What is a Throat Hit? Why Does it Matter in Vaping: A Beginners Guide

Ah! That sweet feeling on the throat is something that the majority of favors yearn for. Sure, a good number of vaping enthusiasts love exhaling those big vapor clouds in the name of cloud chasing or that beautiful flavor from their favorite vape juices, but the majority of people who vape are more focused on that particular throat punch they get every time they hold a vape.

So, why are we regarding this “throat hit” feeling such heaven? And is there a way that guarantees us that every puff taken will always offer a profound touch to the back of the throat so that vapers have cravings?

Don’t confuse throat hit to lung hit. A lung hit involves inhaling vapor directly to the lungs (DTL) and is expelled. Conversely, a throat hit is a mouth to lung (MTL) scenario where the vapor is collected in the mouth before inhaling. Now, before getting into how you can twist your device, use a specific e-juice or apply a particular VG/PG ratio to achieve a throat hit that suits your preference, you ought to understand what throat hit is.

“Throat hit” is defined as a feeling that’s experienced on the throat when you inhale. A throat hit can be a strong sensation when you inhale smoke from burning cigarettes or somewhat irritating which sometimes subjects you to coughing if you’re doing it for the first time. Throat hit can be smooth or harsh. Smooth throat hit goes down your throat gently without causing a lot of sensation. It’s much less harsh to apply vape configurations that offer smooth throat hits.

Throat hit, as simple as it may sound, is that sensation that hits on your throat when you inhale vapor through your mouth. Some styles of vaping are more effective to throat hit than others, and not all vapors offer the same satisfaction.

The feeling is highly prioritized by ex-smokers as cigarette smoking offers that kind of sensation with almost all puffs drawn. Throat hit offers more satisfaction as it allows vapers to enjoy the experience that resembles cigarette smoking.

ALSO READ: What is a Dry Hit Vape?

For vapers struggling to get that kind of feeling when vaping, here is the guide for them. The strength/power of the punch is dictated by several factors: nicotine level/type/concentration, type of device, with or without menthol, type of coil/cartridge, VG/PG ratio, and flavor.

This is the most important factor regarding the throat hit vaping. Nicotine is available in two main types: salt-based nicotine and freebase nicotine. The freebase type is a chemically altered nicotine that is popular for its harsh sensation when vaped in high concentrations forcing vapers who use it to vape at low concentrations.

Since freebase nicotine is often vaped in low strengths, it’s less likely to offer a strong throat hit. The salt-based nicotine is extracted straight from naturally growing tobacco plants, “softened” with benzoic acid enabling it to be vaped in high strengths without throat irritations. Arguably, the higher the strength/concentration/level of nicotine in vape juice, the more potent the throat hit.

The balancing of the two bases in the vape juice significantly affects the potency of the throat hit. Compared to vegetable glycerin (VG), propylene glycol (PG) is more of a liquid substance. Inhaling vapor from a highly concentrated PG results in a strong punching sensation on the throat. Using a high content of VG reduces the sensation.

Some flavor types give a stronger throat punch than others. It’s been established that bold, rich, and layered flavors offer weak throat hit as they contain several flavoring extracts watering down other ingredients that contribute to making a strong throat hit.

Menthol promotes throat hit. The compound offers a cooling sensation that reigns the mouth and throat upon vaping. The peculiar intensity of menthol contributes to the sharp hit on the throat.

Depending on the type of device you’re vaping with, certainly, you’ll notice the difference. For instance, you are more likely to receive a strong throat punch when vaping with a pod mod as this device is specifically designed for the vaporization of e-juice.

Upgrading to a box mod vape that is easily customizable and which supports a high output setting improves your vaping experience; you’ll get a stronger throat hit. If your vape is a low-wattage e-cig, then you’ll not miss the experience as the device isn’t powerful to give you an adequate throat sensation.

The type of coil will determine the strength of the vapor punch at the back of your throat. Various vape coil configurations dictate various aspects of the vaping experience like the size of the cloud, time of heating, and most importantly, the impact of vapor striking on the throat.

The best of it is that there is no need to sacrifice flavor to achieve that satisfying punch on your throat, and there is no need to forsake cloud production for faint misty wisps either, all your needs can be met with a single unit. All that is required is to customize your device to deliver your preferred throat hit intensity – whether you like it smooth or rough – and learn the fundamentals of throat hit, how it is created, and how to play around with the gear to give you that best shot.

For the majority of vapers, the main subject is tweaking throat hit to meet their preferences. How can you achieve a cigarette-like feeling with my vape? What sort of e-liquid should you fill your vape with to get a smooth hit? Achieving the kind of throat hit you’re yearning for is simple, thanks to various methods explained below:

The nicotine level in e-juice commands the sensation you get when vaping. Nicotine itself gives you the punchy feeling you experience on the back of your throat, and a more concentration gives a more robust throat hit. Vapers who have ever used high-nicotine e-liquids understand this feeling – strong and sometimes uncomfortable. For ex-smokers, it feels like they are just replicating the sensation they used to get from the cigarette smoke.

