XQS - The Spearmint | 10 Cans

XQS The Spearmint: The Gentle One, and the XQS to Start On

Every pouch range needs a can you can hand to somebody who has never tried one, and for two years XQS did not have it: its lightest UK can was 8mg, and the brand's 4mg Tropical never made it to most shops. XQS The Spearmint is that can. It is a smooth, naturally sweet spearmint with a light cooling finish, 6mg of nicotine per pouch, three of six bars on the lid, and the lightest XQS we stock. The brand's own words are "sweet, clean, balanced", and it is the first XQS we would put in front of a first-time pouch user who already uses nicotine. Each can holds 20 slim, all-white, tobacco-free pouches, and NicotineBuzz sells the 10-can pack for £39.90, which is £3.99 a can, dropping to £3.50, £3.33 and £2.99 a can as more 10-can packs of any brand share the basket.

Spearmint is the softer mint. Where peppermint is cold and menthol is sharp, spearmint is rounded and a little sweet, the flavour of the green chewing gum rather than the blue one, and it suits a low-strength can better than either: there is nothing to fight the gentleness. That is the whole pitch here. If you want cold, buy Arctic Freeze; if you want bite, buy The Menthol; if you want a mint you can wear all afternoon without noticing, this is it.

Soft Spearmint, Sweet Lift, Light Cool

The opening is gentle even by mint standards: fresh spearmint comes through rounded and clean within the first minute, with a soft natural sweetness that the brand is right to lead with, because it is what makes the can easy. There is no sting on the gum to speak of, which on a 6mg is as it should be, and the nicotine arrives quietly over the first few minutes rather than announcing itself.

The cooling is the last thing to show up and the smallest. A light cool finish builds behind the sweetness from about minute five, adds freshness without overpowering, and never approaches the ice of the other XQS mints. From there the can settles into a calm, balanced spearmint that holds well past twenty minutes, fades gracefully, and leaves a clean, faintly sweet finish with no residue. It is, the brand says, "a calm, balanced mint for everyday moments", and for once the marketing has it right.

Among the four XQS mints it is the sweet one and the soft one. The Peppermint is brighter and crisper, Arctic Freeze is colder, The Menthol is sharper and much stronger. It is also, obviously, the lightest by some distance.

One Strength: 6mg per Pouch, and the Lightest XQS Here

XQS prints its strength per pouch, on the front of the can, under a six-bar row. The Spearmint prints "6 MG" and three of six bars. The brand's own site is in two minds about the word: its shop navigation puts 4 to 6mg in a Regular band, while the product's strength facet files 6mg under Strong with three bars. On our site-wide scale it is listed as Low, which is where every pouch up to 6mg sits, and that is the honest description: per pouch it is level with a ZYN 6, a two-dot VELO or a Nordic Spirit Mini, and a little above a Clew 5mg.

Six milligrams is three quarters of the 8mg the XQS fruit cans run at and just over a third of The Menthol 17mg, which is the whole span of the range we stock. The brand publishes a pouch weight for its fruit cans (0.5g) and Arctic Freeze (0.7g) but not for the mint line, so we do not quote a per-gram figure; on the 0.5g pouch it would be about 12mg/g, and that is our sum, not the brand's. What matters more is what the number feels like: a 6mg XQS on the small slim pouch is a genuinely light can, noticeable but never heavy, and the right first rung for a light smoker, a low-strength vaper, or anyone stepping down from a stronger pouch.

Who it does not suit: anyone who already uses an 8mg or more and expects a hit. The Spearmint will feel like a pleasant mint with a suggestion of nicotine, which is exactly what it is. If that is the complaint, The Peppermint at 10mg is the next rung in the mint line, and the XQS strength finder on our brand page will tell you where you belong.

Why Spearmint Suits a Light Can

There is a reason the gentle can in most ranges is a spearmint rather than a peppermint. Peppermint's cooling comes from menthol, which reads as strength on the gum even when the nicotine is low, so a 6mg peppermint can feel busier than it is; spearmint carries almost none of that compound and brings its own sweetness instead, so a 6mg spearmint feels exactly as light as the number says. That matters for the two people this can is built for. A first-time user gets a pouch that does not sting, which is the difference between trying a second one and never buying pouches again. And someone stepping down from a stronger can gets a rung that still tastes like a proper flavour rather than a diluted version of the one they left, which is what makes the step stick. It is also why we would not send a mint-first strong-pouch user here: the softness that makes it a good first can makes it a disappointing tenth one, and The Menthol exists for them.

