IVG Vape Juice
IVG vape juice covers five distinct bottled ranges: Original Salts and PRO Salts in 10ml nicotine salt form, the higher-intensity Intense Salts line, the freebase Original 50/50, and the 100ml 70/30 shortfills that arrive at 0mg for use with nicotine shots. They share a flavour house style but belong in different hardware.
Get the match right and everything works. 50/50 salts and freebase go in MTL pod kits above 0.8 ohm; 70/30 shortfills go in sub-ohm tanks. This page explains the difference, runs through every flavour we stock, and covers strengths, ratios, nic shot maths and storage. Sold to adults aged 18 and over only.
What IVG vape juice covers
IVG vape juice is not one product line. It is five distinct bottled ranges that share a flavour house style but differ in nicotine chemistry, base ratio, bottle size and the hardware they belong in. Buying well means knowing which of the five you are looking at before you look at the flavour, because putting a 70/30 shortfill in a tight MTL pod or a 20mg salt in a sub-ohm tank produces a bad result from perfectly good liquid.
The five are: Original Salts and PRO Salts, both 10ml nicotine salt bottles; Intense Salts, a higher-intensity salt line; Original 50/50, a balanced-ratio freebase range; and the 100ml 70/30 shortfills, which arrive at 0mg and are finished at home with nicotine shots. Everything on this page is sold to adults aged 18 and over. We age-verify every order, and all nicotine-containing products carry the required warnings.
Who each range suits
If you use a refillable pod kit with a coil above 0.8 ohm, you want 10ml salts or 50/50. If you use a sub-ohm tank at 25 watts or more, you want a 100ml shortfill and nic shots. If you are refilling a compact pod and want a firm throat sensation at low power, salts. If you want long sessions, big vapour and a soft throat, shortfill. That one paragraph settles most purchases, and the rest of this guide explains why.
Nicotine salt versus freebase, explained plainly
Both salts and freebase liquids contain exactly the same nicotine molecule. The difference is what it is bound to, and that changes how it behaves in a coil and on the inhale.
Freebase
Freebase nicotine is nicotine in its unbound, alkaline form. It has been the standard in e-liquid since the beginning. Because it is alkaline, it produces a distinct peppery sensation at the back of the throat, and that sensation gets sharper as the strength rises. Above about 12mg/ml, freebase becomes uncomfortable for most people, which is why freebase liquids are usually sold at 3mg, 6mg or 12mg. IVG's 50/50 range and the finished shortfills sit in this camp.
Nicotine salt
Nicotine salt is freebase nicotine that has had an acid added to it, typically benzoic acid. The acid lowers the pH of the blend. A lower pH means less of that alkaline sting, which is why a 20mg salt can feel smoother on the throat than a 12mg freebase despite carrying far more nicotine per millilitre. That smoothness is the entire commercial reason salts exist: they let a compact, low-power pod device deliver a high strength without being unpleasant to draw on.
What this means for your choice
- Salts let you run high strength in low-power hardware. That is their job.
- Freebase at lower strength suits high-power hardware, where you are inhaling a much larger volume of vapour per puff.
- Never put a 20mg salt in a sub-ohm tank. The nicotine delivered per draw would be far higher than intended.
- Never expect a 3mg shortfill to satisfy in a tight 1.2 ohm pod. It will not, and you will chain-vape trying.
The full salt catalogue across every IVG line sits in IVG Nic Salts, and the bottled ranges together are grouped in this IVG Vape Juice category.
The five IVG bottled ranges compared
This table is the fastest way to work out which bottle belongs in your device. Prices are indicative starting points from our catalogue and move with stock position.
| Range | Bottle | Nicotine | Base ratio | Built for | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IVG Original Salts | 10ml | 10mg or 20mg salt | 50/50 | MTL pod kits | £3.99 |
| IVG PRO Salts | 10ml | 10mg or 20mg salt | 50/50 | MTL pod kits | £3.99 |
| IVG Intense Salts | 10ml | Salt, high intensity | 50/50 | MTL pod kits | £0.79 |
| IVG Original 50/50 | 10ml | Freebase, low to mid | 50/50 | MTL pods and starter tanks | £0.99 |
| IVG Shortfill 70/30 | 100ml in 120ml | 0mg, add nic shots | 70/30 | Sub-ohm DTL tanks | £1.99 |
Two things to notice. First, four of the five are 10ml bottles, because UK rules cap any nicotine-containing bottle at 10ml. Second, the only range that arrives without nicotine is the 100ml shortfill, and that is precisely how it is allowed to be sold in a larger bottle at all.
