The 4 Most Popular UK E-Liquid Trends of 2019

The UK e-liquid industry is an extremely exciting one for Britons who vape †and that’s not just because people are happy to be saving money and bettering their health. The UK e-liquid industry is a source of constant excitement to vapers because the industry never stops changing. It wasn’t long ago that almost all of the world’s e-liquid was produced in China †and it wasn’t particularly tasty. These days, though, every major vaping market has no shortage of domestic e-liquid makers who spare no expense in trying to one-up their rivals in the flavor department. Every year, new trends appear, and all at once, the previous year’s hottest e-liquids seem passé. Now that we’re beginning to approach the end of 2019, let’s look back at some of the biggest UK e-liquid trends of the year and see if we can figure out what the future might hold for 2020.

Tobacco E-Liquid Is Making a Comeback

E-liquid makers work nonstop in the effort to create new and exciting flavor profiles different from anything else on the market. In the past few years, we’ve seen e-liquids based on popular cereals, candies, sodas and other snack foods †and many of those e-liquids are almost indistinguishable from the real-life flavors they emulate. Until recently, though, it seemed as though most e-liquid makers were done creating new tobacco e-liquids. That began to change in 2019, as we saw brands such as V2 Cigs UK release incredible new tobacco flavors that were instant hits with customers. When it becomes obvious that one e-liquid brand is having success with a given flavor, other companies often rush their interpretations of that flavor out the door as quickly as possible to prevent the first company from gaining too much market share.

In the past year, e-liquid companies have begun to realize that adding one flavor provider’s “tobacco” flavor concentrate to a bottle of e-liquid isn’t enough to create a tobacco e-liquid that’s truly satisfying and lifelike. Tobacco is much more complex than that, and it takes skillful and creative blending to develop a great tobacco e-liquid. E-liquid makers have begun to crack the code, and the vaping community is responding in a big way. As popular as sweet e-liquids are, there’s still a sizable contingent of people who would rather vape savory e-liquids that don’t leave a lingering sweetness on the tongue.

Heisenberg Mania Is Sweeping the World

Heisenberg is an exceptionally complex e-liquid blending the flavors of blue fruits and menthol. Some people think that Heisenberg tastes like a frozen blue slush. Others say that it tastes like assorted berries served over crushed ice. Some people say it’s simply a wonderful vape juice that defies explanation. Regardless of what you think Heisenberg e-liquid tastes like, the fact is that many people who try it never want to vape anything else. It’s one of the defining UK e-liquid flavors of 2019. It also seems that the name of the famous physicist isn’t something that companies can trademark, so “Heisenberg” in the e-liquid world has become a sort of generic term to describe a flavor profile, much like how the term “RY4” describes a sweet tobacco e-liquid with a caramel note. Many e-liquid companies around the world have released their own interpretations of the Heisenberg flavor, and although the United Kingdom is the epicenter of that trend, you can now find at least one e-liquid bearing the name in just about any well-stocked vape shop elsewhere in the world. Heisenberg is spreading like wildfire, and it’s a trend that isn’t likely to go away any time soon.

Nicotine-Free E-Liquid Is Gaining in Popularity

Shortfill e-liquid has been one of the most important UK e-liquid trends of the past several years. The Tobacco Products Directive limits the maximum bottle size of an e-liquid with nicotine, but that rule doesn’t apply to nicotine-free e-liquid. So, a shortfill e-liquid is simply a large bottle of nicotine-free e-liquid. People buy shortfill e-liquids and nicotine shots separately, and they mix the two together.

Shortfill e-liquids aren’t just convenient for those who use sub-ohm vaping equipment and go through a lot of vape juice; they also provide a way for people to create their own in-between nicotine strengths. The general trend in the vaping community is for people to reduce their nicotine strengths slowly as they buy more powerful vaping equipment with greater vapor production. The problem, though, is that few companies make e-liquids with nicotine strengths lower than 3 mg †so many vapers get stuck there, unable to close the gap between 3 mg and 0 mg. With shortfill e-liquid, it’s easier to cut back on the nicotine.

• Add one and a half 18 mg nicotine shots to a 100 ml shortfill e-liquid for a nicotine strength of 2.8 mg.
• Add one 18 mg nicotine shot to a 100 ml shortfill bottle for a nicotine strength of 2 mg.
• Add half of an 18 mg nicotine shot to a 50 ml shortfill bottle for a nicotine strength of 1.6 mg.
• Add half of an 18 mg nicotine shot to a 100 ml shortfill bottle for a nicotine strength of 1.1 mg.
• Continue reducing until you’re nicotine free!

In the UK, more people than ever are vaping with no nicotine †just for the pleasure of it †and shortfill e-liquid has much to do with that trend.

Nicotine Salt E-Liquid Isn’t a Fad

After more than four years on the market, it’s safe to say that nicotine salt e-liquid isn’t going away and is definitely not a short-lived fad. For people with higher nicotine needs, nicotine salt vape juice has proven to be one of the most important products that the vaping industry has ever developed. With a pH that’s closer to neutral than that of standard e-liquid, nicotine salt remains smooth and easy to inhale even when it has a high concentration of nicotine. Eventually, it’s entirely possible that nicotine salt e-liquid will overtake standard e-liquid in popularity. For now, though, most e-liquid makers are selling nicotine salt vape juice in smaller bottles for use in refillable pod vaping systems.