What the Label Says

The can is the 2026 XQS design: a glossy green lid, "THE SPEARMINT", "NICOTINE POUCHES", three filled bars, "6 MG", and "Deliciously Swedish, since 2006" on the rim. The brand's product page lists the flavour as spearmint, the format as slim, the nicotine content as 6mg per pouch and 20 pouches per can. The ingredients are the standard XQS list: a plant-fibre bulking agent, water, nicotine, flavourings, salt, propylene glycol, an acidity regulator and a sweetener, with the UK nicotine warning and a batch number on the base.

Do not confuse it with the older XQS Spearmint, a 9mg can with four bars that the brand still lists in Sweden and used to sell in Europe as Wintergreen; "The Spearmint", with the definite article, is the 2026 UK mint-line can at 6mg, and that is the one here. XQS is a Swedish brand from Jämtland, on sale since 2006, owned since 2023 by Scandinavian Tobacco Group and sold in the UK by the group's own company; the brand's line is "Made by Sweden" and it does not say where the pouches are made, so neither do we. The rest, and every XQS we stock, is on our XQS nicotine pouches page.

Wearing It

Tuck one pouch under your top lip, slightly off-centre, and leave it for twenty to forty minutes; the brand says fifteen to sixty, and on a 6mg most people will happily go the distance. A faint tingle in the first minute is normal and on this can it is faint. Do not chew or swallow the pouch, never two at once, and put the used one in the bin. The slim XQS pouch sits low and drips very little, and spearmint is the flavour least likely to announce itself to anyone else, which makes The Spearmint the XQS for a meeting, a long drive or a first go in company. Our how to use nicotine pouches guide covers the rest, and if you are switching from cigarettes, how many pouches a day is the next thing to read.

The Light Mint Shelf

At 6mg The Spearmint sits with ZYN's Cool Mint 6, VELO's two-dot mints, Nordic Spirit's Mint Mini and Clew's Cool Mint 5mg. The XQS is the sweetest and the softest of the group, the lowest under the lip, and the only spearmint among them, which matters if you find peppermint too toothpasty; ZYN is drier and crisper, VELO and Nordic Spirit are bigger and wetter, Clew is the only other one that prints the milligrams on the lid. Our low strength nicotine pouches shelf sorts the lot by dose, and the mint nicotine pouches shelf by taste.

Within the XQS Range

The Spearmint is the floor of the XQS range here. Above it, in the mint line, are The Peppermint at 10mg and The Menthol at 11mg and 17mg; on the fruit side, every flavour from Tropical to Cola Lime starts at 8mg, and Blueberry Mint is the fruit can with the closest taste to this one. If The Spearmint feels thin after a week, The Peppermint is the natural next step; if it feels right, stay, because there is no prize for going up.

Who It Suits, and Who Should Buy Something Else

• Buy it if you are new to pouches and already use nicotine, smoke fewer than ten a day, vape low-strength liquid, or want a mint you can wear all afternoon.
• Buy it if you are stepping down from a stronger pouch and want the smallest rung that still tastes of something.
• Buy something else if you use an 8mg or more and want a hit (The Peppermint), want cold (Arctic Freeze), or want a single can to try (VELO and Nordic Spirit come by the can here).
• Do not buy it if you do not already use nicotine. Light is not the same as harmless.

What Ten Cans Cost Here vs Out There

A pack of 10 cans of The Spearmint is £39.90 here, which is £3.99 a can and about 20p a pouch. A second 10-can pack of any brand brings every can to £3.50, three packs to £3.33, four or more to £2.99. The brand's own UK shop sells singles at £4.49, £3.49 a can in a 10-pack and £2.33 a can at 30, and a 4-can mint bundle for £12, which is the sensible way to taste the mint line before buying ten of one. Every pack clears our free delivery threshold on its own, orders before 3pm Monday to Friday leave the same day, and next day delivery is £4.99. Nobody has reviewed The Spearmint with us yet, and we will not be inventing stars before somebody does.