iSenzia is a flavored heatstick with no tobacco marketed by Imperial Brands for exclusive use with Pulze tobacco heating devices. Imperial Brands first introduced iSenzia at an experience event called “Feel The Flavours” in Milan, Italy in May 2024. iSenzia follows the launch of “veo sticks for glo devices”, marketed by British American Tobacco (BAT) and precedes the launch of “Levia sticks for IQOS ILUMA devices”, marketed by Philip Morris International (PMI). iSenzia, veo and Levia are introduced to the EU markets due to the EU ban on flavored heated tobacco products; in order to keep the flavors, major tobacco companies removed tobacco from the sticks used with their tobacco heating devices.
Imperial Brands refers iSenzia as “herbal-tea based nicotine consumables” or “tea stick with nicotine”. The iSenzia sticks are made with a blend of Green and Oolong tea. Oolong is a traditional semi-oxidized Chinese tea which can be classified between green tea (not oxidized) and black tea (fully oxidized). Because oolong tea is oxidized at varying levels depending on the processing technique, its flavor varies widely from light to full bodied, floral to grassy, and sweet to toasty.
Marketed with “the pleasure of taste, without tobacco” tagline, iSenzia sticks contain flavor capsules in the filter. Once the capsule is crushed, it is claimed to release “an explosion of flavor” for an immersive experience. iSenzia sticks comes in 4 fruity & menthol flavors: .
– Summer Red Crush: The sweet watermelon taste
– Ice Blue Crush: The overwhelming freshness of mint
– Forest Purple Crush: The delicious taste of berries
– Sunset Coral Crush: The velvety flavour of peach
Imperial’s heated nicotine platform, Pulze, is available in 8 European markets. Pulze devices operate with both tobacco sticks, iD, and nicotine containing tea sticks, iSenzia. In March 2025, Imperial Brands anounced the launch of Pulze 3.0, an upgraded version of the exisiting Pulze 2.0 device. Pulze 3.0 is introduced as the smallest 25+ session all-in-one nicotine heating device with a proprietary airflow technology, increased heating zone and improved taste experience. Compared to Pulze 2.0, in the first two puffs, Pulse 3.0 offers +20% improvement in overall taste intensity, +16% improvement in nicotine delivery and +50% improvement in visible vapor volume.
August 2025: iSenzia provides nicotine delivery and subjective effects that are lower than with cigarettes
Imperial Brands evaluated the iSenzia Heated Herbal System (HHS) – comprising the PULZE 2.0 heating device and tea-based, nicotine-containing iSenzia sticks – as a potential tobacco harm reduction (THR) alternative for adult smokers. Investigators conducted integrated pre-clinical and clinical studies to assess whether this electrically heated, non-tobacco product could reduce exposure to harmful constituents while still delivering satisfactory nicotine levels1.
Chemical analyses demonstrated that aerosols from the iSenzia contained significantly lower levels – up to 99.8% less – of the nine priority harmful analytes identified by the WHO Tobacco Product Regulation (TobReg) compared to reference cigarette smoke (1R6F). Notably, several toxicants commonly found in tobacco smoke – including tobacco-specific nitrosamines, benzo[a]pyrene, formaldehyde, 1,3-butadiene, and benzene – were below detectable levels in the iSenzia aerosol. Even those detectable, such as carbon monoxide, acetaldehyde, and acrolein, were reduced by more than 96% per puff relative to cigarettes. These substantial reductions in chemical exposure translated into significantly lower cytotoxic, genotoxic, and mutagenic effects in in vitro assays compared to cigarette smoke, suggesting markedly reduced biological activity of the aerosol generated from the iSenzia.
In a controlled clinical study with adult cigarette smokers (n = 25), both flavor variants of iSenzia (Forest Berry, Summer Watermelon) delivered nicotine effectively, though plasma concentrations and overall nicotine exposure (AUC and Cₘₐₓ) were significantly lower than their usual brand of cigarettes. Subjective measures of satisfaction, psychological reward, relief of smoking urge, and acceptability were also lower than cigarettes, but nonetheless meaningful. For instance, reductions in urge to smoke were robust -though approximately 36%-38% lower in magnitude than with cigarettes – and overall satisfaction scores averaged around 3.5-3.7 (on a 1–7 scale), compared with 5.8 for usual brand cigarettes. Regarding abuse liability, the study found that while the iSenzia provides reinforcing nicotine effects and satisfaction, these were lower than with conventional cigarettes – indicating a lower potential for dependence. Importantly, no serious adverse events were reported, and the incidence of adverse reactions (primarily mild dizziness or nausea) was low and similar across products.
Taken together, the pre-clinical results suggest that the iSenzia generates an aerosol that contains far fewer harmful substances and shows reduced toxicological activity compared to cigarette smoke. However, as the clinical findings indicate that nicotine delivery and subjective effects are lower than with cigarettes, it is questionable whether iSenzia offers enough satisfaction to potentially serve as an acceptable alternative for adult smokers.
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