoker who wants to make a switch to vaping, you need to know the basic knowledge about vape juice.
I assume that most vape users do not know what is vape juice composed of, whereas it’s a simple question and there are a number of good answers that you can find online. Shortly speaking, vape juice generally is made from PG (Propylene Glycol), VG (Vegetable Glycerin), Flavoring, and Nicotine (free base nicotine/nicotine salt). And today we are going to talk about one of the essential ingredients in the vape juice–nicotine.
What is Nicotine?
FDA explained that: Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical compound present in a tobacco plant. All tobacco products contain nicotine, including cigarettes, non-combusted cigarettes (commonly referred to as “heat-not-burn tobacco products” or “heated tobacco products”), cigars, smokeless tobacco (such as dip, snuff, snus, and chewing tobacco), hookah tobacco, and most, vape e-cigarettes. Using any tobacco product can lead to nicotine addiction. This is because nicotine can change the way the brain works, causing cravings for more of it. Some tobacco products, like cigarettes, are designed to deliver nicotine to the brain within seconds, making it easier to become dependent on nicotine and more difficult to quit. While nicotine naturally occurs in the tobacco plant itself, some tobacco products contain additives that may make it easier for your body to absorb more nicotine.
Nicotine is a chemical that contains nitrogen, which is made by several types of plants, including the tobacco plant. It is also produced synthetically. Nicotiana tabacum, the type of nicotine found in tobacco plants, comes from the nightshade family. Red peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, and potatoes are examples of the nightshade family. While not cancer-causing or excessively harmful on its own, nicotine is heavily addictive and exposes people to the extremely harmful effects of tobacco dependency.
As I mentioned above, nicotine has two types which made via different methods, derived from plants and artificially synthesized. As a result, there are two types of nicotine bases in e-liquids–freebase nicotine and nicotine salts.
Freebase nicotine
Freebase nicotine is the original nicotine in e-liquids, it’s extracted from tobacco plants. It creates a strong throat hit, which can feel a bit too strong at super high nicotine strengths. Nicotine freebase feels harsher on the throat, and suits people who prefer that feeling or who like to puff little and often throughout the day.
Nicotine salts
E-liquids with nicotine salts generally feel much smoother on the throat than freebase nicotine products and it’s artificially synthesized. Nicotine salts is just normal nicotine that has been pH balanced. Correcting the pH levels of the nicotine takes away the harshness that you feel on the throat when inhaling. These are good for people highly dependent on nicotine, or who don’t want to puff so many times and still get the hit.
Differences Between Freebase Nicotine and Nicotine Salt |
|
| Free Base Nicotine | Nicotine Salt |
| Contains Benzoic or Citric acid | Contains no additives |
| Is absorbed faster into the bloodstream | Has a slower absorption rate |
| Can’t handle high flavour complexity | Can handle high flavour complexity |
| Does not enable large cloud production | Enables large cloud production |
| Suited to mouth-to-lung vaping style | Suited to mouth-to-lung or direct-to-lung vaping styles |
| More expensive by volume | Less expensive by volume |
| Suitable for high nicotine strengths
|
More suited to low and medium nicotine strengths |
| Slow oxidation means longer shelf life | Faster oxidation means shorter shelf life |
Which Nicotine Level Should I Go For?
Actually it can be divided into 3 categories according to different types of e-liquids. Here are the most common nicotine levels in line with different types of e-liquids:
- 50/50 E-Liquid: 0 mg, 6 mg, 12 mg, 18 mg, 24 mg.
- VG Vape Juice: 0 mg, 3 mg, 6 mg.
- Nicotine Salt E-Juice: 25 mg, 35 mg, 50 mg.
We can find that nicotine strengths are available from 0 to 50mg. It can take a few tries to get the strength that suits you. Stronger strengths (like 18mg+) would normally be more enjoyable in e-liquids with nicotine salts. The strength of free-base nicotine in a vaping substance must not exceed 20 mg/ml. The strength of nicotine salt in a vaping substance must not exceed 50 mg/ml.
P.S: 1. mg means milligrams per milliliter. 2. It can be converted to an approximate percentage. eg: 24mg strength would be 2.4% nicotine.
Here is the recommended nicotine levels for different vapers according to the market response:
- 3-5 mg - Suitable for sub ohm tanks due to their low concentration. Nic salts provide a cleaner taste and is less noticeable than freebase nicotine. This is ideal for flavor chasers.
- 20-35 mg - By nicotine salt standards, this is the middle of the road. Ideal for people who don’t want to do 50 mg, but still need a substantial dose of nicotine. In Europe, 20 mg is the highest level you can get.
- 50 mg - Recommended for transitioning smokers who need the maximum dosage of nicotine. Not recommended for non-smokers or low-nicotine vapers. Suitable for low-powered MTL devices only.
Conclusion
Now I believe you already have an answer in your mind to choose a suitable nicotine strength vape for yourself. However, it’s also important to choose a right vape shop to buy the high quality and safe vape products. NewVaping as one of the top online vape shops in the UK, not only provides the best vapes in favorable prices but also offers comfortable customer service. More importantly, all the vape products are TPD Compliant in the NewVaping online vape shop so that ensures the quality of the products.
Read more:
Which Nicotine Level Suits You in A Vape?