Three UK limits govern the whole category and none of them has changed: a maximum of 10ml for any bottle of nicotine-containing e-liquid, a maximum nicotine strength of 20mg/ml, and a maximum capacity of 2ml for any tank or pod holding nicotine-containing liquid. That 2ml cap applies to whatever you fill, so every compliant tank or pod you can buy in the UK is 2ml or smaller regardless of which of these five bottles goes into it. Alongside the size limits, every nicotine-containing product must be notified to the regulator before sale and must carry the mandatory warning, an ingredients list, and child-resistant, tamper-evident packaging.
IVG Original Salts
Original Salts is the heritage line: ten flavours, 10ml bottles, 50/50 base, offered at 10mg and 20mg, at £3.99 per bottle with a ten-bottle bundle listed at £9.99. It is the range to start with if you are new to bottled liquid, because the flavours are the ones IVG built its name on and they are straightforward rather than experimental.
The ten flavours
- Forest Berries Ice — mixed dark berries with a clean cooling finish. The range's best all-day option.
- Blue Blaze — the house blue raspberry build, sweet with a tart edge.
- Summer Blaze — a layered summer fruit mix, rounder and less sharp than Blue Blaze.
- Strawberry Watermelon — soft strawberry over crisp watermelon, low acidity.
- Sour Green Apple — genuinely sour, green rather than red apple, high on the acid.
- Riberry Lemonade — berry and lemonade with a carbonated character.
- Tropical Ice — mango, pineapple and passionfruit with menthol.
- Strawberry Sensation — single-note ripe strawberry, no cooling.
- Vanilla Biscuit — the range's only dessert profile, vanilla and shortbread.
- Frozen Cherries — dark cherry with a heavy freeze.
Browse the full listing in IVG Original Salts. Vanilla Biscuit is worth calling out: dessert flavours are rarer in salt form than fruit, and it is the obvious choice for anyone who finds constant fruit fatiguing.
IVG PRO Salts
PRO Salts is the larger and more adventurous salt range, running to over twenty flavours at £3.99 per 10ml bottle, again with a bundle listed at £9.99. Where Original Salts sticks to recognisable fruit, PRO Salts covers soft drinks, confectionery, mint and the house signature builds that appear across the prefilled pod platforms.
Fruit and berry
Blue Sour Strawberry, Blackberry Sour Razz, Blueberry Watermelon Cherry, Blue Raspberry Ice, Blue Sour Raspberry, Red Freeze, Juicy Apple, Pineapple Ice, Raspberry Blast, Strawberry Raspberry Cherry, Fizzy Cherry and Banana Ice. The sour builds here are noticeably sharper than anything in the Original line.
Soft drink and confectionery
Cola GB, Lemon Fizz, Purple Lemonade, Blue Razz GB and Hub Blast. Cola GB and Blue Razz GB are the house reference builds — if you have vaped an IVG prefilled pod and liked a profile, there is a good chance its bottled equivalent is in this group.
Mint and menthol
Classic Menthol, Fresh Mint, Spearmint and Gum Mint. Gum Mint is the interesting one: a chewing-gum mint rather than a clean menthol, sweeter and rounder, and it works well as a palate reset between fruit bottles.
Signature blues
Mr Blue is the long-running IVG blue profile and probably the single most recognisable flavour the brand makes. If you only try one PRO Salt, try that one. The full range is in IVG PRO Salts.
IVG Intense Salts
Intense Salts is a separate salt line built around punchier, more concentrated flavour delivery, currently listed from £0.79 per 10ml bottle in our clearance listings. The thirteen flavours are Tropical Ice, Watermelon Ice, Strawberry Raspberry Cherry, Summer Blaze, Strawberry Kiwi, Strawberry Ice, Retro Orange, Pro Blue, Pink Lemonade, Grape Ice, Blue, Blue Razz Lemonade and Banana Ice.
The line overlaps deliberately with the prefilled pod flavour libraries — Pro Blue, Grape Ice, Banana Ice and Blue Razz Lemonade all appear on pod platforms too — which makes Intense Salts a useful way to run a familiar flavour in a refillable pod at a much lower cost per millilitre. Current listings sit in Salts & Liquids Clearance Sale. Stock on clearance lines moves quickly and does not return, so if a flavour you like appears there, buy enough to last.
