Beginners’ Guide to Vaping

What is a vape?

A vape is a battery-powered device that heats e-liquid into an inhalable vapour. No fire, no combustion, no tar, no ash. You draw on the mouthpiece, the device vaporises a flavoured liquid (with or without nicotine), and you exhale vapour that disperses in seconds. That's the literal meaning of the word: vaporised liquid, inhaled. If a relative who's read one tabloid headline tells you you're "smoking" a vape, they're using the wrong word.

You'll also hear vapes called e-cigarettes, e-cigs, pod kits, mods or just kits. They are all built around the same four core components.

Components: what's inside every vape

Every vape on the UK market, from a 600 puff prefilled to a high-wattage sub-ohm mod, contains the same four parts. The differences come down to battery size, coil type, how you refill, and how much control the device gives you.

• Battery. Powers the device. In modern pod kits this is a sealed internal lithium cell charged via USB-C. In larger mods, the battery is often a removable 18650 or 21700 cell.
• Coil. The heating element. A thin wire (or, on better/modern vapes, a mesh strip) wrapped with cotton. Power runs through the wire, the wire heats up, the cotton holds the e-liquid, the heat vaporises the liquid.
• Pod or tank. Holds your e-liquid. In a pod kit the coil sits inside the pod and the whole unit gets replaced. In a sub-ohm tank or an old-style pen kit you screw the coil in separately.
• Mouthpiece. What you draw from. Sometimes moulded into the pod, sometimes a separate drip tip on a tank.

A prefilled vape (disposable's replacement) contains all four sealed together with juice already loaded, used until the battery dies or the juice runs out - with some hybrid kits that can now be recharged and replacement pre-filled pods to top up. A refillable pod kit splits them up so you can top the juice up from a bottle and swap the pod every couple of weeks.

How does a vape work?

When you inhale on the mouthpiece (or press the fire button), the battery sends current through the coil. The coil heats to somewhere between 200 and 250°C. The cotton wicking around the coil is already soaked in e-liquid. That liquid vaporises off the cotton, you inhale the vapour, the cotton re-saturates from the surrounding pod, and the cycle repeats every puff.

Four variables affect how that feels:

• Wattage. How hard the coil fires. Higher wattage means hotter coil, more vapour per puff, faster e-liquid use, and generally shorter coil life.
• Coil resistance (ohms). Thinner wire means lower resistance means more power drawn. Pod kits use coils between 0.8Ω and 1.2Ω. Sub-ohm tanks run below 1.0Ω.
• Airflow. Tighter airflow gives you a cigarette-like restricted draw called Mouth To Lung (MTL). Looser airflow gives a wide-open lung-hit called Direct To Lung (DTL).
• VG/PG ratio of the juice. More VG means more vapour and slower coil saturation. More PG means a stronger throat hit and faster wicking. Beginners don't need to memorise this. Every modern pod kit picks sensible defaults. But when something feels off (weak flavour, harsh throat hit, burnt taste), one of these four is usually the reason.

When wicking goes wrong you'll know about it. Chain-vape too hard on a coil that can't keep up and you'll get a dry hit: that scorched, throat-burning taste of cotton cooking without juice. Underfill the pod, vape it when its empty, or skip the priming step on a fresh coil and you'll get the same result. The fix is almost always patience: top the pod up, let it sit upright for a couple of minutes, and the cotton reabsorbs.

Types of vaping styles (inhaling)

There are 2 main types of vaping style, Mouth To Lung (MTL) and Direct To Lung (DTL). Vaping Mouth To Lung will be the most familiar to anyone who has smoked cigarettes or disposable vapes in the past. It's the most common. Direct to lung is for advanced vapers typically with a sub ohm or rebuildable vape kit - this offers more vapour, bigger clouds and flavour.

There's a third style you'll see mentioned, Restricted Direct To Lung (RDTL or RDL), which sits in between. This is a vape style thats loose enough to lung-inhale, but tight enough to use 10mg nic salts. Its niche but becomming more popular.

Types of vape (UK, 2026)

The UK vape market has seen changes over the last few years, but two major changes in eighteen months will directly impact you as a beginner. The June 2025 disposable ban killed off single-use kits, and the October 2026 vape duty will be the biggest price increase ever. What's left are five categories of kit (although we expect to see shifts based on the upcomming tax), and the right one for you depends almost entirely on how often you vape, your budget and how much input or customisation you want.

What type of vape should a beginner buy?

If you've read this far and you're not sure, a refillable pod kit with 20mg nic salt is right for nine out of ten beginners. It's the cheapest to run, familiar to ex-smokers or those coming from disposables, very easy to live with after the first week, and the most popular.

