E-liquids can appear confusing at first, especially if you are just starting out on your vaping journey. Understanding the basics of your e-liquid can help you further tailor your vaping experience. We will be looking at what is in a vape juice and how they can affect your vaping experience.
What is in a vape juice?
Vape Juices use base ingredients consisting of PG (Propylene Glycol), VG (Vegetable Glycerin), flavourings and nicotine. There are hundreds of different flavours, from simple, single flavours to multi-layered flavours, so there is something to please everyone’s taste buds. For more information on the different types of juices check out our Premium Vs Cheap blog.
There are also different ratios of PG:VG, which depends on your device and the type of vaping experience you want. Let’s look at what PG and VG mean.
What is PG?
PG is a synthetic liquid with a consistency slightly thicker than water. It has two jobs in an vape juice – to carry the flavour/nicotine and also responsible for the ‘throat hit’ you get when vaping.
A high PG ratio will give a much more pronounced throat hit, great for vapers who want to simulate the sensation of smoking. It produces a vapour upon heating which is a similar density of cigarette smoke. PG is pretty much odourless and tasteless, so the flavourings aren’t masked the carrier.
What is VG?
VG (Vegetable Glycerine) is a sweet, vegetable based liquid. It adds a slight sweetness to your vape juice and provides the majority of the vapour.
As we mentioned before the PG part of the juice gives you the throat hit, which can make it harsh on your throat, but the VG gives you that smoothness. The higher the VG the larger clouds of dense vapour you will create.
Which PG/VG ratio should I use?
Technically there is ‘best’ ratio as it all depends on what you want to get out of vaping, as the different ratios give you different things.
FLAVOUR
If you want maximum flavour then you should choose a pretty balanced PG:VG ratio, so look out for a 50:50 juice, like a Vampire Vape 10ml juice, or NicSalts most of the ones we stock are 50:50. You could also go for a PG:VG ratio of 60:40, but remember this will be slightly harsher on your throat.
THROAT HIT
Any e-liquid with a high PG ratio will have a more pronounced throat hit, more simulating smoking a cigarette. So, look for PG:VG ratios around 60:40 or 70:30. 70:30 is the main ratio you will find in shops, so you could check out BigBold, Rosie’s Kitchen or Mental Menthol.
BIG CLOUDS
For bigger clouds of vapour you need to look for a vape juice with high VG content. A PG:VG ratio around 30:70 or 20:80 giving you a much thicker e-liquid that produced dense clouds. Keep in mind; this e-liquid is much thicker, so is not suitable for all e-cigs. It is best suited if you have a sub-ohm vaping set up. This PG:VG ratio will give you a lot smoother vape and a very muted throat hit. Vampire Vapes 50ml is a great juice for big vapour clouds.
DISCRETE VAPING
For discreet vaping without losing flavour or vapour production, it is best to stick to a 50:50 PG:VG ratio. You are basically getting the best of both worlds, without too much of either.
Make sure you have the right set-up
Whilst you can technically use any e-liquid in a vape mod, you might not get the best experience and burn out coils quicker than normal. So making sure your vape juice and set-up work together will ensure you have the best vaping experience.
HIGH PG
If you have a high PG content then you will need higher resistance coils and lower powers, this will also mean you are not going to experience too much of a throat hit. If you use high PG e-liquid in an atomiser head with much larger inlet holes, it will wick too quickly as it is much thinner, and you may end up with leakages.
HIGH VG
If you are using a high VG e-liquid for smoothness and cloud generation, you ideally need to use a Sub OHM device and higher powers. The Sub OHM coils have larger e-liquid inlet holes, so it won’t struggle to wick the thicker liquid. Also, with the higher power you are going to get larger vapour clouds.
We are always available to answer your vaping questions, so if you want to know more about what juice you should be using just give us a shout on 01634 712400.