What Are Bar Salts? Nic Salts With Bar-Style Flavours
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- Bar salts are nic salt e-liquids with bar-style flavours. Same 10ml bottle and 50/50 base as other nic salts, with flavour recipes built to match the old bar vapes.
- Single-use disposables have been banned since 1 June 2025. Bar salts in a refillable pod kit are one legal way to keep vaping those flavours.
- Strengths run up to the UK maximum of 20mg. Most ranges come in 10mg and 20mg, and some add 5mg.
- They belong in a low-powered pod kit. Use them in mouth-to-lung pods with coils of 0.6 ohm and above, not in a sub-ohm tank.
- A 10ml bottle fills a 2ml pod five times. That is the same volume of liquid as five of the old 2ml bars, in one bottle.
Bar salts in plain terms
The “bar” in bar salts refers to the slim, bar-shaped vapes that dominated UK shops until single-use disposables were banned on 1 June 2025. Those devices were prefilled with nicotine salt liquid in a handful of very recognisable flavours: blue raspberry lemonade, blueberry sour raspberry, triple mango, cola and the like.
Bar salts are 10ml nic salt e-liquids developed to recreate those flavour profiles for refillable kits. Chemically they are ordinary nic salts: a 50/50 PG/VG base, nicotine in salt form, and flavourings. What sets them apart is the recipe, which is built for the bold, sweet taste people associate with bar vapes rather than for subtlety.
You cannot buy the old single-use bars any more, and you will not find them here. What you can buy is the flavour, in a bottle, to use in a device you keep. If nic salts in general are new to you, our beginners guide to nic salts covers the basics.
What makes a bar salt different
Flavour first
Recipes are tuned to taste like the bar-style originals, so they are usually sweeter and more intense than a traditional 10ml.
Nic salt smoothness
Nicotine salts are generally smoother on the throat at higher strengths than freebase, which is why nic salts are popular at 10mg and 20mg.
Made for pods
The 50/50 base suits small mouth-to-lung pod coils and wicks well at low wattage.
The table below shows how bar salts sit next to the other liquids you will see on the shelf.
| Liquid | Base | Typical strengths | Best kit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bar salts | 50/50 nic salt | 5mg, 10mg, 20mg | Refillable MTL pod kits |
| Regular nic salts | 50/50 nic salt | 5mg to 20mg | Refillable MTL pod kits |
| Freebase 10ml | Usually 50/50 | 3mg to 18mg | Pod kits and MTL tanks |
| Shortfills | High VG, 0mg | 0mg, or about 3mg with a shot | Sub-ohm tanks |
Nic salts and bar salts are close relatives, so the choice between them is really about flavour. If you liked the taste of the old bar vapes, bar salts are the direct route back to it. If you prefer a less sweet, more traditional flavour, a regular nic salt or freebase 10ml will suit you better.
Bar salt flavours to start with
Three bar salt ranges we stock are Elux Legend, Bar Juice 5000 and Elfliq from Elf Bar. All three come in 10ml bottles with a 50/50 base, and all use the flavour names you will recognise.
Elux Legend Blueberry Sour Raspberry. Sweet blueberry with a sharp raspberry edge, one of the defining bar flavours. A good first bottle if you want the classic taste. 10ml nic salt, 50/50, 10mg or 20mg.
Elux Legend Triple Mango. Ripe, full mango for anyone who prefers a single tropical fruit to a mix. 10ml nic salt, 50/50, 10mg or 20mg.
Bar Juice 5000 Blue Razz Lemonade. Blue raspberry sweets meeting sharp lemonade. Suits someone who likes a sour, fizzy-style profile. 10ml nic salt, 50/50, 5mg, 10mg or 20mg.
Bar Juice 5000 Strawberry Ice. Sweet strawberry with a cool finish, for people who like fruit with a menthol edge. 10ml nic salt, 50/50, 5mg, 10mg or 20mg.
Bar Juice 5000 Fresh Mint. A clean, simple mint for vapers who find the fruit ranges too sweet for all-day use. 10ml nic salt, 50/50, 5mg, 10mg or 20mg.
Elfliq Blueberry Sour Raspberry. Elf Bar’s own bottled liquid in the same well-known flavour, useful if you want to compare two takes on it. 10ml nic salt, 50/50, 5mg, 10mg or 20mg.