For first time vaping in 2026, we'd recomend these three kits:

• OXVA Xlim Go 2 (around £10). The lowest-risk pod kit. Auto-draw (just inhale, no button - like a disposable), 1500mAh built-in battery, two pods in the box. The pull on the standard 0.8Ω pod is genuinely tight, close enough to a cigarette draw that the muscle memory translates straight over. Vapour comes through warm and clean. If you're brand new and want maximum value, start here.
• Vaporesso XROS 5 (around £20). The all-rounder. The Corex 3.0 mesh coil delivers a warm, intensely flavoured MTL draw with a throat hit that lands close to a cigarette without the harshness. Coil longevity sits at the 10 to 14 day mark on 20mg salts in our daily testing.
• UWell Caliburn G3 (around £25). OLED screen, easy airflow control, slightly more power once you want it. The airflow ring dials from a tight cigarette-style pull down to a slightly looser restricted-DTL, useful once you've found your feet. Vapour temperature runs marginally warmer than the XROS, with a touch more density on the exhale. Good pick for anyone who tried a basic pen kit years ago and wanted a little more.

E-liquid 101

E-liquid (also called vape juice or e-juice) is what your kit vaporises. Heat from the coil turns it into the flavoured, nicotine-carrying vapour you inhale. The differences between bottles come down to four ingredients and the ratio they're mixed at.

What's actually in a bottle of e-liquid?

Every regulated UK vape juice contains the same four ingredients. The proportions change, the quality of each component changes, but the list itself doesn't.

If you see caffeine, taurine, vitamins or any other "active ingredient" listed on a UK vape juice, it's outside TPD regulation. Bin it and shop somewhere reputable.

Nic salts vs freebase

Theres 2 ways nicontine can be suspended in e-liquid.

Nic salts use nicotine in its natural salt form, the same state it sits in inside a tobacco leaf. The result is a smoother throat hit at high strengths and faster nicotine absorption into the bloodstream. It's now the default for new vapers and whats used in disposables / prefilled kits.

• Vaping style: MTL or RDL
• Throat hit: Smooth and warming, even at 20mg
• Nicotine strengths: 5mg, 10mg, 20mg (20mg is the UK legal ceiling)
• VG/PG ratio: 50/50
• Made for: Pod kits and MTL coils 0.8Ω and above
• Best for: Anyone making the switch from cigarettes or off a disposable

Freebase nicotine is the unbound chemical state of nicotine and the original e-liquid format. Sharper throat hit, especially at higher mg, and absorbs more slowly than salts. Closest sensation to a cigarette at moderate strengths, but gets very harsh at high.

• Vaping style: MTL at 10ml strengths, DTL when used in shortfills
• Throat hit: Sharp at 12mg+, much smoother at 3 to 6mg
• Nicotine strengths: 0mg up to 18mg in 3mg steps
• VG/PG ratio: 50/50 or 60/40 in 10ml bottles, 70/30 in shortfills
• Made for: MTL tanks at 10ml strengths, sub-ohm tanks at 3/6mg shortfill strengths
• Best for: Cigarette-style throat hit at moderate mg, or sub-ohm cloud chasing

What strength should I use?

The biggest mistake new vapers make is starting too low. Underdose your cravings, decide vaping "doesn't work," and you'll be back on cigarettes inside a fortnight. It's important you match your previous habit.

• Pack a day of cigarettes (20+ a day): 20mg nic salts.
• Half a pack a day (10 to 15 a day): 10mg nic salts, step up to 20mg if cravings linger.
• Light smoker (under 10 a day): 10mg nic salts.
• Currently on a 20mg disposable: 20mg nic salts. Identical nicotine, far cheaper running cost.

UK law caps nicotine in e-liquid at 20mg/ml. There is no 35mg or 50mg sold legally in the UK in 2026. If a UK-facing business is offering it, the product is unregulated and could contain unsafe ingredients & you should walk away.

VG/PG ratio

Three ratios cover almost everything you'll buy. Match the ratio to your kit, vape style and wattage.

• 50/50. Balanced, designed for pod kits and MTL coils. Every nic salt bottle is 50/50. Wicks well at the 0.8 to 1.2Ω resistance pod kits use.
• 70/30 VG/PG. Higher vapour density, softer throat hit, designed for sub-ohm DTL tanks. Most shortfills come at this ratio.
• 80/20 or higher VG. Max-cloud territory for serious sub-ohm builds. Not relevant for beginners.

If you put a 70/30 shortfill in a pod kit and the high VG won't wick fast enough through the small coil, you'll get burnt hits & it will taste grim. Put a 50/50 salt in a sub-ohm tank and the thin liquid will leak everywhere while the strong nicotine hits you sideways. Match the ratio to the kit.

Shortfills vs longfills

There is currently two formats for buying juice in larger volumes than the 10ml TPD limit. Both rely on the same legal exemption: nicotine-free e-liquid isn't bound by the 10ml cap, so the bottle can be as big as the manufacturer wants. You then add nicotine yourself with a "nic shot."

Shortfill. A 100ml bottle that arrives with 50ml of nicotine-free, high-VG juice and 50ml of empty headspace. You drop in one or two 10ml nic shots, shake, and you've got a 70ml bottle of nicotine-containing juice at 3mg or 6mg. The current standard for sub-ohm vapers.

