Nicotine is an alkaloid found in plants from the nightshade family, including peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. But only in the tobacco plant it is abundant enough to extract and refine. Nicotine can be synthesized in a laboratory too, but the process is very expensive. Paradoxically, nicotine works as both a stimulant and a relaxant, with users reporting varying effects such as mood elevation, alertness and calmness.

Vape juice is sold with varying levels of nicotine, and picking the right nicotine strength is an important decision for a new vaper. E-liquids come in strengths that start at zero nicotine and go up to over 50 mg/mL. You may have also seen nicotine strengths expressed as percentages instead of concentrations. Too much and you might wind up coughing, too little and you may wonder if vaping will even work for you.

Regular Nicotine and Nicotine Salts: Two Great Options

Normally, there are two kinds of nicotine options for vaping.

JUUL introduced nicotine salt e-liquid to the vaping market. The popularity of nicotine salts e-liquid is the reason you see nicotine strengths jumping from 3 mg or 6 mg to 25 mg or even 60 mg in online shops these days. Nicotine salts uses an acid that smooths out the throat sensation, making higher nicotine concentrations more tolerable to the vaper.

Unlike nicotine salts, regular nicotine is harsh at very high levels. Typically e-liquid that’s sold at a level of 18 mg/mL or lower uses regular nicotine, and juice over that strength is made with nicotine salts. Most people say the throat hit of 6 mg regular nicotine feels more or less like 20-25 mg nicotine salts.

What’s The Best Nicotine Strength For You?

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 categorized our suggestions by vapor 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.

Low Vapor Production

This grouping includes most pod systems on the market, as well as mouth-to-lung (MTL) tanks with a very tight airflow. High-strength nic salts are the most popular choice for this category.

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

Medium Vapor Production

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 Vapor Production

This includes powerful sub ohm tanks and rebuildable atomizers with large airflow channels. 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 vapor 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 vapor device—either a pod system or MTL tank. These will emulate the draw of a cigarette, which may help smokers smoothly transition to vaping.

Now no matter where you’re ordering from, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting. With so many nicotine levels available, you will eventually find the e-liquid strength that works best for you.