Zyn Strengths and mg Levels: A South African Guide

Zyn comes in seven strengths on our shelf in South Africa, running from 3mg up to 16.5mg of nicotine per pouch: 3mg, 6mg, 6.5mg, 9mg, 11mg, 13.5mg and 16.5mg. ZYN is a Swedish brand of nicotine pouches, created by Swedish Match, and our Zyn nicotine pouches collection in South Africa spreads those seven levels across the Light, Medium and Strong bands of our scale. The brand itself, and who makes it, has its own page in what Zyn is.

Read the chart from the left, because the number is the part that does the work. The flavour names are the fun part, which is fine, but they tell you nothing about how much nicotine sits in each pouch.

What Does the mg Number on a Zyn Can Actually Measure?

The mg number is the nicotine in one pouch, not the total in the can. A 6mg label means 6mg in every pouch, much as the label on a single cooldrink describes that bottle and not the multipack it arrived in. It is an easy thing to mix up on a quick browse, so keep the words "per pouch" attached to every figure you compare.

The arithmetic is pleasantly plain. A 6mg pouch holds twice the nicotine of a 3mg pouch, a 9mg pouch holds three times as much, and a 16.5mg pouch holds far more than either. Strength words behave less well. Mild, medium and hot mean something on a bottle of chilli sauce only once you have tasted a few, and the same is true of any strength word on a pouch, which is why we lead with the milligrams and let the words follow.

Where Do the Seven Zyn Levels Sit on Our Light, Medium and Strong Scale?

Our scale measures nicotine per pouch: Light runs from 1mg to 8mg, Medium from 8mg to 16mg, Strong from 16mg to 25mg, and Extreme starts at 25mg. Across the 60 Zyn products on our shelf, none sits exactly on 8mg or 16mg, so every Zyn level lands clearly inside one band with no argument about which side of a line it falls on. The product lines behind these levels are covered in our notes on the Zyn lines.

Light: 3mg, 6mg and 6.5mg

Zyn at 3mg, 6mg and 6.5mg sits in our Light band. The spread from 3mg to 6.5mg is wide enough that Light is not one single step, and it could be argued that this band holds more choice than its name suggests. The 6.5mg row keeps its decimal, and it is worth keeping it in view rather than rounding it to 6mg in your head.

Medium: 9mg, 11mg and 13.5mg

Zyn at 9mg, 11mg and 13.5mg sits in our Medium band, and it is the widest stretch of the Zyn ladder. The step from 9mg to 11mg is smaller than the step from 11mg to 13.5mg, so the rungs are not evenly spaced. Perhaps that is the main reason to read the figure and not the position in a list.

Strong: 16.5mg

Zyn at 16.5mg is the only Zyn level in our Strong band, and it sits one rung above the 13.5mg row. Our Extreme band begins at 25mg, so the top of the Zyn ladder stays well short of it. One level in a band makes for a short subsection, and the flavours at 16.5mg are listed further down.

Is 11mg Zyn Strong?

On our South African scale, 11mg Zyn is Medium, because Medium covers 8mg to 16mg per pouch and 11mg sits comfortably inside it. That puts it well inside the band, clear of both edges. If you are comparing it with a can that uses a different strength word, the number is the fair thing to line up, since a word is shorthand and the milligrams are the measurement.

A few product names carry their own strength words, such as Strong or XX-Strong. Those words are part of the name. The mg figure beside them is what places the pouch on our scale, so an 11mg product with Strong in its name is still an 11mg pouch in our Medium band.

What Is the Lowest Zyn mg, and Which Flavours Come There?

The lowest Zyn level on our shelf is 3mg per pouch, in the Light band, and it comes in seven flavours: Apple Mint, Black Cherry, Citrus, Coffee, Cool Mint, Peach and Spearmint. If you searched for the lowest mg and landed here, this is the row, and you can start with Zyn Apple Mint 3mg, Zyn Black Cherry 3mg or Zyn Citrus 3mg.

The rest of the row is Zyn Coffee 3mg, Zyn Cool Mint 3mg, Zyn Peach 3mg and Zyn Spearmint 3mg. Every one of them carries the same 3mg per pouch, so choosing between them is purely a question of flavour, rather like picking a filling for a toasted sandwich when the bread has already been decided.

