Vape Juice

What is actually in the bottle

Propylene glycol is a thin, nearly tasteless carrier. It holds flavour compounds well and it delivers the throat sensation that former smokers tend to look for. Vegetable glycerine is thicker and faintly sweet, and it is what produces visible vapour. Flavourings are food grade concentrates used at a few percent of the total. Nicotine, where present, is measured in milligrams per millilitre, which is what the number on the front of the bottle refers to.

Those four components explain almost every complaint people bring us. A liquid that feels harsh is usually high PG or high nicotine. A liquid that produces little vapour is usually high PG. A liquid that floods a small coil and leaks is usually too thick for the device. None of these are faults in the liquid. They are mismatches between the liquid and the hardware it was poured into.

Nothing in a well made bottle is exotic. The debate worth having is not about the ingredients but about the ratio, and that is genuinely worth understanding before you spend money on flavours you may not be able to use.

PG and VG ratios explained

A bottle marked 50/50 is half propylene glycol and half vegetable glycerine. A bottle marked 70/30 is usually seventy percent VG. That difference determines which devices can wick it. Thin liquid moves through a tight wick easily, thick liquid does not, and a coil that cannot pull liquid fast enough burns.

The practical rule is simple. Small device, tight draw, high nicotine: stay at 50/50. Large device, airy draw, low nicotine: go to 70/30. Putting a 70/30 liquid into a pod kit is the most common reason a new coil tastes burnt within a day, and it is entirely avoidable.

Salt nicotine against freebase

Freebase nicotine is the traditional form. It is effective but increasingly harsh as the strength climbs, which is why freebase liquids are usually sold at 3 mg to 6 mg for larger devices. Salt nicotine has an acid added, which lowers the pH and makes higher strengths far smoother. That is why a 20 mg salt liquid in a small pod is tolerable where 20 mg freebase would not be.

Salt nicotine also absorbs faster, so the satisfaction arrives sooner. For someone who has just stopped smoking that speed matters, because a slow onset tends to produce continuous vaping while you wait for an effect. The trade off is that salts belong in low power devices. Running a high strength salt in a sub ohm tank delivers far more nicotine than intended and is genuinely unpleasant.

If you are unsure which camp you fall into, our nicotine strength calculator asks about your previous habit and your device and points at a strength and a type rather than leaving you to guess.

Matching liquid to hardware

Work from the device outwards, never from the flavour inwards. Find the coil resistance printed on the coil or in the manual, then pick the liquid that suits it. Coils above roughly 1.0 ohm are mouth to lung coils and want thinner, higher strength liquid. Coils below roughly 0.6 ohm are sub ohm coils and want thicker, lower strength liquid.

Getting this wrong is expensive rather than dangerous. The symptom is always the same: a coil that should last a fortnight gives up in days. If that is happening to you, check the ratio before you blame the coil. Our replacement coils stock and the vape kits pages list what each device takes.

Flavour choice interacts with hardware too. Dessert and custard flavours contain sweeteners that caramelise onto a coil and shorten its life noticeably. Menthol, fruit and tobacco flavours are much gentler. If you love dessert flavours, buy replacement coils in larger quantities and accept the trade.

Storing juice so it keeps its flavour

Three things degrade e liquid: light, heat and air. Ultraviolet light breaks down both nicotine and flavour compounds. Heat accelerates every reaction in the bottle. Oxygen oxidises nicotine, which is what turns a clear liquid amber and gives it a peppery edge.

• Keep bottles in a cupboard, not on a windowsill or a dashboard.
• Close caps firmly straight after use rather than leaving a bottle open on a desk.
• Buy a size you will finish. A large bottle opened weekly deteriorates faster than several small ones.
• Keep bottles away from freezing temperatures, which thicken VG enough to cause wicking problems until the liquid warms again. We cover the cold weather angle in vaping in cold weather.

Darkening on its own is oxidation rather than spoilage and is usually still perfectly usable. Our guide on does vape juice expire sets out the difference between a liquid that has aged and one that has genuinely gone off.

Steeping, and when it matters

Steeping means letting a freshly mixed liquid rest so the flavour compounds blend. It is a real effect, but it is heavily oversold. Commercially produced liquid has usually been bottled long enough that any meaningful steeping already happened before it reached you.

Where it does matter is with complex dessert, bakery and custard profiles, which can taste flat or sharply separated when very fresh and rounder after a week or two in a dark cupboard. Simple fruit and menthol liquids gain almost nothing. Shaking a bottle before use is worthwhile regardless, because sweeteners and heavier flavour compounds settle.

