Shortfill E-Liquid And Nic Shots: A UK Guide

A shortfill is a bottle of e-liquid with no nicotine in it, sold in a bottle bigger than the liquid inside. The gap is there on purpose. You add the nicotine yourself.

That sounds odd until you know why it exists. Once you do, the rest of it falls into place.

What Is A Shortfill E-Liquid?

Buy a 100ml shortfill and you get a 120ml bottle with 100ml of liquid in it. The 20ml of empty space is room for two nicotine shots.

The liquid itself is 0mg. No nicotine at all until you put it there. Add two 10ml shots and you end up with 120ml of finished liquid at around 3mg.

This trips people up all the time, so it is worth saying plainly. The size on the label is the liquid, not the bottle. A 50ml shortfill comes in a 60ml bottle. A 100ml shortfill comes in a 120ml bottle. You are not being short-changed. The gap is deliberate.

Most of the 100ml shortfill e-liquids on the market are made for sub-ohm kits, which we come back to below.

Why Shortfills Exist At All

In 2016 a set of rules called the TPD came in across the UK and Europe. One of them capped any bottle containing nicotine at 10ml, and capped the strength at 20mg per ml. [documented — gov.uk, Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016]

That was a problem for anyone getting through a lot of liquid. Buying 100ml meant buying ten separate little bottles.

So the industry split the product in two. Sell the flavoured liquid with no nicotine in it, in any size you like, because the 10ml cap only applies to liquid that contains nicotine. Sell the nicotine separately in a legal 10ml bottle. The customer mixes them.

That is the whole idea. A shortfill is a way of buying e-liquid in bulk without breaking a rule about bottle size.

How Many Nic Shots For 100ml Shortfill

Two. That is the short answer, and it gives you roughly 3mg.

Here is the working. Each 10ml shot at 18mg holds 180mg of nicotine. Two shots is 360mg. Pour them into 100ml of liquid and you now have 120ml in total. 360 divided by 120 is 3mg per ml.

Use 20mg shots instead and you get 400mg in 120ml, which is 3.3mg per ml. Close enough that most people will not notice.

Past two shots you run out of bottle. A 120ml bottle holds 100ml of liquid and two shots, and that is it. For three or more you need to pour some out into a second bottle first.

More shots also water down the flavour. Nicotine has almost no taste of its own, so every shot you add is a bit more tasteless liquid diluting what you paid for. Five shots will noticeably flatten a flavour.

Our 10ml nicotine shots come in both 18mg and 20mg.

How Many Nic Shots For 100ml To Make 20mg

You cannot. Not with shots, not with any number of them, and it is worth explaining why because a lot of people go looking for this.

A 20mg nic shot is 20mg per ml. That is the legal ceiling. When you pour it into liquid that has no nicotine in it, you are diluting it. The result is always weaker than the shot was.

Add one 20mg shot to 100ml and you get 1.8mg. Add ten and you get 10mg. Add a hundred and you creep towards 20mg without ever reaching it, and you would have two litres of liquid.

A shortfill mix can never be stronger than the shot you put in it. If you want 20mg, buy it ready-made. That is what nic salt e-liquid is for, and it comes at 20mg in a 10ml bottle because that is the strongest the law allows.

Nicotine Shots For 50ml And 120ml Shortfill

A 50ml shortfill comes in a 60ml bottle and takes one shot. One 18mg shot in 50ml gives you 3mg exactly. Same strength as a 100ml with two, because the ratio is the same.

A 120ml shortfill is less common and usually sits in a 150ml bottle. Three shots gets you close to 3mg.

The pattern is simple once you see it. One shot per 50ml of liquid gives 3mg, every time. That is the rule worth remembering, and it works at any size.

Using A Nic Shot Calculator, Or The Quick Maths

Plenty of sites run a nic shot calculator. They all do the same sum, and you can do it on your phone in ten seconds.

Shots x 10 x shot strength, divided by total volume.

So two 18mg shots in a 100ml bottle is 2 x 10 x 18 = 360, divided by 120 = 3mg.

One thing the calculators do not always make clear. The second shot is not the same sum as the first, because by then your bottle holds more liquid. Each shot you add dilutes into a bigger volume than the one before, so the gains get smaller each time. That is why going from two shots to three only takes you from 3mg to 4.2mg rather than to 4.5mg.

Nic Salts vs Nic Shots In A Shortfill

These get mixed up constantly, and they are not the same thing.

A nic shot is flavourless nicotine in a 10ml bottle, made to be poured into something else. On its own it tastes of nothing much.

A nic salt is a finished e-liquid you vape as it comes. It is a different form of nicotine, smoother in the throat at high strength, which is why it works at 20mg where freebase at 20mg would be harsh.

Most nic shots are freebase, which gives a firmer throat hit and suits high-VG shortfills. Some are sold as nic salt shots instead, and those go in more smoothly.

Do not mix the two types in one bottle. Freebase and salt nicotine have different acidity, and putting both in the same shortfill can affect how it tastes and how it sits. Pick one and stay with it.

50/50 Shortfill Or High VG, And What Suits Your Kit

Every e-liquid is mostly two things. VG makes vapour and thickens the liquid. PG carries flavour and gives the throat hit. The ratio between them decides what device it suits.

