Nic salts vs freebase: which nicotine should be in your bottle?

Freebase nicotine is nicotine in its natural, unbound form. It is what e-liquids used from the start, and it gives a noticeable catch at the back of the throat that gets stronger as the milligrams go up. At 18mg in a 50/50 liquid it is sharp enough to make a lot of people cough.

Nicotine salts are nicotine combined with a mild acid, commonly benzoic acid. That lowers the liquid's pH, which takes the harshness away. The result is a 20mg liquid that many vapers find as smooth as a 6mg freebase. Nicotine is addictive in either form, and the milligram number means the same amount whichever you choose.

The quickest way to understand the difference is to see where each one is happiest. Nic salts live in small, low-power MTL pods, where a little liquid needs to carry a satisfying amount of nicotine. Freebase spreads across MTL tanks at moderate strengths and almost every sub-ohm setup at low strengths.

A good example of freebase done well is Dinner Lady Lemon Tart 50/50, sold in 3mg, 6mg, 12mg and 18mg. For salts, ranges like Elfliq come in 5mg, 10mg and 20mg. Same idea, different strength ladders. Browse the full nic salt range if you already know salts are for you.

Nicotine type and VG/PG ratio usually travel together. Nic salts are almost always made thin, around 50/50 or a little more PG, because they are designed for small coils that need to wick fast. Freebase 10ml bottles span 40% VG to 50% VG, and freebase shortfills go thick at 70% VG for sub-ohm tanks.

If you ever add a nicotine shot to a shortfill, the shot is normally 18mg and 70% VG, like the Top Shot 70VG. One 10ml shot in 50ml of liquid gives you 60ml at 3mg, which is a classic DTL strength.

Start from your device and your habit, not from the bottle. If you vape a small pod kit and smoke more than ten a day, nic salts are the obvious pick. If you use a tank with a sub-ohm coil, freebase is the only sensible choice.

The interesting cases are in between. Some MTL vapers on lower strengths prefer freebase because the throat hit feels more like a cigarette, and that is perfectly valid. Answer the question to see where you land, then check our guide to picking a strength for the exact number.

Hybrid liquids blend freebase and salt nicotine in the same bottle. The idea is to keep most of the smoothness of a salt while bringing back some of the throat catch that freebase gives. They are made for MTL pod kits and sold at the same 5mg, 10mg and 20mg steps as salts.

Because they hit harder than a pure salt, makers often suggest choosing one step lower than you would for salts. Riot Squad Cherry Fizzle is a well-known example. If 20mg salt feels a bit too soft but 18mg freebase makes you splutter, hybrid is worth a go.

Nic salts arrived with a lot of marketing and even more rumour. Some vapers think the word salt means something you would find in a shaker, others think salts are a stronger kind of nicotine. Neither is right.

Tap each card to flip it and see what is actually going on. Knowing these will save you from buying the wrong bottle for your kit, which is one of the most common and most annoying beginner mistakes. It also helps when a friend swears blind that salts are a different drug: you can now tell them, politely, that they are not.

One quick question to lock in the difference. It is the exact situation that trips up a lot of people when they move from a pod kit to their first tank, so it is worth getting right now rather than finding out the hard way with a coughing fit.

If you pick the right answer, you have got the core idea: nicotine type follows the device, and strength follows how much liquid that device vaporises per puff. Remember that pairing and you will rarely buy the wrong bottle again, whatever kit you move on to.