Decoding the Bottle: What 50/50, 70/30 and Max VG Actually Mean for Your Vape
Photo: Netha Hussain, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pick up any bottle of e-liquid and you'll spot it: 50/50, 70VG, Max VG, 80/20. To a newcomer it reads like code. But those numbers are genuinely the most useful piece of information on the label — more than the flavour name, arguably more than the brand.
Get the ratio wrong and you'll end up with a burnt coil, a weedy puff, or a tank that leaks like a colander. Get it right and everything just… works. So let's decode it.
The Two Ingredients, Explained
Nearly every e-liquid is a blend of four things: propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerine (VG), flavourings and nicotine. PG and VG are the base — the carriers — and they behave very differently.
PG (propylene glycol) is a thin, runny liquid. It carries flavour brilliantly and delivers that sharp sensation at the back of the throat — the one ex-smokers usually call "throat hit" and often miss dearly. It's the same food-safe additive you'll find in everything from asthma inhalers to fog machines.
VG (vegetable glycerine) is thick and slightly sweet. Its party trick is vapour production — it's what makes clouds. It's smoother on the throat, mutes flavour slightly, and gobbles up coil life faster because it's more viscous.
Neither is "better". They're just different tools for different jobs.
Why Thickness Matters More Than You Think
Here's the practical bit most guides gloss over: VG is thick — like syrup thick, especially in winter. Your coil needs wicking material to soak that liquid up and feed it to the heating element.
A small, low-powered coil (like those in pod kits and pen vapes) has tiny wicking ports. Pour a thick, high-VG liquid into one and it can't soak through fast enough. The result: dry hits, burnt cotton, and a coil that dies within days. This is why high-VG liquids and small pod kits are a genuinely bad pairing — not a matter of taste.
Conversely, a big sub-ohm tank with large wicking channels drinks high-VG liquid happily. Fill one with thin, high-PG liquid and you may find it leaks or floods, because the thin liquid runs straight through.
The Quick-Reference Guide
Bookmark this bit:
| Ratio | Best for | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| 50/50 | Pod kits, pen vapes, MTL devices | Balanced throat hit, decent flavour, discreet vapour |
| 60/40 VG/PG | MTL kits wanting slightly more vapour | A touch smoother than 50/50 |
| 70/30 (70VG) | Sub-ohm tanks, DTL vaping | Big clouds, smooth inhale, softer flavour |
| Max VG (80%+) | Cloud chasers on powerful mods | Enormous vapour, very smooth, needs a beefy coil |
So Which One Are You?
A simple way to think about it: how do you inhale?
If you draw vapour into your mouth first, then into your lungs — like smoking a cigarette — you're a mouth-to-lung (MTL) vaper. You want a 50/50 or similar balanced ratio, and likely a nic salt or a moderate freebase strength.
If you inhale straight to the lungs like taking a deep breath — the way most cloud-heavy devices are designed — you're a direct-to-lung (DTL) vaper. You want high VG, typically 70% or more, at lower nicotine strengths (3–6mg usually).
UK Shopper Notes
A few UK-specific pointers before you hit checkout:
- Under TPD rules, bottles are capped at 10ml if they contain nicotine, which is why you'll see shortfills (50ml+ of nicotine-free liquid in a bigger bottle with room for a nic shot) dominating the high-VG shelves. High-VG shortfill plus a 10ml nic shot gets you exactly the strength you want.
- Cold weather thickens VG further. If your 70/30 is sluggish in January, warm the bottle in your hands for a minute — don't microwave it.
- If a liquid ever irritates your throat, PG sensitivity is a known (if uncommon) thing. Shifting to a higher VG blend usually sorts it.
The Bottom Line
Match the ratio to the device, not the marketing. Small kit? 50/50. Big tank? 70VG. Everything else is flavour preference. Our e-liquid listings all show ratios clearly, and if you're ever unsure, our team can point you to the right shelf in about thirty seconds.
