I got some Nic Salt about 6 weeks ago, just out of curiosity. My wife was in the US so she brought back a half liter from LNW. I mainly squonk at 3mg. I tried the Salt and liked that it is smoother. I then mixed up a small batch at 6mg, just to see. It was too much for me, so back to 3mg. I then mixed up a bunch of my ADVs using it. So, for about a month all I was using was the Nic Salt. Two days ago I broke out some juice I had made with the freebase nic, which I was quite happy with for the last 1.5 years. It’s also at 3mg but the harshness is so pronounced. It’s not unvapeable, it’s just not as pleasant as the Salt.
As for the poster who said that he had spiraled upwards in when using Salt, I’ve noticed the opposite. I was vaping 30ml+ per day (squonk) and now I’m at 20ml max per day. Nothing else has changed, such as my work schedule or health, I just have been doing it less. I can’t say definitively it’s due to using Salt Nic but I’ll be keeping tabs when I go back to freebase. I’ve got 3 years of it in my freezer, so I don’t think I’ll let it go to waste. I finish this 500ml of Salt and see what happens.
All that being said, in my experience, it’s just a smoother nicotine that makes vaping more pleasurable for me.
I got my nic salts a couple of weeks thanks to @woftam recommendation and oh my it’s amazing.
I won’t be ordering nicotine base again. I have heaps of juice mixed with it and I haven’t touched it since I got the nic salts other than a taste.
It’s a lot harsher on the throat, oxidization is incomparable, the juice made with nic salts are still clear after a week and the flavours are better.
At first I thought it was just that my mixes were improving, but it’s more than that.
I also don’t get why you would aim for more throat hit? To my little brain it’s like smoking the old camel with no filter, why would you, I just don’t get it!
Now that I am mixing with different nicotine strengths, I do believe I (we) need to adjust the total flavor% based on the strength of the juice, salts or regular. I think it takes +0.17 to +0.33 Total Flavor (TF) for each +3 nic strength. This could explain why i’ve adapted recipes in the past, and thought they were flat at the higher nic strength I mix at.
but at the same time salt is so smooth it may take extra flavor just to switch a recipe to salt.
When I bought cigarettes, I often ripped or cut the filters off, and when I rolled my own I did not use a filter. I liked it. That is why.
I also use salts, but now add some freebase nic too because I like the taste much better that way. I really don’t care for too much TH, just some. It really depends on the device too. I can’t stand the taste of my juice with a high salt percentage if a drop or 2 gets in my mouth. It is gross to me but a little normal juice splashing somehow doesn’t bother me too much.
With my high nic MTL juice for RDAs, I like about half of the nic to be freebase.
In the pods(even higher yet nic), I couldn’t care less about the flavor and am just doing it for the fast nic feeling and it would probably be too harsh for me with freebase nic.
With subohm RDAs, I just like freebase nic at 3 and don’t want to even try the salts with that if I can’t stand the taste of a drop salt juice on my tongue.
I also find the salts strangely addicting or not so strangely, considering what they are designed to do that freebase doesn’t.
Something about wanting to hit that pod so much for the feeling, when I have all these other more tasty ways of vaping to choose from…
Oh I love them too, but know part of it is the superfast nicotine, similar to a cigarette. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to have a work break without hitting my pod o’ salts when before I could even forget to vape.
Salts are a game changer IMO. They are more addictive (to me), but I am thinking that the instant nic gratification is, or will be conducive to higher quitting success rates for smokers.
Will my salt based e-liquid ever discolor or will it just stay crystal clear?
In 2 weeks normally it would start taking on a goldish tint, this bottle I mixed with salts is not.
I can say that my bottle of 100mg/ml VG salts is a few weeks old and not refrigerated. It is still colorless. I keep my small stash of flavors and nic in an ammo box so it is dark in there, but not cold. The freebase nic still darkens some. Also the juices I made with just nic salts seem to stay the color that the flavors gave them. I have not been using the salts for very long, but there have been no changes as I can tell.
It might be weird but I actually like a little oxidation for flavor and my salts haven’t done that yet. lol
That is what i’m wondering too, as the flavors blend and the oxidation process happens the juice comes together into a single flavor. usually 2 weeks in this flavor I have mixed would begin discoloration, but the bottle with salts is still crystal clear. I’m just trying to figure out what this is indicating? The acid in the freebase nicotine causes oxidation with the flavors in the mix?
when my wife tried this uncured salty e-liquid, she said she dont like it, its too smooth
I really can’t see any issue with it. It will just bring the ph back closer to neutral / alkaline which will increase the throat hit (as it gets closer or past a neutral ph).
I am fairly confident this is how NN formulate their salts smooth, signature and hit.
I believe another method would be to add your own acids (such as benzoic as used by juul) to freebase to achieve the level of TH you wish.
Have you or anyone tested the PH of each of the smooth and hit NR or NN products? I have been sampling NR smooth, and taste wise it is just that…smooth. My wife even nailed that difference when she tasted it she said “that is smooth” followed by “I like the other one” (freebase nic).
I had never thought so much about ph as having an effect on taste of e-liquid
Until I got my hands on the nic salts, I still had the odd ciggie. (Started vaping 2nd February)
But now I’m not having any at all!
I wonder if the nic hit is better too.
Think I’ve only got 100ml left of the base, it can sit in the freezer.
I’m about to purchase some nicotine, so I am reading this thread with interest. I find this very compelling. With all the discussion about the Maillard reaction and the alkalinity of freebase nic (many prior discussions), it seems nic salts may be stopping/slowing the Maillard reaction (Yellowing of steeping e-liquids).
If your Nic Salt juices are still showing evidence of steeping without an apparent Maillard reaction (stays clear), then all our notions of steeping=maillard reaction is challenged! Kind of a big deal… Anyone making Custards with Nic Salts and enjoying a cured Custard after 4 weeks? [looks over at @Ken_O_Where]
I’m still playing around with nic salt as well, but I can tell you that it works great with fruits, beverages, lighter bakeries and creams.
While my custard isn’t bad, its very different to my custard I’ve made with freebase. It felt to me that it taste crisper/clearer but lost its thickness/creaminess. So I’m assuming, again I have no real lab to test it, that it amplifies specific flavors and dulls/mellows thicker/richer.
But I’m running some cap v1 testers at the moment to be sure I’m not crazy, since we all know how thick and rich that custard normally is lol. Not my favorite but hey easy to test with.
Also my issue lies that most salts apparently can’t/should be vaped above 50watts, I enjoy my custards at higher wattage even tho I normally vape low watt. I did notice that my other custard does get a metallic aftertaste with the salt. My fruits if on higher watt with same salt don’t do that.
Hope someone else can chime in, but I’ll keep my findings posted.
Edit: I only use low nic and don’t do high nic pods myself, maybe a custard would be different then? I let my friend be the Guinea pig for 2 weeks I guess, so I can maybe report on that too
