Tincture Review

By GWL Team 

Posted August 30th, 2019

Another Review?

yep, it’s time for another product review! This time, we tried out tinctures for a month to see what our feelings were about various products that we offer. While we weren’t able to try every tincture, we were able to cover most of the major brands that we carry. These are our personal opinions on the tinctures that we tried, and what we liked (or didn’t like) about each one. If any of these sounds like a good fit for you, feel free to ask us questions about our experiences, by reaching out via social media.  You can also try one of them on your own!

Quinton:

I was told that I had to review a tincture for this upcoming blog, and my usual tincture (Select Peppermint 1000mg) had run out. Seizing this opportunity to try something new, I started the Koi Naturals Broad Spectrum 1000mg in the orange flavor. Now, keep in mind, this wasn’t my first exposure to Koi’s products; I had used Koi before (both their gummies and their vape liquids) and had found that I enjoyed their flavor and potency.

So why their broad spectrum? And why orange? Well, I knew that I had to stay at around the same daily amount of CBD (coming from a 1000mg bottle), so I opted for the 1000mg option of Koi. With my undergraduate career almost over, I know that I’ll be entering the working world soon, and I may face the dreaded drug test (I hate peeing into cups.) With this in mind, I knew that I had to get something that was potent, but didn’t have the THC in it. That’s where the broad spectrum came in. Now, as a brief aside, we have talked about the differences between full spectrum, broad spectrum, and isolates in other articles. Isolates and broad spectrum products do not contain any THC and are drug test friendly. However, full spectrum CBD products do contain small amounts of THC. My advice, if you’re worried about drug tests, choose products that don’t have THC in them (such as the Koi tincture I used). So what about orange? If you’ve read my blogs in the past, you’ll know that I always rave about citrus flavors. I can’t explain my love for citrus. As a kid, I ate lemons like they were oranges and oranges like they were… well, really good oranges. Luckily, I’m not too sour of a person nowadays.

I can hear all the readers in my head now: “get on with it! What about the tincture review? Tell us about the product!” Alright, alright, I’ll stop telling my stories. When I started the tincture, I knew that not a lot was going to change. I had been taking tinctures before this point. Why? Because they’re easy, quick, and I’ve found that they help with my mood more than any other CBD supplement. And the Koi? It fit into my schedule without any hiccups. In a few ways, I actually prefer it to the Select Drops that I had been taking. The orange flavor was nice, it went down smooth, and it didn’t leave any oily residue (which I find sometimes would happen with the Select.)  There was no hempy aftertaste, and it did its intended job. Well done, Koi.

All in all, I would say that I’m a Koi convert. I’ll probably keep using the Koi tincture, and I’ll probably order another when I finish my current bottle. It’s a little more expensive than the Select, but I think that it’s worth it due to my preference for taste and the quality that I found it has.

Brandy:

I’m a big fan of tinctures in theory, especially for someone new to CBD. There are a couple primary reasons for my adoration.  First it takes less time to see benefits and Second there is more flexibility when increasing or decreasing serving size.  However the speed factor is important for the first week when starting CBD. Dropping that oil under the tongue and holding it for that 30-60 seconds to allow absorption time is awesome, but ceases to become a factor once you’ve been taking CBD consistently for any length of time. That’s because the CBD will build up and store in your fat cells to continually work for you. It’s pretty much my favorite part of my fat cells! The serving size flexibility is, in my opinion, even more important. We don’t all need the same amount of CBD to thrive. I repeat – we don’t all need the same amount. I have customers doing well on 5 mg/day and others seeing success with 150 mg. That best serving size really depends on what benefits you’re looking for, and how quickly your body metabolizes different compounds, among other factors. Tinctures are the easiest way to take just a little more or a little less to find YOUR best fit. Which isn’t the same as your mom’s or your neighbor’s.  I’m a broken record, I know.

With all the plusses in the tincture column, why would I take anything else? Well, quite frankly, I’m a little lazy. Now that I know my best serving size, I take a daily softgel. When I’m not trying all kinds of different new products, that is.  I like the Select Boost capsule – 33.3mg CBD + Yerba Mate and Moringa. As that’s my current fave, it made sense to take the Select tincture for this review.  I went with the Unflavored version, which contains just two ingredients – MCT (Fractionated Coconut) Oil and CBD Isolate. I take CBD primarily for mood stabilization with a little inflammation relief just for funsies, so isolate is a good fit for me.

