Pod Salt Nexus 100ml Shortfills

The bottle arrives with 100ml of 0mg liquid and 20ml of empty space at the top. To reach 3mg, the usual target for a sub-ohm vaper, you add two 10ml nic shots at 18mg. A nic shot is just unflavoured 50/50 nicotine liquid (sometimes called a nicotine booster). Pop the caps, pour both shots into the shortfill bottle, replace the cap and the bottle is now full at 120ml.

Mixing matters more than people expect. Shake the bottle hard for a minute or two so the nicotine disperses evenly through the thick high-VG liquid, otherwise the first few tankfuls can taste off and hit unevenly. Some vapers leave the bottle to stand for an hour or two after shaking, which lets any air bubbles settle, though it is not strictly necessary. One nic shot instead of two gives you roughly 1.5mg, which suits lighter vapers; two is the standard 3mg. You cannot easily go above 3mg in a 100ml shortfill without overfilling, which is why shortfills suit lower-strength sub-ohm vaping rather than high-strength MTL.

If high-strength nicotine is what you actually need, a shortfill is the wrong product and a 10ml nic salt is the right one. The sibling Pod Salt Nexus nic salt range carries the same flavours at 10mg and 20mg for pod kits, which is the better choice for ex-smokers who need a stronger hit. Shortfills are for the cloud end of vaping, not the quitting-smoking end.

The shortfill range carries around 20 of the most popular Nexus flavours, scaled up for cloud production. The lemonades and sodas translate especially well to high-VG, since the extra vapour carries their fizzy sweetness: Blueberry Blackberry Lemonade, Sweet Strawberry Lemonade and the herby Fresh Raspberry Mojito all shine here. The gummy and candy side brings Rainbow, White Gummy Bear, Sour Blue Raspberry and Blue Razz Cherry, a juicy blue raspberry and cherry blend that is one of the brightest in the line.

The iced and tropical fruits round out the range. Berry Lemon Ice and Lemon Lime Sorbet give a cool, citrus finish, while the bigger multi-fruit blends do the heavy lifting: Mango Strawberry Peach, Orange Mango Lime, Pear Apple Raspberry, Pineapple Passion Lime, Strawberry Watermelon Kiwi, Lime Raspberry Grapefruit, Grape Berry Burst (succulent grape, sweet strawberry and a touch of ice), Strawberry Banana Rhubarb, Sweet Tangerine Coconut, Fuji Apple Peach and White Grape Cucumber. At £24.99 for 100ml, trying a couple of bottles to find your all-day cloud flavour is an easy call.

This is the question that decides everything, and it comes down to your device. The Nexus shortfill is a 70/30 high-VG liquid made for sub-ohm direct-to-lung kits: powerful devices with coils below 0.6ohm, running at 40W or more, that produce large clouds and a warm, airy draw. If that describes your setup, the shortfill is your product and the nic salt would taste harsh and thin in it.

The Pod Salt Nexus nic salt is the opposite: a 50/50 liquid in small 10ml bottles at 10mg or 20mg, made for pod kits and MTL tanks with tighter draws and higher-resistance coils. If you vape a small refillable pod, that is what you want, and a 70/30 shortfill would wick poorly and give a weak hit in it. The two are not interchangeable, so match the liquid to the hardware first.

Cost and nicotine strength follow from that. The shortfill is far cheaper per ml and tops out around 3mg, which suits established sub-ohm vapers who are mostly chasing flavour and clouds. The nic salt is dearer per ml but reaches 20mg, which suits ex-smokers who need a strong, fast hit from a small device. If you are newly off cigarettes, start with the nic salt; if you are a settled cloud-chaser, the shortfill is the smarter buy.