Nicotine Salts Explained: Strengths, Devices & the Best Nic Salts in SA
If you vape a pod device, you’re almost certainly using nicotine salts. They’ve become the default e-liquid for mouth-to-lung (MTL) vaping because they deliver nicotine more smoothly and far more quickly than old-style freebase juice. This guide explains what nic salts actually are, how to pick your strength, which devices they belong in, and how to step down over time. Browse the full range of nicotine salts at ADVapes.
What are nicotine salts?
Nicotine salts are a form of nicotine that’s chemically gentler on the throat at higher strengths. In ordinary “freebase” e-liquid, pushing the strength up past about 12mg starts to feel harsh and scratchy — unpleasant enough that most people simply won’t do it. Nic salt solves that. It lets you comfortably vape 20mg, 35mg or even 50mg in a small pod device and still get a quick, satisfying hit that lands much closer to a cigarette.
The other half of the story is absorption speed. Nic salt reaches your bloodstream faster than freebase, which is why it takes the edge off a craving in a few puffs rather than a few minutes. For someone who has just put down cigarettes, that speed is the whole point.
The trade-off: nic salts are built for low-power MTL pods, not high-wattage cloud chasing. Put 50mg salt in a sub-ohm cloud device and you’ll have a genuinely miserable time.
Nic salts vs freebase — which is right for you?
The rule is simpler than most people make it:
- Nic salts — small MTL pod devices, tight cigarette-like draw, higher strengths (20–50mg), fast satisfaction. This is what almost every ex-smoker wants.
- Freebase — bigger sub-ohm devices, airy direct-to-lung draw, lower strengths (3–12mg), big clouds and a pronounced throat hit.
If you’re on a pod kit, you want salts. If you’re chasing clouds on a big mod, you want freebase. Mixing the two up is the single most common beginner mistake, and it’s an unpleasant one in both directions.
Which strength should you choose?
Start from your smoking habit, not from what a friend uses:
- 20mg: lighter smokers (roughly under half a pack a day), or anyone deliberately stepping their nicotine down.
- 35mg: a middle ground that suits a great many vapers, and a sensible landing spot if you’re unsure.
- 50mg: heavier smokers (a pack a day or more) who want the firmest, fastest hit.
Then adjust. Too harsh, or making you feel lightheaded? Drop a strength. Still craving and vaping constantly? Step up. There’s no prize for toughing out a strength that doesn’t suit you.
Stepping down over time
A refillable pod kit lets you taper in a way disposables never can. A very common path is 50mg → 35mg → 20mg → 0mg over several months. Move a step only when the current strength starts feeling like more than you need — rushing it usually sends people straight back to cigarettes.
What devices do nic salts go in?
Nic salts belong in a pod system — a small device made of two parts: a rechargeable battery, and a pod holding your e-liquid and the coil. Pod kits are designed for a tight, cigarette-like MTL draw and run at low power, which is exactly the environment nic salt is formulated for.
Within pod systems there are two flavours of the idea:
- Refillable pods — you fill an empty pod from a bottle with whatever nic salt you like. Cheapest per ml, widest flavour choice, and the only option that lets you control your own strength.
- Prefilled pods — pods arrive pre-loaded and click straight in. More convenient, slightly pricier per ml, and a good stepping stone if you’re coming off disposables.
Bottled nic salts only work with the refillable kind. If you want to buy the 30ml bottles below, you need a refillable pod system.
Best-selling nic salts at ADVapes
Airscream 313 Freezy Grape (40mg)
R299
Grape candy with a cold menthol finish — one of SA’s best-selling nic salts, and a fine first bottle.
ELFLIQ Elf Bull Ice (50mg)
R299
Elf Bar’s iconic energy-drink-on-ice flavour, bottled for refillable pods at full 50mg strength.
ELFLIQ Strawberry Snoow (50mg)
R299
Ripe strawberry over a clean icy base — the classic icy-fruit profile that suits almost everyone.
Airscream 313 Lychee Raspberry (40mg)
R299
Floral lychee meets tart raspberry — fruity, balanced and genuinely moreish.