Most shortfills are 70/30 or 80/20 VG/PG. That is thick liquid made for sub-ohm kits that use a lot of power and produce a lot of vapour.

A 50/50 shortfill is thinner. It suits mouth-to-lung kits and pod devices, which have small coils and narrow wicking holes that thick liquid struggles to get through.

Put an 80/20 shortfill in a pod kit and it will probably not wick fast enough. You get a dry, scorched taste on the second or third draw. That is not a fault with the device. It is the wrong liquid in it.

If you run refillable pod kits, look for 50/50 on the label before you buy. Your nic shot has a ratio too, so match that where you can.

50ml Shortfill, 100ml Shortfill Or 120ml

The bigger the bottle, the cheaper the liquid works out per millilitre. That has always been the argument for buying 100ml.

There are two arguments the other way.

Flavour does not last forever. A 120ml finished bottle takes most people a month or more. Once you mix a nic shot in, the nicotine starts reacting with the air, the liquid darkens and the taste flattens. Buying smaller and more often gives you fresher liquid.

And from October the maths shifts. The new vape tax is charged per 10ml, so a 100ml shortfill carries twice the duty of a 50ml. The per-millilitre price is still lower on the big bottle, but the gap narrows, and the up-front cost of one purchase doubles.

If you get through a lot of liquid because you run sub-ohm coils, 100ml still makes sense. If you vape moderately, 50ml is probably the easier call now.

What The Vape Tax Does To Shortfills From October

From 1 October 2026, Vaping Products Duty adds £2.20 for every 10ml of liquid sold in the UK. It applies to nicotine-free liquid too, because the charge is on volume rather than on nicotine. [documented — gov.uk, Vaping Products Duty guidance]

That hits shortfills harder than anything else on the shelf.

On a setup that costs around £15 today, that is more than double, added on top.

The shots get taxed on their own. Each one is 10ml of vaping liquid in its own right, so each pays its own £2.20 whether it has nicotine in it or not.

Two things are worth holding on to. Shortfills are still the cheapest way to vape per millilitre, even after all that, because the duty per millilitre is the same whatever format you buy and the liquid itself is cheaper in a big bottle. And nothing changes on 1 October. Shops can sell stock they already hold until 31 March 2027, so prices climb slowly as old stock runs out.

For the full picture including duty stamps and what it does to other formats, the UK vape tax guide covers it.

How To Store Shortfill Vape Juice So It Lasts

An unmixed shortfill keeps well. It has no nicotine in it, and nicotine is the part that goes off fastest.

Once you add a shot, the clock starts.

1. Keep shots unmixed until you need them. A sealed shortfill and a sealed shot both last far longer apart than they do together.
2. Store upright, in a cupboard. Light and heat are what darken liquid and flatten flavour.
3. Shake properly after mixing. Thirty seconds at least, a minute or two is better. Nicotine does not spread through thick liquid on its own.
4. Steep it if the flavour seems flat. Leave the cap off for ten minutes, seal it, then put it in the dark for a few days. Some flavours improve noticeably.
5. Do not stockpile mixed bottles. Buy the shortfills ahead if you want, but mix them as you go.

If all of this sounds like more effort than you want, prefilled pods take it off your hands entirely. You pay more per millilitre and nothing needs mixing.

Shortfill And Nicotine Shots Questions

How many nic shots for a 100ml shortfill?

Two 10ml shots, which gives you roughly 3mg. The bottle is built with room for exactly that.

How many nic shots for a 50ml shortfill?

One. That gives 3mg, the same as two shots in a 100ml, because the ratio works out the same.

Can I get a shortfill to 20mg?

No. A nic shot is 20mg at most, and pouring it into liquid with no nicotine only dilutes it. A shortfill mix can never be stronger than the shot that went in.

What is the nic shot calculator formula?

Shots times 10 times shot strength, divided by total volume. Two 18mg shots in 100ml is 360 divided by 120, which is 3mg.

What is the difference between nic shots and nic salts?

A nic shot is flavourless nicotine you add to something else. A nic salt is a finished e-liquid you vape straight from the bottle.

Why is a 100ml shortfill in a 120ml bottle?

The extra 20ml is space for two nicotine shots. The number on the label is how much liquid you get, not the size of the bottle.

Can I use a shortfill in a pod kit?

Only a 50/50 one. Most shortfills are 70/30 or 80/20 VG, which is too thick for small pod coils and will give you dry hits.

Do nicotine-free shortfills get taxed?

Yes, at the full rate. The vape tax is charged on how much liquid you buy rather than how much nicotine is in it.

How long does a mixed shortfill last?

A few months before the flavour starts to flatten. Unmixed, it keeps far longer, which is why it is worth leaving the shots until you need them.

Can I mix a freebase shot and a salt shot together?

Better not to. The two have different acidity and putting both in one bottle can affect how it tastes. Pick one type and stay with it.

Nicotine strengths and bottle sizes here follow UK law as published by gov.uk. Duty figures are as published by HMRC. Prices quoted for comparison are rough and vary by brand and shop. Nicotine is an addictive substance and these products are for adults aged 18 and over.