How to choose the right Nicotine Strength for you?

11 May | Daniel Hollyman

If you’re a new vaper, there are two major factors to consider when picking nicotine strength: your smoking habits, and the type of device you are planning on using. To help you navigate the market, we have categorised our suggestions by vapour output, as this is the factor that ultimately dictates the amount of nicotine consumed per puff.

If you smoke socially, or up to a few cigarettes a day, you’ll probably fall in the lower range of each suggestion. If you smoke 10-20 cigarettes a day, you’ll land somewhere in the middle. Smoking more than a pack a day most likely puts you in the higher area.

Bear in mind that the suggested strengths in this section are exactly that: suggestions. Use them as a starting point, but if you find that you prefer your vape stronger or weaker, don’t be afraid to try other nicotine strengths. Remember that nicotine without smoke is not a health risk for most people. The best nicotine strength is the one that keeps you away from combustible cigarettes!

Low vapour production

Discreet clouds, similar to the smoke produced by a cigarette. This grouping includes most pod systems on the market, as well as mouth-to-lung (MTL) tanks with a very tight airflow. High strength nicotine salts are the most popular choice for this category, including the Pod Salt Nicotine Salt and Doozy Salts range, which have been designed for stealth vaping.

Regular/freebase nicotine: 12-24 mg/mL
Nicotine salts: 30-60 mg/mL

Medium vapour production

Clouds, but not of the massive variety. Devices that fall in this category can come from practically any product range. This includes pod systems that take sub ohm coils, airier MTL tanks, and even sub ohm tanks that have a very restricted draw.

Regular nicotine: 6-12 mg/mL
Nicotine salts: 20-30 mg/mL

High vapour production

Big clouds. This includes powerful sub ohm tanks and rebuildable atomizers with large airflow channels. Finding nicotine salts for this category may not be easy, because these devices put out so much vapour that it’s very easy to get too much nicotine too quickly. Most vapers who use sub ohm devices choose regular nicotine juices at very low strengths. Even 6 mg/mL e-liquid may be too strong considering the vapour volume delivered by some of these devices!

Regular nicotine: 1.5-6 mg/mL
Nicotine salts: 1.5-6 mg/mL

When it comes to quitting smoking, we advise new vapers to try a low vapour device—either a pod system or MTL tank. These will emulate the draw of a cigarette, which may help smokers smoothly transition to vaping. But many people prefer a restricted direct-lung draw, or even a fully open draw, and in that case a more powerful pod system or a sub ohm tank might be the best choice. You may have to experiment with different kinds of devices. There is no right or wrong!

Let’s assume that you have now tried a couple of nicotine strengths and settled for the one that satisfies your cravings. Even after you narrow it down, it can still be confusing at times. Sometimes manufacturers list nicotine strength by percentage, like 0.3%, 0.6%, 2.5% and 5%.

What’s the difference between nicotine strengths written as mg/mL and those expressed as percentages? How do you convert from one to the other?

Nicotine strength in mg/mL

Most of the time, e-liquid nicotine strengths are shown in mg/mL, which stands for milligrams per millilitre. This means that for every millilitre of e-liquid in the bottle, there is the specified amount of nicotine.

For 6 mg/mL e-juice, this means every millilitre contains 6 milligrams of nicotine. If you need to work out the total amount of nicotine in a bottle or in a tank, just multiply the strength in mg/mL by the number of millilitres of it you have.

For example, if you fill up a 5 mL vape tank with 6 mg/mL e-liquid, you have 5 mL × 6 mg/mL = 30 mg of nicotine in your tank. In the same way, a 10 mL bottle of 6 mg/mL e-liquid contains 60 mg of nicotine in total.

Concluding Thoughts

You can now confidently navigate the e-liquid market and buy juice in the strength range that will most likely satisfy your nicotine cravings. You can also explain what mg/mL means, what the percentage values on e-liquids mean, and convert between them easily. No matter where you’re ordering from, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting. But if you don’t nail it on the first try, don’t give up! With so many nicotine levels available, you will eventually find the e-liquid strength that works best for you.

For My Vapery’s full range of e-liquids, Nicotine Salts and Devices, click here.