In my experience so far, yes. The cheapest company I've bought from yet, mbv, was the worst. The more sophisticated and natural tasting flavors do seem to cost more. The cheap ones have been one dimensional. Maybe because the cheaper juices use more artificial flavorings? Dunno but my favorite juices have been pricey.
Hmmm... I'm wondering what flavors you tried from MBV based on your statements, and if you steeped them long enough. Yeah, some of the flavors there I'm not too crazy about myself, but most of them can be avoided by reading the reviews. However, they have made some of the best tasting multi-dimensional flavors I have tried (like 555... Zinger, Dream Tea, and most of their other tea flavors... their RY4, though not the standard formula, is great too if you like licorice and anise... I also love their more complicated sours like Razzle Dazzle), and as a note, their flavoring is all natural, no artificial... and due to that, most of their flavors have to be steeped for a minimum of 1-2 weeks. Some of the really complicated flavors (like RY4) have to be steeped for an entire month before they taste the way they should since they're freshly mixed.
For me, price has been no indicator in the quality of juice. I've had some really nasty expensive juices, and some absolutely phenomenal cheap juices. I have learned however that QUANTITY OF AVAILABLE FLAVORS is a pretty good indicator of how good the overall juices are in terms of flavor. Usually vendors that offer a huge variety of flavors are hit or miss with their formulas, while vendors that focus on a smaller selection of flavors usually make sure that every one they do offer is a major hit with the majority of their customers.
For example, VaporBeast offers some moderately priced juices. I have yet to try a flavor from them I did not love. They only offer about a dozen flavors, though.
In contrast, MBV offers cheaply priced juices. I usually have to carefully read the reviews to figure out whether or not I'm going to like a flavor before I buy it. They offer hundreds of flavors, though, so I imagine it's probably a bit difficult for them to make sure all those flavors are going to be a hit with anyone that tries them.
Then of course you have to consider that taste is subjective anyways, and what is great to one person may be nasty to the next.
Personally I tend to aim for vendors that allow you to customize your order options a lot more than vendors that don't. This lends some flexibility... if I find their juice isn't the kind of formulation I like, I can adjust the ratio... if I find the flavor isn't strong enough, I can add a shot or two of extra flavor on the next order. And I always buy samples of the flavors I want to try BEFORE I go for larger sized bottles. This saves me from wasting much money on flavors I don't like. Price is not a huge deal to me in terms of determining how good the juice is. Only trying it will tell me if I want to buy more.
Of course, vendors that list what's actually in their juices get a huge thumbs up from me, as well do vendors that set up a customer reviewing system for each flavor. Anything that helps me determine if a juice is worth purchasing.
I also like to know the "born on" date for a juice... which helps me determine if it should be steeped as well as its shelf life if I'm not particularly crazy about it.
Overall, the only way you will know what you prefer is just to simply try whatever catches your eye... and make note of what qualities you like about it, so you can better determine in the future the likelihood of liking other juices from other vendors.
?
