At Aquios Labs, we have created a pioneering water-based vape juice that is the smoothest and tastiest e-liquid in the world. Our e-liquids use salt nicotine because it enhances the smoothness that you experience and helps to ensure that you’ll enjoy total satisfaction every time you vape. If you have spent any time reading about vaping, you’ve probably seen terms like “salt nic” and “nic salt” repeatedly – but if you’re new to vaping, you may not be exactly certain what salt nicotine is. In this article, we’re going to explain everything you’ve ever wanted to know about nic salt.
You’re about to learn the answers to the following questions:
- What is salt nicotine?
- What is freebase nicotine?
- Why was salt nic vape juice first created?
- Why is salt nic juice better than freebase e-liquid for most new vapers?
By the time you’re done reading, you’ll understand exactly what nicotine salt e-liquid is and will know why it helps to make our water-based vape juice the smoothest e-liquid on the planet.
What Is Freebase Nicotine Vape Juice?
Before we can define what salt nicotine vape juice is, we need to start at the beginning. Before nicotine salt e-liquid existed, all vape juice used a different form of nicotine called freebase nicotine. Freebase nicotine is the most common type of liquid nicotine extracted from tobacco leaves. In addition to being used for vape juice, freebase nicotine extracts are also used for nicotine replacement products such as lozenges, gums and patches.
In its original form within the tobacco leaf, nicotine isn’t a free base – it’s a salt. To maximize yields when extracting nicotine, tobacco processors use solvents – most commonly ammonia – that help to free the nicotine from the salt. In addition to maximizing the yield of the extraction process, the solvents also increase the pH of the nicotine, changing it from a salt to a free base.
In most cases, freebase nicotine isn’t a bad thing because it’s readily absorbed by the body. In fact, it’s very common for tobacco companies to use ammonia in the processing of cigarette tobacco because it helps to enhance the nicotine rush that you feel when smoking.
Although freebase nicotine is very bioavailable and is thus very satisfying to use, it’s not ideal for certain vaping scenarios. We’ll discuss the problems with freebase nicotine next.
Why Was Salt Nicotine Vape Juice Invented?
If freebase nicotine is readily absorbed into the body and satisfying to use, you’re probably wondering why it was necessary for the vaping industry to invent salt nicotine vape juice. Why would anyone want to use a form of nicotine that’s less bioavailable?
The answer is that freebase nicotine becomes unpleasant to use if you consume a large amount of it at one time. If you’ve ever tried to quit smoking using a traditional nicotine replacement product, you’ve probably experienced this problem firsthand.
Have you ever used a high-strength nicotine gum or lozenge and experienced uncontrollable hiccups? If so, you experienced that problem because you were using a product made with high-strength freebase nicotine. In the vaping world, freebase nicotine causes similar problems when it’s used in high-strength e-liquids. At high strengths, freebase nicotine e-liquid can be unpleasant to use because it tends to cause throat irritation and coughing.
Nicotine salt e-liquid was invented because the problems with freebase nicotine made it difficult or impossible for some people to switch from smoking to vaping. People who are new to vaping usually want to use small, simple devices such as pod systems and disposable vapes – the types of devices that our partners make. Small vaping devices work best with high-strength e-liquids – and before salt nicotine vape juice existed, some people would try those small devices and would quickly give up on vaping because they found the experience too unpleasant.
What Is Salt Nicotine Vape Juice?
Next, let’s discuss what salt nicotine salt juice is and explain what it does to make your vaping experience better. Nicotine salt e-liquid starts with the same freebase nicotine that’s used in traditional e-liquid, but it includes a mild acid that adjusts the pH of the nicotine and makes it less alkaline. In addition to reducing the alkalinity of the nicotine, the acid also triggers a molecular change that turns the nicotine from a freebase back into its original salt form.
