Guide to Mixing with Nicotine Shots

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Guide to Mixing with Nicotine Shots thumbnail

Thu 1 Dec 2016

Nicotine Shots are about to start playing a major role in both DIY e liquid and mainstream e liquid. Why? Because product restrictions brought on by the controversial TPD are about to change the vaping landscape. If you are unaware of the TPD regulations, check out our guide.

First off all, e liquid containing nicotine will be restricted to 10ml bottles from May 2017. This means that all the 30ml, 60ml, 100ml etc. bottles that vapers have gotten used to will disappear from the shelves unless they are nicotine free. This will inconvenience many vapers, who will likely turn to DIY to get the bottle sizes and prices they are used to. Couple this with the fact that concentrated nicotine will be removed from sale too, and Nicotine Shots will soon need to fill the void in that area of the market.

Secondly, testing e liquid for TPD compliance is very expensive, with some companies having to pay upwards of £5000 per flavour. Many small and medium e liquid manufacturers simply cannot afford this, especially if they have a large range of flavours. However, we have been speaking to many e liquid companies who plan to get round the legislation by offering nicotine free e liquid (20ml in a 30ml bottle for example) alongside a TPD compliant Nicotine Shot.

With that in mind, we have decided to write this guide for those new to DIY e liquid, and for those who are unfamiliar with how mixing with a Nicotine Shot will work.

First of all, what exactly is a Nicotine Shot?

A Nicotine Shot is 10ml of flavourless e liquid designed to be added to nicotine free e liquid. Our Nicotine Shots are 18mg and 100% VG, but we may introduce more strengths and PG/VG ratios as time goes on.

How much Nicotine Shot should you use?

Here’s how the numbers break down: If you use e liquid at 3mg strength, you’ll need to add half a Nicotine Shot to a 30ml bottle, one nicotine shot to a 60ml bottle and two nicotine shots to a 120ml bottle. If you use 6mg strength e liquid, you’ll need to add one Nicotine Shot to a 30ml bottle, two nicotine shots to a 60ml bottle and four Nicotine Shots to a 120ml bottle. If you use e liquid at 9mg strength, you’ll need to add one Nicotine Shot to a 20ml bottle, three Nicotine Shots to a 60ml bottle and six Nicotine Shots to a 120ml bottle. And if you vape at a very low 1.5mg nicotine strength, you’ll need to add a quarter of a Nicotine Shot to a 30ml bottle, half a Nicotine Shot to a 60ml bottle and one nicotine shot to a 120ml bottle. Remember, you can come up with your recipe, using your own nicotine strength, PG/VG ratio etc. with our DIY Calculator.

What about those vapers who use higher nicotine levels?

For those vapers who use higher nicotine strengths, we would suggest doing the process in reverse. Instead of adding the Nicotine Shot to e liquid, add flavour concentrates to the nicotine. This way, you’re only diluting the Nicotine Shot down a small amount, and therefore maintaining a higher nicotine strength.

How will using Nicotine Shots affect the price of DIY e liquid?

Let’s face the facts, because of the TPD, the price of pretty much every vapour product will increase. This is due to the cost of testing and compliance. So yes, the cost of DIY e liquid will rise, but it will still be much more cost effective than pre-mixed. Here’s how the numbers break down: *For these examples we have used Vampire Vape concentrates which, at the time of writing, cost £9.89 for 30ml, and Nicotine Shots priced at £1.00.* The cost of a 10ml bottle at 6mg using a Nicotine Shot will be £0.91, the cost of a 30ml bottle at 6mg will be £2.72, the cost of a 60ml bottle at 3mg will be be £4.59, and the cost of a 120ml bottle at 1.5mg will be £8.32. Comparing these figures to the cost of a 10ml bottle of pre-mixed e liquid, which will be around £4-5, and the savings become obvious. Also, it worth remembering that some flavour concentrates have a lower recommended mix percentage than those by Vampire Vape, meaning that your DIY e liquid could be cheaper than the prices we have quoted.

Some recipes using Nicotine Shots:

10ml DIY E Liquid 50VG/50PG 6mg

Nicotine Shot (100% VG): 3.3ml

Flavour Concentrate: 1.5ml

Propylene Glycol: 3.5ml

Vegetable Glycerine: 1.7ml

30ml DIY E Liquid 70VG/30PG 6mg

Nicotine Shot (100% VG): 10ml

Flavour Concentrate: 3ml

Propylene Glycol: 6ml

Vegetable Glycerine: 11ml

60ml DIY E Liquid 70VG/30PG 3mg