Because the coil gets hotter than the e-liquid can keep up with. The wick on the coil normally soaks itself full again right away. When that is not enough, the coil runs dry and you taste burnt material instead of flavor. The most common reasons are a nearly empty tank, many puffs back to back, and a device that was sitting out in the cold.
Where does the burnt taste actually come from?
From a coil working without enough e-liquid. Inside the device sits a mesh coil that heats up with every puff and vaporizes whatever e-liquid the wick hands it. If too little arrives, the wick itself burns. That taste is unmistakable, dry and sharp, and it does not go away by drawing harder.
Drawing harder actually makes it worse, because it feeds the coil even more power. Once it tastes burnt, the only things that help are a break or the realization that the device is finished.
Is the e-liquid perhaps already used up?
That is the first thing to check, and here it is quick. Every device shows the e-liquid level on the display. If it sits at the bottom end, the case is clear: the tank is empty and the coil has nothing left to draw on. None of our models can be refilled, so the device has reached its end.
How to read the display and what else it tells you is in our article on what the display on a vape shows. If the device really is empty, it does not belong in household waste. Where it goes instead is under disposing of a disposable vape.
Did you take too many puffs back to back?
Then the tank is not empty, the wick just cannot keep up. After every puff it needs a few seconds to soak itself full again. Draw ten times in a row and the coil works with a little less e-liquid each time than the puff before. At some point the taste tips over into burnt, even though there is plenty left in the tank.
That is the most common false alarm. Put the device down for fifteen minutes and then take another puff. If it tastes normal again, it was only the pacing and there is nothing wrong with the device.
Was the device out in the cold or the heat?
Both have an effect, and in opposite directions. Cold e-liquid is thicker and flows to the coil more slowly, which is why the first puffs after a day in a jacket pocket in winter often taste harsh. Strong heat, on the other hand, wears on the battery, which is built into the device for good.
In the cold it is usually enough to warm the device for ten minutes in your hand or an inside pocket. What to watch in the heat is on our Battery Safety page.
What applies to the devices with several flavors?
There a single tank can be empty while the device as a whole is still going. The Eco 2in1 50000 has two separate chambers of 10 ml each, the Eco 4in1 80000 has four tanks of 6.5 ml each. Every chamber has its own supply, and if you always vape the same flavor, it runs out before the others.
Switch to the next one and it tastes normal again immediately. On the Eco 4in1 80000 you see the active tank as a number on the display; on the Eco 2in1 you turn the mouthpiece until it clicks audibly into place.
Can the coil be replaced?
No. On all our models the coil sits in the device for good and is not meant as a spare part. That is the difference from a refillable system, where you unscrew the coil head. A disposable vape is a sealed unit of tank, coil and battery.
If it tastes burnt for good and the e-liquid level is at the bottom, the device is done. Which model suits you next is under Disposable Vapes.
FAQ
Does the burnt taste go away again?
If it comes from puffing too fast in a row, yes. Fifteen minutes is usually enough. If the wick really did run dry and scorched, the taste stays, and then only a new device helps.
Is a vape that tastes burnt broken?
Not necessarily. Check the e-liquid level on the display first, then put the device down for fifteen minutes. If it tastes normal after that, the pacing was simply too fast.
Why does a new vape already taste burnt?
Then it is almost always the first puffs. Take the first few calmly and not too hard, so the wick soaks itself full evenly. If it stays that way, get in touch through our contact page.
Does shaking the device or blowing into it help?
No. Shaking does not spread the e-liquid any better and blowing pushes air the wrong way. On full devices both can even make e-liquid seep out at the mouthpiece.
Does a copy taste burnt more often than an original?
There is no blanket answer, but with a fake you know neither which coil is inside nor how much e-liquid is really in there. Whether your device is genuine is something you check through the code on the packaging in the Authenticity Check.