IVG Original 50/50
The 50/50 range is freebase rather than salt, in 10ml bottles at a balanced ratio, listed from £0.99. Ten flavours run across the line: Riberry Lemonade, Sour Green Apple, Strawberry Watermelon, Tropical Ice, Summer Blaze, Strawberry Sensation, Ice Menthol, Frozen Cherries, Forest Berries Ice and Blue Raspberry.
Why choose freebase over salt
Three reasons. First, throat sensation: some people specifically want the sharper freebase hit and find salts too smooth to register. Second, strength flexibility: freebase 50/50 is normally offered at lower strengths, which suits anyone stepping down over time. Third, hardware tolerance: a 50/50 freebase works acceptably in a wider spread of devices, from tight pods up to starter tanks around 0.8 to 1.0 ohm, whereas a 20mg salt is really only appropriate in low-power MTL hardware.
Note also that the flavour names deliberately mirror the Original Salts line. Forest Berries Ice, Summer Blaze, Frozen Cherries and Tropical Ice appear in both, so you can move a flavour you already like between salt and freebase without relearning the menu. The range is listed in IVG Original 50/50.
IVG 100ml Shortfills 70/30 and nic shot maths
A shortfill is a large bottle deliberately under-filled. The IVG 70/30 shortfills hold 100ml of 0mg e-liquid in a 120ml bottle, leaving 20ml of headroom. Because there is no nicotine in the bottle as sold, the 10ml bottle-size limit does not apply. You add nicotine yourself at home using 10ml nicotine shots, which is what fills the remaining space.
The nine flavours
Vanilla Biscuit, Summer Blaze, Strawberry Watermelon, Strawberry Sensation, Riberry Lemonade, Rainbow Blast, Frozen Cherries, Bubblegum and Blue Raspberry Ice, listed from £1.99. Rainbow Blast and Bubblegum are exclusive to the shortfill format and do not have salt equivalents.
Doing the maths
The formula is straightforward. Final strength equals total nicotine milligrams divided by total volume in millilitres. A 10ml shot at 18mg/ml contains 180mg of nicotine. Add it to 100ml of 0mg and you have 180mg spread across 110ml.
| Shortfill | Nic shots added | Shot strength | Final volume | Final strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100ml (in 120ml bottle) | 1 x 10ml | 18mg/ml | 110ml | approx. 1.6mg/ml |
| 100ml (in 120ml bottle) | 2 x 10ml | 18mg/ml | 120ml | 3mg/ml |
| 100ml (in 120ml bottle) | 2 x 10ml | 20mg/ml | 120ml | approx. 3.3mg/ml |
| 50ml (in 60ml bottle) | 1 x 10ml | 18mg/ml | 60ml | 3mg/ml |
| 50ml (in 60ml bottle) | 1 x 10ml | 20mg/ml | 60ml | approx. 3.3mg/ml |
Two shots into a 100ml shortfill giving 3mg/ml is the standard combination, and 3mg is the strength most sub-ohm DTL vapers use. Nic shots are stocked in Beyond Nic Shots, and the larger 100ml liquid range sits in Beyond E-liquids.
Mixing properly
Add the shots, cap the bottle firmly, then shake hard for a full minute — longer than feels necessary. Nicotine shots are usually VG-heavy and genuinely need agitating into a 70/30 base. A lazy shake leaves an uneven mix, and the first tankful will taste and feel different from the last. Leave the bottle to stand for half an hour after shaking so the air bubbles settle, then fill. Write the finished strength and the date on the bottle with a marker; you will not remember three weeks later.
Shortfill safety
Nic shots at 18mg or 20mg are concentrated nicotine. Keep them in their child-resistant caps, store them out of reach of children and pets, do not decant them into unlabelled containers, and wash your hands if you spill. Current shortfill stock including clearance lines is listed in Shortfills Clearance alongside the main IVG 100ml Shortfills 70/30 range.
VG and PG ratios, and what they actually do
Every e-liquid is mostly two ingredients: propylene glycol and vegetable glycerine. Flavourings and nicotine make up a small fraction. The ratio between PG and VG determines how the liquid behaves far more than the flavour name does.
Propylene glycol
Thin, carries flavour compounds efficiently, wicks quickly into small openings, and produces a more pronounced throat sensation. More PG means sharper flavour definition and a firmer draw, with less visible vapour.
