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TOV Explains How Coventry Vapers’ Flavour Preferences Have Changed Over the Last Five Years
Coventry Vaping Guides
Walk into our Coventry vape shop today and you will find a flavour wall that looks nothing like it did in 2019. We have tracked these changes in real time from the shop floor and here is exactly what we have seen.
5+
Years Serving Coventry Vapers
200+
Flavour Options In Store
73%
Of New Customers Now Choose Fruit First
2019 and 2020
Where Coventry Vapers Started Five Years Ago
Cast your mind back to 2019 and the flavour preferences of Coventry vapers looked very different to what you see today. The vast majority of our customers in those early years were transitioning directly from traditional cigarettes and instinctively reached for flavours that felt familiar. Tobacco and menthol dominated the shelves because they replicated, at least partially, what smokers already knew.
The device landscape shaped this too. Refillable vape kits were the dominant format. These typically required higher VG e-liquids and the broader market for exotic or complex flavour profiles had not yet fully matured. When a new customer walked into our Coventry store for the first time, the path of least resistance was clear: start with tobacco or menthol and ease your way in.
"In 2019, around 62% of all liquid sales from our Coventry shop were either tobacco or menthol flavoured. Fruit and dessert options made up the rest."
Touch of Vape, Coventry in-store sales dataThat remaining 38% was far from uniform. Among longer-term vapers who had moved past the transitional phase, sweeter dessert profiles like vanilla custard, caramel and creamy tobacco blends were popular. These customers had found their footing with vaping and were actively exploring. For new switchers however, tobacco and menthol held firm dominance.
Key milestones
The Events That Reshaped Coventry's Flavour Map
Several distinct moments drove the flavour shift we have seen in Coventry. Understanding them helps explain why the market moved so quickly and so decisively away from tobacco-adjacent profiles.
2020
The UK Menthol Cigarette Ban
In May 2020, the UK government banned the sale of menthol cigarettes. Overnight, thousands of menthol smokers in and around Coventry found their preferred product unavailable. Many made the switch to vaping specifically because menthol vape flavours remained legal. This created an enormous and sustained spike in demand for menthol and ice-based vape options that ran through most of 2021.
2021
The Unexpected Ripple Effect
What we did not anticipate was the knock-on effect of those new menthol-vaping converts. Many of them quickly migrated toward fruit flavours once they had found their footing. The menthol ban introduced a wave of new vapers who approached flavour with an exploratory mindset rather than a need for familiarity. That shift in attitude changed the culture inside our Coventry store.
2022
Disposable Vapes Reach Critical Mass
From late 2021 onwards, disposable vapes began arriving in volumes that changed everything. The Elf Bar 600, Geek Bar and Lost Mary became our fastest-selling products. Their low entry cost and enormous flavour range opened fruit and sweet flavour profiles to a customer base that had never previously considered them. By mid-2022, fruit flavours had overtaken tobacco and menthol combined for the first time in our Coventry store history.
Now
Refillable Pod Systems Mature the Market
The most recent shift has been the rise of refillable pod systems paired with pre-filled flavour pods. Devices like the Lost Mary BM6000 bring the convenience of a disposable with the sustainability of a refillable kit. They have further cemented fruit and cool flavour profiles as the dominant choice across all customer demographics in our Coventry store.
In-store sales data
How Flavour Category Sales Have Shifted in Coventry
The chart below illustrates the approximate shift in flavour category popularity we have observed at Touch of Vape Coventry between 2019 and 2024. These figures are drawn from our in-store sales trends and reflect real customer behaviour in this specific city rather than generic industry data.
Flavour category share — Touch of Vape Coventry
Approximate percentage of sales by category, 2019 vs 2024
2019
2024
Tobacco
Menthol & Cool
Fruit
Sweet & Dessert
Other & Specialist
The data tells a clear story. Fruit flavours have more than doubled their share of sales while tobacco has fallen to less than a third of what it represented five years ago. Menthol and cool have remained more resilient than tobacco, partly because they act as a bridge between the familiar and the exploratory.
2024 landscape
What Coventry Vapers Are Reaching for Right Now
Today the flavour preferences of Coventry vapers are more diverse than at any point in the market's history. Tobacco still has a loyal base, particularly among older customers or those who have been vaping for five or more years. Its share of sales has fallen significantly though and the newer categories have taken firm hold.
01
Tropical and Fruit Blends Lead
Watermelon, mango, passion fruit and blueberry variants are currently our top-selling flavour profiles in Coventry. Complex blended fruits such as strawberry kiwi and peach mango have grown particularly fast since 2022.