It was a cinch to take the same serving size. I am able to take – 33.3 mg of CBD by  taking 1 ml/30 drops(that is one full dropper-full) of the Select CBD Unflavored tincture. Their dropper tops are marked, so measurement is easy.  I did find that pressing and releasing the bulb top did not consistently get me 1ml of oil. I had to play with it a bit to get it to a full 1 ml – that was a bit of a hassle. I then dropped the oil under my tongue, and I have to tell you, it really is an unflavored product.  The oil tastes like nothing, which kind of weirded me out. On the plus side, no flavored burps. But, still, weird oily nothingness. I took the drops for a week in place of my standard soft-gel and I did not notice any impact to my mood or inflammation level, which is a good thing. I’m definitely seeing consistent benefit among the Select line of products. I did find that I missed the energy “boost” from my normal soft-gels. Those help me on that long afternoon stretch between lunch and collecting kids from school and making dinner. (Apparently meals define my daily clock.) So, I’ll be going back to my soft-gels. I do like the Select CBD Drops. I would definitely take them in the future – but I’d stick with a flavor option.

Hannah:

I’m the team member that lives with chronic pain, so I got to try two different tinctures.  Lucky! I went with Raw options – Endoca Raw 1500mg Drops and the Tasty Drops 1000mg. I have been taking CBD for several months now and my go-to product is the Endoca Raw 50mg capsules, but I had never tried the tincture before. I’m not going to lie, this new delivery method was a bit of a shock to me. I had become so accustomed to taking a flavorless capsule I forgot that hemp has a pretty earthy taste. After a few days I had become accustomed to the switch in my routine, and it was as if nothing had changed. It was easy to count the number of drops under my tongue in the mirror and with a glass of water at the ready, I felt invincible. With regards to the relief I found, I noticed no difference in the amount of relief I found. I have become pretty accustomed to the increase in energy and dulling of my Fibromyaglia and Rheumatoid Arthritis pain, so I was thankful nothing changed.

I had never tried Tasty Drops before, despite my deep commitment to raw CBD products. I was excited to try a flavored version of a slightly “grass and dirt” flavor. I chose the spearmint because I like to take my CBD in the morning. I was surprised by how different the flavor profile was compared to the Endoca drops and would absolutely recommend the Tasty Drops if the flavor profile of the Endoca is bothersome. The spearmint was subtle, but the stevia made the oil an overall more enjoyable experience. I didn’t feel quite so desperate for a chaser after swallowing the oil. I had a slightly harder time measuring my typical 50mg serving size because it’s less concentrated, so I require a dropper and ¼  and I found it slightly cumbersome to get to that 1⁄4 mark line. Nonetheless, I was able to take the amount that I needed and was able to receive the same relief that I normally find from 50mgs of CBD from a raw product.

If you’re on a budget, the Endoca Raw drops are going to be a better option, as they are a little less expensive than the Tasty Drops per milligrams of CBD. The Tasty Drops are $99.99 for 1000mgs of CBD and the Endoca Raw drops are $129 for 1500mgs of CBD. Of course, if you don’t love the natural, earthy option that Endoca Raw offers, and can afford the Tasty Drops, definitely give it a try.

Cara:

I have been hearing about Entourage Wholeflower tincture and its benefits for sleep for a while now. Although I have tasted all the products that we sell and I am pretty familiar with each product high & low points, I have not necessarily tried every product for a solid block of time.  When we were looking at tincture reviews, this is the product I truly wanted to try. I have informed many customers that this is one of the products we see the best results for sleep but I sure found out first hand that this was also true for me.

I normally take a 30 mg of a full spectrum product daily for pain and mood stabilization. When starting with Wholeflower, I took 5 drops nightly (30 mg.)  The first night I fell fast asleep quickly and slept like a baby. I credited exhaustion more than product & continued to track throughout the week. Every night without fail I took my five drops and crashed quickly, within an hour. There was something about this product and my body that had me quickly snoring soundly! Being the cynic that I am I decided to put the product to the test & took it at 10 am in the morning during a work day. Guess what…It still worked!  I did not fall asleep at my desk but sure was drowsy, and pretty sorry about my decision the rest of the work day.

I will say the product was somewhat helpful for my old shoulder injury pain but I did not see the same benefits as I do with a raw CBDA products. The other downside for me was the taste. This product was by far the strongest tasting tincture I have encountered. I can live with it but the after taste lingers and I truly would need to wash it down with something if I were going to continue to take it.  Belch. All in all I thought the product had some great benefits and a good price point especially if sleep is your main goal, but you don’t want an additive like melatonin.

Your Turn!

Now that you’ve gotten a little taste of what we tasted, we encourage you to give us your feedback! Have a tincture that we didn’t cover that you enjoyed or one that you want us to review for you? Reach out and let us know! We love hearing from our customer family, and, as always, we hope that you keep in touch.