To all you vapers in the UK area, can you help me?

[TarekElsakka]

Hello there

I'm going to take this thread as an opportunity to both introduce myself as well as ask my question. I am a 26 year old Egyptian currently residing in Liverpool as I am studying for a Master's Degree at LJMU, and I was completely serious about and dedicated to vaping until about a year and a half to two years ago in Egypt.

I started vaping back in 2015 when it wasn't very popular in Egypt and I ended up ditching the whole idea after about three months due to the lack of equipment, of course since it was and still is illegal over there. After a while the scene suddenly experienced a boom and just about every corner has a vaping/e-cig store of some sort, whether legally or illegally, and countless websites and Facebook pages that sell and resell vaping stuff.

My very first mod was a Kangertech Subox (if I remember the name correctly) and when I decided to go back to vaping, I decided to upgrade to a dual 18650 setup and went for the IPV6 / Aspire Cleito combination, which was a no brainer for someone who was looking for an intermediary setup. Eventually I fell in love with the scene again and started investing so much time and money in it, ordering hardware and e-liquids from abroad, learning how to build, experimenting with all sorts of different tanks and liquids, and almost started a small e-liquid line but eventually I had a bit of an accident that led me back to smoking again.

At any rate, I have been cutting down on cigarettes lately and I only really use tobacco for (Other stuff), and I really do miss vaping since I've been away from it for a while. I decided to do some research and ended up ordering the Uwell Nunchako 80W kit with a Samsung 30QR battery and VapeClub UK is hopefully going to include some e-liquids samples since I don't have any at the moment.

Please skip all of the above if you're not interested in my life story and start here:

Which brings me to the most important question, which e-liquids brands and specific blends do you recommend I try? One website is doing this mystery box offer which gives you 8 random 10ml bottles for a total of 80ml for about 20 pounds, and I am inclined to give that a shot, but I have no real understanding of which e-liquids brands are good and reputable over here in the UK.

My favorite brand back in the day was Suicide Bunny until they completely ruined their recipe, and some others I used to buy from were Cuttwood, Milkman (disastrous sometimes), Boosted, and Candy King, there were definitely a lot of others but these ones come to mind the most.

I have never been a fan of a specific flavor, except for Suicide Bunny's Mother's Milk (original recipe) which was most my favorite and from my experience the best liquid I've ever vaped, however I usually find myself leaning more towards non-sweet flavors that have a bit of sourness in them, like Candy King's line, as well as tobacco/caramel and tobacco/vanilla blends.

I don't want to spend a lot of money on liquids at this point because I am not even sure if I am going to be fully serious about vaping and not going back to smoking or not yet, so do you recommend that I give that Mystery Box offer a shot or how should I start off exactly? I have only seen like one or two vaping stores here locally in Liverpool, including Totally Wicked, but I've never really entered them so I don't know their policy.. do they allow you to try free samples using a RDA, for example, before you decide? Do they give you the option to mix your own liquid? Do they have specific offers for sets of 5, 10, 15, etc. bottles? And lastly, why are some websites able to sell 30, 60, and 100 ml e-liquid bottles while others (especially in stores) can only sell a maximum of 10ml per bottle and 2ml tanks?

Thank you so much for your time and I apologize for the long post, I just wanted to give you guys a background on how I got here.

 

[untar]

And lastly, why are some websites able to sell 30, 60, and 100 ml e-liquid bottles while others (especially in stores) can only sell a maximum of 10ml per bottle and 2ml tanks?

I'm not from the UK but live in the EU, we all share the damned TPD2. Either those >10ml bottles don't contain nicotine (the 10ml 20mg/ml only applies to liquids containing nicotine) or they're illegal

Some sell bigger bottles with a flavor mixture that you're supposed to put a bigger amount of nicotine containing liquid in ("bottle shot")
DarkStar Vapour
and others sell flavor+nic free base that you're meant to put a 10ml 20mg/ml shot in ("short fill")
Barista Brew Co. Archives - Custom Vapes UK

 

[TarekElsakka]

I actually just got around to seeing that on VapeClub UK right before you posted this. I made a list of "potential" e-liquids I might order, but since I was promised some freebie samples with the Uwell kit, I will wait to try those first before I decide.

