Get started expertly mixing your nicotine shots. If you’re new to the world of vaping, you may not be aware of all the ins-and-outs of nicotine shots and salts. But here you will find all of the information you need before buying your first nicotine shots, and you will understand exactly what it is you’re getting.
We will go over all the basics from what are nic shots, to the different levels of nicotine, and finally, how you should be mixing them properly. It’s important that you don’t dive right into this process without just a little bit of advice, but after reading through our guide, you will be a pro in no time.
What are Nic Shots?
For newbies, you may not be aware that in the UK and EU, the strength of the nicotine liquids that you can buy is restricted. Because of this, nicotine is most commonly sold in 10ml bottles, and these are 18mg strength. We will get into what mg means later on in the guide.
These 10ml bottles are what we call ‘nicotine shots’, or ‘nic shots’, and are actually a lot easier to use than most people think. Of course, despite their name, you shouldn’t just be downing nic shots in one gulp like you would at the pub. There are some maths to mixing your nicotine shots which we will explain.
But for now, when buying your nicotine shots consider that most vapers tend to aim to vape either 3mg, 6mg or 12mg of liquid. So, working out your nicotine calculations from 18mg/10ml bottles can be quite simple.
First, read more about the different nicotine levels below and which will be best for you.
Nicotine Levels and What They Mean
The strength of nicotine is usually written as a number of mg, with the most common in the UK being 3mg, 6mg, 12mg, and 18mg. Luckily, this makes it a lot easier to calculate how much nicotine you should be adding.
The confusing part that we think you should know is that the mg you see on the bottle is not the total mg for the whole bottle. Instead, this is the total of nicotine (mg) to each ml (millilitre) of liquid. Sometimes, it will be written as mg/ml, e.g. 3mg/ml. This also means that even if an e-liquid bottle is bigger, the nicotine mg remains the same, but you will have a larger quantity of it.
Extra Tip: Although becoming less common, sometimes nicotine strengths can be written as a percentage. For example, 3mg becomes 0.3%.
Let’s look at this as a simple equation to help us better understand! So, if there was 3mg of nicotine in a 10ml bottle, we would have to work out:
3mg x 10ml = 30mg of nicotine in total
What is a Shortfill?
Shortfills are e-liquids which are nicotine-free and like its name, ‘short-filled’. This means there is less liquid in the bottle and there is more room for you to add in your nicotine shots. A lot of vapers prefer these as they can control exactly how much nicotine you ingest.
Your shortfill will contain a ready-made base liquid or either PG or VG and the flavouring of your choice. They’re simple to use, and all you need to do is add your nicotine shot of choice.
How to Mix Nicotine Shots
Once you have worked out exactly how strong you want your e-liquid to be, you need to calculate how much nicotine you should add to your shortfill. Here you will find some basic maths and equations which will help you to get an idea of what you should be mixing. Before you get started on the maths, take a look at a few tips we have put together to give you an idea.
Mixing Nicotine Shots Tips
of the process. If you’re looking to make a 3mg e-liquid, follow our tips below:
1.Mix 1 part nicotine to 5 parts flavoured base
2.Divide the volume of the nicotine-free base liquid by 5
3.Add that much of the 18mg nicotine liquid
4.For every 50ml of nicotine-free e-liquid, you should add a 1 nicotine shot
Here are a few examples that might make mixing your nicotine shots easy!
·To mix 100ml into 3mg strength liquid follow this equation:
100ml base liquid + 20ml nicotine = 120ml of 3mg e-liquid
·To mix 50ml into 3mg strength liquid:
50ml base liquid + 10ml nicotine = 60ml of 3mg e-liquid
·To mix 10ml into 3mg strength liquid:
10ml base liquid + 2ml nicotine = 12ml of 3mg e-liquid