"Premium" vs. Lower Cost E-Juices - Which to Choose?

There is no shortage of brand names and flavors in the arena of e-juice manufacturing. What used to be an industry offering only tobacco and menthol flavors has exploded into one with literally hundreds of different choices covering a full range of categories including fruits, desserts, alcoholic beverages, and more. Vapers can even choose between premium juice and its cheaper cousins.

Vapers everywhere must wrestle with the question of which juice to choose. Should they stick only with premium juices? Should they buy only less expensive vape juices? Perhaps they should purchase a combination of both. There is no black and white answer that satisfies every vaper.

What’s the Difference?

All e-liquids start with the same basic ingredients: propylene glycol and/or vegetable glycerin, nicotine(unless zero nic), and flavoring. The difference between a low price and premium e-juice is the flavor profile of the finished product. This is largely because there is very little differentiation in  propylene glycol, and vegetable glycerin.

The one caveat here is the difference between food grade and pharmaceutical grade base products. A food grade propylene glycol will not have undergone the same testing a pharmaceutical grade product undergoes. 

How Are Flavor Profiles Created?

Given that flavor profile is the main difference between a premium and discount e-liquid, it would be beneficial to understand how flavor profiles are created. A profile starts with a base recipe that sets the tone of the experience for that liquid. For example, a vape juice manufacturer may start with a cherry flavoring in a vegetable glycerin base.

The cherry flavoring will be a high-quality candy flavoring purchased from a reputable manufacturer. The e-juice designer will then add additional flavors to both enhance and supplement the cherry base. From those additional ingredients the eliquid mixer creates the desired profile. The profile can be spicy, sweet, or anything else the mixer is looking for.

Key to making a premium juice is creating a flavor profile that is both rich and memorable. Like a good wine or chocolate presents the palate with multiple notes of both subtle and robust flavors, a premium e-liquid teases the senses. By the same token, a cheap e-juice designed without a flavor profile beyond the base flavor will offer very little after the initial taste. Think of it as the difference between grape juice and a fine wine. Both begin with a grape base, but the wine goes on to give the palate more to enjoy.

Is One Better Than the Other?

We now arrive at the question of which kind of e-liquid to choose. The answer depends on a person's tastes and budget. If you consider yourself a vaping connoisseur, it may be worth it to you to spend a little more on a premium juice. On the other hand, cheap juices may be your preference if you can't taste the difference between various cherries.

Premium e-juice is all about flavor profile. It is more expensive because of the time, effort, and resources that go into creating it. That is not to say lower priced vape juice doesn't have multiple flavor profiles. Here at The Vape Mall some of our ejuices are made with as many as 10 different flavors, some may only have one or two. In the end a low price ejuice may have the same or better flavor profile than it's expensive counterparts.