Ask a vape shop for the best vape juice and they will point at whatever has the best margin this week. Ask Google and you will get retailer blogs ranking the bottles they sell. This guide is neither of those things. VapeFeat sells nothing, stocks nothing, and takes no commission from any brand on this page. Every bottle below is one you can buy from any proper UK vape shop, and every bottle is fully legal under the rules Britain vapes by now.
Here is the part the retailer roundups skip: the best vape juice is not one bottle. It is the right bottle for your kit. A nic salt that sings in a pod kit tastes harsh and burns coils in a sub-ohm tank. A shortfill that clouds beautifully at 70 watts floods a pod. So this guide starts where the buying decision actually starts, with the three liquid types, then ranks the bottles inside each one, then covers flavour families, strength and coil pairing, and the cost maths with the new duty baked in.
One more thing changed the answer this year. The £2.20 per 10ml vaping duty now sits inside every shelf price, nicotine or not. Multibuys and shortfills got more valuable overnight, and single bottles at full price got worse value. The picks below are ranked with that maths in mind, not just the flavour.
The three liquid types, decoded
Everything on a UK shelf is one of three things. Learn this table and you will never buy the wrong bottle again.
| Type | What it is | Nicotine | Best for | Typical ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nic salt | Nicotine salt e-liquid in 10ml bottles | 5, 10, 20mg | Pod kits, ex-smokers | 50/50 |
| Freebase | Classic nicotine e-liquid in 10ml bottles | 0, 3, 6, 12, 18mg | Starter kits, flavour chasers | 50/50 or 70/30 |
| Shortfill | Nicotine-free liquid in 50ml or 100ml bottles, room left for nic shots | 0mg, add shots to reach 3mg | Sub-ohm kits, heavy vapers, budget | 70/30 or 50/50 |
Nic salts are the modern default. The salt formulation absorbs fast and feels smooth even at 20mg, which is why every ex-disposable vaper ends up here. They are made for low-power pod kits with coils between 0.8 and 1.4 ohms. They are also the cheapest way to quit smoking: a 10ml bottle lasts a moderate vaper two to three days.
Freebase is the original e-liquid. The throat hit is stronger and more cigarette-like at the same strength, which some vapers prefer, and the strength ladder is wider, from 0mg up to 18mg in 10ml bottles. Freebase suits starter kits and anyone who wants to step down gradually: 12mg to 6mg to 3mg is the classic taper path.
Shortfills are the bulk buy. Because they contain no nicotine, they can legally be sold in 50ml and 100ml bottles. You add nicotine shots yourself: two 18mg shots into a 100ml shortfill gives you 120ml at 3mg. Shortfills are the cheapest liquid per ml by a wide margin, and the format every sub-ohm vaper uses.
How to read a bottle before you buy
Five things on the label decide whether a bottle suits you.
Ratio. 50/50 means equal PG and VG: thin liquid, discreet vapour, pod-kit friendly. 70/30 means high VG: thick liquid, big clouds, sub-ohm only. Put 70/30 in a pod and the coil starves and burns. Put 50/50 in a sub-ohm tank and it floods and spits.
Strength. UK nicotine tops out at 20mg. For nic salts, 20mg is the ex-smoker strength, 10mg is the moderate strength, 5mg is the light strength. For freebase, 12mg and 18mg suit heavier smokers, 3mg and 6mg suit everyone else.
Size. Nicotine liquid comes in 10ml bottles only. That is the law, not the brand being stingy. Anything bigger with nicotine in it is either a shortfill with shots added or illegal.
Flavour. Flavour names are marketing, but the family matters: fruit and ice dominate for a reason, menthol converts smokers best, dessert is a treat not an all-day vape for most people. The flavour-family section below covers this properly.
Duty stamp. Since October 2026 every legal bottle carries the vaping duty. No stamp, no sale: that bottle came through a channel you do not want to know about. Our UK vape tax guide breaks down exactly what the duty did to shelf prices.
