Nicotine levels

Regular Cigarettes / E-cigarettes / E-liquid Strength (mg)


Unfiltered, very strong / Super High / 36 mg
Full flavoured, stronger / Extra High / 24 mg
Most full flavoured / High / 18 mg
Full Flavour Medium / Medium-High / 16mg
Light / Medium / 12 mg
Ultra-light / Low / 8 mg
None / Zero / 0 mg


No Nicotine: This level will work for you if you just want the feel of smoking a cigarette. If you are anything more than an extremely light (a few cigarettes a week) smoker, this won’t be enough. At least not in the beginning, but we’ll get to that later.

3mg or 0.3%: Considered the ultra ultra-light level, 3mg can be effective if you are used to smoking very very light cigarettes also used for extreme vaping such as sub-ohming.

6mg or 0.6%: Considered the ultra-light level, 6mg can be effective if you are used to smoking ultra-light cigarettes such as Capris or Pall Mall ultra-lights.

12mg or 1.2%: Here we start to get into the area where more smokers fall into. This would be considered a light level nicotine strength for most e-cigarette brands. If you smoke a light cigarette, especially if you smoke less than a pack a day, this could fit your needs well.

18mg or 1.8%: The majority of smokers will want to start with this level of liquid nicotine or higher. If you smoke a full flavored or regular cigarette and have up to a pack a day, you will want your e cigarette liquid to contain at least 18mg of liquid nicotine.

24mg or 2.4%: Now we’re talking! This nicotine strength level suites smokers used to “natural” cigarette brands like American Spirit or rolled tobacco. This could also be a good starting point if you smoke more than a pack a day of a full flavored cigarette.

36mg or 3.6%… or higher: More and more e-cigarette brands are starting to offer e cig liquid at this nicotine strength. The need is there, and brands which already go up to 54mg in their e cigarette liquid. This is truly for the heavy smoker who is used to two or more packs a day and needs this much liquid nicotine to be satisfied.


You should be able to place yourself and your habits into one of the above categories, if not more. That’s actually where a lot of first time e cigarette users falter. The negative connotation of nicotine kicks in and they’ll choose a lower level in the hopes that it will be enough for them. That is exactly where you don’t want to be! You are better off going with a higher liquid nicotine level and satisfying your cravings rather than not getting enough and feeling like e-cigarettes aren’t doing the trick. We even recommend getting some e-liquid at a higher level and going back and forth between nicotine strength levels, at least in the beginning. You will want to make sure you are getting enough nicotine!