The reason why freebase nicotine causes throat irritation at high strengths is because of its alkalinity. Salt nicotine, in comparison, doesn’t cause irritation because its pH is more neutral. The end result is that the vaping experience is much smoother and more enjoyable. Salt nicotine has helped people who were previously unable to switch to vaping because they found the scratchy throat hit of freebase nicotine too irritating and overwhelming.
The other benefit of salt nicotine is that it enables today’s small vaping devices to have much higher nicotine strengths compared to the devices of the past. During the early years of the vaping industry, small vaping devices typically didn’t deliver nicotine as efficiently as cigarettes because the devices would have been unpleasant to use if they contained that much nicotine. Salt nicotine allows manufacturers to create disposable vapes and pod systems with higher nicotine strengths than the devices of the past, and you can expect a modern vaping device to feel essentially the same as a tobacco cigarette on a puff for puff basis.
What’s It Like to Use Salt Nicotine Vape Juice?
If you’ve never vaped before – or you’ve never used salt nic juice – you might be wondering what it’s like to use e-liquid with salt nicotine. Does it feel like smoking? Does nicotine salt e-liquid taste salty?
You’re going to love salt nicotine vape juice from a flavor standpoint. Nicotine salt doesn’t taste salty. The nicotine has a slightly peppery taste that offsets sweeter flavor notes in a wonderful way. If you enjoy a sweet flavor profile that has a slightly savory edge for balance, you’ll love the flavor of nicotine salt vape juice.
Salt nic e-liquid is smooth, but it definitely isn’t weak. Nicotine salt is so popular today that most of the world’s high-nicotine e-liquids now use it, and the fact that freebase nicotine is almost never used in high-strength vape juices speaks strongly of the preferences of the vaping community. Among users of disposable vapes and other small devices, there is almost no demand for freebase nicotine at all.
When you use salt nicotine vape juice, you can expect the same assertive and potent throat hit that you’d feel when smoking a cigarette. The nicotine hits your body in much the same way, and after a few puffs, you’ll feel just as satisfied as if you had used a tobacco product. With nicotine salt e-liquid, though, you won’t feel a scratchy and unpleasant sensation that makes you want to cough. That’s the difference between freebase nicotine and salt nicotine, and that’s the reason why virtually all of the small vaping devices in the world now use nicotine salt.
Why Our Salt Nic Juice Is the Smoothest E-Liquid in the World
At Aquios Labs, we developed the world’s first water-based vape juice. It’s the perfect e-liquid for beginning vapers, and it’s the ideal choice for small vaping devices such as disposable vapes and pod systems. That’s why our vape juice uses salt nicotine – because it is our goal to deliver the smoothest and purest vaping experience anywhere.
In addition to the smoothness of nicotine salt, our vape juice has another benefit that you won’t find anywhere else – 30 percent of our e-liquid is water. Here’s why our nic salt juice delivers the smoothest vaping experience in the world.
- Since 30 percent of our vape juice formula is purified water, 30 percent of what you inhale when using our e-liquid is water vapor. The water vapor naturally cools and soothes your throat, giving you a pure throat hit free of any scratchiness that can trigger coughing.
- Our water-based e-liquid also helps to create a feeling of moistness in the mouth, unlike traditional e-liquid formulas. Ordinary vape juice contains much higher percentages of vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol, which both absorb and trap moisture and can cause your mouth and throat to feel dry and scratchy.
- Because water is uniquely compatible with the human body, our vape juice delivers pure satisfaction even at lower nicotine strengths. If you have to use lower-strength e-liquids because higher nicotine strengths cause you to experience throat irritation – even with nicotine salt – we think that you’ll find our water-based vape juice much more satisfying than competing products. Because you may feel satisfied with fewer puffs than you’d require with other e-liquids, our e-liquid can further help to reduce throat irritation and enhance smoothness.
- Unlike vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol – which both taste slightly sweet – purified water has no flavor at all. Our water-based vape juice allows you to taste the flavor profiles of your favorite e-liquids like never before, and that further helps to enhance the satisfaction you derive from vaping.