Beginner Nicotine Pouch Review: From Pod to Pouch

New to nicotine pouches? Me too. As a frequent, long-time vaper, I was eager to try nic pouches—so here I am, answering all of your questions and making all the first-timer mistakes (so you don’t have to).

When the deluge of nic pouches flooded into our inventory, I was overwhelmed—not just by the sheer volume of tubs, but by all the varieties, strengths, and brands. So many things to consider, from the nicotine per pouch versus per gram to the weights to the level of humidity in each pouch.

Humidity—really?

I’m a vape reviewer, above all else, and a heavy vaper at that. An all-day-every-day flavour-craver vaper. But the pouches were tempting.

Could they make my commutes more bearable? Would they impact my already precarious oral health? Would they make me look like a puffy fool who just got her wisdom teeth extracted?

And perhaps most importantly: would they even do anything?

I have two long-haul flights to and from the States coming up. After several nicotine-free flights there and back (the patches give me a rash)—so desperate that I was dripping nic salts under my tongue to satiate my cravings mid-flight—I would be remiss if I didn’t at least try something that could make those ghastly 8-hour flights more bearable.

So, I embarked on a quest to try using nicotine pouches to see what difference they’d make to my daily routine, if any. 

I made some beginner mistakes and learned a lot about using them, so I’m here to share my experience—and hopefully make your first attempt a much less bumpy one. But before we get started, I’d recommend checking out our beginners guide to nicotine pouches for a more in-depth explanation on how they work and what factors you’ll need to consider before buying.

Choosing Your First Nicotine Pouches

Part of the journey for me was finding the right pouches, and I made some errors along the way. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes so that your first time trying them is more pleasant than mine was. 

Nicotine Strength

So, initially, I figured: “I vape a 10mg nic salt, and I vape heavily—so surely, a 10mg nicotine pouch should work for me.” I was mistaken.

You see, I didn’t realise that nicotine from pouches is absorbed more readily by your body than it is through vaping. While vaping—particularly with nicotine salt E-Liquids—can provide a nicotine fix in as little as a few seconds, you’re not absorbing as much of the nicotine from your vape as you think you are. 

You certainly get less nicotine from a vape than you would from a cigarette, which is why vapers tend to “graze” on their vapes regularly throughout the day while smokers take more sporadic smoke breaks.

And when it comes to the mucous membrane in your mouth—the pathway through which the nicotine enters your bloodstream from a pouch—you can absorb a heck of a lot more nicotine, albeit slower than with a vape.

So, I was wrong in assuming a 10mg nicotine pouch was right for me—and I learned this very quickly. Within 5 minutes, as the promised “tingle” began to wear off, I felt nauseous and noticed that my heart was pounding. The corner of my mouth (on the side with the pouch) gave the slightest twitch, constant though imperceptible to those around me. My head was swimming, and not in a fun way. I wanted off the ride.

After 10 minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore, so that pouch went in the bin.

After learning of my folly—that E-Liquid strength doesn’t correlate to nicotine pouch strength—I decided to try some lower-strength options instead. I chose some 6mg ICE nic pouches and a tub of 5.6mg pouches by Klint for my next venture.

My advice: while “nic sick” only lasts a short while and is rarely serious, it’s truly not worth the headache just to look like a Big Man using high-strength nicotine pouches. Go the wimp route if you’re just starting out—trust me. 

If you’re new to pouches, even if you’re a long-time smoker or vaper, start with a low strength (like 6mg) and work your way up from there. 

Choosing Your Flavour

Flavours are, as always, down to personal preference. Some people hate the taste of mint outside of their toothpaste, while others can’t tolerate anything spicy. These preferences will factor into your choice of nicotine pouch flavour.

There’s a delectable array of flavours available, from berries and tropical fruit nic pouches to candy flavoured nic pouches like bubblegum and licorice. 

You can find a huge variety of mint and menthol nic pouches, including variations on peppermint and spearmint, as well as spicy nic pouches with notes of hot peppers like jalapeno, habanero, and even Carolina Reaper.

I opted for a trio of tubs, including two tropical fruit flavours and one spicy jalapeno lime. 

First-Time Nic Pouch User Review

As I mentioned, my first experience using a nic pouch was rather unpleasant because I opted for too high a nicotine strength. My heart was pounding, I felt nauseous, and my head was spinning—classic symptoms of being “nic sick,” which is an unpleasant though usually harmless and short-lived effect of having too much nicotine.

However, I did try those 10mg pouches again—and I realised that part of my issue the first time was having vaped too soon beforehand. My body had already had enough nicotine, and the first time I used a pouch, I’d overloaded it. My second time, after waiting a while after the last puff of my vape, it was a much less sickly experience. It still felt like too high a strength, but at least this time, my heart didn’t pound so hard. 

It also helped to have a glass of water at hand to keep the nicotine-laden silva from swishing around my mouth. The packaging says not to eat, drink, or smoke while using a pouch (likely to negate any choking risk), but I found that a sip of water every few minutes helped curtail any of the negative oral effects I was experiencing.

The next time I tried a pouch was on my evening commute home from work. For fear of the jalapeno lime pouch being too spicy, and since I didn’t have water on me, I opted for the Klint Passionfruit pouches for that commute.

I should’ve brought a water bottle, first and foremost. Still, these lower-strength nic pouches were much easier on me than the 10mg variant.

One factor I’m not too keen on is the size of the pouches. While the ones I opted for are considered “slim” size—the second-smallest size available—they still felt bulky. Perhaps it’s because I’m not used to them , but I didn’t like that they were touching my teeth while in place. No matter how much I tried to adjust them or push them upward, I still found that they were drifting downwards and sitting on my gum line along my teeth.

I have some dental issues, so I’m eager to avoid aggravating those with the nic pouches. I realise that most nic pouches—including all 3 of the flavours I chose—use xylitol as their sweetener, which is not only not bad for your teeth, but is actually beneficial for your teeth and can prevent cavities. Still, I’m not keen on letting anything sit on my teeth for an extended period of time.

Thankfully, the ICE Jalapeno Lime pouches I chose are “mini” pouches—the smallest size—so I was super excited to see if those would fit better against my gums.

Let’s dive into my impressions of each of the different pouches I managed to get my hands on.

Conclusion: Lessons Learned

So, what have we learned from this experience? Well, I’ve learned first and foremost not to overestimate my nicotine tolerance. Just because I vape all day every day doesn’t mean that I’m a tank. 

I’ve also learned to take a closer look at the ingredients list on every pouch I use and to carry water with me when I use them. 

More than anything, I’ve learned that these will be an excellent option when it comes time for those long-haul flights to and from the US. No more E-Liquid under the tongue or raw-dogging nicotine withdrawal—now, I’ll have something to help stave off the cravings and make my flights more bearable. 

While I still vastly prefer vaping over using nicotine pouches, I see their value in situations where I wouldn’t be able to vape. My recent excursion to a West End show would’ve been made so much more bearable if I’d had these at the time.

If you’re curious about nicotine pouches and want to give them a try, I’d recommend looking for ones with a nicotine strength of about 6mg per pouch if you’re a regular vaper or you’re trying to quit smoking. 

If you have any questions about nicotine pouches or you need help finding the right ones for you, drop us an email and one of our customer support staff will be happy to give you personalised advice and recommendations.