The best beginner pod kits to pair with nic salts
Any low-power MTL refillable kit will do the job, but a few consistently come out on top for new vapers:
- Vaporesso XROS — reliable, refined, excellent flavour and very good value. The default recommendation for most people.
- OXVA XLIM / NeXLIM — superb flavour with adjustable airflow, so you can dial the draw from tight to loose.
- Uwell Caliburn — the old classic. Simple, smooth, hard to get wrong.
- Airscream Pro — a sleek, tight-draw option, and the natural home for the AirsPops 313 salts above.
Browse the full range under Pod Systems & Kits, and keep spare coils and pods on hand from Coils, Pods & Spares.
Nic salts, longfill kits or MTL freebase? The three ways to buy
Everything in the Nic Salts & MTL Liquids range falls into one of three buying routes, and knowing which one you’re on saves money and disappointment:
- Pre-mixed nic salts — ready to vape straight from the bottle at a fixed strength (20–50mg). The simplest option and the right starting point for most ex-smokers.
- Nic salt longfill kits — a bottle of concentrated flavour plus a nic shot you add yourself. A minute of mixing buys you a lower price per ml and control over your exact strength. Pair them with MTL longfill flavour shots once you’re comfortable mixing.
- MTL freebase liquids — classic lower-strength juice (6–12mg) for vapers who prefer a traditional throat hit in a tight-draw device. Slower satisfaction than salt, but some long-time vapers simply prefer it.
If you’re unsure, start pre-mixed; move to longfills when the monthly maths starts to bother you.
Cosmic Dropz Mint Endear (50mg)
R219
Clean, cool mint from a much-loved local range — a pre-mixed salt that undercuts the imports on price.
VapeMob Peach Brew Longfill Kit (50mg)
R239
Ripe peach as a mix-it-yourself longfill kit — shot included, and a painless first step into cheaper-per-ml vaping.
Common questions
How long does a pod or coil last?
Usually one to two weeks, depending on how much you vape and how sweet your liquid is. You’ll know it’s done when the flavour drops off or starts tasting burnt — replace it then rather than pushing through.
Can I use any e-liquid in a pod kit?
For MTL pod kits, stick to nic salts or higher-PG MTL liquids. They wick properly through small coils. Thick, high-VG sub-ohm juice will starve the coil and burn it.
What strength is right for a smoker?
Most smokers land at 35–50mg to begin with; lighter smokers do well at 20mg. You can always step down later — and most people do.
Can I get nic salts at 0mg?
Zero-nicotine options exist, though at 0mg the “salt” distinction stops mattering much — what you’re really buying at that point is flavour.
Why does 50mg feel harsh in my device?
Almost always because the device is too powerful. Nic salt is smooth at low wattage and brutal at high wattage. Check that you’re using a genuine MTL pod, not a sub-ohm setup.
How much will nic salt actually cost you?
A moderate MTL pod vaper gets through roughly 2ml a day — about 60ml, or two 30ml bottles, a month. At around R299 a bottle that’s roughly R600 a month in liquid, plus about R120 a month in replacement pods or coils. Call it R720 a month, all in.
That sounds like a lot until you compare it with disposables, where buying the same 60ml of e-liquid costs closer to R1,100 a month. Bottled nic salt is simply the cheapest legitimate way to buy nicotine per ml, and it’s the reason a refillable kit pays for itself so quickly. If you buy cheaper 30ml salts than the premium bottles carded above, your monthly cost drops further again.
Storing your nic salts
Keep bottles upright, sealed, out of direct sunlight and away from heat. Nicotine oxidises slowly over time — an old bottle darkens and the flavour dulls, though it stays perfectly usable. Stored properly and unopened, most bottles are good for a year or more.
Buy two or three flavours at a time rather than stockpiling ten. You’ll enjoy them more, you’ll avoid palate fatigue, and nothing goes stale at the back of a drawer. And keep every bottle locked away from children and pets — concentrated nicotine is genuinely dangerous if swallowed.
Shop all nicotine salts
Hundreds of nic-salt flavours in 20mg, 35mg and 50mg — in stock with fast nationwide delivery.
Browse Nic Salts →You must be 18 or older to purchase. These products contain nicotine, which is an addictive substance. Not for use by non-smokers, pregnant or breastfeeding women.
