What Is Salt Nicotine? A Beginner’s Nic Salt E-juice Guide

Whether you are a smoker trying to kick an addiction, or a regular vape user seeking an alternative, nicotine salts can greatly benefit you. In addition, it is a safe alternative to traditional smoking while still providing a satisfying kick.

Tobacco in the market is available in nicotine salt e-liquid and freebase nicotine. The freebase is the longest-established nicotine state known for smoking, while nicotine salts are a recent discovery in the vaping industry. 

Nicotine salts are a form of nicotine that allows you to vape nicotine easier without the throat hit common in nicotine products. Nicotine salt e-juice also has a longer shelf life than alternatives and can give you higher nicotine concentrations. 

What is Salt Nicotine?

Nicotine salt is the natural state of tobacco found in its leaves. Nic salts are stable and require a high temperature to turn into vapor. Moreover, nicotine salts have an ionic form. As a result, they can easily pass through the body’s barriers and get to the receptors, giving them a high absorption rate.

Because of this phenomenon, extracting nicotine salt directly from the leaves and transferring it to the body won’t give you the kick you want. Therefore, employing alternative extraction techniques is necessary for vaping nicotine salts.

Experts at Pax Lab, America, manipulated nicotine salts to eliminate the transmission drawbacks. They bonded nicotine base with benzoic acid and other organic compounds to create a chemical reaction that enhanced its bioavailability. Nicotine becomes instantly available to the receptors when bonded with benzoic acid than in other forms.

What is Freebase Nicotine?

After purification from tobacco leaves, nicotine is in a freebase state, its purest form. However, it requires a high temperature for this form to produce the desired effect.

Manufacturers use this technique in cigarettes, where they pair nicotine with salt and ammonia because the bond between nicotine and ammonia is susceptible to heat.

Freebase nicotine has a similar composition to that in tobacco leaves, and this nicotine form doesn’t change until it reaches a high temperature. As a result, many vapers can only tolerate it in low concentrations.

Heating a cigarette breaks the bonds and releases free nicotine, which is how smokers get an intense nicotine sensation. Moreover, freebase is the primary ingredient in most vape juice used for vaping devices.

Differences Between Nicotine Salt and Freebase Nicotine

In light of the recent popularity of nicotine salts, it is vital to understand the differences between nic salts and freebase to make an informed decision about which to vape.

Throat Hit

Nicotine salt e-liquids have low pH levels and lower alkalinity than freebase. As a result, nicotine salt provides a smoother throat hit, which many people find to be a more satisfying vape experience. 

On the other hand, freebase nicotine has a higher pH since it has ammonia. Thus, it produces a rough throat hit due to its high alkaline composition, giving the two types of nicotine a noticeable difference in how they affect the throat.

It is challenging to mimic the effects of smoking with freebase vapes without getting persistent hoarseness in the throat because increasing the nicotine concentration enhances the harsh impact. Therefore, users must utilize smaller amounts of nicotine to prevent adverse effects. However, low doses are insufficient to provide the required nicotine kick, so people turn to nic salt.

Nicotine Hit

Users can alter their concentration levels when using nicotine salt as a vaping ingredient. Moreover, with nic salts, one can tolerate a high nicotine strength, such as 50mg. These high levels do not adversely affect the throat and are easier to inhale when vaping nicotine salts.

Benzoic acid is capable of effectively delivering nicotine salts to the receptors. The commonly used concentrations of nic salts are 3-5mg, 25-30mg, or 35-50mg and above. Therefore, even the lower nicotine salts can produce a substantial hit.

Furthermore, more nicotine per puff means that your device’s battery life will last longer, and you’ll use less juice. 

Delivery to the Receptors

Cigarettes readily deliver nicotine to the receptors. With each puff, the brain receives more nicotine. As a result, the nicotine dependence of the brain also elevates.

The lower harshness effects of nicotine salts allow manufacturers to incorporate more significant amounts of nicotine in the vaping liquids. Hence, while vaping, one consumes higher nicotine levels with each puff.

So, nicotine salt delivers a higher nicotine level to the receptors than freebase, causing an effect similar to a cigarette and satiates the user’s nicotine dependency.

Devices

Freebase nicotine requires high-powered vape pens since strong electronic cigarettes balance lower levels. In the case of nicotine salts, you need to use low-wattage devices, like pod systems. If you use a high-capacity device, the nicotine kick can be challenging to handle and cause severe harshness in the throat.

