The Maggie guideMaggie: one yellow can, two lines
Some brands you know by the name. Maggie you know by the can. It's yellow with a red rim, a green palm tree stands behind the name, and the lid reads Original Jamaican Pouch. The flavours follow the same thread, each one named after a Caribbean drink or food. Cherry Tonic Wine, Jamaican Kola, Grape Soda and Sweet Plantain are flavour names and nothing more, but they tell you at a glance what kind of range this is: sweet, fruity and built around a theme.
Underneath the colour, the range is simple. There are two lines on our shelf. Maggie Lite is 16mg a pouch and comes in seven flavours. Maggie Original is 60mg a pouch and comes in four. Side by side they share the same slim white pouch and the same flavour names, so the real decision is strength. This page takes each line in turn, then covers the can, our strength scale and how to choose a flavour. Start here, then pick your can.
01What the can tells you about Maggie
With some brands the story starts somewhere else. With Maggie it starts on the lid, and the lid is what this page goes by. It reads MAGGIE in red and orange over the words Original Jamaican Pouch, with a green palm tree behind the name and the flavour printed underneath. The can is yellow with a red rim, and red, gold and green stripes run round the side. Once you've seen one, you'll spot the rest from across the room.
The flavour names carry the theme. Tonic wine, kola, grape soda, fruit punch and plantain are Caribbean drinks and food, and each can is named after one of them. They are flavour names, and they describe the taste and nothing else. The lid also tells you which line you're holding. A green Lite tab beside the name marks the 16mg cans, and the name alone marks the 60mg cans. So two things are worth reading before you buy: the flavour and the tab.
02Where Maggie sits on our strength scale
Our scale sorts every can into a band by the nicotine in one pouch. Light is under 8mg. Medium runs from 8mg up to 16mg. Strong runs from 16mg up to 25mg. Extreme is 25mg and over. Maggie Lite is 16mg a pouch, which puts it exactly where the strong band begins. Maggie Original is 60mg a pouch, and that is extreme by a wide margin.
Two things are worth taking from that. First, the word Lite on the lid is the name of a line. On our scale those cans are strong, so read the number and not the name. Second, there is no Maggie can in between. The range goes from 16mg to 60mg in one step, almost four times the figure, and it passes over the rest of the strong band on the way. So the two lines are a long way apart. Choose the band you already use, and treat the flavour as the second decision.
03What's in the can
Every Maggie can on our shelf holds 20 pouches, and that's the same for both lines. The pouches are slim and white, and they are tobacco free. Slim is the narrower of the pouch formats, and Maggie uses it throughout. The lid has a compartment for used pouches, the kind you'll know from other cans. Because the format is shared, nothing about the pouch changes between Lite and Original except the strength. Same count, same shape, same colour. Only the number moves.
04How to choose a Maggie flavour
Strength first, then flavour. Once you know your line, think about what you'd order to drink. If it's something dark and sweet, look at Cherry Tonic Wine, which is cherry with dark grape, or Grape Soda, which is dark grape in a soda style. If it's cola, Jamaican Kola is the sweet cola of the range. All three come in both lines, and so does Sweet Plantain, the ripe, caramelised one that sits close to banana.
Three flavours are Lite cans only on our shelf. Fruit Punch is the citrus and tropical one, with orange, mango and grapefruit. Mr Blue is the dark berry blend of blueberry and raspberry. Summer Fruits is the sweet mixed berry can. Side by side, Mr Blue names its berries and Summer Fruits keeps to a sweet mix, so choose between them on whether blueberry is what you're after. Still undecided? Take the flavour you'd pick from a drinks menu, then find it in your line.
