Vape juice is the liquid used in electronic cigarettes that gets turned into vapor. It’s also referred to as:
All vaping, no matter the size or look of the vape device, requires the presence of e-liquid to make vapor. Vape juice comes in a plethora of flavors, different viscosities, and wide array of nicotine strengths.
E-liquid is made out of some essential and some optional ingredients. These ingredients can be categorized into base liquids (PG/VG), flavorings and sweeteners, and nicotine.
The base of vape juice contains propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, otherwise known as PG and VG. Some juices come in 100% VG, but this is not very common—just as 100% PG is also uncommon. VG and PG also form the ratio you will usually find on an e-liquid bottle, like 70/30 or 50/50 with VG typically being first.
Flavor concentrates are water-soluble and usually made by companies that manufacture food flavorings and/or fragrances. They range from tobaccos to fruits to chocolate glazed donuts—and everything in between. Many of the commercial e-juices will also contain sweeteners, with the most common of these being sucralose.
Nicotine is optional and always the choice of the user. It’s included in e-liquid in various concentrations, ranging from less than 1% up to 5%. If the user does not want to use nicotine, non-nicotine e-liquid is sold in most e-juice lines.
E-liquid comes in a variety of nicotine strengths. Here are the most common ones:
With so many nicotine levels available, it is very easy to find the e-liquid that will help you satisfy your cravings. You may also find that you want different strengths for different setups, or even for different times of the day. What works for someone else might not work for you and vice versa. And that’s the beauty of it: you can make vaping a tailor-made experience!
First let’s find out how much e-liquid you are consuming per day. You can’t do it with a puff counter unfortunately. The easiest way to calculate ejuice consumption is by multiplying the number of tank you go through in a day with the capacity of your tank. If you can’t find your tank’s capacity on the packaging, try searching for it online. Chances are you will find it listed in various websites.
The next information you will need in order to calculate your consumption, is the nicotine content of your e-liquid. This will be written on your e-liquid bottle, in most cases in mg/mL. Then just multiply this number with the milliliters you are consuming throughout the day.
Let’s say you are vaping 4 mL of a 6 mg/mL e-liquid per day:
4 mL x 6 mg/mL = 24 mg of nicotine per day.
And while this calculation might seem like an important one, the truth of it is that you don’t really need it. Your own body is the best judge for nicotine consumption as it will let you know when it has had enough of it.
Technically yes, e-liquid can go bad. But it’s not the same as food going bad. Vape juice is very shelf-stable. It might even change color and turn brown with time, but this doesn’t mean that it has expired. Generally speaking, e-liquid lasts as long as its first ingredient to “expire.” As a rule of thumb, that will be up to two years from its date of manufacture.
E-liquid does not like heat, sunlight, and oxygen—how long it lasts will depend on how successful you are in avoiding them. Don’t run to store all your bottles in the fridge though! Storing your e-liquid firmly closed in a dry and cool cupboard is the best way you can ensure that your favorite juice will last as long as possible.
Some e-liquid bottles will have an expiration date on them, some won’t. But based on the FDA’s rules on consumable products, only infant formula is required to have an expiration date. “Best by” and “expires on” dates are up to the discretion of the manufacturer.
Yes, e-liquid can be organic. But while companies can claim that they are using organic materials, this does not make their e-liquids certified organic.
Products such as food, beverage, medications and vitamins can only be deemed “certified organic” if they adhere to the following standards (source: USDA.gov)
In e-liquid terms, this means that:
If you wish to have a 100% organic e-liquid, then you will have to settle for 100% VG juice and, in most cases, 0 mg/mL nicotine content.
So how can one be sure that what they vape on is certified organic?
First, check the label of your e-liquid for USDA certifications, as you would when shopping for food. Vape juice that complies with the USDA rules will carry the appropriate label. Always buy organic e-liquid from reputable vendors and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Vape juice pricing is all over the map. You might have to pay upwards of $20 for 30 mL of premium juice but the same money may get you 120 mL of a non-premium e-liquid. While most of the times you do get what you pay for, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t some overpriced vape juices around, or that low priced juices can’t be of good quality.
E-liquid usually comes in four bottle sizes: 10 mL, 30 mL, 60 mL and 120 mL. Other sizes exist but are not that common.
In general, a 10 mL bottle should cost you between $5 and $10. Everything under that is considered low priced and everything over it is relatively high priced. You can save some money if you go for larger quantities. A 30 mL bottle of vape juice will usually sell between $10 and $20, while a 60 mL bottle will set you back between $15 and $30.
Hi Dears
I’v bought a vaporsso Luxe recentlly fo the first time to quit smoking cigrrates, I bought a VGOD 3mg nicotine, but it was not sattisfied me, so I bought “VGOD 6mg N” , I think I burnt a Mesh-coil at the bigining use of this product, the smoke was thicker and harshing, so I changesd the coil but it still extremely thick and harsh, . is there any mistakes and problems with coils? should I changed the coil? is any offer?
Hi Meghdad,
I had no problems with the Skrr coils, they wicked fie and were going strong for days.
Did you prime your coils properly? Give this one a read, it will show you how to prepare your coils for first use.
If you have primed them properly, and begun firing them at their lower wattage recommendations, then maybe 6 mg is too harsh for you. Try some 3 mg on the coil you are currently using, and if the harshness goes away, then nicotine strength might be the culprit.
Hi I wondered if you can help me,I recently purchased some dinner lady strawberry custard,it was advertised as out of date August 2919. On opening the box I read each label and they all said may 2018..um not what was advertised by the online shop. So the dilemma I’m having is that there not replying to my emails and I’m now stuck with 12 30ml bottles of out of date juice. Do you know if I ad a strawberry concentrate to them would they be good to vape again with flavour..I payed £3 for 60ml. I’m thinking of making my… Read more »
Hi Andy, Are you sure that the date listed on the bottle is the expiration date and not the manufacturing/bottling date? If it is indeed the expiration date, I personally wouldn’t vape juice that has “expired” over a year ago. I also wouldn’t add anything to it–I highly doubt that adding some strawberry flavor would save it. Have you tried contacting them through social media or phone? Many online shops are active on Facebook and respond much faster there. In any case, if you decide to give DIY a go, you can start by reading this article. For some tried… Read more »
Hi there! I’ve recently bought some new juices and when I put them in my vape they taste weird, burn my throat, and produce very litttle smoke. I just put a new coil in and I’m wondering what the problem could be. Any help is appreciated!
Hi Logan, I can’t be 100% sure, but it sounds to me like your juice is heavy on the PG. I suggest reading our PG vs VG article, but to sum it up, PG (propylene glycol) comes with a stronger throat hit and produces much thinner clouds when compared to VG (vegetable glycerin). PG-heavy juices don’t tend to have a weird taste though, but given that PG is a better flavor carrier, it may be just that you don’t like the juice. So you may just be getting more of a flavor you don’t really like. Another possibility is that… Read more »
why sometimes juice tastes gross when you vape but when you do drop taste test it tastes good?
i accidentally forgot a bottle of vape juice in my OCP army sleeve pocket, and i washed it and also accidentally started to dry it in the dryer. the bottle is a 60ml bottle and it is a .3 mg vape juice. is it still safe to consume?
Hi Darin,
It may be ok to consume, but unfortunately, I don’t have a definite answer for you.
If the bottle was properly sealed and you didn’t leave it in the dryer for long, it’s probably ok.