Calculating PG/VG Ratio’s After Adding Nic Shots To A Shortfill Bottle

The intention of this quick guide is to explain and give an understanding, with examples, what the overall PG/VG ratio of a shortfill bottle is when a Nicotine Shot (Nic Shot) is added. At the end of this guide you will know how to calculate the PG/VG ratio of any shortfill bottle when any type of nic shot(s) are added.

The following few paragraphs give an overview of the ingredients that make up e-liquid and explain what a shortfill and nicotine shot are. We’ll also touch on what a nicotine shot calculator does and doesn’t do.

If you’re eager to find out how to work out the PG/VG ratios of your shortfill after adding nic shots then please jump directly to the 3 examples we’ve given.

·PG/VG ratio of shortfill after adding a VG nic shot
·PG/VG ratio of shortfill after adding a PG nic shot
·PG/VG ratio of shortfill after adding a 50/50 nic shot.

If you don’t already know, there are 4 ingredients that make up our E-liquid:

·Propylene Glycol (PG)
·Vegetable Glycerin (VG)
·Flavorings
·Nicotine

Propylene Glycol and Vegetable Glycerin: are the two main ingredients that make up our e-liquid. PG is the thinner of the two liquids and provides the “throat” hit whereas VG is a thicker liquid that provides the vapor. Most e-liquids will use a combination of the two in differing ratios, typically 50VG/50PG, 70VG/30PG or 80VG/20PG.

Flavoring: is normally added to our e-liquid and comes in an endless amount of different flavors. These can be single flavors or a more complex combination of several flavors. Flavor concentrates are used when DIY e-liquid mixing whereas shortfill bottles are chosen and purchased for their particular flavor.

Nicotine: provides the stimulation and “Hit” when it’s added to e-liquid. Typically it’s used to stop the cravings when transitioning from smoking to vaping. Because of the TPD laws in the EU, e-liquid containing nicotine can only be sold in 10ml size bottles. Nicotine is normally sold at a strength of 18mg and comes suspended in PG, VG or a combination of both. This is what is called a “Nic Shot”.

Whether we are making our e-liquid from scratch (DIY) or using Shortfills, our overall aim is to know the flavor and nicotine strength of our e-liquid together with the ratio of PG against VG.

While this is straightforward and easily calculated when mixing our own e-liquid from scratch, knowing the exact ratios of our e-liquid after we’ve added nic shots to a shortfill bottle can be a little ambiguous to say the least.

DIY e-liquid mixing is not the topic of this guide as we have previously covered this in our other guides and of course we have a really good e-liquid mixing calculator which works out every percentage and ratio.

However, our specific focus is to explain in detail how the PG/VG ratio of a shortfill bottle will change when we add a nicotine shot. How we can calculate the PG/VG ratio of a shortfill and what type of nic shot we can add in order to maintain our desired PG/VG ratio.

Before we delve into the calculations I must point out that even though we can change the PG/VG ratio of a shortfill bottle by adding nic shot(s), there are limitations. What we can do is to give you the tools to choose what the possibilities and options are.