Salt nic vape juice has clearly been one of the hottest product categories in the world of vaping over the past few years. Nicotine salt has become so popular that there’s hardly any major vape shop in the country that doesn’t offer it – and if you’re not using salt nic already, you might wonder if you’re doing something wrong. Should you be using nic salts – even if doing so might require you to buy an entirely new vape kit?
In this article, we’re going to clarify some of the confusion about salt nic that currently exists in the vaping community. We also have an article elsewhere on this site explaining what nicotine salt e-liquid is, and you might that find that article helpful if you’d like additional information. In this article, though, we’re going to focus less on the definition of nicotine salt e-liquid and more on a description of what salt nic is actually like and who should – and shouldn’t – be using it.
The short answer, however, is this: If you’re already completely happy with your vaping experience, there’s no reason for you to worry about switching to a completely different type of e-liquid. Salt nic vape juice is generally best for new vapers. Because it comes in much higher nicotine strengths than traditional freebase nicotine vape juice, nicotine salt e-liquid will get you closer to the efficient nicotine delivery of a tobacco cigarette. That’s exactly what you want when you’re trying to switch from smoking to vaping. Nicotine salt, however, can sometimes be the right choice for experienced vapers as well.
Do you feel like something is missing from your vaping experience? Maybe there was an aspect of vaping that you really enjoyed when you initially made the switch, but you’ve found yourself gradually moving away from that as your vaping devices have become more and more powerful. Switching to salt nic may help you regain something that you feel you’ve lost over the years.
Here’s why.
What Is Salt Nic Vape Juice?
Salt nic vape juice is a new type of e-liquid that has a mild food-grade acid added to it in order to make it less alkaline than traditional freebase nicotine vape juice. The acid triggers a chemical reaction that converts the freebase nicotine to nicotine salt, but the fact that salt nic vape juice uses the salt form of nicotine isn’t really the thing that’s important. What’s more important is the reduced alkalinity, which makes it possible for companies to manufacture the e-liquid in high nicotine strengths without users complaining of throat irritation.
Before nic salts, you might have found it difficult to use an e-liquid with a high nicotine strength because the alkalinity would cause a scratchy sensation in your throat. It you use a high-powered vape mod, it’s possible that you made the switch to a sub-ohm vape because you were experiencing throat irritation when using higher-nicotine e-liquids. For you, switching to a vape mod didn’t have anything to do with cloud chasing; you made the switch because it was the only way for you to get enough nicotine without dealing with a sore throat. If that story sounds familiar to you, salt nic may be exactly what you need.
These Are the Best Salt Nic Vape Juice Brands Today
If you've made the decision to try nicotine salt vape juice for the first time, it's important to get off on the right foot by choosing a good brand. The best salt nic vape juice brands deliver products that are completely consistent from bottle to bottle, delivering top-quality flavor and impressive vapor clouds with every puff. Here are some of the top brands on the market today.
- Naked Vape Juice: Naked 100 is probably the most popular vape juice brand in the world today, and this company's e-liquids are absolutely wonderful for people who like fruity flavors -- especially for those who enjoy e-liquids with a bit of tropical flair. In addition to featuring nicotine salt versions of popular flavors like Hawaiian POG and Lava Flow, the Naked Salt product range also includes tasty traditional options like Cuban Blend and Euro Gold Tobacco.
- Humble Juice Co: Humble Juice Co is another company that offers both freebase and salt nic versions of most of its flavors, which is a great thing if you're already a fan of this brand and want to switch to nicotine salt without losing your favorite flavors. The Humble Juice range pretty much spans the gamut of everything that's possible in vaping, from Banana Bread to Toffee Vanilla Custard -- so needless to say, you're not going to have any trouble finding a flavor you love.
- Jam Monster: Jam Monster might make the most famous breakfast e-liquids in the entire history of the vaping industry. What's the most quintessential breakfast food that you can think of? It's toast and jam, right? Every Jam Monster e-liquid starts with a base that tastes like a perfectly buttered slice of toast and finishes with the flavor of a single fruit jam. Nothing could possibly be more delicious. Just pick your favorite fruit, and we can guarantee that you'll have found your new favorite morning vape.
What Types of Vape Kits Work Best with Salt Nic Vape Juice?