A sub-ohm device, in particular, is not used to vape nicotine salts because they are high wattage and cannot balance the levels in the nicotine salt.

E-Juice

When it comes to freebase, users must add more vape juice to get the desired nicotine effect. However, with nic salts, the higher concentration per puff than when using conventional e-liquids means that smaller amounts of e-juice are enough to get the desired feeling. 

Since nic salts have a high absorption rate, you won’t use as much as regular e-liquids.

Advantages of Using Nic Salts Over Freebase Nicotine

The following are the pros of using nic salts.

The Safety Levels

Nic salts do not produce harmful impacts on your throat, such as harshness. 

Additionally, users can consume them at a significant level without as many adverse health effects, which is a great advantage over smoking cigarettes.

Quit smoking

For smokers seeking liberation from addiction, using nic salts for vaping is the alternative step. Your brain gets the required amount of nicotine according to the level of dependence. Afterward, you can consume the nic salts less frequently with lower amounts needed for nicotine satisfaction.

Replacing Cigarettes

Salt nicotine solution does not have the carcinogenic and toxic substances present in a cigarette, which means that nic salt e-liquids have the same high nicotine concentration but without the harmful impacts of cigarettes. Thus, if you are looking for a safer way to smoke, a salt nicotine solution is your best option.

Storage

Salt nicotine solution also has a long-lasting life since it is a stable form of nicotine and does not oxidize rapidly due to air contact or other environmental changes.

Low Maintenance Devices

Another advantage is that nic salt juices require lower wattage devices, which are also easier to handle and beginner-friendly.

Disadvantages of Using Nic Salts Over Freebase Nicotine

Although salt nicotine solution is comparatively more appropriate than freebase nicotine, there are some downsides.

Smaller Clouds

Nic salts are not appropriate for cloud chasers as they produce less vapor because of the lower amount of e-juice used and the low-wattage e-cigarettes used to vape them.

Disrupted Taste

The higher the nicotine level in a vape juice, the more you will taste the slightly peppery taste of nicotine. Since salt nicotine solution allows you to use high-strength nicotine salts, your liquid’s taste can change significantly, especially if you try to vape them with sub-ohm devices. 

Beginner’s Guide to Salt Nic E-Liquid 

For beginners to understand salt nic vape juices and how they create the nicotine effect, it is essential to understand their mechanisms. In addition, the following are some other factors you should consider while taking up salt nic as an e-liquid ingredient.

Nicotine Concentration

Nic salts have a higher ratio of nicotine per part. Therefore, you must manage the amount of e-liquid inserted into the device accordingly. You must also adjust the dose according to your tolerance levels. Furthermore, to manage a smoking addiction and curb the cravings, ensure that the nicotine level in the vape matches your cigarette intake.

The Type of Device

The type of device you use depends upon the nicotine intake you prefer.

You should only use high-powered devices such as ohm tanks for small concentrations (3-5mg). The equipment’s low levels and high capacity provide a strong nicotine flavor.

20-30mg are ideal concentrations for people who want to reduce their nicotine consumption. These levels are adequate and do not overpower the nicotine. Thus, use medium wattage devices for these levels. You can also try low-power devices to curb nicotine addiction effectively.

For 50mg or higher levels, use a lower wattage device for the best vaping experience since the nicotine levels in this concentration are high. 

Amount of E-juice

Pour lower quantities of e-juice into your device to get a better vaping experience because each puff will have sufficient nicotine levels, especially if you are a beginner.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are salt nic vapes safe?

Nic salts are safer than traditional e-juices because they do not cause irritation and coarseness in the throat. However, it can still cause addiction if the intake levels are unchecked.

Can nic salts cause sickness?

When you pair nic salt e-juice with a sub-ohm vaping mod or high wattage device, it can affect your throat. As a result, the affected throat becomes sensitive to infection that can lead to sickness.

Can nicotine salts cause kidney stones?

When a product contains nicotine, its chances of giving you renal disorders increase, therefore, you should not consume a high level of nicotine through vaping nic salts if you have a renal condition.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a fantastic e-cigarette experience, choose nic salts as an effective and safer alternative than freebase. You can absorb nicotine more safely and comfortably than if you get your nicotine from the tobacco leaves in traditional cigarettes.