Flavor starter kit for beginner...HELP!

[Alchapwn]

Ok. So I got my nicotine. I have my PG and VG. I have all the tools and safety equipment I need to start mixing. Problem is, I can't decide on a good vendor, or set of flavors to start with.

What type? I am partial to bakery/tobacco flavorings (rich and robust) while my gal is partial to fruit flavors, so we have a lot of bases covered on "category" of flavor. We can pick and choose what single flavors we would like to try as we go along and get better at mixing. As I am really not close to any flavor outlets, I will be ordering mostly online (as I assume most of you do.) I don't want to be ordering 1 dram at a time every week and find out later that a large number of recipes use *insert specific flavor here* and I could have bought a bigger supply of it at the start (like "vanilla" perhaps?) I'm a huge fan of buying in bulk to save $$$.

I'm throwing myself at the mercy of the more experienced DIY'ers here, hoping that some of you might offer some suggestions on flavors you are always running out of. Not because you particularly like it, but because you seem to have it as a "general" additive in more than one or two recipes. Some flavors I think might find there way into more than just a couple of my concoctions:
Cotton Candy (for its sweetening effect)
Marshmallow (also for sweetening)
Chocolate
Caramel
Vanilla
Bavarian Cream (not sure if this has too many applications, but I read it a lot on here)
Seedman Commercial (obviously for some good tobacco flavors, unless something better is advised by you guys)
Cheesecake (does this really taste like cheesecake? Any flavor would be good with this as far as I'm concerned)
Fruits (to be chosen by my lady as she deems worthy[I'm not stupid ya know!])

With the flavor type out of the way, I'm looking for a good vendor. This of course comes with a couple of priorities:
First priority is cost. I'm obviously new to this and wouldn't like to spend a .... ton of money on flavors I'm very likely to ruin due to novice mistakes. Once I get the hang of it, more cost for better product doesn't scare me. But for now, lets keep it relatively cheap, I don't care to import Tibetan coffee bean extract for $40 a dram. Lol! This brings me to the second priority...quality.

Quality is a secondary priority for me mainly because all too often in life, you can't have both low cost AND high quality and I understand that. With that being said, sometimes there's that diamond in the rough out there that maybe not many know about. Or a general "LorAnn is a good starter flavor until you're ready to spread your wings and try *insert better quality manufacturer here*)

I know it was a lot to read, and I appreciate any and all who read through all of this mess until the end. I especially appreciate any advice you guys could give me in this area. I'm thankful to have such a knowledgeable and experienced community to rely on for their expertise in this and I hope it goes without saying that any and all advice/suggestions are greatly appreciated! You guys have proven to be one of the best sources for knowledge on all things vaping and I honestly feel I wouldn't have made it without cigarettes for this long without you.

So, with all that being said, any and all help would be greatly appreciated and you guys just keep on being awesome!

 

[glassmanoak]

Wizard Labs is a good place to start for nicotine AND flavorings. They sell mostly TFA/TPA (the Perfumers Apprentice) flavorings with a smattering of Lorann's. Their bottles are all 7-8 ml which means you can try lots of flavorings cheaply. You can also buy 4 bottles of a particular flavoring (28ml) for about what you would pay for 30ml from Perfumer's Apprentice.
They also have labware, syringes and (maybe) bottles. When you graduate to larger sizes of flavorings, then try EcigExpress | Electronic Cigarettes, e-Liquid and DIY Flavorings, or Lorann's or Capella directly.
Commercial Tobacco is very good and TFA Raspberry, TFA Mango seem to go with lots of fruits. Chocolates, Tobaccos and Coffees are the toughest to deal with. I don't use nicotine in my small test batches because I hate to waste it.
Good luck and feel free to PM me if I can help you further.

EDIT: Get a small quantity of Real Lemon for adding to fruit concoctions and Apple Cider Vinegar for adding to Tobacco Concoctions.

 

[jac1766]

The Wizard is out of stock...on just about everything, right now.

OK... who cleaned 'em out!

 

[BlueMoods]

I agree with the above and, would add LorAnn's and Watkins - yes that stuff in the white and brown boxes that's soled even at Wal Mart. Just remember Watkins is double strength, so use sparingly and adjust carefully but, the fruits are wonderfully true to the real thing and, the coconut with a bit of vanilla, hint of almond and, sweetener of course, makes an amazing coconut custard vape.

 

[kushka]

Perfumers apprentice has sampler packs of 6, 4ml bottles of flavors for $6.50, you might want to start with a couple of those.

Perfumers Apprentice - Fun Flavor Sampler Packs

You can add other 4ml bottles of other flavors for just $1.40 each -

 

[bace a flunt]

Buy very small quantities of flavors you have never tried before. Even though some flavors are a lot cheaper when you buy a larger quantity, what good is having all that flavor if you don't like them. I have tried 20+ flavors from various manufacturers and there are only 4 or 5 of them that I liked enough to place another order for. Most of them are sitting in my cabinet. For fruits, I like capellas. Also, don't go and order all your flavors from one manufacturer (I was initially planning on getting like 20 different TFA flavors when placing my first wizard labs order- I'm glad I didn't). Mix it up. Also, don't worry about mixing flavors now. Don't buy a flavor because ____ sounds like it would mix well with _____. You might get them and find out you don't like either one alone, let alone mixed. Order single flavors that you think you will like. Once you know which ones you like and get the percentages down, then order whatever flavor you think would mix well with that particular flavor.

 

[DeeDee1234]

The problem with flavoring is what I like and what you like are going to be two different things. I like menthol, so I us menthol crystals and a lot of koolada. If you don't than you will not need a large bottle of koolada. Wizard labs, tfa 8 ml bottles are perfect for me. I can try a flavor on for size and if I hate it, well it only cost me $1.49 to coat my drain with tiramisu flavor. I would have been ...... if I had laid out $8.00 for a large bottle of that Crap. Capella's are good flavors and easy full flavors for beginners as well. They dropped their prices and are more competitive price wise directly from Capella. Remember, to pick up a sweetener and some em, either the crystals or the cotton candy flavor it doesn't matter which.