Which Flavours Come in Both 3mg and 6mg?

All seven of the 3mg flavours also come in 6mg, so Apple Mint, Black Cherry, Citrus, Coffee, Cool Mint, Peach and Spearmint can each be compared across two levels. The three that most readers ask about are Zyn Apple Mint 6mg, Zyn Black Cherry 6mg and Zyn Citrus 6mg, and each holds double the nicotine of its 3mg twin.

The 6mg row is the busiest of the Light band, with fifteen flavours in all. Beyond the seven shared with 3mg, it adds Cool Blueberry Medium, Cool Watermelon Medium, Fresh Mint, Gentle Mint, Sour Ruby Medium, Tropical, Violet Licorice and Watermelon Mint. Several of those names include the word "Medium", which belongs to the product name. At 6mg per pouch they sit in our Light band, and that is the placement to trust.

What Sits at 6.5mg and 9mg?

Zyn at 6.5mg comes in three flavours, Lemon Spritz, Red Fruits and Spearmint, and all of them are Light. It is a small row, and the small step above 6mg is the only difference in strength, which makes Spearmint a tidy comparison since it appears at both 6mg and 6.5mg.

Zyn at 9mg is the first step into Medium, and it comes in Apple Mint, Black Cherry (Slim), Cactus Spice, Citrus, Cool Mint, Red Berry Fizz, Red Fruits, Spearmint and Violet Licorice. Red Fruits is the one flavour that appears at both 6.5mg and 9mg, so it makes a handy bridge if you want to see how the jump from Light to Medium reads on the same flavour name.

Which Flavours Sit at 11mg and 13.5mg?

Zyn at 11mg has the longest flavour list of any Medium level: Apple Mint, Black Cherry, Black Menthol, Blackcurrant Ice, Blueberry Mint, Cactus Spice, Citrus, Coffee, Cool Blueberry Strong, Cool Mint, Cool Mint Slim Strong, Cool Watermelon Strong, Fresh Mint, Guava Spice, Menthol Ice, Red Berry Fizz, Sour Ruby Strong, Spearmint and Watermelon Mint. Seven of those, Apple Mint, Black Cherry, Cactus Spice, Citrus, Cool Mint, Red Berry Fizz and Spearmint, also appear at 9mg, which gives you a direct comparison with 9mg on a flavour you already know.

Zyn at 13.5mg is the top of the Medium band and comes in three flavours: Blackcurrant Frost, Cool Mint XX-Strong and Menthol Ice. As with the 11mg row, the words in the product names are labels, and the 13.5mg figure is what puts them in Medium. Menthol Ice is worth noting here, since it appears at 11mg, 13.5mg and 16.5mg, a span of three rungs on the upper ladder.

How High Does Zyn Go, and What Sits at 16.5mg?

The highest Zyn level on our shelf is 16.5mg per pouch, in our Strong band, and it comes in Black Menthol, Cool Mint Max and Menthol Ice. That is one rung above the 13.5mg row and a great deal more nicotine than the 3mg pouches at the other end of the chart. Black Menthol also appears at 11mg, so it gives you a clean comparison across the jump from 11mg up to 16.5mg.

All three flavours at this level share the same figure, so the choice among them is a flavour decision once you have settled on the number, and Which Zyn flavour is best? ranks them. For a closer look at the top of the range, our guide to the strongest Zyn on the shelf goes through it in more detail.

How Do You Pick a Zyn Strength?

Pick the mg per pouch first, find that row on the chart, and then choose a flavour from it. If you already use nicotine pouches, the figure on the can you have now is the best starting point, and the chart shows you what sits one rung above and one below. New to snus from every brand? How do you use Zyn? explains the basics first. Once you have a strength, how long a pouch should stay in is the next thing to settle. When you shop the full snus range for delivery across South Africa, to Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban, keep that per pouch figure in front of you and read the full product name once more before you choose. For the ordering side, ordering details for Zyn are set out separately.

Weighing Zyn against another brand in South Africa? Our side-by-side pieces start from the milligram and only then move to flavour. Read the 77 comparison, the Pablo comparison or the Velo comparison, and carry your chosen number into each one.