Why Citric Acid, And Why Only Sometimes?

[fatalis]

Hi!

I'm wondering if anyone knows why some put citric acid in their e-liquid to balance the PH level while others don't use this ingredient at all in their juice. I mean, does nic liquid need Ph balancing?

[VegasVapor]

I have never heard of this before. Where did you find this information? Would be interesting to know how this affects our vaping experience.

[Christopher]

Simple short answer? It causes flavors to have more of an “ummph”.

[bzeisman]

how much would i use? would it be something like replacing a drop or 2 of VG with lemon juice?

[Christopher]

To be honest I'm not sure if lemon juice would work, but I'm sure it's worth a try. (at your own risk of course)

[KansasVaper]

I have worked with a lot of chemicals in the industrial cleaning industry when I still had a normal job. I could see where the citric acid would help with the fruit flavors. But to me the throat hit feels more like I just drank a glass of mild caustic water. Yes I have done this before. Not hard to do when you have your solutions sitting next to your drinking glass. I wish I had a ph meter to test some of these liquids with the strong throat hit. Maybe someone that has a PH meter laying around could let us know the PH levels of some of these liquids.

I really don't see the benefit of vaping a liquid into our lungs that is not a true neutral of 7.00 PH. The tissues in our lungs are very fragile. It's not like drinking a soda that is typically around a 2 or 3 on a PH meter. The stomach is full of acid anyway. The lungs aren't used to inhaling high(base) or low(acidic) PH levels.

If it is true these liquids are adjusted to be high or low on PH just to give a throat hit. I will have to invest in a meter and neutralize these liquids.

[Christopher]

I think when fatalis was asking this, she was referring to Vermont Vapor. They state on their main page Citric Acid is used. I've emailed them to get a little more information as to why they have this in their liquid. Once I hear back I'll post back with more information and get this whole deal settled ok?

[fatalis]

I think when fatalis was asking this, she was referring to Vermont Vapor. They state on their main page Citric Acid is used. I've emailed them to get a little more information as to why they have this in their liquid. Once I hear back I'll post back with more information and get this whole deal settled ok?

Great, I'll be here waiting with bated breath...!

[Christopher]

I hope you appreciate the answers especially because we're getting into the realm of "juice secrets" if you will

First let's talk about citric acid itself. Citric acid is a weak organic acid, and it is a natural preservative and is also used to add an acidic, or sour, taste to foods and soft drinks.

Citric acid exists in greater than trace amounts in a variety of fruits and vegetables, most notably citrus fruits. Lemons and limes have particularly high concentrations of the acid. These values vary depending on the cultivator and the circumstances in which the fruit was grown.

So here is the deal. Nicotine by it's very nature smells. That's right it doesn't have a great odor. As you might guess, when it's added to distilled water and glycerine (which are virtually without flavor or odor), the resulting mixture smells pretty bad and, hence, tasted pretty bad. Most E-Liquid almost invariably included some form of acid (often, citric or acetic). Some suppliers choose citric acid as a better choice. By the way the PH level in your mouth is around 7-7.2 so by bringing the ph down to that level, significantly reduced the nicotine odor and taste but yet has no major effect on the hit and adds no new flavor.

Another thing to note is that prolonged room temperature storage of e-liquid without any added acid also decreases or, more accurately, transforms the odor and flavor. Citric Acid helps to prevent this.

Hope that answers your question

(You can always email juice suppliers directly from answers, for example Adam at Vermont Vapor was very open to speak about why he uses citric acid)

Rest assured I doubt this is something you have worry about. Isn't it funny how health conscious we all become after we quite smoking?

[KansasVaper]

So here is the deal. Nicotine by it's very nature smells. That's right it doesn't have a great odor. As you might guess, when it's added to distilled water and glycerine (which are virtually without flavor or odor), the resulting mixture smells pretty bad and, hence, tasted pretty bad. Most E-Liquid almost invariably included some form of acid (often, citric or acetic). Some suppliers choose citric acid as a better choice. By the way the PH level in your mouth is around 7-7.2 so by bringing the ph down to that level, significantly reduced the nicotine odor and taste but yet has no major effect on the hit and adds no new flavor.

Excellent response!

I am glad to hear the acid is being used to neutralize the base liquid and not to provide throat hit.

[fatalis]

I have worked with a lot of chemicals in the industrial cleaning industry when I still had a normal job. I could see where the citric acid would help with the fruit flavors. But to me the throat hit feels more like I just drank a glass of mild caustic water. Yes I have done this before. Not hard to do when you have your solutions sitting next to your drinking glass. I wish I had a ph meter to test some of these liquids with the strong throat hit. Maybe someone that has a PH meter laying around could let us know the PH levels of some of these liquids.