Vegetable glycerine
Thick, slightly sweet, produces far more visible vapour and a softer throat. More VG means bigger clouds and a smoother inhale, but it is too viscous for small wick ports and will starve a tight pod coil.
| Ratio | Viscosity | Throat | Vapour | Suitable hardware | IVG range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50/50 | Thin | Firm | Modest | Pod kits, 0.8–1.2 ohm MTL | Original Salts, PRO Salts, Intense Salts, Original 50/50 |
| 70/30 VG/PG | Thick | Soft | Large | Sub-ohm tanks below 0.6 ohm | 100ml Shortfills |
The single most common mistake in bottled vaping is putting a 70/30 shortfill into a pod designed for 50/50. The liquid cannot wick fast enough through the narrow ports, the coil runs dry, and you get a burnt taste within a few draws. The reverse error — thin 50/50 in a wide-ported sub-ohm tank — usually leaks rather than burns. Match the ratio to the hardware and both problems disappear.
MTL and DTL: matching liquid to draw style
Mouth-to-lung means drawing vapour into the mouth and then inhaling it in a second stage. It uses tight airflow, higher coil resistance and low power. Direct-to-lung means drawing straight into the lungs through wide-open airflow at higher power.
| MTL | DTL | |
|---|---|---|
| Coil resistance | 0.8–1.5 ohm | 0.15–0.6 ohm |
| Power range | 8–18W | 25–80W |
| Airflow | Tight to restricted | Wide open |
| Liquid | 50/50 salts or freebase | 70/30 shortfill |
| Strength | 10mg or 20mg salt | 3mg after nic shots |
| Liquid consumed | 2–5ml per day typical | 8–15ml per day typical |
That last row explains the pricing logic of the whole category. A DTL vaper gets through three or four times more liquid than an MTL vaper, which is why 100ml shortfills exist at all and why buying 10ml salts for a sub-ohm tank would be ruinous.
Coils, wattage and getting flavour out of a bottle
Bottled liquid gives you control over the coil, and that control is the main advantage over prefilled pods. It is also where flavour is won and lost.
Resistance and power
Every coil has a recommended wattage range printed on it or on its packaging. Stay inside it. Running below the range gives weak, muted flavour and poor vapour. Running above it burns the wick and ruins both the coil and the taste. If a coil says 10 to 14 watts, start at 10 and work up.
Coil life
A coil in an MTL pod on 50/50 liquid typically lasts one to two weeks. Several things shorten that considerably: dark, heavily sweetened flavours such as cola and dessert profiles caramelise on the coil and gunk it faster than light fruit; high VG in a low-resistance MTL coil starves it; and chain-vaping keeps it hot. If a coil dies in three days, look at the flavour first.
Priming
Drip liquid directly onto the exposed cotton of a new coil, fit it, fill the tank or pod, and then wait a full five minutes before firing. Then take two or three low-power draws to bed it in. This one habit is the difference between coils that last a fortnight and coils that taste burnt on day one.
Flavour muting
If a flavour you used to enjoy has gone flat, it is usually vaper's tongue rather than a bad bottle. Switch to a contrasting profile for a day or two — a mint or menthol after a long run of fruit — and the original usually comes back. Keeping two open bottles from different families and alternating prevents it almost entirely.
How to read an IVG e-liquid label
Every nicotine-containing bottle sold legally in the UK carries the same core information, and once you know where to look, the label answers most purchasing questions before you have to ask them.
The front
Flavour name, brand, volume and nicotine strength in mg/ml. On a 10ml bottle the strength is the number that matters most: 10 or 20 on a salt, 3, 6 or 12 on a freebase. On a shortfill the front will say 0mg and give the fill volume separately from the bottle volume — 100ml in a 120ml bottle.
The back
The ingredients list, the base ratio where stated, the mandatory nicotine warning, a batch number, a best-before date, and the safety and disposal symbols. The batch number is the one people ignore and then need: it is how any query about a specific bottle gets traced, so keep the label intact until the bottle is finished.
The cap and neck
UK law requires child-resistant closures and tamper-evident seals on nicotine-containing bottles, plus a nozzle designed to restrict flow. If a bottle arrives with a broken seal or a cap that turns freely without pressing down, do not use it — contact us with the order number instead.
What is actually inside
Propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, food-grade flavourings, and nicotine where present. That is the whole list for standard UK e-liquid. Every nicotine-containing product must be notified to the regulator before it can be sold, with its ingredients and emissions data submitted in advance. That notification requirement is the reason the UK market looks the way it does, and it is why you will not find unlabelled or undocumented liquid on a legitimate retailer's shelf.
Can you refill an IVG prefilled pod?
No, and it is worth being direct about why, because it is the question we are asked most often about bottled liquid.