What steeping will never do is rescue a liquid you simply do not like. If a flavour is wrong for you on day one, it will be the same flavour on day thirty. Our roundup of best vape flavours in Canada is a better starting point than buying large bottles on spec.

The flavour families, and who they suit

Almost every liquid on the market falls into one of five families, and knowing which family you are drawn to saves a great deal of money spent on bottles you will not finish.

• Tobacco. The obvious starting point for recent smokers, though it rarely tastes like the cigarette you remember. Treat it as its own thing and most people come round to it.
• Menthol and ice. Cooling agents rather than mint flavour in most cases. Clean, hard to get bored of, and very gentle on coils. The difference between iced and standard versions is covered in ice pods versus regular pods.
• Fruit. The largest family by far and the one most people settle in long term. Light on coils and easy to alternate between.
• Dessert and bakery. Rich and satisfying, and hardest on hardware because of the sweeteners. Budget for more frequent coil changes.
• Drinks and candy. Colas, energy drink profiles and sweet shop flavours. Divisive, and worth buying in the smallest size first.

A practical habit worth adopting is keeping two liquids on the go from different families. Vaping the same flavour continuously dulls your perception of it, an effect people often mistake for a faulty coil or a bad batch.

Bottle sizes and real cost per millilitre

Bottle size is a value decision as much as a convenience one. Larger bottles are cheaper per millilitre, but only if you finish them while they still taste right, and a liquid you are unsure about is better bought small.

A useful rule: buy the smallest size available the first time you try any flavour, and only size up once a liquid has earned a place in your rotation. A moderate pod user gets through roughly 2 mL to 4 mL a day, so a 30 mL bottle covers somewhere between a week and a fortnight. Working out your own daily consumption for a week tells you more than any general guidance, and our vaping versus smoking cost calculator puts that figure against what smoking the equivalent would have cost.

Refilling also changes the economics against disposables sharply. The device cost is one off and the liquid is the recurring expense, which is why heavier vapers almost always end up refilling. If you are weighing that up, refillable versus disposable vapes and our vape kits range are the practical next steps.

Nicotine limits and Canadian rules

Retail vaping products in Canada are capped at 20 mg/mL of nicotine, which is why you will not find the higher strengths sold in some other markets. The cap and the surrounding packaging and promotion rules come from Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, and the reasoning is set out in the federal nicotine concentration limit.

Flavour availability is set provincially rather than federally, so some flavour categories are restricted in certain provinces. We keep that current in vaping laws by province. Zero nicotine liquid is also widely available and is a legitimate route for people stepping down gradually, covered in nicotine free vaping guide and stocked in nicotine free vapes.

Nicotine in concentrated form is a poison and should be treated like one. Keep bottles closed, labelled and out of reach of children and pets, and if anyone swallows e liquid contact your provincial poison centre immediately. General harm reduction context is available from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.

Common questions

What does the PG to VG ratio actually change?

It changes thickness, and thickness changes everything downstream. Higher PG is thinner, carries flavour crisply and gives a firmer throat sensation, which suits pod kits and small refillable pens. Higher VG is thicker, produces much more visible vapour and feels softer, which suits sub ohm tanks with plenty of airflow. Putting thick liquid in a small device is the usual cause of burnt coils.

Should I use salt nicotine or freebase?

Salt nicotine for small, low power devices at higher strengths, freebase for larger, higher power devices at low strengths. Salt is smoother at 20 mg and absorbs faster, which suits recent ex smokers. Freebase at 3 mg to 6 mg suits sub ohm hardware, where a high strength salt would deliver far more nicotine than intended.

How long does an opened bottle of vape juice last?

Most liquid remains perfectly usable for a year or more if it is kept closed, cool and out of direct light. Darkening is oxidation of the nicotine rather than spoilage and usually only shifts the flavour slightly. Discard a bottle if it smells genuinely off, has separated and will not remix, or has anything visible growing in it.

Why does my coil burn out so quickly?

Usually a ratio mismatch or a sweetened flavour. A thick high VG liquid cannot wick fast enough through a tight mouth to lung coil, so the coil runs dry and scorches. Dessert and custard profiles also caramelise onto the coil and shorten its life. Match the ratio to the coil resistance first.

Do I need to steep shop bought liquid?

Rarely. Commercial liquid has usually rested long enough before it reaches you. Complex bakery and custard profiles can improve with a week or two in a dark cupboard, while fruit and menthol liquids gain almost nothing. Always shake before use, since sweeteners settle.

What nicotine strength is legal in Canada?

Retail vaping products are capped at 20 mg/mL nationwide. Anything sold legally at retail in Canada sits at or below that figure, including everything we list. Zero nicotine liquid is also legal and widely used by people stepping down gradually.