Nic salts: the ranked picks
1. Best nic salt overall: Bar Juice 5000
Bar Juice 5000 is the bar-salt that set the template: disposable flavours in a refillable bottle, done properly. The range covers the whole disposable flavour map, from Cherry Berry and Grape Blueberry Ice to Pear Banana and Double Apple Shisha, all at 50/50 with 5mg, 10mg and 20mg strengths. At £3.49 a bottle, commonly 4 for £10, it is also the value benchmark every other nic salt is judged against. Cherry Ice is the safest first buy if you are choosing blind: sweet cherry, clean ice, nothing weird.
2. Best bar salt for ex-disposable vapers: ELFLIQ
ELFLIQ is Elf Bar’s own recipes in 10ml bottles, and for anyone coming off Elf Bar disposables it is the shortest path to the same taste. The flavour library mirrors the disposable range, so the blue razz ice you loved is here, in a bottle, at a fraction of the running cost. Priced in the same £3-4 bracket as other bar salts, it is the obvious first bottle for the ex-disposable vaper. Our Elf Bar brand guide maps the full post-ban Elf Bar lineup, from the Elfa Pro to the ELFX refillables.
3. Best menthol nic salt: Halo Menthol Blast
Menthol is where cheap liquid shows its seams: bad menthol tastes like cough sweets, good menthol tastes like cold air. Halo’s Menthol Blast is the benchmark for the clean, icy, no-nonsense version, and Halo is one of the UK’s longest-running manufacturers with its own UK factory. If you are an ex-menthol smoker, this is the bottle that makes the switch stick. It comes in 10ml, nic salt and shortfill formats, so you can keep the same flavour as you move between kits.
Freebase 10mls: the ranked picks
4. Best British classic: Vampire Vape Heisenberg and Pinkman
No UK juice list is honest without Vampire Vape. Heisenberg, the blue aniseed-menthol legend, and Pinkman, the safer fruity all-day vape, are two of the most famous e-liquids in British history, and the catalogue behind them runs to 60-plus flavours. At £3.49 a bottle, commonly 4 for £10, in 50/50 with a 0 to 18mg strength ladder, this is the freebase range that covers every vaper: the ex-smoker at 12mg, the taperer at 6mg, the nicotine-free at 0mg. Heisenberg divides opinion, which is exactly why it is famous. Pinkman is the one to buy first. Our Vampire Vape brand guide decodes every flavour family, the honest divisive warnings, and the price-per-ml maths across all six product formats.
5. Best dessert juice: Dinner Lady Lemon Tart
Dinner Lady built its name on one flavour: Lemon Tart, lemon curd and meringue in pastry, and it is still the dessert juice everything else is measured against. The nic salt version runs £3.99, 4 for £10, and the dessert range now includes bar salts for the disposable crowd. Dessert juice is not an all-day vape for most people, but as an evening bottle, or as the flavour that keeps a new vaper interested, Lemon Tart has no real rival. Buy one bottle alongside your all-day fruit before committing to a dessert rotation.
Shortfills: the ranked picks
6. Best shortfill for clouds: Doozy Seriously Nice
Doozy’s Seriously Nice 100ml shortfills are the cloud-chaser’s value pick: £9.99 for 100ml of 70/30 liquid in flavours like Arctic Berries, Blackcurrant Lemonade and Blue Razz Ice. Add two nic shots and you have 120ml at 3mg for around £12, which is roughly a tenth of the per-ml cost of single nic salt bottles. The Fusionz line at £11.99 (often 2 for £20) is the step up for vapers who want the bolder fruit-ice blends. Both are made in the UK and built for sub-ohm kits with coils below 0.6 ohms.
7. Best pod-fill shortfill: Doozy Seriously Pod Fill x2
Shortfills used to mean sub-ohm only. The Pod Fill x2 range changed that: 100ml of double-concentrated 50/50 liquid designed for pod kits and MTL devices, at £11.99. Cool Mint is the standout, a clean sweet-and-cooling mint that works as an all-day vape. This is the bottle for the pod-kit vaper who wants shortfill prices without buying a sub-ohm kit: one 100ml bottle plus two nic shots covers roughly a month of moderate vaping.