Prefilled pods for the PRO, PRO 2, PRO 5K, SMART MAX, NEXiO, 2400, SAVR and AIR platforms are sealed consumables. The liquid reserve is closed by design and is not accessible without damaging the pod. There is no fill port, no removable bung and no serviceable coil inside. Attempting to drill, cut or prise one open will at best produce a leaking pod and at worst put liquid where you do not want it — on your hands, in a pocket, or into the device contacts.
The design is also what makes the format legal. A sealed reserve that the user cannot access is treated differently from a refillable tank precisely because it cannot be topped up. Modifying one takes the product outside how it was assessed and sold.
What to use instead
If you want to use bottled liquid, buy a refillable pod kit — a device with an openable pod and either a replaceable coil or a replaceable pod-with-coil. That is the hardware bottled salts are made for. Fill it with a 50/50 salt from Original Salts or PRO Salts and you get the same flavour house at a fraction of the running cost of prefilled pods.
Plenty of people keep both: a sealed-pod device for convenience, a refillable kit for economy. There is no conflict between the two, and the flavour names carry across so you already know what you are buying.
Common problems with bottled liquid, and the fixes
Leaking from the pod or tank
Usually one of three causes: overfilling, a liquid that is too thin for the hardware, or a damaged seal. Fill to the line rather than the brim, check you are not running a 50/50 in a wide-ported sub-ohm tank, and inspect the pod's silicone seals for splits. Temperature and pressure changes matter too — a tank taken on a flight or left in a hot car will weep.
Spitting and popping
Liquid pooling in the coil housing, usually from overfilling or from drawing too hard too soon after a refill. Take a couple of short, gentle draws after filling rather than a long hard one, and wipe the mouthpiece and chimney with a tissue if it persists.
Gurgling
The same cause as spitting in most cases: excess liquid in the airway. Remove the pod, tap it mouthpiece-down onto folded kitchen roll, refit and take two gentle draws. If it gurgles on every fill, you are almost certainly overfilling.
Weak or muted flavour
Check the coil age first, then the wattage. A coil past its useful life mutes everything, and running below the coil's recommended power range does the same. If both are fine, the likely cause is vaper's tongue — switch profiles for a day.
The liquid has gone dark
Nicotine oxidises on contact with air and light, and the liquid darkens as it does. This is normal ageing, not contamination, and it happens faster to bottles left open, warm or in daylight. Flavour drifts alongside the colour change, which is the real reason to buy what you will use rather than stockpiling.
A burnt taste on a fresh coil
The coil was fired before the cotton was saturated. Prime new coils with liquid directly onto the cotton, fill, then wait five minutes before the first draw. A scorched wick never recovers, so the only fix after the fact is a new coil.
Flavour families across the bottled ranges
IVG's naming is consistent enough to predict. "Ice" and "Freeze" mean a cooling agent. "Sour" means added acidity. "Blaze" and "Blast" mean a layered mix rather than a single note. "GB" and "Hub" are house signature builds that recur across ranges.
| Family | Character | Bottled examples |
|---|---|---|
| Blue razz | Sweet-tart blue raspberry | Blue Blaze, PRO Salts Blue Razz GB, Intense Salts Blue Razz Lemonade, 50/50 Blue Raspberry |
| Red berry | Strawberry, raspberry, cherry | Strawberry Sensation, PRO Salts Strawberry Raspberry Cherry, Frozen Cherries |
| Tropical | Mango, pineapple, passionfruit | Tropical Ice, PRO Salts Pineapple Ice, Intense Salts Tropical Ice |
| Soft drink | Cola, lemonade, fizz | Riberry Lemonade, PRO Salts Cola GB, PRO Salts Lemon Fizz, Intense Salts Pink Lemonade |
| Mint and menthol | Clean cooling, low sweetness | PRO Salts Classic Menthol, Fresh Mint, Spearmint, Gum Mint, 50/50 Ice Menthol |
| Dessert and sweets | Bakery and confectionery | Vanilla Biscuit (salt and shortfill), Shortfill Bubblegum, Shortfill Rainbow Blast |
| Sour | Sharp, high acidity | Sour Green Apple, PRO Salts Blackberry Sour Razz, PRO Salts Blue Sour Strawberry |
If you already know your family, the cross-range flavour collections are quicker than working through each line. Ice Vape gathers every cooled product across bottles and pods alike.
Where bottled flavours overlap with the pod platforms
IVG runs a shared flavour vocabulary across bottles and sealed pods, which is more useful than it first appears. If you have vaped a prefilled pod and liked it, there is often a bottled equivalent that costs a fraction as much per millilitre, and the reverse is true if you want to take a bottled favourite out with you in a sealed format.
