E-Liquid Nicotine Strengths Explained
This guide has been created to provide you with a beginner-friendly understanding of e-liquid nicotine strengths.
If you are new to vaping, this blog is a great place to start growing your understanding of how vaping products work before you invest. Choosing the right nicotine strength to vape is vital when making the switch from cigarettes, but this is very hard to do without knowing what the numbers and letters on your bottle actually mean.
Read on to learn key definitions for each available e-liquid nicotine strength, how they are measured and presented to you as a customer, and their key differences, so you can make a more informed decision when choosing the best one for your journey.
What Is Nicotine In Vaping?
Nicotine in vaping is the same as it is in cigarettes: a chemical compound that occurs naturally in the tobacco plant, which when consumed by humans provides intense but short-lived feelings of relief, relaxation and satisfaction at the cost of being highly addictive.
The key difference is that nicotine delivered by cigarettes is released by burning the physical tobacco plant material, releasing the nicotine as smoke alongside the many other harmful chemicals produced by burning the cigarette.
Nicotine in e-liquids by comparison, is extracted from tobacco plants into a pure, concentrated isolate. This isolated nicotine is then diluted in a Propylene Glycol (PG) base, which can then be blended in varying amounts with Vegetable Glycerol (VG), Flavourings and additional PG to create the different e-liquid strengths available to buy.
As nicotine used in e-liquid has been extracted from the original plant matter, and is then vaporised instead of being burned, it produces far fewer harmful by-products. This is why, while not risk free, vaping is considered by health experts to be at least 95% less harmful than smoking cigarettes.
While the above might be true, the advice regarding consuming nicotine remains the same: If you have never previously smoked or vaped, don't start. Vaping with nicotine should only be used by adults as a method of tobacco harm reduction, to manage cravings as part of a quitting journey.
How Nicotine In E-Liquid Is Measured: What Does MG/ML Mean?
The most common metric used to describe e-liquid nicotine strengths is mg/ml, which is a shortening of milligram per millilitre. The number given before these letters determines the amount of nicotine you can expect to find in each ml of vape liquid.
For example, a standard 10ml bottle of 6mg/ml e-liquid contains 6mg of nicotine in every 1ml of e-liquid, with the bottle's total content being 60mg.
While less common than the mg/ml format, some products/brands use a % number to describe the nicotine content (this approach was popularised by disposable vapes before their UK-wide ban). This can sometimes make a product appear to contain less nicotine than it actually does.
For example, 20mg/ml is the highest nicotine strength legally permitted for an e-liquid in the UK. When written as a percentage, it equates to only 2% of the bottle's contents.
Amidst the many controversies leading to the ban of single-use vapes, the misconception amongst under-18s that 2% of nicotine wasn't very strong and therefore posed less risk was raised as a major concern.
If you happen to experience any e-liquid strengths written as a percentage, the following list will help you make sense of them:
- 3mg/ml = 0.3%
- 5mg/ml = 0.5%
- 6mg/ml = 0.6%
- 10mg/ml = 1%
- 12mg/ml = 1.2%
- 15mg/ml = 1.5%
- 18mg/ml = 1.8%
- 20mg/ml = 2%
What Are The Most Common Vape Juice Nicotine Strengths?
The most common e-liquid nicotine strengths in the UK are split into two camps, defined by their nicotine type.
Freebase nicotine is used in classic vape ranges like EDGE Core, and delivers a throat hit that increases in intensity with nicotine concentration. Many vapers enjoy this for its familiarity to smoking.
Salt nicotine is used in nic salt e-liquids like EDGE LIQ and delivers high-strength satisfaction with a very smooth throat hit, often paired with more intense double-concentrated flavourings.
Freebase Nicotine Strengths:
Nic Salt Strengths:
Below, we will provide a snapshot definition of each of the nicotine strengths listed above, to help you build a basic understanding of the options available to you and the different vaping experience each offers:
-
0mg Nicotine Free
- 0mg e-liquids are nicotine-free
- Little to no throat hit
- Flavour-focussed
- Available in 50/50 freebase & High-VG e-liquid types
- Ideal as a final step towards reducing your nicotine intake/quitting vaping or for those who enjoy vaping for flavour by itself.
-
3mg/ml Freebase Nicotine
- 3mg e-liquids contain a low dose of nicotine
- Gentle throat hit
- Most popular High-VG strength
- Available in 50/50 freebase & High-VG E-Liquid types
- Ideal for those who previously smoked 5 cigarettes or less per day
-
6mg/ml Freebase Nicotine
- 6mg e-liquids contain a mild dose of nicotine
- Mild throat hit
- Most popular freebase 50/50 strength
- Available in 50/50 freebase & High-VG e-liquid types
- Ideal for those who previously smoked 5-10 cigarettes per day
-
12mg/ml Freebase Nicotine
- 12mg e-liquids contain a mid-strength dose of nicotine
- More intense throat hit
- Common starting point for many new vapers
- 50/50 freebase e-liquid only
- Ideal for those who previously smoked 10-20 cigarettes per day
-
18mg/ml Freebase Nicotine
- 18mg e-liquids contain a strong dose of nicotine
- Very intense throat hit
- Highest freebase strength available for those seeking maximum throat hit
- 50/50 freebase e-liquid only
- Ideal for those who previously smoked 20+ cigarettes per day
-
5mg/ml Nic Salt
- 5mg e-liquids contain a low dose of nicotine salt
- Little to no throat hit
- Lowest nic salt strength available, only offered by a few brands like EDGE
- 50/50 nic salt e-liquid only
- Ideal for nic salt vapers looking to reduce their intake
-
10mg/ml Nic Salt
- 10mg e-liquids contain a mild dose of nicotine salt
- little to no throat hit
- Versatile option satisfying most cravings without any throat hit
- 50/50 nic salt e-liquid only
- Ideal for ex-disposable vapers looking to reduce their intake or ex-smokers who have stronger cravings but don't want a throat hit
-
15mg/ml Nic Salt
- 15mg e-liquids contain a mid-strength dose of nicotine salt
- Little to no throat hit
- A rarer nic salt strength, only offered by a few brands like EDGE
- 50/50 nic salt e-liquid only
- A great option for ex-disposable vapers who want to step-down from 20mg without taking a big jump to 10mg
-
20mg/ml Nic Salt
- 20mg e-liquids contain a high dose of nicotine salt
- Very mild throat hit
- The maximum nicotine strength legally permitted in the UK
- 50/50 nic salt e-liquid only
- Ideal for ex-disposable vapers looking to switch to refillable kits as this matches the strength of most disposable vapes.
Additional Guidance
If you are unfamiliar with any of the vaping jargon above or how the information here relates to choosing the right product for your needs, the links below can help explain things further so you can be confident in your knowledge of nicotine strengths:
50/50 freebase & High-VG e-liquid types explained
