For beginners, vaping presents a lot to learn in terms of essentials, hacks, and terminology. And considering you are using electronic devices, it is important to pick up the basics before you dive in.

One of these basics is as basic as vaping basics get: how to inhale.

Mouth-to-lung and direct-to-lung are the two main styles used in vaping and basically answer the question, ‘How should I vape?’.

Despite accomplishing the same objective, these two inhalation techniques are distinct in their own ways. For instance, each works best with specific hardware and vape juice and they both have their own set of advantages, as we shall outline shortly.

But first, let’s venture a bit further into the weeds so you can gain a better understanding of what each entails.

1. Mouth-to-Lung Technique

Also known simply as MTL, mouth-to-lung vaping involves sucking vapour into your mouth, holding it in your mouth for a few seconds before inhaling it down into your lungs.

It is the same technique used when smoking cigarettes, so former smokers might find themselves leaning towards this inhalation method by default. Even the resulting sensation is seemingly close. The throat hit is almost comparable to a combustible cigarette’s, yet boasts a smoother sensation than you are likely to get inhaling direct-to-lung.

If you want to fully unlock vape flavours, mouth-to-lung is the way to go. The fact that you let the vapour sit in your mouth for a while gives your taste buds the chance to distinguish flavours and their nuanced undertones.

But as with most things e-liquid, optimising one aspects means compromising on another, and it is no different here. While it is the best technique to experience vape flavours, mouth-to-lung vaping is synonymous with low cloud production, so this is not the best technique to use if you want to cloud-chase.

On the positive side, though, minimal clouds mean MTL is the perfect way to vape in public places or any spot that demands a little discretion.

Considerations

There are a few things you need to consider when using MTL:

• Hardware – MTL vaping is most suited for smaller vapes with high resistance coils. Personal vaporisers (and even cig-a-likes) will get the job done without any hiccups. But if you prefer to enjoy your flavours in a more high-powered device such as a mod, make sure it is running on a lower wattage (anywhere between 15 and 20 watts should do the trick) and use a coil higher than 1.2 ohms.

• E-juice – PG-based e-liquids are more suited for mouth-to-lung vaping for two reasons. One has to do with the fact that PG carries flavour better than VG, therefore guarantees a richer flavour. Secondly, e-liquids with higher PG content have a punchier and more satisfying throat hit.

• Nicotine strength – MTL vaping is ideal for people who prefer higher amounts of nicotine. However, this is not to mean you consume more nicotine. Quite on the contrary. With this inhalation technique, you don’t need a lot of nicotine to feel the satisfaction. Just a couple of draws and you are good to go.

2. Direct-to-Lung Technique

The name is a give-away as to what you can expect with this vaping technique. With direct-to-lung vaping (DTL or DL) you inhale the vapour straight into your lungs without letting it linger in your mouth.

For ex-smokers, direct-to-lung method could prove counter-intuitive as what you are looking for is a sensation similar to a regular cigarette’s, and DTL does not give you that.

Direct-to-lung vaping has a hit similar to a bong hit, but this will mostly depend on the nicotine content in the vape juice. If the nicotine content is high, the hit is anything but smooth. However, DL vaping is typically used with low nicotine juice (a characteristic of VG juice), so the hit is generally smooth.

This inhalation style is the complete opposite of MTL – it is better suited for larger vape devices with low resistance coils (think sub-ohms). It also produces the most vapour, but falls short on the flavour department.

Considerations

For the best direct-to-lung experience, there are a few things you need to get right:

• Hardware – DTL is best done with a sub-ohm tank or a device that can put out some decent wattage. There will be a noticeable difference in the wicks and coils as well. The wicking ports are larger, and unlike the artificial fibres mostly used in MTL coils, sub-ohm tanks make use of organic cotton.

• E-juice – Direct-to-lung requires e-liquid high in vegetable glycerine (VG). This is ideal for the cloud production sought by DTL vapers. Anything upwards of 60VG (vs. 40PG) is considered VG-heavy e-juice.

• Nicotine – As a rule of thumb, it is recommended to cut the nicotine content by half when switching from a MTL vaporiser to a sub-ohm DTL setup. Even half may prove a tad much. Since there is a lot of vapour being inhaled, anything above 6mg is not recommended for direct-to-lung vaping.

So, there you have it people.