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What Is Vape Liquid?

what is vape liquid?

In this guide we will break down all the need-to-know information about e-liquid. We will also go through what vape juice is made from while offering a guide to finding the right nicotine strength to suite you.

What is Vape Liquid?

Vape liquid also known as e-liquid is the core component of an e-cigarette, when inhaled it produces clouds of vapour. In its simplest form, vape liquid consists of four main ingredients: nicotine, flavour, diluent and water. Let’s take a look at some of these e-liquid ingredients a little more closely below.

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What is E-liquid Strength?

The strength of a vape liquid is essentially how much nicotine the fluid contains in a set volume of e-liquid. The ranges we currently offer express the amount of nicotine as either a percentage or as mg per ml of total fluid. For example, fluid with a strength of 1.8% is equivalent to 18mg, while a strength of 0.6% is equivalent to 6mg.

What is Nicotine?

Nicotine is the main stimulant and addictive substance that is found in traditional cigarettes, which can also be found in vape liquids. At The Electronic Cigarette Company we work hard to ensure we utilise the best quality nicotine bases for all of our e-liquids. We only use UK manufactured pharmaceutical grade nicotine from our trusted suppliers, to ensure complete customer safety and satisfaction.

Which Nicotine Strength do I Need?

This depends on a few personal factors, however, usually the more traditional cigarettes you smoked the higher the nicotine strength you should start with. But this isn’t true for all people. If you are new to vaping, you will realise that there is no comparison to smoking as the variety and freshness of our flavours often make the comparison of nicotine strength less important than the overall experience that you will enjoy.

How Does Nicotine Vary in E-Liquid?

E-liquid comes in numerous nicotine strengths, even zero nicotine. This allows vapers to get the precise amount of nicotine they require. Heavy smokers usually find a higher strength vape juice such as 1.8% or 2.0% liquid suites them.

New vapers who are unsure on the right strength for them should start with a 0.6-1.0% strength as a middle ground. If they require more than one 10ml bottle to satisfy their nicotine needs, then they should increase the strength. Alternatively, if this too harsh then a lower strength will be more suitable.

Vape Ingredients – What is in e-liquid?

Vape Liquid is made up of four ingredients. These are diluents, flavours, water, and nicotine.

What is A Diluent?

Diluent is a liquid that is added to nicotine and other ingredients to dilute the mixture. However, it does offer other crucial functions to the substance. The amount of diluent added to the mix impacts the strength of the e-liquid my reducing the concentration of nicotine. It also plays a role in both the vapour and flavour production as it is the ingredient that creates the clouds of vapour and transports the flavour and nicotine into the lungs when vaped.

The most common diluents used in our e-liquid products are:

Propylene Glycol (PG):

Our Propylene Glycol is high-quality pharmaceutical grade. It helps to produce what we refer to as ‘throat hit’ in combination with nicotine and flavours. Propylene Glycol is the other key diluent that is used to carry the nicotine and flavour when heated to deliver a throat hit like smoking. The higher the PG content the stronger the flavour and throat hit. Learn more – What is PG and VG?

Vegetable Glycerine (VG):

Glycerine is included to help produce more dense clouds of vapour and adds a complimentary sweetness and smoothness to the e-liquid. It is also what produces the vapour when heated. High VG content produces thick and large clouds of vapour.

This type of vape juice is designed to be used with high-powered mod kits, utilising low resistance coils that can absorb thicker e-liquid to produce large clouds. Vape juice with a higher PG content is suited towards mouth-to-lung vaping. this technique closely resembles the most common method of smoking. MTL vapers require e-liquid with a high PG content as too much VG will dilute the flavour and nicotine resulting in a weak hit. Plus, the coils designed for MTL vaping have a high resistance meaning they will struggle to wick thicker e-liquid.

Aqueous Glycerine (AG):

Our Aqueous Glycerine is high-quality pharmaceutical grade and is diluted with de-ionised water to keep the e-liquid viscous, which can help the electric vape coils more easily absorb the e-liquid through the wicking material.

The diluents found above can be present in e-liquids at different ratios, as a rough guide the higher the PG content the more throat hit, the higher the VG/AG content the more vapour is produced.

Look for the PG:VG ratios on the e-liquid listings. In short, if you wish to prioritise the closest possible sensation to smoking, you would be better served using a higher PG liquid, whilst if you prefer to exhale large clouds of vapour, with less throat hit, then a higher VG e-liquid would be preferable. If you prefer something in between, then an equal amount of both PG and VG would be better suited. Read more – How to Choose the Best PG and VG Ratio

What about Nic Salts?

Nic salt is designed to replicate the natural salt found in tobacco leaves to deliver a vaping experience that closely matches smoking. This type of vape juice provides a sharper rush of nicotine with a smoother throat hit than freebase e-liquid, even at higher strengths. Nicotine salts are designed for MTL vapers, especially those who require higher strength e-liquid but find regular vape juice too harsh.

Read More - The Best Nic Salt E-liquid

Flavours

Nicotine by itself has no flavour, the taste comes from the flavour of your vape liquid within the propylene glycol (PG) content. To enhance the flavour of e-liquid we offer a wide range of flavours including tobacco, menthol, fruit, drink and cocktails, sweet and desserts, and more. We believe we produce the highest quality ranges with the finest tasting flavours designed to create the best vaping experience.

Read More - The Best E-liquids

Can You Mix Your Own E-liquid?

Our partner company Totally Wicked developed the concept of allowing vapers to create and mix their own fluids in order to satisfy an increasing demand for new flavours and customers preference for how their e-liquid performed. The Electronic Cigarette Company is proud to offer Totally Wicked's unique and internationally unrivalled ‘Mix Your Own’ products.

Mixing your own e-liquid is relatively simple and once you understand the component parts and their role in making the e-liquid, the rest is easy. DIY vape juice possibilities in terms of flavour and tailoring your e-liquid are endless and only limited by your imagination.

Read More - How to Make Your Own Vape Juice and Mixing Guide.

How do you store e-liquid?

Fortunately, e-liquid doesn’t need to be refrigerated or require special storage. However, it is best to store in a cool and dark place to ensure it sustains the same flavour and strength over time. An ideal location would be a cupboard that doesn’t get too hot.

Learn more - How Long Does E-liquid Last? And E-liquid Safety Advice.

Improve your Vape Juice with steeping

Steeping is when e-liquid is sat idle for a long period to mature the flavour. This practise can be used to enhance the flavour, however it is important to not leave it for too long as it can over steep. This will result in either a stronger taste that can be too harsh and unpleasant, or it can become too weak and lose its flavour. Different e-liquid flavours take longer to steep than others, so it can be hard to work out when it is ready. Fruity concentrates usually take 1 or 2 days, whereas a Tobacco or dessert flavour can take over 2 weeks.

If you like sweet flavour, discover the Best Dessert E-Liquids for 2021.

Closing thoughts

This was our ultimate guide to vape juice. If you have any unanswered questions or want to find out more about vaping, then check out the rest of our support page. We also post regular articles on our blog, including reviews about the latest releases from top brands. For a great value, vape read the 10 Best Cheap E-Liquid in the UK.

Our friendly customer service team is always happy to help using the live chat function in the bottom right corner.

If you want to learn more about vape juice, read our E-liquid FAQs.

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