Whether you’re new to vaping or you’ve been using a vape for a few years now, you may find that sometimes your vape tastes bad.
If you get a strange taste from your vape device, it’s most likely due to low-quality e-liquid, improper cleaning techniques, or bad parts in your vape.
Understanding the Strange Taste In Your Vape
Most of the time, when someone says their vape tastes terrible, they are referring to a burnt taste often caused by debris within the atomizer or a burnt coil.
If you have any other odd taste, you most likely have a problem with your e-liquid.
Mixing Two Flavors Unintentionally
You might end up with a mix of different e-liquid flavors if you don’t clean the tank correctly between juices, which can make even your favorite vape juice taste awful.
Remember to always clean the tank before swapping vape flavors. Also, if you do mix juices, make sure they are complementary flavors.
Choosing the Wrong Vape Flavor
Manufacturers design each vape to give off the flavor of different types of e-liquids. So, you might be using the wrong vape flavor if you’re getting a burning taste.
Otherwise, if the flavoring is all you are tasting, your ratio might be off. Increasing the flavor content by 20% and reducing the nicotine content by 10% will often dramatically change the taste.
Similarly, you might have flavor fatigue from using one juice too much, which can make your e-liquid taste different than usual.
Incorrect E-Juice Storage
If you store e-juice for a long time, the chemicals inside of it may begin to break down. To prevent damage to your flavors, make sure you put your product immediately in a dark place after purchase.
Using Incompatible E-liquids
If you want the best flavor experience, you need to know your coil’s wattage range. This range can give you a good idea of the perfect PG/VG ratio for your e-liquid. Your vape manufacturer’s website should have more detail about what e-liquids to use.
For example, a smaller coil head (pen-style or pod mod vape device) with lower wattage will need a higher volume of PG to run smoothly. Meanwhile, a bigger coil head uses more VG.
So, if you use the wrong ratio for your vaping device, you may perceive something a bit odd on your tongue. High-PG or high-VG ratios with a lot of nicotine are also notorious for giving a burnt taste.
Utilizing an Old Coil Head
You may need to replace your coil head if you use it for a long time and you get a burnt-tasting e-cigarette. Coil heads burn out because every time you press the button, they heat up and reduce their lifespan.
Vaper’s Tongue
A build-up of the chemicals in vape juice on the tongue can cause difficulty tasting and may explain why vape juice tastes sour or bland sometimes.
You can do certain things to return your former taste, though. Changing to a lighter flavor or unflavored vape juice may help, as well as using more potent menthol flavors until your taste returns. You can also try biting into some coffee beans to try and jump-start your taste buds.
But remember that if you do get vaper’s tongue, it is nothing to worry about, and your taste should return in a few days.
Using High Wattage Levels for Vaping
When your mod has a touch-screen interface, you may accidentally vape your e-cig at high wattages, leaving a burning taste in your mouth and possibly irritation in your throat.
The awful taste is because the heating coil vaporizes the e-liquid too quickly, causing the wick to run out of e-liquid before it can replenish itself. Eventually, the coil will overheat, burning the wick.
When you vape at higher than recommended wattage levels, you’ll end up with a weird taste, which will also ruin your coils and devices. Remember to check your settings now and then to know exactly what wattage you are using.
If you have burnt your wick, you should wash your device thoroughly, including inside the atomizer head, to get rid of burnt residue. Then, dry everything with a paper towel.
Not Priming Correctly
If you fill your tank and then fire it straight away, you may end up vaporizing the wick rather than the vape flavor in the atomizer. Since when the cotton doesn’t have e-juice, it burns, producing dry hits.
To avoid the coil and wick from burning when heated, make sure to properly prime your coil with a couple of drops of e-liquid. When installing a new coil head, you should directly spray vape flavor on the wick until thoroughly saturated. Then, leave the cotton to soak for 5-10 minutes.
It’s also a good idea to ask the staff at the vape shop how to prime the wick on your specific device before you buy it.
Giving Vapes No Rest Between Hits
Chain vapers, beware! If you don’t give your device a short break between puffs, you may end up with a burning sensation on your tongue.
If you puff continuously, you don’t leave enough time for more e-liquid to soak into the wick, making the wick dry, which will produce a dry hit and shorten the life of your coil.
If you’re into chain vaping, look for coils that are more suited to that style.
Vaping With An Empty Tank
When you’re out all day, it is possible to run out of e-liquid, which will leave nothing to evaporate and burn the coil. You’ll also get a disgusting dry hit.
A tank that doesn’t have enough e-liquid leaves the wicking holes exposed, giving you a horrible charcoal taste. When you’re on the go, keeping a spare bottle of e-liquid in your bag will allow you to refill your vape tank quickly and avoid vaping on an empty tank.
If the burnt flavor persists, you might have to install a new vape coil.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my vape taste burnt even after changing the coil?
The easiest way to get rid of bad taste in the new coil is to soak it in thin e-liquid first. Once you’ve saturated the wick, blow out any excess juice, and reinsert the coil. Puff a few times without inhaling if there are still unwanted flavors.
What nicotine strength should I vape for the best flavor?
If you’re a smoker, the highest nicotine strength e-liquid might be the right choice since a lower nicotine strength might not satisfy you. However, nicotine has a natural tang that most vapers describe as peppery, so a high nicotine juice isn’t the best if you’re most concerned about flavor. Furthermore, non-smokers should stick with zero nicotine juices to prevent addiction.
Just remember that nicotine is a poisonous and addictive substance, which will put you at an elevated risk of high blood pressure, birth defects, and heart disease. Also, nicotine should only be consumed by people of legal smoking age and never orally ingested.
Is there a vape that tastes like a cigarette?
Some vape juice creators try to recreate the flavor of a cigarette, but few people believe they are exactly like smoking cigarettes. The reason you won’t get a cigarette vaping experience is that e-juices can’t use actual tobacco.
Committed smokers who switch to vapes should try out different flavors that are strong and peppery to get a similar taste to a cigarette.
Final Thoughts
If your e-cig tastes a bit weird, you should try cleaning your tank, ensuring you don’t have a vaper’s tongue, changing your coils and priming them properly, or just trying out new flavors of e-liquids.