A bottle of e-liquid that is deliberately not filled to the top.
The gap is the point. UK regulations cap nicotine-containing e-liquid at 10ml per bottle and 20mg/ml maximum strength. Shortfills get around that limit by shipping nicotine-free in a larger bottle with space left for you to add a nicotine shot yourself. A 50ml shortfill comes in a 60ml bottle. Pour in a 10ml nic shot, shake it, and you have 60ml of nicotine e-liquid. A 100ml shortfill in a 120ml bottle works the same way with two shots.
Completely legal. The liquid itself contains no nicotine when sold, so it is not bound by the 10ml bottle limit. The nic shot is sold separately as a 10ml nicotine-containing product, fully TPD compliant on its own. You combine them at home.
The name confuses people at first. "Short" because the bottle is not full. "Fill" because you fill the rest yourself. Once you get the concept, it is dead simple.
Why 70/30?
The ratio changes everything about how the liquid behaves.
At 70% VG, the liquid is noticeably thicker. It moves slowly in the bottle, coats the coil more heavily, and produces substantially more vapour per draw. If you vape for clouds, that density is the whole point. A 50/50 blend through the same coil at the same wattage produces maybe half the visible vapour. Not a scientific measurement. Just obvious.
The 30% PG carries the flavour. Pure VG would produce huge clouds with almost no taste, which is not useful. That 30% PG content keeps the flavour present and defined without making the liquid so thin that it floods the coil. It also adds a touch of throat hit, which most DTL vapers want even at lower nicotine strengths.
70/30 is the standard ratio for sub-ohm vaping for a reason. Thicker than that and some coils struggle to wick. Thinner and the clouds lose their weight. It sits at the point where vapour production, flavour delivery, and coil compatibility all line up.
Top 70/30 Shortfills To Try
• Dinner Lady Shortfills
• Vampire Vape Shortfills
• Doozy Shortfills
• Riot Squad Shortfills
• Just Juice Shortfills
• Nasty Juice ModMate Shortfills
Who Are Shortfills For?
Sub-ohm vapers. If you run a tank or RDA with coils below 0.5ohm at 30W or above, shortfills are your format. The thick 70/30 blend keeps up with the high liquid consumption that sub-ohm coils demand, and buying 50ml or 100ml at a time is the only way the cost stays reasonable at that usage rate.
Vapers who get through liquid quickly. Sub-ohm devices eat through e-liquid. A 10ml bottle might last a day or two at most. At that rate, buying individual 10ml nic salts would be expensive and inconvenient. A 100ml shortfill with two nic shots gives you roughly ten times the liquid for less than five times the price. The maths is not complicated.
Cloud chasers. Thick vapour needs thick liquid. 70/30 delivers. You already know this if you have been vaping DTL for any length of time, but if you are moving up from a pod kit and wondering why the clouds are thin, the ratio is probably the first thing to change.
Flavour enthusiasts who want variety. Shortfill ranges tend to carry more complex, layered flavour profiles than 10ml nic salt lines. Dessert blends with three or four notes, fruit combinations that go beyond the standard strawberry-kiwi template, bakery profiles with actual depth. The format gives manufacturers more room to develop flavours because they are not constrained to the compact nic salt market.
Budget-conscious vapers. Ml for ml, shortfills are the cheapest way to vape with nicotine. A 100ml shortfill plus two nic shots costs less than buying the equivalent in 10ml bottles, usually by a significant margin. If you vape heavily, shortfills are how you keep the cost under control.
Who should probably avoid them? Pod kit users running coils above 0.6ohm. The 70/30 ratio is too thick for those wicking ports. You will get dry hits, muted flavour, and shortened coil life. Stick to 50/50 for pod kits.
How to Add a Nicotine Shot
Not difficult. Takes about thirty seconds.
A standard nic shot is 10ml of 18mg/ml nicotine in a VG or PG base. Adding one to a 50ml shortfill gives you 60ml at roughly 3mg/ml. Adding two to a 100ml gives you 120ml at 3mg.
If you want 6mg, you need two shots in a 50ml (giving 70ml at about 5mg) or a shortfill brand that leaves extra room. Check the label. Most shortfill bottles tell you exactly how many shots to add for each target strength.
Here is the process:
- Open the shortfill bottle.
- Remove the nozzle cap if there is one.
- Pour the full nic shot into the shortfill bottle.
- Replace the cap.
