Menthol has a particular significance in UK vaping. When menthol cigarettes were banned here, a large group of smokers lost the thing they had smoked for years overnight, and a good many of them came to vaping precisely because it was the one place that flavour still existed legally.

If that is you, this list is written with you in mind. If you simply like a cold vape, it works just as well. Our piece on the menthol cigarette ban covers the background.

How we chose these

We looked for three things. Availability across the full nicotine range, so you can start where you need to and step down later without changing flavour. Genuine all-day usability, since menthol is more often an everyday vape than an occasional one. And a spread across the two distinct styles in this category, because they are not interchangeable.

That second point deserves explaining before the list.

Menthol and ice are not the same thing

Menthol is a flavour in its own right. It tastes of mint and cool air, and it is what a menthol cigarette tasted of. If you are replacing menthols, this is what you want.

Ice is a cooling effect added underneath another flavour. A blackcurrant ice is a blackcurrant with a cold finish, not a mint flavour. These are the bridge for people who want something sweeter but are not ready to give up the cold.

Buying an ice expecting menthol is the single most common disappointment in this category, and it is entirely avoidable.

The menthol and ice e-liquids worth trying

Pure Ice Menthol, our best seller by a distance

Our own-brand Ice Menthol is our most popular flavour full stop, across every category. It is a blast of minty chill backed up by menthol, and it was built specifically for people who smoked menthols and are switching across.

Around £4.16 for 10ml, and available from 0mg through to 20mg. That full ladder is the reason it is our usual first recommendation. Find it works, and you can reduce your nicotine over months without ever changing what you taste.

Pure Menthol, the plainer version

A classic menthol without the additional ice. Cleaner and less aggressive than Ice Menthol, which suits people who found the full cold version too much. It is also the one to buy if you like mixing, since it adds a minty edge to another flavour without fighting it.

Same £4.16, same 0mg to 20mg range.

Vampire Vape Heisenberg, the one everyone has heard of

Informally known as the daddy of all-day vapes, and genuinely one of the better-known e-liquids in the country. It is a secret blend with a subtle fruity undertone followed by a cool crystalline finish, which puts it somewhere between fruit and menthol rather than squarely in either.

Around £3.33, in freebase strengths from 0mg to 18mg. Worth knowing it is freebase rather than a salt, so at 18mg the throat hit is firm. If you want that character but smoother, look at the salts below.

Vampire Vape Spearmint, for a sweeter mint

Packed with juicy mint flavours and much closer to chewing gum than to a menthol cigarette. This is the one for people who like mint but find menthol medicinal. Around £3.33, again in freebase from 0mg to 18mg.

Pure Blackcurrant Ice, the classic British pairing

Our Ice Menthol combined with our Blackcurrant, and a genuinely refreshing all-day vape. Blackcurrant and menthol is a combination that works particularly well in this country, and this is a good example of it. Same £4.16 and 0mg to 20mg.

A sensible first ice flavour if you are moving across from plain menthol and want to add some sweetness.

Pure Cherry Ice, for something sweeter still

The same Ice Menthol base against a cherry flavour, delivering a cold cherry vape. Sweeter than the blackcurrant and a good evening option. £4.16, 0mg to 20mg.

Pure Grape Ice, a firm favourite iced

Our Ice Menthol combined with one of our best-selling fruits. Grape and cold is a divisive combination and the people who like it are loyal to it. Worth a single bottle to find out which camp you fall into. £4.16, 0mg to 20mg.

QSalts Grape Ice, the smoother nic salt version

An icy hit of juicy black grape, this time as a nicotine salt at 5mg, 10mg or 20mg and around £3.32. If you liked the sound of Pure Grape Ice but want 20mg without the throat hit, this is the same territory in a gentler form.

QSalts NRG Ice, for something different

A fizzy sweet energy drink flavour with a cold finish, and without the caffeine. It sounds odd and it works. Good as a change of pace when your usual menthol has stopped registering. Around £3.32 as a nic salt at 5mg, 10mg or 20mg.

QSalts Tropical Juice, iced fruit at full strength

Kiwi, guava and passionfruit blended together with a cool finish. The most summery thing on this list and a good all-day option if you want fruit forward and menthol behind rather than the other way round. £3.32, nic salt at 5mg to 20mg.

How cold is too cold

Menthol and ice flavours vary enormously in intensity, and there is no standard scale printed on the bottle. What one maker calls ice another calls a light chill.

As a rough ordering from the list above: Pure Menthol is the mildest, a clean mint without much bite. Pure Ice Menthol steps that up considerably. The iced fruits sit in the middle, since the fruit softens the cold. QSalts NRG Ice and Pure Grape Ice land towards the sharper end.

If you are new to cold flavours entirely, start in the middle rather than at either extreme. Too mild and you will wonder what the fuss is about. Too sharp and it can catch the back of your throat in a way that puts people off the category for good.

Menthol works well as a second flavour

Something worth knowing even if menthol is not your main choice. Because it is so distinct from everything else, a menthol makes an excellent palate reset.

If you have been vaping the same sweet fruit or dessert for weeks and it has faded to nothing, that is usually flavour fatigue rather than a bad bottle. Switching to a menthol for two or three days cuts through it more effectively than moving to another sweet flavour, and your original tastes right again when you go back.

Plenty of people keep a 10ml menthol alongside their usual for exactly this, and never vape it as an all-day liquid at all.

If you are replacing menthol cigarettes

Start with Pure Ice Menthol at 20mg if you smoked a regular daily amount, or 10mg to 12mg if you smoked lightly. That is the closest match in both flavour and satisfaction, and it is what our advisers hand over most often for exactly this situation.

Give it a fortnight before judging it. The first few days after switching, everything tastes slightly odd while your palate recovers, and menthol is no exception. Plenty of people write off a good liquid in the first 48 hours for that reason alone.

If the full cold is too much, step across to Pure Menthol. If you want to soften it, Pure Blackcurrant Ice adds sweetness while keeping the finish.

A note on strength and your device

All of the above are 10ml bottles, which is the UK maximum for any nicotine-containing e-liquid, and none exceeds the 20mg/ml legal limit. In a pod kit or mouth-to-lung device, 10mg to 20mg is the usual range and nicotine salts are the comfortable choice at the top of it. In a sub-ohm or direct-to-lung kit, drop to 3mg or 6mg.

Menthol also has one small practical advantage. It is light on sweeteners, so it is kinder to your coils than a dessert flavour and you will replace them less often. It does linger in a pod, though, so rinse or swap the pod when moving to something completely different.

Browse the full menthol and ice collection, the wider ice e-liquid range, or our nicotine salts for the smoother higher strengths. We are rated 4.8 out of 5 by over 4,800 UK customers, and if you tell our advisers which brand of menthols you used to smoke, they will usually get you close on the first try.