Best Coils for Flavor & Clouds: 8 Builds That We Love

Many of us vaping enthusiasts care a lot about the flavor we want to get from our vape mods. After all, that is why we love vaping. Many factors can influence the flavor produced when vaping such as the juice, power, airflow, coil build, device, and more. 

A big factor influencing flavor is the type of coil you build. If you're a flavor chaser like me you want to know, "What is the best vape coil for flavor?"

This can be pretty subjective, but I've tried my level best to be objective throughout this guide and we'll try to identify the best pre-built vape coils for flavor. The best vape coil for your personal vaping experience may take some experimenting. But check out how I ranked these coils and let me know what you think in the comments below. 

To create this guide, I gathered together a nice selection of popular coil builds known for producing the best flavor. I then took turns vaping on the different builds over 24 hours to compare the amount of flavor produced from each coil. Below are my results from flavor chasing over the last 24 hours...

Best Type of Coil for Flavor (& The Reasons Why We Love Them)

Fused Clapton

The Fused Clapton is probably the most popular coil right now for its ease of creating and the flavor it provides. In addition, for you vapers who prefer to buy pre-wrapped vape coils, there are a ton of different builders who offer their own.

The Fused Clapton is similar to that of a regular Clapton except rather than one wire in the core, there’s two; therefore providing a lower resistance, making these great for both mechanical mods and regulated box mods. The two inner wires create even more surface area; hence is why this is one of the best coils for flavor.

What’s even better is that you can really determine the resistance by the inner cores. If you want to get a higher resistance coil, simply create or purchase a Fused Clapton with thinner wire for the core, such as 28GA or 30GA. For a lower resistance, simply utilize a slightly thicker wire for the cores such as 26GA or 24GA.

Features: Great flavor and tons of variations

PROS

  • Good amount of heat
  • Great flavor
  • Lots of variations
  • Quick ramp up time

CONS

  • Will take some practice to master

Alien

The Alien is another popular coil, and is what you see in many Instagram photos. Although similar to a Fused Clapton, it has some key differences. The first is the way we wrap the outer wire over the cores, this gives it a unique look.

In addition, most Alien vape coils have 3 strands of wire for the core; therefore, will be of a much lower resistance in compared to the traditional Clapton and Fused Clapton.

However, this is another reason as to why some vapers may prefer this type of build for mech mods, although it’ll perform just fine on a regulated vape mod. The flavor on this is absolutely fantastic, and definitely one of the best in our experience.

These are for the advanced user, and we don’t recommend attempting one until you’ve really nailed down creating the Fused Clapton. Thankfully, just like Fused Claptons, there are some builders who offer their own handmade Aliens, and we’ve provided you with where exactly to get yours.

Features: Great flavor, unique look

PROS

  • Medium warm to hot vape
  • Great flavor
  • Instantaneous ramp up
  • Unique look - great for photos

CONS

  • Harder to master
  • May provide too much heat for some vapers

Framed Staple

The Framed Staple is another exotic coil build you’ll see in many photos online, and for good reason! This high quality device performs just as great as it looks! These are a step up from the Alien in regards to creating one, and utilizes both Ribbon and standard round wire.

First, there are two variants, the standard Framed Staple coil and the Framed Staple Alien. The major difference between the two is the Alien wrapped core; hence the addition of Alien in the name. Both of the Framed Staples have a much lower resistance compared to others, so it’s very important to understand ohms law and battery safety.

The Framed Staple coil is crafted with 6 pieces of Ribbon wire alongside a Clapton (Alien or standard) then wrapped once more with a much thinner gauge wire such as 38GA or 40GA. What’s great about these coils is the amount of flavor you’ll get due to all the “pockets”. This will seriously plow through e-liquids, but the immense flavor is worth it!

Features: Excellent flavor and great for cloud chasing.

PROS

  • Immense flavor
  • Provides much warmer vape experience
  • Unique look - great for photos

CONS

  • Requires a bit more wattage due to the amount of wire especially on regulated mod
  • Too hot of a vape for some vapers
  • Takes much more practice to master

Clapton

Making Clapton Coils involves taking a higher resistance wire and wrapping it vertically around a bigger wire that also offers resistance. If you look closely, you will notice that the coil comes with a much bigger surface when compared to your everyday vape coil. The reason why more e-liquid can get into contact with the oil is the bigger number of cracks you find between the wires. This gives the wire wicking properties. This is where the bigger better cloud comes from.

This is the primary advantage of this setup. The wire, when saturated with juice has channels for the juice to seep into providing incredible flavor, just like Fused Claptons, Aliens and Framed Staples. Ostensibly, the coil acts as a wicking material. This is one of the best for flavor as it provides a very flavorful vapor, and decent density within vapor production.

They use organic cotton just like all most other vape coils on the market. You can the wire from a good supplier so that you can build your own coils. Most of the time they are manufactured from Kanthal. However, there is Stainless Steel and Ni80 wire available as well. Some people claim that stainless steel can impact the taste of the vape, but that usually comes down to a matter of preference.

Features: Good flavor and easy to wrap yourself

PROS

  • Much easier to wrap yourself in comparison to other exotic vape coils
  • Good flavor and vapor production
  • Lots of variations
  • More e-liquid comes in contact with the coil

CONS

  • May be a little difficult to learn for beginners
  • Not as warm of a vape in comparison to others (subjective)

The Tiger Coil

I think that the Tiger Coil is probably the easiest of them all to twist and build. I make it from a single strand of ribbon wire measuring 0.8mm and another strand of Kanthal at 30 gauge. Insert both the strands into the drill bit. The Kanthal should bisect the ribbon.