- Shake the bottle firmly for about thirty seconds. The liquid will look streaky at first. Keep shaking until the colour and consistency are even throughout.
- Leave it to sit for a few minutes, then shake again. Done.
One thing people get wrong: they do not shake hard enough or long enough. If the nic shot is not fully mixed, you get uneven nicotine distribution. The first few fills from the bottle are strong, the last few are weak. A solid shake solves it. Some vapers give the bottle another shake before each refill just to be safe. Not a bad habit.
Flavours
Shortfill ranges go deeper than nic salt lines. Fewer constraints on the format means manufacturers invest more in flavour development, and it shows.
Fruit is still the volume seller, but shortfill fruit blends tend to layer more. A nic salt might be "mango ice." A shortfill version of the same concept might be mango and passionfruit with a subtle lime finish and a cool exhale. More going on per draw.
Dessert and bakery profiles are where shortfills really pull ahead. Custard, cheesecake, cinnamon pastry, caramel popcorn, vanilla sponge. These flavours benefit from the higher VG content because VG carries sweetness naturally, so the dessert notes land richer and smoother. Dinner Lady built a reputation in this category. Vampire Vape's Heisenberg has been a UK bestseller for years, and it is a shortfill original.
Menthol and ice blends work well at 70/30. The VG softens the menthol slightly compared to a 50/50, which some vapers prefer. Less sharp, more of a rolling coolness.
Tobacco shortfills exist but are less common than in the nic salt space. The vapers who choose shortfills tend to have moved past tobacco profiles, though a well-made RY4 (tobacco, caramel, vanilla) in a 70/30 shortfill is a properly satisfying vape.
Drinks round it out. Cola, coffee, mojito, energy drink. Niche stuff, but the brands that commit to these profiles at shortfill scale usually do them well because they are marketing to experienced vapers, not newcomers.
Which Devices Handle 70/30?
Sub-ohm gear. That is the short answer.
Vape tanks with coils at 0.15ohm to 0.5ohm running between 30W and 80W are the natural home for 70/30 shortfills. The large wicking ports on sub-ohm coils are sized for thick liquid, and the high wattage vapourises VG-heavy blends efficiently.
Anything from the SMOK TFV range, Freemax mesh tanks, Horizontech Falcon series, Uwell Valyrian, or Geekvape Zeus will handle 70/30 without issue.
Vape mods with adjustable wattage pair with those tanks. A regulated box mod lets you dial the wattage to match the coil, which matters with thick liquid because too little power and the coil does not heat evenly, too much and you burn the cotton before the liquid can re-saturate. Most sub-ohm coils have a recommended range printed on them. Stay within it.
RDAs and RTAs work too, obviously. If you build your own coils, you already know what ratio you want. 70/30 is the default for most builders. For pre-built options, the vape coils section lists replacements by tank and brand.
Pod kits? No. Already explained why. The wicking ports are too narrow, the wattage is too low, and the coils are not designed for thick liquid. Use 50/50 in pod kits.
Some newer pod mods sit in between. Devices like the Vaporesso Luxe X with a 0.4ohm coil can handle 60/40 or occasionally 70/30, but it is borderline.
If the manufacturer recommends 50/50, listen to them. Pushing thicker liquid through a coil that was not designed for it shortens the coil life and dulls the flavour.
Storing Shortfills
Bigger bottles mean you are holding liquid for longer before you finish it. Storage matters more here than with a 10ml bottle you burn through in three days.
Keep the bottle upright and sealed when not in use. The cap matters. VG absorbs moisture from the air, and if you leave a shortfill open or loosely capped, the liquid gradually thins out and the flavour shifts.
Room temperature, out of sunlight. Heat accelerates nicotine degradation and flavour breakdown. A drawer or cupboard is fine. Not a windowsill, not a car dashboard, not next to a radiator.
If the liquid changes colour slightly over time, that is normal. Nicotine oxidises and turns the liquid a slightly amber or yellowish tint. Does not affect safety or flavour noticeably unless the bottle has been sitting open in sunlight for weeks.
VG-heavy liquids can also thicken further in cold temperatures. If a bottle has been sitting in a cold room and feels sluggish when you try to fill, warm it between your hands for a minute. It thins back out. Do not heat it with anything else.
Every 70/30 shortfill at Pirate Vapes is genuine, TPD compliant (nicotine-free at point of sale), and dispatched the same day before 4 pm. Free Pirate Post on orders over £40. Age-verified checkout. Over 18s only.