8. Best budget juice: Just Juice 50:50
Just Juice is the budget aisle done right. The 50:50 10ml range runs £2.99 a bottle, the Bar nic salt range covers the disposable flavours, and the Brutal Drinks 100ml shortfills (Blackcurrant Crush, Brutal Bull, Frozen Mojito, Mango Lassi, Pina Colada) run £9.99. The quality gap between Just Juice and bottles twice the price is smaller than the price gap suggests. For the vaper who wants maximum days per pound, start here.
9. Best nicotine-free juice: the 0mg route
Nicotine-free vaping is not a separate product, it is a strength choice on the same bottles. Every freebase range on this page runs a 0mg version, every shortfill is 0mg by definition, and Vampire Vape’s 0mg 10mls are the cheapest entry point. The winning move is a refillable kit plus 0mg liquid: cheapest vaping in Britain, and the standard exit ramp off nicotine. Our nicotine-free vape guide maps all three 0mg routes, the shortfill maths, and a four-step taper plan that actually works.
The flavour families: what to buy first
Fruit and ice. The default UK profile, and the biggest family by far. Berry, cherry, grape and mango lead, with an ice finish on most of them. If you are choosing blind, buy fruit-ice first: it is the profile the fewest people hate.
Menthol and mint. The smoker’s bridge. Pure menthol for the strongest hit, spearmint for the softer gum-like version, peppermint for the sweet candy version. Menthol converts smokers better than any other family, and it is the flavour most ex-smokers still vape a year later.
Dessert and bakery. Custard, pastry, donut, vanilla. Rich, sweet, and divisive: dessert juice either becomes your all-day vape or gets shelved after a week. Buy one bottle, never a multibuy, until you know which camp you are in.
Tobacco. The smallest family and the hardest to get right. Good tobacco juice tastes like a rolling pouch, not a cigarette, and most ex-smokers move off it within weeks. Buy tobacco only if you specifically want it, and pair it with a 20mg nic salt.
Drinks. Cola, energy drink, lemonade, mojito. Fun, fizzy, and best as a second bottle rather than the main one. The drinks family is where the novelty flavours live, and novelty fades fast.
Strength and coil pairing: the table that saves your coils
| Your kit | Coil | Liquid to buy | Strength to start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refillable pod kit | 0.8-1.4 ohm | Nic salt or freebase 50/50 | 20mg salt / 12mg freebase for ex-smokers, 10mg / 6mg for everyone else |
| Starter pen kit | 0.8-1.2 ohm | Freebase or nic salt 50/50 | 12mg freebase / 10mg salt |
| Sub-ohm kit | 0.1-0.6 ohm | Shortfill 70/30 | 3mg (two shots in 100ml) |
| Pod kit, budget route | 0.8-1.4 ohm | Pod-fill shortfill 50/50 | 3mg (two shots in 100ml) |
Two mistakes cause most bad experiences. The first is high-VG liquid in a pod: the coil starves, burns, and tastes like ash within a day. The second is 20mg nic salt in a sub-ohm tank: far too much nicotine far too fast, and a headache within the hour. Match the bottle to the coil and both problems disappear. Our best refillable vape guide covers the kits themselves. Our best vape guide ranks the devices these bottles go into.
The cost maths: what each format actually costs
Per-ml prices, duty included, from current UK shelf prices:
| Format | What you pay | What you get | Cost per ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single nic salt bottle | £3.49 | 10ml | ~35p |
| Nic salt multibuy (4 for £10) | £10 | 40ml | ~25p |
| Freebase multibuy (4 for £10) | £10 | 40ml | ~25p |
| 100ml shortfill + 2 nic shots | ~£12 | 120ml at 3mg | ~10p |
| 100ml pod-fill shortfill + 2 nic shots | ~£14 | 120ml at 3mg | ~12p |
A moderate vaper uses 2 to 3ml a day. On multibuy nic salts that is 50p to 75p a day. On shortfills it is 20p to 35p a day. Over a year, the gap between the priciest habit on this page and the cheapest is over £150, which is several new kits. The duty nudged every row up slightly and made multibuys more valuable than ever, because the duty is per 10ml regardless of format. Our vape juice price guide goes deeper on the full price map, including the cheapest legal ways to stock up.