I really don't see the benefit of vaping a liquid into our lungs that is not a true neutral of 7.00 PH. The tissues in our lungs are very fragile. It's not like drinking a soda that is typically around a 2 or 3 on a PH meter. The stomach is full of acid anyway. The lungs aren't used to inhaling high(base) or low(acidic) PH levels.

If it is true these liquids are adjusted to be high or low on PH just to give a throat hit. I will have to invest in a meter and neutralize these liquids.

In my research, it seems like most of these nic e-liquids measure around 6.9 to 6.98 PH... So if I made liquid without any citric acid (which most of these suppliers don't seem to do), what would happen?

[Christopher]

Well depending on how you created your liquid and what you used it would end up tasting strange, smelling strange and spoiling fast. Again every liquid is different. If you do create your own liquid, please make sure you do so at your own risk.

[Alex5]

I heard Johnson Creek zero nicotine juices give a throat hit. The most of 0mg e-liquids have no throat hit at all as I know.

Now I'm searching for additive to my pure PG+Lorann flavor mix or for good 0mg juices with throat hit. Because I can't vape it when I can feel draw at all. I need throat hit. It's very important.

1) can anybody tell me what I must to test? Which e-liquids or additives?

2) Where I can buy JC Smoke juive with shipping to Russia

Edited October 28, 2009 by Alex5

[fatalis]

I hope you appreciate the answers especially because we're getting into the realm of "juice secrets" if you will

First let's talk about citric acid itself. Citric acid is a weak organic acid, and it is a natural preservative and is also used to add an acidic, or sour, taste to foods and soft drinks.

Citric acid exists in greater than trace amounts in a variety of fruits and vegetables, most notably citrus fruits. Lemons and limes have particularly high concentrations of the acid. These values vary depending on the cultivator and the circumstances in which the fruit was grown.

So here is the deal. Nicotine by it's very nature smells. That's right it doesn't have a great odor. As you might guess, when it's added to distilled water and glycerine (which are virtually without flavor or odor), the resulting mixture smells pretty bad and, hence, tasted pretty bad. Most E-Liquid almost invariably included some form of acid (often, citric or acetic). Some suppliers choose citric acid as a better choice. By the way the PH level in your mouth is around 7-7.2 so by bringing the ph down to that level, significantly reduced the nicotine odor and taste but yet has no major effect on the hit and adds no new flavor.

Another thing to note is that prolonged room temperature storage of e-liquid without any added acid also decreases or, more accurately, transforms the odor and flavor. Citric Acid helps to prevent this.

Hope that answers your question

(You can always email juice suppliers directly from answers, for example Adam at Vermont Vapor was very open to speak about why he uses citric acid)

Rest assured I doubt this is something you have worry about. Isn't it funny how health conscious we all become after we quite smoking?

Thanks so much Chris, you were totally helpful on this topic! Besides, I'm just trying to make e-liquid that's not only natural, but tasty with lots of vapor and as organic and all-natural as possible with at least 60% natural with all ingredients made in the USA.

[JBIRMfromPHOENIX]

I have worked with a lot of chemicals in the industrial cleaning industry when I still had a normal job. I could see where the citric acid would help with the fruit flavors. But to me the throat hit feels more like I just drank a glass of mild caustic water. Yes I have done this before. Not hard to do when you have your solutions sitting next to your drinking glass. I wish I had a ph meter to test some of these liquids with the strong throat hit. Maybe someone that has a PH meter laying around could let us know the PH levels of some of these liquids.

I really don't see the benefit of vaping a liquid into our lungs that is not a true neutral of 7.00 PH. The tissues in our lungs are very fragile. It's not like drinking a soda that is typically around a 2 or 3 on a PH meter. The stomach is full of acid anyway. The lungs aren't used to inhaling high(base) or low(acidic) PH levels.

If it is true these liquids are adjusted to be high or low on PH just to give a throat hit. I will have to invest in a meter and neutralize these liquids.

Couldn't you use PH testing strips used for a swimming pool? They're like 10 bucks for 50 of them. Maybe you could just drop the liquid on the strip?

--Jason--

[mmseng]

Couldn't you use PH testing strips used for a swimming pool? They're like 10 bucks for 50 of them. Maybe you could just drop the liquid on the strip?

--Jason--

I was just thinking this. You can get pH testing strips at a lot of places. I used to use them for my aquariums, but I'm sure they're cheaper in bulk from a swimmingpool supplier.

I've been thinking about starting to mix, and it seems like several people recommend lemon juice or citric acid as a way to help preserve juice AND to supply some additional throat hit. TH is important to me, so I would definitely consider trying it out.