I appreciate the title may enrage a few folks but rest assured I've read up plenty and have my actual mixing technique sorted following playing around with one shots.
So my question actually relates to how many concentrates to begin with reasonably. I have a local B&M which seems to be well stocked. So taking the wiki in mind, if I say spend £20 working top to bottom from the wiki, would that be a good place to start? Many of the DIY recipes all seem samey, i.e. cream, strawberry, bavarian cream??
Wiki:
These are the latest flavors most recommended by fellow DIY-ers for a first order. In general they should be considered some of the tastiest, but also in most cases versatile for mixing beginner recipes. This is the result of a contest post in December 2016.
Flavoring Votes TFA STRAWBERRY RIPE 152 TFA DRAGON FRUIT 92 TFA BAVARIAN CREAM 91 TFA VANILLA SWIRL 83 TFA STRAWBERRY 70 TFA VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM 67 CAP VANILLA CUSTARD V1 58 TFA CHEESECAKE GRAHAM CRUST 57 TFA MARSHMALLOW 52 FA FUJI 49 FA CREAM FRESH 46 TFA RASPBERRY SWEET 45 CAP SUGAR COOKIE V1 42 INW CACTUS 40 LA LEMONADE 39 FA LEMON SICILY 39 CAP SWEET STRAWBERRY 39 FA MERINGUE 38 FA FOREST FRUIT 36 LA WATERMELON (COLORLESS) 34 LA BANANA CREAM 29 CAP CINNAMON DANISH SWIRL 26 CAP NEW YORK CHEESECAKE 23 TFA JUICY PEACH 22 CAP GRAHAM CRACKER 22 TFA PEAR 21 FA WHITE PEACH 17 FA KIWI 16 TFA BANANA CREAM 15 TFA PINEAPPLE 14 CAP GOLDEN PINEAPPLE 14
I dont recommend buying concentrates based on popularity, instead find some top rated recipes on ATF and see what you can afford from there. When you're well past the point of mixing other people's recipes then you can start branching out into the more niche concentrates. There are far too many excellent choices so it really boils down to what flavour profiles and recipes you enjoy.
I recommend new mixers just get TPA Strawberry and VBIC and make Mustard Milk for their first mix. It's simple, the flavours are easy to find, no steep time, and it's delicious. If they're used to premium juice I'll recommend they add a little sweetener at first and gradually lessen it.
I made the mistake of trying many complex recipes and purchasing unusual flavours at the beginning and didn't enjoy many of my DIY mixes for the first few weeks. I wish I'd just made Mustard Milk, I'd have saved a lot of wasted money, and that's the reason most of us start DIYing. The odd thing is that I never enjoyed Strawberry or Cream flavours before DIYing.
I recommend just buying for some good recipes that you want to try or recipes you'd like to develop.
Keep your budget frugal. I took my juice budget for a month and spent $20 every couple of weeks on new concentrates instead of new juice.
3 and a half months later I have a ton of the most popular concentrates. Now when I come across a recipe that I want to mix I usually have all the ingredients. Occasionally somebody will mix something innovative and I'll need to grab a few things but not very often.
Thanks to all, good advice. What are the best resources for finding high rated recipes? Im familiar with e-liquid recipes and all the flavours, any others?
I'm in the same boat (about to pull the trigger); the list of flavors in your post was pulled from a thread for beginners recipes that can be found in the sidebar as well. They're right below the list of flavors that you found! I picked a few of these recipes and will be ordering the flavors required for them tonight.
If you need inspiration or are looking for a recipe for a particular flavor profile, don't hesitate to ask. People here can be strict about the posting rules but generally they're super helpful to new mixers.
Be sure to post in the "what can I make with these flavors" weekly threads once you get your concentrates. People go out of their way to help in that thread.
I'll probably be active in the clone threads as well as asking for substitute flavors in some of the recipes until I can get a bigger flavor arsenal. Budget is mad tight these days so I can't splurge like I'd like too. Had to whittle my flavors down to about $55 and that was HARD to do, but I figure my birthday is soon so gosh darn it, I deserve it!
Check out these two articles by Scottes777:
http://forum.e-liquid-recipes.com/t/a-beginners-guide-to-making-the-most-highly-rated-recipes/83612
http://forum.e-liquid-recipes.com/t/analyzing-the-100-top-rated-recipes/83979