The clearest overlaps are the house signature builds. Mr Blue, Hub Blast, Blue Razz GB, Cola GB, Red Freeze, Fizzy Cherry, Classic Menthol, Spearmint and Banana Ice all appear in PRO Salts and also appear across the PRO 10K, SMART MAX and NEXiO pod libraries. Pro Blue, Grape Ice and Blue Razz Lemonade sit in Intense Salts and in the pod ranges. Strawberry Raspberry Cherry, Pineapple Ice, Blue Raspberry Ice and Blue Sour Raspberry turn up in salt bottles, in prefilled pods and in the compact kits.
Why the two versions are not identical
A bottled salt and a prefilled pod with the same flavour name will taste closely related but not identical, and it is worth knowing why before you compare them. The pod's coil resistance, wick material and power delivery are fixed at the factory and tuned to that specific liquid. Your refillable pod runs a different coil at a different wattage with different airflow. Same flavouring, different delivery. Most people find the difference is small enough not to matter and occasionally prefer the bottled version, because you can tune the hardware to your taste rather than accepting the manufacturer's.
Using the overlap deliberately
Two sensible strategies follow. If you want to try a flavour before committing £7.95 to a 10K pod, buy the bottled version first at a much lower outlay. And if you have found a bottled flavour you genuinely rely on, check whether a sealed pod version exists so you have a low-hassle option for travel, work and anywhere refilling would be inconvenient.
Steeping and storage
Does IVG liquid need steeping?
Commercially produced liquid arrives mixed and usable, so nothing here requires steeping in the way a home-mixed recipe does. That said, two situations benefit from time. A shortfill that has just had nic shots added should be shaken hard and left at least half an hour, and ideally a few days, for the added VG to integrate fully. And heavier dessert or cream profiles — Vanilla Biscuit is the example in this catalogue — often round out over a week or two in the bottle.
How to store bottles
- Cool, dark and dry. A drawer or cupboard, not a windowsill and not a car.
- Caps on tight. Oxygen is what darkens liquid and dulls flavour over time.
- Upright. It reduces the surface area exposed to the air in the bottle and avoids seepage past the nozzle.
- Original bottles. They are child-resistant and tamper-evident by law; decanting into anything else removes both protections.
- Away from children and pets at all times, including bottles you think are empty.
Shelf life
Unopened bottles carry a best-before date, usually around two years from manufacture. Stored properly, liquid remains usable past a casual glance at the date, but flavour degrades gradually and nicotine oxidises, which shows as the liquid darkening. Darkening alone is normal and not a fault. Buy what you will realistically use in six months rather than stockpiling.
Filling a pod or tank without making a mess
Refilling is simple, but a few habits save a lot of sticky pockets.
- Fill to the marked line, never to the very top. Pods and tanks need an air pocket to maintain the pressure differential that stops leaking.
- Angle the nozzle against the inside wall of the pod, not down the central chimney. Liquid in the chimney goes straight to your mouth.
- Close the fill port fully before shaking or pocketing.
- Let a refilled pod stand two minutes before the first draw so the wick re-saturates.
- Do not mix two different liquids in one pod unless you actually want the blend. It is rarely as good as either alone.
- When swapping between strong flavour families, change the pod rather than the liquid. Menthol in particular lingers in cotton indefinitely.
Bottled liquid versus prefilled pods
Both formats have a place, and plenty of people run both. The comparison comes down to control versus convenience.
Bottled liquid wins on cost per millilitre by a wide margin. A 10ml salt at £3.99 is around 40p per millilitre, and a 100ml shortfill finished with two shots works out at pennies. It also wins on choice: you pick the strength, the ratio, the coil and the airflow, and you can change any of them tomorrow.
Prefilled pods win on everything else. No refilling, no coil changes, no priming, no leaks in a bag, no bottles to carry, and a flavour swap in five seconds. For that convenience you pay a premium per millilitre, which is a perfectly rational trade if your time and pocket space are worth more to you than the difference. Explore the sealed-pod side in Big Puff Vapes and IVG Refill Pods, or the device range in IVG Vapes.
A practical hybrid
The setup that suits most people is a prefilled pod device for work, travel and nights out, and a refillable pod kit with bottled salts at home. The prefilled device handles the situations where mess and fiddling are unwelcome, and the bottles keep the overall running cost down. Both use the same flavour vocabulary, so there is nothing new to learn.
Choosing your strength
UK law caps nicotine-containing liquid at 20mg/ml, so every decision happens below that ceiling.
