Shortfill E-Liquids

A shortfill is a bottle of flavoured e-liquid sold with no nicotine in it and with the neck deliberately left empty, so there is headroom for you to add your own nicotine shot. This collection holds 919 shortfills covering 40ml pod fill bases, 50ml bottles and 100ml bottles across every flavour family the UK market runs on. Iced fruits, sweet shop blends, custards, bakery, tobacco and soft drink profiles are all here. Most of the 100ml bottles in the range sit between £7 and £11, which works out at a few pence per millilitre once the shots are mixed in.

The format exists because of how UK nicotine law is drawn rather than because of anything to do with the flavour. Any e-liquid containing nicotine is capped at 20mg per ml and cannot be sold in a bottle larger than 10ml. Take the nicotine out and neither limit applies. That is the whole mechanism. You buy a large bottle of nicotine free base, drop in a 10ml shot, shake it and you have a big bottle at a low strength for a fraction of what the same volume in 10ml bottles would cost.

Why the shortfill format exists

The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations set three numbers that shape everything on this page. Nicotine e-liquid is limited to 20mg per ml. Bottles of nicotine e-liquid are limited to 10ml. Tanks sold containing nicotine e-liquid are limited to 2ml. A shortfill sidesteps the first two by containing no nicotine at all at the point of sale, which is why the label reads 0mg. The nicotine shot you add is itself a fully compliant 10ml bottle at 18mg or 20mg that has been notified to the MHRA.

Adding a shot is optional. Vapers who have worked their strength down to zero simply vape the base exactly as it comes out of the bottle, which is one reason the shortfill shelf has become the largest single part of any UK e-liquid range.

Nicotine shots and the mixing maths

The arithmetic only needs doing once. Multiply the shot volume by the shot strength to get the total milligrams of nicotine, then divide by the finished volume in the bottle.

50ml shortfill in a 60ml bottle

One 10ml shot at 18mg puts 180mg of nicotine into 60ml of finished liquid, which lands at 3mg per ml. Swap in a 20mg shot and you finish at roughly 3.3mg per ml. This is the classic sub ohm strength and the reason 3mg is printed on so many bottles.

100ml shortfill in a 120ml bottle

Two 10ml shots at 18mg give 360mg across 120ml, again 3mg per ml. Two 20mg shots take it to about 3.3mg per ml. There is no route to 6mg in a bottle this size because the headroom is not there. Anyone wanting a stronger mix should decant part of the base into a second empty bottle before shotting it or simply buy 10ml nic salts instead.

40ml pod fill and bar style shortfills

The 40ml format grew quickly after single use vapes were withdrawn from sale on 1 June 2025. It is built around a 50ml bottle taking a single 10ml shot. A 20mg nic salt shot gives 200mg across 50ml, so 4mg per ml. These bases are mixed at a pod friendly ratio rather than a high VG cloud ratio, which is exactly why they carry names like pod fill and bar juice.

Freebase shots or nic salt shots

Both arrive as 10ml bottles at up to 20mg. The difference is chemistry. A freebase shot is unflavoured and neutral, normally mixed at 50/50 or 70/30. It raises the strength without doing much to the character of the base beyond thinning it very slightly. A nic salt shot uses nicotine that has been reacted with an acid, most commonly benzoic acid, which lowers the pH and produces a noticeably smoother throat hit at the same milligram figure.

For a high VG shortfill heading into a sub ohm tank at 3mg, a freebase shot is the standard choice because the throat hit is mild at that strength anyway. For a 40ml or 50ml pod fill base finishing at 4mg or above in a refillable pod kit, a salt shot is usually kinder. Shots are sold separately from the shortfill in almost every case, so add them to the basket at the same time.

VG and PG ratios and what they actually do

Vegetable glycerine is thick and faintly sweet. It carries the vapour. Propylene glycol is thin and neutral. It carries the flavour and provides the throat hit. A 70/30 VG to PG shortfill is the default for sub ohm coils because thicker liquid resists weeping through large wicking ports while producing dense vapour. A 50/50 base wicks far faster and suits the tight high resistance coils used in pod kits and mouth to lung tanks.

Getting this wrong is the single most common reason a new shortfill disappoints. Put a 70/30 into a 1.2 ohm pod and the cotton cannot keep up, which reads as a dry harsh puff and often as a burnt coil within a day. Put a 50/50 into a 0.15 ohm mesh coil and it will flood the airflow and leak into your pocket. Check the ratio printed on the bottle before you settle on the flavour.

Which device suits a shortfill

Shortfills were designed around sub ohm hardware. Coils below 1.0 ohm running from roughly 20W upwards will move through a 100ml bottle quickly and will show off the layered mixes that larger format juices are usually built for. Sub ohm tanks, mesh pod kits fitted with low resistance pods and box mod setups are all natural homes for a 70/30.

The 40ml and 50ml pod fill formats have changed that picture significantly. They are mixed thinner precisely so they work in refillable pod kits, which is where most UK vapers now are. If your device takes a coil rated above 1.0 ohm, look for a shortfill described as pod fill, bar juice or 50/50 rather than reaching for a high VG 100ml bottle.

Steeping, shaking and storage

Mixing in a nicotine shot needs nothing more than a firm shake for about thirty seconds. The liquid will look cloudy while air is suspended in it. That clears on its own within a few minutes.

Steeping is a separate question and it depends entirely on the profile. Fruit, menthol and iced blends are ready to vape straight away. Custards, bakery, tobacco and heavy dessert mixes often taste rounder if left standing for a few days to a couple of weeks with the cap on, because the heavier flavour compounds need time to marry into the base. Store bottles upright, out of direct sunlight and away from heat. Light and warmth darken e-liquid and dull the top notes. A kitchen cupboard is fine. A car dashboard in July is not.

Flavour families in this collection

The range covers the profiles UK vapers actually buy. Iced fruits and menthols such as blue raspberry, mango ice and mixed berry blends make up the largest share by some distance. Sweet shop and candy profiles bring bubblegum, gummy sweets and cotton candy. Bakery and dessert covers custard, doughnut and butterscotch. Drinks profiles run to cola and energy style mixes. Tropical blends pairing kiwi, guava and passion fruit have become a category in their own right. Single fruit bottles remain the safest starting point if you are buying blind.

Brands represented across the shortfill range include Just Juice, Doozy, Dinner Lady, Drifter, Bar Series, Bar Vape, Big Bold, ImpJar, Vortex, Future Juice and Bear State Vapor.

Buying shortfills in the UK

Shortfills are sold to adults aged 18 and over only. Because they contain no nicotine when they are sold, the bottles themselves are not subject to the notification regime that applies to nicotine e-liquid. The shots you add to them are covered by it, so every nicotine shot sold here is notified, capped at 10ml and no stronger than 20mg per ml. Orders are age verified before they are dispatched.

Delivery and support

UK delivery is free on orders over £20, a threshold most shortfill orders clear once a couple of bottles and their shots are in the basket. If you are unsure which ratio suits your device or how many shots a particular bottle takes, the team can check it for you on 07827 210361 between 8.30am and 4.00pm.

Shortfill questions answered