Can e-liquid be substituted?

The electronic cigarettes on the market now are all e-liquid. With the ban of flavored e-liquid, flavored e-liquid is no longer available in China. For e-cigarette users who are accustomed to flavored e-liquid, this It's unbearable. So, is there any other way to get the same experience as flavored e-liquid? Or can e-liquid be a substitute?

Perhaps everyone has discovered that flavored e-liquid has not completely disappeared, because even if there is only tobacco flavor, it is not all pure tobacco flavor, such as coffee tobacco e-liquid flavor, strawberry tobacco e-liquid flavor, nut tobacco flavor e-liquid flavor and other mixed flavors.

Although these tobacco flavors include many of the previously common flavored e-liquid flavors, because they contain tobacco flavor, it is difficult for non-smoking e-cigarette users to accept them for a while. Unless you DIY your own e-liquid, it seems impossible to still want the pure flavored e-liquid before.

However, e-cigarette technology is not that simple. In fact, there are other e-cigarette technologies on the market. Due to some special circumstances, this e-cigarette technology has not become popular in China, and some have even been removed from the shelves. This type of e-cigarette technology can completely replace e-liquid. Let’s talk about two of the e-cigarette technologies that do not require e-liquid.

The first type: heat-not-burn e-cigarette

Some people call heat-not-burn e-cigarettes solid-state e-cigarettes, which can well distinguish e-cigarettes using e-liquid. In 2014, Philip Morris, the world's largest international tobacco company, launched the epoch-making heat-not-burn product (HNB, abbreviation for Heat Not Burning) IQOS. This product was once very popular abroad, and many businesses also wanted to introduce this product to China. Domestically, the results failed. Even heat-not-burn e-cigarettes are prohibited from sale on e-commerce platforms. Therefore, even some old e-cigarette users in China do not understand this product.

The difference between heat-not-burn cartridges and traditional tobacco is that heat-not-burn uses external equipment to only heat without burning. The temperature is around 350°C, and harmful substances are greatly reduced. When traditional tobacco is lit and smoked, the temperature is between 600°C and 800°C, and more than 4,000 harmful substances are produced during combustion.

Philip Morris' cigarette cartridges are made from traditional tobacco. Domestic companies use a method that does not use tobacco, but fills it with herbal medicine, then adds nicotine salt, flavors and fragrances on top, and uses edible glue to fix it. The herbal medicine is in granular form, which is different in presentation from Philip Morris International's tobacco flakes. Later, this low-temperature herbal product was called solid e-cigarette in the industry. The difference between the tobacco-free cartridges of solid-state e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco is that they are processed multiple times through technology, so that the smoking section of the cartridge can emit smoke similar to traditional tobacco during the heating process for people to smoke.

Because this kind of e-cigarette is closer to cigarettes, it is defined as a tobacco product in many countries, and it is easy to be cracked down by local policies, which is already difficult.

The second type: granular e-cigarette

This kind of electronic cigarette separates the smoke part and the flavor part. It is a very personalized product. It was very popular in Japan around 2018. At that time, many businesses wanted to find a domestic manufacturer of this kind of electronic cigarette. It may be practical. Unfortunately, no one mentioned this product anymore.

Granular e-cigarettes use VG to generate smoke, and separate the flavoring part separately, using granular powder to provide aroma and nicotine. This product is very distinctive, but its shortcomings are also obvious. For example, the aroma provided is unstable. Generally, the aroma is okay in the first few puffs, but the taste will be much lighter in the following puffs. Moreover, the cigarette cartridge usually needs to be replaced after 30 puffs. Compared with Today’s e-cigarettes have a very poor aroma and battery life experience, so they will be eliminated sooner or later.