For every flavour and strength in the Bar Juice range, our Bar Juice 5000 review goes through them one by one, and our guide to Elux nic salts does the same for Elux.
Choosing a bar salt strength
Bar salts do not have to be 20mg. The right one depends on how much you smoked or how much you vape now. These are the usual nic salt starting points; the full table, including freebase, is in our nicotine strength guide.
| Habit | Nic salt |
|---|---|
| Social, under 5 a day | 5mg |
| Light, 5 to 10 a day | 5mg to 10mg |
| Moderate, 10 to 15 a day | 10mg |
| Heavy, 15 to 20 a day | 10mg to 20mg |
| Very heavy, 20 plus a day | 20mg |
The UK legal maximum is 20mg/ml, so no bar salt sold legally here is stronger than that. Keep 20mg nic salts in low-powered pod kits; never put 18mg or 20mg liquid in a sub-ohm kit.
The right kit for bar salts
Bar salts are made for small refillable pod kits. 50/50 liquid suits mouth-to-lung coils of 0.6 ohm and above, typically 0.6 to 1.2 ohm, running at roughly 10W to 18W. That is exactly the kind of set-up most pod kits use.
The Vaporesso Xros 3 has a 1000mAh battery and pods with the coil built in, so when the flavour fades you replace the pod rather than a coil. The Vaporesso Xros 4 Mini works the same way, also on a 1000mAh battery, with 2ml refillable pods and adjustable airflow.
If you already own a pod kit, check it takes empty refillable pods and you are ready to go. Our guide to the best pod kits for nic salts compares more options by battery, pod and coil.
Getting set up with bar salts
If you used to buy bar-style vapes, moving to a bottle and a refillable pod takes a couple of minutes to learn. These five steps cover it.
- 1
Start with a flavour you already know. Pick the bar salt version of the flavour you used to buy. It takes the guesswork out of the first bottle.
- 2
Choose your strength. Use the table above as a starting point rather than defaulting to 20mg.
- 3
Fill the pod to the line. Open the fill port, angle the nozzle against the inside wall and stop at the max mark. Leave a small air gap so the pod does not flood.
- 4
Let a new pod soak. Wait five to ten minutes before the first puff so the cotton is fully wet. Dry cotton on the first draw tastes burnt and shortens the life of the coil.
- 5
Change the pod when the flavour fades. A pod coil is typically changed every one to three weeks. Sweet bar flavours can shorten that, so treat muted flavour as the signal.
Keep a spare pod in the drawer so you are never caught out, and wipe the contacts at the base of the pod with a tissue each time you refill.
Cost, waste and the vape tax
A 10ml bottle of bar salt holds as much liquid as five 2ml pods, which is the same amount of liquid as five of the old single-use bars. The difference is that the battery and the pod shell are reused rather than thrown away after one fill.
From 1 October 2026 the Vaping Products Duty adds £2.20 per 10ml, or £2.64 with VAT, to every vaping liquid. That is the same per ml whether the liquid comes in a bottle or a prefilled pod, so it does not change how bar salts compare with other formats. Our explainer on how much vape prices will go up covers the details.
To get the most from each bottle, fill the pod to the line rather than the brim, give a new pod a few minutes to soak before the first puff, and store open bottles capped and out of direct sunlight.
Bar flavours, refillable kit
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Quick answers
What are bar salts?
Bar salts are 10ml nicotine salt e-liquids with flavours made to taste like the bar-style vapes sold before the UK ban. You use them in a refillable pod kit.
Are bar salts the same as nic salts?
Yes, they are a type of nic salt. The base and the nicotine form are the same; the flavour recipes are what make them bar salts.
Can I use bar salts in any vape?
Use them in a low-powered mouth-to-lung pod kit with a coil of 0.6 ohm and above. They are not suited to sub-ohm tanks, especially at 20mg.
What strength of bar salt should I buy?
Most people choose between 5mg, 10mg and 20mg based on how much they smoked or vape now. 20mg is the UK legal maximum.
Can I still buy the disposable bars the flavours came from?
No. Single-use disposable vapes have been banned in the UK since 1 June 2025. Bar salts in a refillable kit, or a prefilled pod kit, are the legal options.