02
Ice Remains the Default Modifier
The addition of a cool or ice note has become the most popular flavour modifier across all categories. Watermelon ice and blueberry ice consistently outsell their non-iced counterparts by a significant margin.
03
Sweet Profiles Hold Steady
Dessert and sweet flavours, particularly strawberry cream, vanilla custard and candy profiles, have grown modestly but steadily. They tend to attract customers who have been vaping for longer and are looking for more complexity.
04
Tobacco Retains a Dedicated Base
Tobacco flavours have declined in overall share but remain important for a specific cohort: customers who switched later in life, who vape at lower nicotine strengths and who prefer a more muted flavour experience.
Seasonal patterns we have noticed in Coventry
One shift we have noted more clearly over the last three years is a degree of seasonality in flavour choices. During summer months, citrus and tropical profiles see a clear uplift in Coventry. Cold drinks and outdoor vaping tend to pair well with light fruit flavours. In autumn and winter, richer dessert profiles and warmer menthol blends see stronger demand. Our stock planning now reflects this cycle.
How nicotine strength travels with flavour choice
Something we have observed closely is that flavour choice and nicotine strength preference are not independent. Sweeter and fruit-led flavours are more frequently chosen in higher nicotine salt concentrations, typically 10mg or 20mg nic salts, while tobacco flavours are more commonly chosen in lower strengths by established vapers. This is partly device-driven but also reflects the different demographics attracted to different flavour categories.
For new vapers
What This Means If You're Making the Switch From Cigarettes
If you're currently smoking cigarettes and considering vaping as a way to quit, the evolution in flavour choice we have described above is good news for you. The range available today is wider than at any point in the industry's history and that range exists because it works. It works because people respond to flavour in ways that genuinely support a successful switch.
One of the most common misconceptions we hear in our Coventry store is that new switchers should start with a tobacco flavour because that is what they know. The experience we have gathered from customers over five years suggests this is often not the case. Many successful switchers find that moving away from tobacco-flavoured vapes actually makes it easier to leave cigarettes behind because the contrast is deliberate and clear. The act of choosing a completely different flavour can strengthen the psychological commitment to the change.
That said, if familiarity is genuinely important to you then tobacco and menthol options remain excellent choices. What matters above everything else is finding a flavour you enjoy. That enjoyment is the single biggest driver of whether vaping successfully replaces your cigarettes. The right flavour at the right nicotine strength is the foundation of a successful switch and it is exactly what our Coventry team is here to help you find.
Touch of Vape Coventry
Browse Our Full Range of Vapes and E-Liquids in Coventry
Whether you're switching from cigarettes or looking for something new to try, our Coventry team will help you find the right device and the right flavour for where you are right now. No pressure and no jargon.
If you're ready to explore what's available, our Vape Shop Coventry page gives you a full picture of the products we stock, the services we offer and how to find us. We've been helping Coventry smokers make the switch for years and we'd be happy to do the same for you.
Looking ahead
What We Expect to See in Coventry Over the Next Few Years
Predicting flavour trends in a market that has shifted as quickly as vaping is genuinely difficult. Five years ago none of us would have correctly forecast the dominance of disposable fruit flavours we see today. From our position on the shop floor in Coventry though, a few clear directions are emerging.
We expect fruit and ice flavours to continue their dominance in the short term. They have proven themselves with the widest demographic cross-section of Coventry vapers and the product formats that carry them, particularly disposables and pre-filled pods, are not going anywhere.
We are however beginning to see early signs of a premiumisation trend among our longer-term customers. Vapers who have been using fruit and sweet options for two or three years are increasingly curious about more complex and layered profiles. These are flavours that evolve across the life of a puff rather than delivering a single consistent note. The market for these is still small in Coventry at present.
Regulatory change remains the biggest wildcard. The potential introduction of flavour restrictions has not materialised in the UK to date. For now we are cautiously optimistic that the UK's proportionate regulatory approach to vaping will continue and that the wide range of flavours that has helped so many Coventry smokers switch successfully will remain available.
Part of our guide
Coventry Vape Guide
This article is one of several we have written specifically for Coventry vapers. Our Coventry Vape Guide covers switching advice, local knowledge and honest commentary from our in-store team.
This article sits within our broader Coventry Vape Guide, where we cover everything from choosing your first device to understanding how vaping regulations affect what's available in Coventry's shops. If you found this useful, there is plenty more to explore.
More from the Coventry Vape Guide
Related Guides for Coventry Vapers
If you found this article useful, the following guides from our Coventry team cover topics that often come up alongside flavour choices.
Come and Talk Flavours With Our Coventry Team
We're in store every day and we genuinely enjoy helping people find their favourite. Whether you're brand new to vaping or looking for something fresh, we're here.