What to avoid
Marketplace bargains. A 10ml bottle at half the going rate from a marketplace seller is not a bargain, it is either fake, expired, or smuggled without duty. Buy from proper UK vape shops, check the duty stamp, and walk away from deals that make no sense.
US imports. American juice comes in bigger bottles, higher strengths, and flavours the UK caps at 10ml. It is not legal to sell here, and the 50mg salts in US bottles are not built for UK kits. If a listing does not mention the 10ml limit, it is not written for you.
Mixing everything together. A little flavour crossover in a pod is normal. Deliberately mixing tobacco and grape because both bottles were open is how you learn why nobody sells that combination.
Crystal and bar-salt lookalikes. The bar-salt boom brought a wave of lookalike brands with near-identical names. Stick to the established names on this page, and check the brand’s own site if a bottle looks slightly off. Our SKE Crystal brand guide covers the Crystal range and its lookalike problem in detail.
Best vape juice FAQ
What is the best vape juice in the UK?
For most vapers, a nic salt in the £3.49 / 4-for-£10 bracket: Bar Juice 5000 for the widest flavour choice, ELFLIQ for ex-disposable vapers, Vampire Vape for the British classics. Match the bottle to your kit first, then pick the flavour.
What is the best vape juice for a pod kit?
A 50/50 nic salt or freebase at 10mg or 20mg. Pod-fill shortfills at 50/50 are the budget alternative. Never put 70/30 high-VG liquid in a pod: the coil will burn.
What is the best vape juice for a heavy smoker?
A 20mg nic salt in menthol or tobacco. The salt formulation delivers nicotine fast with a smooth throat hit, and menthol converts smokers better than any other flavour family.
What is the best nicotine-free vape juice?
Any 0mg freebase 10ml, or a 0mg shortfill. Shortfills are 0mg by definition and the cheapest route. Age-18 rules apply to nicotine-free vapes too since October 29, 2026.
How much does vape juice cost per day?
Roughly 50p to 75p a day on multibuy nic salts, 20p to 35p a day on shortfills, for a moderate vaper at 2 to 3ml a day. The £2.20 per 10ml duty is baked into these figures.
How long does a 10ml bottle last?
Two to three days for a moderate vaper, one day for a heavy vaper, a week or more for a light vaper. A 100ml shortfill lasts a moderate vaper roughly a month.
Do e-liquids expire?
Yes, usually around two years from manufacture for a sealed bottle. Flavour and nicotine degrade over time, so store bottles cool, dark, and sealed, and check the date on the label.
Is it safe to mix e-liquids?
Mixing two flavours in a pod is common and harmless, but stick to similar families. Mixing very different profiles, like tobacco and grape, usually tastes awful. Never mix in anything that is not e-liquid.
What changed for vapers on October 29, 2026?
The age-18 sale rule extended to all consumer nicotine products: zero-nicotine vapes and nicotine pouches are now age-gated like everything else, vape vending machines are banned, and free samples and giveaways are prohibited.
Verdict: the only buying advice that matters
The best vape juice is the bottle that matches your kit, your strength, and your flavour family, bought from a proper UK shop. For most vapers that means a 50/50 nic salt at 10mg or 20mg, in a flavour you already know you like, on a 4-for-£10 multibuy. For the heavy vaper or the cloud chaser, it means a 100ml shortfill and two nic shots.
Buy Bar Juice 5000 if you want the widest choice. Buy ELFLIQ if you miss Elf Bars. Buy Vampire Vape if you want the British classics. Buy Doozy if you want shortfill value. Buy 0mg if the nicotine has done its job. And whatever you buy, check the duty stamp, because the shop that waves through an underage sale is the same shop selling fakes.
The retailers ranking above us sell what they recommend. We recommend what we would buy. That is the whole difference, and it is why this guide exists.