The rule is simple, to get a stronger throat hit, then get a vape juice with high nicotine concentration, and vice versa. Generally, vape juices containing nicotine concentrations above 16 mg/ml are considered to give strong throat hits. The majority of vapers who have vaped e-juices with a concentration of 10 mg/ml and below reported gentle feelings on their throats.

Notwithstanding, some devices such as sub-ohm tanks and pod mods – like Wotofo Manik Pod Mod, Wotofo nexMESH Pro Tank, nexMesh Sub-Ohm tank, and Wotofo Flow Pro Subtank among others – are very efficient in uptake of nicotine implying that vaping e-juices with high-nic concentrations is too much to handle.

Consequently, vapers suing sub-ohm tanks prefer low-nicotine concentrated e-juice that notably lowers throat hit. But, it’s possible to apply other entries – listed below – to get a similar sensation with low-nicotine e-juices.

Although the throat sensation that you get from propylene glycol (PG) is not flavorsome as the one offered by nicotine, PG provides a stinging heat on the throat that gest scratchy over time. Nicotine offers a hefty, robust baseline hit whereas PG causes the hit to be a bit punchier.

E-liquids with a slightly higher concentration of PG than VG – 60:40 or 70:30 – promote stronger throat hit. Nevertheless, too much Propylene Glycol can make your vaping experience unpleasant: the scratchy substance falling on your throat sometimes becomes too much to handle, especially when vaping with high-powered mods.

The problem is more complicated for vapers who are allergic to PG, although not common – PG causes scratching pain and subjects them to coughing. If you are using a high-power setting on your device or you’re sensitive to PG, then the mid-range PG/VG ratio – 50:50 – is the best choice.

Another downside of highly-concentrated PG e-liquid is that vegetable glycerin (VG) handles the vapor generation. This implies focusing more on the throat hit interferes with your cloud production. A roughly even balance between the two bases works well.

This is a major concern for the lovers of variable wattage and temperature control vaping devices. Simple small-size e-cigarettes are only used with low-wattage settings while powerhouse sub-ohm tanks and mods are designed to support high wattages. How the throat hit is affected by power settings of the device mainly depends on the temperature.

For instance, if you are getting a sharp hit from your vape, by increasing the power setting, you’re going to get it even sharper. Similarly, the cozy throat hit becomes harsh when power is turned up. Actually, this is the reason why the majority of people prefer a low-nicotine level after realizing their right configuration – to avoid discomfort brought by vaping high-nicotine levels with high power settings.

The exact benefit of vaping at high-power settings is that it enables vapers to exhaust whatever throat hit their e-juices can offer. For instance, at a low power setting, a blend of 30 PG: 70 VG with 6 mg/ml nicotine concentration would not offer sufficient throat hit, but by increasing the wattage, a PG bite and nicotine punch will increasingly be revealed in the vapor.

The simplest rule regarding the impact of airflow setting on throat hit says that the open the airflow the less the throat hit and vice versa. It’s easy to comprehend if you understand what you are and what adjusting the airflow means. Letting more air into the vape makes the vapor to be less concentrated – there is a massive exchange between the e-juice contents and air – reducing its impact on the throat. Conversely, by reducing the airflow (tightening up the inlet) the resulting vapor is highly concentrated giving you a stronger throat hit.

Besides the nicotine level, PG/VG ratios, and power settings, there is more to achieving a throat hit of your preference. As a matter of fact, each flavor type has a distinctive impact on your throat. A flavor is carried in a base ingredient, usually, propylene glycol, which has some impact on the throat, but the impact resulting from the flavor is more important.

Menthol and citrus flavors are renowned compounds that cause this effect. Interestingly, menthol added to other flavors to introduce that additional cooling sensation. vapers wanting a smooth throat hit should try out darker flavors such as tobacco and coffee, or sweet flavors such as fruit and cream. Also, make sure you’re aware of the vape juice ingredients to avoid.

Many vapers don’t know any other type of wicking material other than cotton, something most of them don’t realize it affects their throat hit. Truly, cotton is widely-accepted as a clean and excellent wicking material for flavor delivery but offers very little regarding throat hit.

If you need a harsh throat hit you need to consider using a rebuildable atomizer which is easy to re-wick; use the hemp wicks to get the desired sensation. For instance, if you’re using a high VG e-liquid for huge clouds with a low-nicotine level, but you still long for that throat hit, then try the hemp wick.

Of course, as explained in the list above, not all demands to achieve throat hit apply to every vape. Wotofo brings some of the best MTL vapes to assist you in realizing this fine feeling with your vape.

For instance. The Wotofo COG MTL RTA is an MTL rebuildable tank atomizer (RTA) meant for enthusiasts of nicotine salts and high-nic vaping. The vape comes with a drip tip that concentrates the vapor for efficient MTL draws. Moreover, these devices maintain cozy temperatures of the vapor enabling vapers to enjoy the tremendous flavor.

Throat hit seems neglected in the continuing hunt to invent better ways of delivering flavor and generating huge clouds. But the desire to achieve a throat hit is not only significant in switching from cigarettes but a central dimension in vaping; it truly matters. You don’t necessarily need to abide by that same e-juice that gives your desired throat hit, but learn how to configure your device, how to play around with VG/PG ratios, and different nicotine levels to get the best vaping experience.