One Shots vs Bottle Shots: What's the Difference?

If you're getting into DIY mixing, you've probably seen One Shots and Bottle Shots mentioned everywhere and wondered what the actual difference is. Both use the same professionally-developed flavour recipes, and both make mixing about as easy as it gets. The difference comes down to packaging and how much flexibility you want.

Here's the short version, and then we'll break it down properly.

The Quick Answer

Bottle Shots are all about convenience. The concentrate comes in an oversized bottle with space left for your base and nic. Just top it up, shake, and you're done.

One Shots give you more flexibility. The concentrate comes in a smaller bottle, and you add it to your own bottle with base and nic. You control the batch size.

Same flavours. Same recipes. Different workflow.

What Is a Bottle Shot?

A Bottle Shot is a pre-mixed flavour concentrate packaged in a bottle that's deliberately bigger than the concentrate inside. The empty space? That's where your base and nicotine go.

So a 250ml Bottle Shot contains around 50ml of concentrate in a 250ml bottle. You fill the rest with base, drop in your nic shots if you want them, shake it up, and you're mixing.

Why people love them:

•    Dead simple. Add base, add nic, shake, vape.

•    No measuring, no maths, no extra bottles

•    Mix and store in the same container

•    Under 5 minutes from start to finish

•    Virtually nothing can go wrong, making them perfect if you've never mixed before

•    ⁠Enables you to control flavour strength simply by filling less and adding more base to taste until you hit the sweet spot.

The trade-offs:

•    Fixed batch size. You make what the bottle holds.

•    Can't easily scale up or down.

Bottle Shots are ideal for beginners, anyone who wants zero hassle, and vapers who like trying lots of different flavours without committing to big batches.

What Is a One Shot?

A One Shot is the same professionally-blended concentrate, but packaged in a smaller bottle sized to the concentrate only. You measure it into your own empty bottle, add base and nic, and away you go.

A 30ml One Shot typically makes around 200ml of finished juice when mixed at the recommended percentage. You supply the bottle.

Why people love them:

•    Flexible batch sizes. Make 50ml, 200ml, 500ml, whatever suits you.

•    Better value per ml since you're not paying for oversized packaging

•    Buy larger One Shot sizes for your everyday favourites

•    Less storage space: small concentrate bottles, bulk base in a cupboard

•    More flexibility.

The trade-offs:

•    A few more steps. You need to measure and use a separate bottle.

•    You'll need empty bottles (or clean and reuse old ones)

•    Slight learning curve around percentages, though most One Shots come with instructions and free calculators do the maths for you

•    Takes 10 to 15 minutes rather than 5

One Shots are ideal for anyone who's made a few mixes already, vapers who want to scale up their favourite recipes, and anyone who values flexibility over convenience.

Side-by-Side Comparison

How to Mix a Bottle Shot

1.    Open the Bottle Shot

2.    Add base to the fill line (or below if you prefer a stronger flavour - you can always add more, but you can’t take away).

3.    Add nic shots if you want nicotine

4.    Shake well for 2 to 3 minutes

5.    Steep if the flavour benefits from it (we'll say so on the label)

6.    Vape

That's genuinely it. Five steps, five minutes, done.

How to Mix a One Shot

1.    Check the recommended mixing percentage (usually 15 to 25%, it's on the label)

2.    Work out how much One Shot you need for your batch size

3.    Add the One Shot to an empty bottle

4.    Add your base

5.    Add nic shots if you want nicotine

6.    Shake well for 2 to 3 minutes

7.    Steep if needed

8.    Vape

Quick example: If a One Shot recommends 20% and you want 100ml of finished juice, you need 20ml of One Shot and 80ml of base (adjusting slightly if you're adding nic shots). Most One Shots include mixing instructions, and there are plenty of free online calculators that do this for you in seconds.

Can You Use Both?

Absolutely, and plenty of our customers do exactly that.

Bottle Shots for trying new flavours or when you want zero faff. One Shots for your everyday favourites mixed in bigger batches at better value. There's no rule that says you have to pick one format and stick with it.

Which Should You Start With?

Never mixed before? Start with Bottle Shots. Get comfortable with the process, find some flavours you love, and get a feel for what you enjoy vaping. There's genuinely no easier way to start.

Mixed a few times already? One Shots open up better value and more flexibility once you're comfortable with basic measuring. If you've got a couple of go-to flavours, buying them as One Shots makes a real difference.

Stocking up before the vape tax? One Shots in larger sizes give you the most concentrate for your money. Buy bulk sizes of your all-day-vapes and pair them with base. You'll thank yourself later. Our Stock Up on Base guide covers the base side of that equation.

Same Recipes, Different Packaging

Here's the thing that matters most: the flavour is identical. Whether you buy Athena as a Bottle Shot or a One Shot, you're getting the same award-winning recipe, mixed by our lab team, from the same batch of concentrate. The only question is whether you want your mixing optimised for convenience or flexibility.

Browse our full Bottle Shot and One Shot ranges.