If you get the pre-made vape coil, I will excuse you for thinking it looks rather too simple. Well, that opinion will change when you see the cloud it produces, then when the flavor hits, you will swear that this is the best coil for clouds. I know that many people question the inclusion of the ribbon wire in this coil but you will soon learn that its inclusion is the reason why the coil produces such a great flavor and massive amounts of cloud.

Features: Easy to twist with good flavor and clouds

PROS

  • Easy to twist and create your own
  • Products good flavor and big clouds
  • Good looking coil

CONS

  • Utilizes ribbon wire (subjective)
  • Hard to get contact wraps

Hive Coil

The Hive Coil is one of the high quality coils you can consider if you are in the market for the best coil for flavor. The taste you get comes accompanied by heavy clouds. The people who manufacture this coil seem to have figured out how to make a coil that will produce great flavor and huge clouds. The reason the flavor that is eventually produced tastes so great has to do with the fact that the e-juice goes through all those twists and turns. If your RDA is small, I would certainly recommend that you use it as a single coil.

The Hive is pre-made from four strands of Kanthal wire. I will twist these strands into pairs which are later twisted together to look like a hive. If you are going to use these coils you will need to be mindful of the fact that lower gauge wires are quite thick, you will need to take the atomizer holes into account.

Features: Easy to create with solid flavor

PROS

  • Large surface area provides great flavor
  • Pre-Made coils come with resistance markings, which is great for safety
  • Can be easily created

CONS

  • Thick coil leads which may not fit properly in all atomizers

Tidal Wire

The Tidal Wire coils consist of a single strand of ribbon wire and some four strands of 0.8mm Kanthal A1 32 gauge. This high quality coil is made by twisting the Kanthal wire together and then twisting the ribbon wire in reverse over the Kanthal.

What you get from this is a something which looks like a wave. The reason this is one of the best rebuilds for flavor is that the gaps of your ordinary Kanthal ensure that the heat is produced quickly while the ribbon wire provides the density required for you to get a great vapor and lots of cloud.

This coil produces a flavor that goes right through the roof. To get the best even coil, ensure that the natural grooves of the wire are properly lined up. I know some people have a serious hatred for twisted coils as they say that sometimes the e-juice ends up in their mouth. To get great flavor try using 28 gauge double coils. Make eight wraps around a bit measuring 2 mm, making sure that they are close to the air holes.

When installing this coil, I opt to not torch it first, leaving the spring in the coil. Once it’s installed, I can adjust to line up more precisely, and in return I get a faster ramp up, and immediate vapor. When reverse twisting the ribbon wire around the Kanthal, it is important to watch it and not go by feel.

To remain safe while doing the above, always use it on a regulated device. I will advise on using one at least 65 watts. If you have a chuff cap, always use one which will provide you with massive clouds, perfect for cloud chasing. Come back and tell us how the flavor just knocked your socks off.

Features: Good heat and flavor

PROS

  • Very good flavor
  • Heats a bit quicker

CONS

  • You need to be extra careful when twisting the wire to avoid kinks
  • If you’re not a fan of twisted wire, then you may not enjoy this

The Flat Bastard Coil

The Flat Bastard Coil is another product that someone looking for flavor from the best coil from RDA should seriously look at. We make this coil from 0.5mm ribbon wire and 32 gauge Kanthal. To create the coil, you wrap the ribbon wire around your Kanthal. This coil is easy to make even when you do not have a drill. However, getting this into your RDA is not such a breeze as it can get pretty springy.

I think this is a decent coil, but I wont call it the best build for flavor. The vapor production is good and the flavor too will not disappoint. The advantage of this coil build, like with the Tidal Wire, is the flat ribbon wire. It produces incredible flavor, but doesn’t heat up quickly on its own. The Flat Bastard coil has the advantage of the twisted 32 gauge on the inside providing intense heat very quickly.

The slow heating could be a problem for those of us who are not so patient, but once it heats it does so very well. When wrapping the ribbon wire around the twisted 32 gauge the process is very similar to wrapping a Clapton coil. Easing in to the speed of the drill is important, and once you have your rhythm down it is really smooth going.

Features: Good flavor, sustained heat once ramped up

PROS

  • Ribbon wire produces great flavor, but will take some time to ramp up
  • The Kanthal will help sustain heat

CONS

  • Takes a long time to ramp and heat up to provide a warmer vape experience
  • Not the biggest cloud production, but still respectable

Conclusion: So What's The Best Coil On the Market Now?

The best flavor is an elusive concept and I must admit that attempting to list the coils according to how good they are is a really difficult job. The best coil for flavor can be subjective and the competition in this section of products is intense. Not to mention, there are factors you might not consider that can impact the flavor - wire types, how tight the wire is wrapped, how they interact with the drip tip, and many more. 

It's difficult to convince flavor chasers that one coil is better than the other, because there are many other factors at play. For instance, your juice may spoil an otherwise good vaping experience. 

The e-cigarette you are using may also let the coil down. Sometimes it's actually your technique that makes you think that the coil is not good enough. Spend some time getting to know how to make the best use of your machines in order to get the most out of them. It's a great way to familiarize yourself with your device and get more involved in your hobby.

Let us know which coil for flavor you enjoy the most!

1 thought on “Best Coils for Flavor & Clouds: 8 Builds That We Love”

  1. I need to understand, I have the understanding. Just need to get something to start with. Teach me,,!

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