Vape Additives & Flavour Shots in South Africa: Buyer’s Guide
If you mix your own e-liquid — or you’re thinking about starting — the Additives & Shots shelf is where everything comes together. This is the home of nicotine shots, flavour shots and base liquids: the inexpensive building blocks that turn a bottle of concentrate into ready-to-vape juice at a fraction of the retail price per ml. This buyer’s guide explains what each additive actually does, how to pair the right nic shot with the right bottle, and which in-stock products to start with. For the step-by-step mixing walkthrough, see our DIY e-liquid hub — this page is the shopping companion to it.
What counts as a vape additive?
Four product types live in this category, and they each do one job:
- Flavour shots (longfill concentrates): a part-filled bottle of concentrated flavour — typically 15ml of flavour in a 30ml bottle, or 30ml in a 120ml bottle. You top it up with nicotine and base to make the full volume. Our 60ml longfill guide covers the mid-size format in detail.
- Freebase nic shots: unflavoured nicotine in a PG or VG base (usually 24mg–60mg in a 10ml bottle) used to bring a big direct-lung bottle up to 2mg–5mg.
- Salt nic shots: smoother, faster-absorbing nicotine (typically 25mg–50mg in 15ml) used to finish mouth-to-lung longfills at pod-friendly strengths.
- VG and PG bases: plain vegetable glycerine or propylene glycol for topping up volume, thinning or thickening a mix, or making 0mg liquid.
Nic shot maths: getting the strength right
Every shot on the shelf is labelled with what it “makes”, and the arithmetic is simple: one 24mg/10ml shot in a 120ml bottle gives roughly 2mg; a 36mg/10ml shot gives about 3mg; a 60mg/10ml shot about 5mg. Doubling up doubles the strength. Direct-lung vapers usually stop at 2mg–3mg, while mouth-to-lung longfills use salt shots for 10mg–25mg-equivalent smoothness.
The golden rule: match the nicotine type to the device. Freebase shots suit airy sub-ohm setups; salt shots suit tight pod-style draws. If you’re not sure which side of the fence you’re on, our nic salts & MTL liquids pillar explains the difference — and if mixing isn’t for you at all, pre-mixed nic salts skip the maths entirely.
In-stock additives & shots at ADVapes
How to put a bottle together
Mixing takes about two minutes: open the flavour shot, add the recommended nic shot (the product page tells you which one), top up with VG if the recipe calls for it, cap and shake hard, then let it stand. Fruit and menthol profiles are good within a day; creams and desserts taste noticeably better after a few days of steeping. A 120ml of finished DIY liquid typically works out at half the price per ml of buying ready-mixed — that saving is the whole reason this category exists.
Vape additives & flavour shots FAQ
What’s the difference between a flavour shot and a longfill?
Nothing meaningful — the terms are used interchangeably in South Africa. Both mean a bottle of concentrated flavour with empty space left for you to add nicotine and base.
Freebase or salt nic shot — which do I need?
Match the device: freebase shots for airy direct-lung tanks at 2mg–5mg, salt shots for tight pod-style draws at higher equivalent strengths. Mixing salts into a DL bottle (or vice versa) is the most common DIY mistake.
How many nic shots does a 120ml bottle need?
One 24mg/10ml shot makes about 2mg; one 36mg/10ml makes about 3mg. Use two shots to double the strength. Salt-based longfills usually specify a single 15ml salt shot.
Do I need to steep after adding a shot?
Shake well and give fruits a few hours to a day; give desserts and tobaccos three to seven days. Steeping lets the nicotine and flavour bind evenly through the bottle.
Adults 18+ only. Nicotine is an addictive substance. Not for use by non-smokers, pregnant or breastfeeding women.