Whether you’re a new vaper or a long-term one, buying the right vape starter kit is absolutely essential if you want to have a good experience with salt nic vape juice. Although there are a few exceptions, the lowest nicotine strength that most manufacturers offer for their nic salt vape juice is 20-25 mg/ml – and nicotine strengths range all the way up to 50 mg/ml. Even with the lower strength, though, you’re going to be getting an e-liquid with a nicotine strength that’s much higher than the 3 mg/ml strength you’re probably using now if you currently own a full-sized vape mod. You can’t use salt nic with a sub-ohm vaping device because you won’t enjoy your experience at all and may even make yourself queasy from overconsumption of nicotine.
If you’re going to use salt nic vape juice, you should use it with a small vaping device designed for mouth-to-lung inhaling. That’s because the nicotine strength of your e-liquid and the vapor production of your vaping device should always have an inverse relationship with one another.
The ideal devices for nicotine salt e-liquid are pod systems and very small vape pens. Between those two types of devices, we like pod systems better for nicotine salt e-liquid because the first pod systems and the first salt nic vape juices hit the market around the same time – so they’re essentially designed for one another. Pod systems are simple and convenient, which makes them perfect for first-time vapers. Pod vapes are also very inexpensive. That’s a plus if you’re an experienced vaper, because you can experiment with salt nic without making a huge investment. If you end up deciding that you prefer your current vape mod, you won’t have spent a lot of money trying nic salts.
Should You Be Using Salt Nic?
We think that salt nic vape juice is probably ideal for you if you fall into one of these four categories.
- You’re currently a smoker and want to try switching to vaping. Nicotine salt e-liquid is the form of vape juice that will give you the strongest throat hit and the highest amount of nicotine per puff. In other words, it’s the type of e-liquid that feels most like smoking. You’ll find that the similarity to smoking will make it easier for you to transition fully to vaping.
- You’re already a vaper, but you aren’t completely happy with your experience as it currently is. As we described above, maybe the fact that you’re using a full-sized vape mod doesn’t have anything to do with cloud chasing. Maybe you only switched to a more powerful device because the high-strength freebase nicotine e-liquids gave you a sore throat. Maybe you’re missing the throat hit of smoking, and you find yourself reminiscing about your days as a tobacco user even though you’re chain-vaping almost constantly. Switching to salt nic vape juice may give you the satisfaction that you’re missing.
- You’re concerned about the amount of money you spend on vaping. As your vaping devices have become more powerful over the years, the amount of money that you’ve spent on e-liquid and replacement coils has gradually gotten out of control. Switching to nicotine salts will mean that you’ll get the same level of satisfaction while using significantly less e-liquid – and since your vape coils won’t be working as hard, you won’t need to replace them as often. Overall, you’ll spend significantly less money on vaping if you switch to salt nic.
- You enjoy vaping while you’re out of the house, but you don’t like the sideways glances that people give you when you blow enormous clouds into the air. When you use a small device, you can vape much more discreetly without fear that you’re bothering the people around you.
Who Should Not Be Using Salt Nic?
At this point, you have a much better idea of what the benefits of salt nic are and why nicotine salt vape juice is the best type of e-liquid for many vaping scenarios. Freebase nicotine e-liquid, however, isn’t going anywhere because it’s still the right choice for many people. So, who shouldn’t be using salt nic?
The short answer is that, if you’re already completely happy with your vape mod and freebase nicotine e-liquid, there’s no reason to switch to nic salts. There’s also no need to fear that you might be missing out on something simply because you haven’t tried salt nic yet. The choice between freebase nicotine and nicotine salt is rather like the choice between different e-liquid flavors; there’s no one vape juice that’s right for everyone.
Rather, the invention of nicotine salt vape juice was mostly about giving new vapers an option that might work better for them than the cigarette-shaped cigalikes that most new vapers bought at the time. Although some experienced vapers may enjoy switching to nicotine salt, it mostly exists as a more cigarette-like option for newer vapers.
Is Salt Nic Vape Juice Available with Synthetic Nicotine?
We’re glad you asked! Synthetic nicotine vape juice is the latest option that’s sweeping across the vaping industry. If it looks like all of America’s e-liquid makers have made the changeover to tobacco-free nicotine over the past few months, it’s because many of them have. We’re so supportive of the industry’s tobacco-free future, in fact, that we plan to carry only synthetic nicotine vape juice going forward. The good news for you, though, is that you’ll find the perfect tobacco-free e-liquid for you whether you’re looking for freebase nicotine or salt nic. All that you need to do is buy your vape juice according to your required nicotine strength or look for the tag “Synthetic” or “TFN” while shopping.