- 20mg salt — the maximum, for heavier users who want the maximum strength UK rules allow, or anyone who wants a firm, immediately noticeable draw in a low-power pod.
- 10mg salt — softer, better for long sessions, and the sensible step down once 20mg starts feeling like more than you need.
- 6mg and 12mg freebase — mid-range MTL options where you want the sharper freebase throat character.
- 3mg freebase — the standard for sub-ohm DTL, reached by adding two nic shots to a 100ml shortfill.
- 0mg — shortfills before shots, and dedicated nicotine-free products in Nicotine-Free Vape.
Filtered strength views are available at 10mg Vape Kits & Refill Pods and 20mg Vape Kits & Refill Pods. There is no virtue in enduring a strength that does not suit you; adjust it and move on. Nicotine is an addictive substance, and these products are for adults aged 18 and over.
Building a flavour rotation that lasts
Most people buy one flavour, vape it exclusively, get bored of it in three weeks, and conclude the liquid was poor. It was not. Palate fatigue is the single most common reason a favourite stops tasting like anything, and the fix is structural rather than a matter of finding a better bottle.
The three-bottle method
Keep three open bottles from genuinely different families and rotate between them across a day or a week. A workable set from this catalogue looks like this:
- An all-day fruit. Something balanced and unfatiguing — Forest Berries Ice or Strawberry Watermelon.
- A contrast. Mint, menthol or a soft drink profile — Fresh Mint, Gum Mint or Cola GB. This is what resets the palate.
- A treat. A dessert or confectionery build for evenings — Vanilla Biscuit, or the Bubblegum shortfill if you are on sub-ohm hardware.
Rotating between three profiles keeps all three tasting the way they did on day one, and it costs nothing extra because you are buying the same total volume either way.
Matching to the time of day
Cooled profiles read as crisper in the morning and heavier sweet builds tend to suit evenings, which is why menthol sells disproportionately as a first-of-the-day flavour and dessert profiles sell as last-of-the-day ones. This is a personal thing rather than a rule, but if you have never tried splitting your day between two bottles, it is worth a fortnight's experiment.
Stock control
Work out roughly how many millilitres you get through in a week, then buy in monthly blocks. An MTL pod vaper typically runs 2 to 5ml a day, so 10ml bottles disappear faster than people expect — four to six bottles a month is normal. A DTL shortfill vaper on 8 to 15ml a day will finish a 100ml bottle in a week or two. Buying to a monthly rhythm clears the free delivery threshold naturally and stops the bottles from ageing in a cupboard.
Ordering from IVG Refills
IVG Refills is an independent UK specialist retailer stocking the IVG catalogue. We are not IVG's own store and make no claim to official status. What we do offer is the full bottled range and the full pod range in one basket, which saves splitting an order across two sites.
- Free UK delivery on orders over £20. A standard delivery charge applies below that threshold.
- Tracked 24 and tracked 48 services are offered at checkout, with tracking issued on despatch.
- Age verification on every order. We sell nicotine products only to adults aged 18 and over, and orders that fail verification are cancelled and refunded.
- Live stock. Availability shown on the site is live. Clearance lines do not restock once sold through.
Browse the whole catalogue from our full store, or start from the bottled ranges and work outwards. If you are ordering bottles anyway, it is worth checking whether adding a spare pod or a second flavour takes you over the free delivery threshold.
Disposal, recycling and safety at home
Empty e-liquid bottles are plastic and can usually be recycled, but rinse them first and check what your local authority accepts — many kerbside schemes reject small plastics and caps. Never pour leftover nicotine-containing liquid down a sink or drain; take it to your household waste recycling centre and ask where liquid chemical waste goes.
- Keep every bottle capped and out of reach of children and pets, including ones you believe are empty.
- Do not transfer liquid into drinks bottles, food containers or unlabelled vials under any circumstances.
- Wash skin promptly if concentrated nic shot is spilled on it.
- Used coils and pods are electrical waste and belong in a WEEE or retailer take-back point, not the household bin.
- Devices with built-in lithium batteries must never go into general or kerbside recycling, where they present a genuine fire risk in collection vehicles.
If you are unsure about any product on this page, ask us before you buy rather than after. The complete IVG range, bottles and pods alike, is available through the store, and everything we sell is intended for adult vapers aged 18 or over.
Related collections
- IVG Original Salts
- IVG PRO Salts
- IVG Nic Salts
- IVG Original 50/50
- IVG 100ml Shortfills 70/30
- Nic Shots
- Beyond E-liquids
- Shortfills Clearance
- Big Puff Vapes
- IVG Refill Pods
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between nic salt and freebase e-liquid?