Check the first two orders, is that the proper way to do it? A 50ml Short-Fill 0 nicotine e-liquid and a salt nicotine (for example) booster shot? It says 18mg nicotine and I cannot find any booster shots lower than that, so does that mean even though hit says 18mg, it'll eventually result in a 60ml e-liquid with 3mg nicotine? And is mixing them as easy as just shaking the bottle and then vaping? Or does the process require some sort of steeping process first?

Sorry for the million questions but I am just starting to learn about this whole thing. To be honest with you, I've checked the prices of the short-fill 50ml liquid bottles and they definitely save you a lot of money if you combine them with booster shots rather than buying 3x10ml or 5x10ml bottles, or am I calculating this wrong?

 

[untar]

does that mean even though hit says 18mg, it'll eventually result in a 60ml e-liquid with 3mg nicotine?

Bingo!

And is mixing them as easy as just shaking the bottle and then vaping?

Correct, most of those I tried were just dump a shot into the 50ml, shake it, vape. Some may get better if you let them steep but the vast majority should be good to vape right away.

 

[TarekElsakka]

@untar do you recommend any specific nicotine booster shots? I can see that there are several brands selling basically the same thing and within the same price range, but I don't understand if there's a specific difference between them? I'm only interested in the Salt Nicotine shot because of its description: "Salt nicotine provides a more potent nicotine hit with less of a throat hit, for a smoother vape." which is something I'd definitely be interested in trying if it's actually true, especially for the price, since I have had terrible experience with some e-liquids (be it 3mg or 6mg) that were a bit too harsh to vape without at least slightly coughing or your throat feeling clogged.

I also found this company which seems to be talked about a lot on the internet for its cheap prices & offers as well as decent quality and fast, free shipping. Have you had any experience with them whatsoever? The 12 GBP package with 3mg nicotine actually seems nice.

 

[untar]

The main difference between salt and "normal" nicotine is that salts are less harsh, yes. The jury is still out on the "more potent" part though.

Sadly I can't tell you anything about that company, haven't tried them yet.

 

[TarekElsakka]

The main difference between salt and "normal" nicotine is that salts are less harsh, yes. The jury is still out on the "more potent" part though.

Sadly I can't tell you anything about that company, haven't tried them yet.

Thanks a lot for all your help, I really appreciate you taking the time. I think I'll be looking out for short-fill e-liquids from now on and adding nicotine booster shots to them. I don't want to go through the hassle of using and carrying around several 10ml bottles because that seems more of a hassle than anything.

I found some of these "cheap" ones that seem to have a good reputation among vaping communities and forums:

*NEW* DripDrop Caramel & Vanilla Latte 100ml 0mg Shortfill | DDV

Big Mama's Milk eLiquid - Rejuiced

I am probably going to for for the Yosi 50ml e-liquid and salt nicotine shot first and then start ordering and trying those cheaper liquids I posted above in order to see if the premium price of the Yosi and similar brands is worth the difference.

 

[sonicbomb]

LiQuid E Liquid - £1 Incredibly Awesome UK Made Cheap 10ml E-LiQuid

 

[Budgie]

I get my concentrates to make my own juice from Decadent Vapours which I think are really good, they also do pre mixed which I have never tried, but if they are as good as their concentrates, it might be worth having a look at them.

 

[goneforagasper]

Some UK vendors advertise 30ml but what you get is 3x10ml, as others have said larger bottles are usually shortfill where you add the nic yourself

 

[ppeeble]

The introduction of the TPD has been a boon for vapers in the UK thanks to 'bottle shots' and 'shortfills'.
Prior to the implementation £10-£15 for 30ml appeared to be the norm for pre-made liquid and ready mixed flavours were few and far between. Now the average price for 30ml has dropped to around £2 as long as you're prepared to mix the ingredients yourself (assuming you have a stash of nicotine) or a little more if you have to buy 'nic shots'.
Unless, of course, you require high strength nicotine in your liquid. Even then it is possible to buy 10ml bottles of 18MG nic and add pre-mixed flavouring for a 1.4%-1.6% final product.
I would second the advice to try Darkstar for 'bottle shots' - i've found 70% of the pre-mixed flavours they sell work for me - and i'm fussy !
Personally - unless you're a complete beginner looking to try new things - i would not recommend mystery boxes because in my experience you end up with a lot of liquids the seller can't shift normally. Lucky dips are called that because if you're lucky you may get something you like. Chances are you won't be lucky !