Longfill. A small bottle of flavour concentrate (10 to 30ml) you mix with a separate VG/PG base and a nic shot to produce a much larger batch of finished juice, typically 100 to 200ml. We're predicting this is likely to become more mainstream from October 2026 because the new vape duty is charged per 10ml of finished e-liquid, and longfills delay most of that liability until the moment you actually mix. The maths works out cheaper per ml than pre-mixed shortfills, especially if you vape heavily. Slight extra step (pour, shake, wait) but no real complexity.

Pairing juice with your kit

• Big puff / prefilled kit: Pre-loaded, no choice to make.
• Refillable pod kit: 50/50 nic salts, 10mg or 20mg.
• Vape pen with MTL tank: 50/50 nic salts 10 or 20mh, or 50/50 freebase, 6 to 12mg.
• Sub-ohm mod, DTL: 70/30 shortfill with a 3mg or 6mg nic shot.
• Rebuildable, DTL: 70/30 or 80/20shortfill, or unflavoured base and DIY longfill.

How to set up a refillable pod kit for the first time

For all modern pod kits, the process is very similar.

1. Charge the device fully. Using the included cable, plug the USB-C in, watch the light, wait until it stops flashing or goes solid.
2. Fill the pod. Pop the silicone plug on the side or bottom of the pod (most modern pods are side-fill). Drop the bottle's nozzle into the fill hole, gentle squeeze. Don't overfill, aim for around 80% capacity to leave room for the airflow & to prevent leaks.
3. Re-seat the plug. Press it back in flush so nothing leaks, wipe any spillages away with some tissue.
4. Prime the coil. Do not skip this step, be patient. Sit the filled pod in the device for 5 to 10 minutes before your first puff. The cotton inside the coil needs to soak up the juice. Fire a dry coil and you'll scorch it permanently on the first hit, and a scorched coil tastes crap until you replace it.
5. First puffs. Take three or four short, gentle pulls without inhaling, just to wake the coil up. Then proper draws.
6. Refill Liquid As you vape, keep tabs on the liquid level in your pod. Top up as needed. Try not to let this go below 10-20% to ensure the coil is always fully saturated and increase its lifespan.
7. When the flavour fades After 1 to 2 weeks of normal use, swap the pod. How long a coil/pod depends on a few things, mainly the usage and the liquid - some sweeter flavours can burn out coils quicker. When you notice flavour fade, or any burnt taste its time to get a new pod. Don't try to wash and reuse, get the right replacement for your kit.

Why make the switch to vaping?

Vaping isn't risk-free, no nicotine product is, but for adult smokers it's the most effective and least harmful alternative to cigarettes the NHS currently recommends.

Even though vaping carries less risk than smoking. If you don't smoke, don't take up vaping.

The 2026 UK vape tax: what beginners need to know

From October 1, 2026, the UK introduces a Vaping Products Duty of £2.20 per 10ml of finished e-liquid. With VAT applied, the real cost is around £2.64 per 10ml. What that means in plain terms for a beginner buying in mid-2026:

• A 10ml bottle of nic salts currently sitting at £3.99 will rise to roughly £6.50.
• A pack of four pre-filled pods at £4.99 will rise by roughly £5 in tax alone.
• Prefilled vapes will take a proportional hit per ml of liquid inside.

Practical advice if you're switching to vaping in mid-2026:

• Get into a refillable pod kit now, not a disposable habit.
• Get comfortable with bottled juice while the prices are still pre-duty.
• Stockpile a few months of juice before the tax kicks in to take the initial sting off.

Check out our Vape Tax Calulator to see the impact the upcomming changes will have on your wallet.

Read our Vaper's UK Tax Guide to learn more about the upcomming changes.

Vaping safely

UK vaping regulations (TPD)

The rules every vaper in the UK should know:

• Nicotine capped at 20mg/ml.
• Bottles containing nicotine capped at 10ml.
• Pre-filled tanks and pods containing nicotine capped at 2ml.
• All juice and hardware sold legally in the UK must be MHRA-registered.
• You must be 18 or over to buy any vape product in the UK.
• From October 1, 2026, a Vaping Products Duty applies to all e-liquid (see the section above).

Battery safety

Most modern pod kits use sealed, internal batteries, so you don't need to worry about loose 18650 cells.

• Charge with the cable that came with the kit.
• Don't charge it overnight on a pillow or under a duvet.
• If the device gets unusually hot, stop charging it, move the device outside and dispose responsibily.
• Don't leave a vape in a hot or sunny car.

The UK public health position

The UK position, set by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID, formerly Public Health England), is that vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking and is a recognised tool for switching off cigarettes. NHS Smokefree supports vaping as a route off tobacco. Long-term effects are still being studied, but the consensus among UK public health authorities is unambiguous on the comparison to smoking.

That's a statement of public position, not medical advice from us. If you have specific health questions about switching, your GP or a local NHS Stop Smoking Service is the right place to ask.