Both contain the same nicotine molecule. Salt e-liquid has an acid, usually benzoic, added to lower the pH, which reduces the peppery throat sensation. That is why a 20mg salt can feel smoother than a 12mg freebase. Salts suit low-power MTL pods at high strength; freebase suits lower strengths and, in 70/30 form, higher-power sub-ohm hardware.
Why are IVG nicotine bottles only 10ml?
Because UK rules cap any bottle of nicotine-containing e-liquid at 10ml, alongside a 20mg/ml maximum strength and a 2ml maximum tank or pod capacity. Shortfills get around the bottle-size limit legitimately by containing no nicotine at all as sold: a 100ml shortfill is 0mg in the bottle, and you add nicotine yourself with 10ml shots.
How many nic shots do I add to a 100ml shortfill?
Two 10ml shots at 18mg/ml give 3mg/ml in 120ml of finished liquid, which is the standard combination for sub-ohm vaping. One shot gives roughly 1.6mg/ml in 110ml. Two 20mg shots give roughly 3.3mg/ml. Shake hard for a full minute after adding, then let the bottle stand for half an hour before filling.
Can I use a 70/30 shortfill in a pod kit?
Not sensibly. A 70/30 blend is too viscous for the narrow wick ports in an MTL pod, so the coil runs dry and you get a burnt taste within a few draws. Pod kits with coils above 0.8 ohm want a 50/50 base — Original Salts, PRO Salts, Intense Salts or Original 50/50. Keep shortfills for sub-ohm tanks below 0.6 ohm.
Which IVG salt range should I start with?
Original Salts if you want the recognisable core flavours: Forest Berries Ice, Strawberry Watermelon, Tropical Ice, Frozen Cherries and the rest. PRO Salts if you want breadth, including soft drink, mint and the house signature builds like Mr Blue, Cola GB and Hub Blast. Both are 10ml, 50/50 and offered at 10mg and 20mg, typically £3.99 a bottle.
Do IVG e-liquids need steeping?
Commercially produced liquid arrives mixed and ready to use, so no steeping is required. Two exceptions are worth knowing. A shortfill that has just had nic shots added benefits from a hard shake and at least half an hour standing, ideally a few days. And heavier dessert profiles such as Vanilla Biscuit often round out over a week or two in the bottle.
How should I store e-liquid?
Cool, dark, dry and upright, with caps tight and bottles left in their original child-resistant packaging. Avoid windowsills, cars and bathrooms. Nicotine oxidises on contact with air and light, which darkens the liquid and dulls the flavour over time. Darkening alone is normal ageing rather than a fault, but it is a reason to buy what you will use within six months.
Why has my e-liquid gone darker in the bottle?
Oxidation. Nicotine reacts slowly with oxygen and light, and the liquid takes on an amber tint as it does. It happens faster in bottles left open, warm or in daylight. The liquid is still usable, but the flavour drifts alongside the colour, so it is not worth stockpiling large quantities you will not get through.
Can I refill an IVG prefilled pod with bottled liquid?
No. Prefilled pods for the PRO, SMART MAX, NEXiO, 2400, SAVR and AIR platforms are sealed consumables with no fill port and no serviceable coil. Trying to open one ruins the pod and makes a mess. If you want to use bottled liquid, buy a refillable pod kit designed for it and fill that with a 50/50 salt instead.
What nicotine strength should I choose?
20mg salt is the UK maximum and suits adults wanting a firm, immediately noticeable draw in a low-power pod. 10mg salt is softer and better for long sessions. Freebase at 3mg is the standard for sub-ohm DTL after nic shots, with 6mg and 12mg available for mid-range MTL. If a strength does not suit you, change it rather than persevering.
How long does a 10ml bottle last?
An MTL pod vaper typically gets through 2 to 5ml a day, so a 10ml bottle usually lasts two to five days and four to six bottles a month is normal. A sub-ohm DTL vaper runs 8 to 15ml a day, which is why 100ml shortfills exist. Work out your weekly volume once and buy in monthly blocks.
How do I dispose of empty bottles and old coils?
Rinse empty plastic bottles and check what your local authority accepts, as many kerbside schemes reject small plastics and caps. Never pour leftover nicotine-containing liquid down a drain — take it to your household waste recycling centre. Used coils and pods are electrical waste and belong at a WEEE or retailer take-back point, never the general bin.