Cannabidiol (CBD) oils are one of the most popular ways to consume CBD, and it’s not hard to see why. They’re convenient, portable, and easy to use. It’s among the most effective ways to take CBD because CBD Oils are highly bioavailable. Best of all, they’re easy to make yourself, without any expensive or hard-to-find supplies. 

Keep reading to learn how to make your own DIY CBD tincture from hemp flower.

In case you don’t already know, CBD is a cannabinoid — a type of natural compound derived from cannabis or hemp — which interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system to produce a variety of effects. The endocannabinoid system is made up of receptors all over the body that regulates processes like digestion, mood, sleep, and pain, working with specialized neurotransmitters called endocannabinoids. 

Like other neurotransmitters, endocannabinoids can become unbalanced. Abnormal endocannabinoid levels have been connected with disorders like fibromyalgia, chronic migraine, post-traumatic stress disorder, and irritable bowel syndrome. CBD and other cannabinoids mimic these neurotransmitters and stimulate their production, which is likely how CBD is able to improve sleep, mood, anxiety levels, pain, and more. 

CBD also has natural anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, and neuroprotective properties. Plus, it’s non-psychoactive, so you can experience the therapeutic effects of cannabis without the high. 

Why use CBD hemp flower to make CBD oil?

Recent changes to U.S. law — the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, better known as the 2018 Farm Bill — made hemp federally legal. In turn, this led to an explosion in the popularity of hemp and related products. This includes hemp flower, which is another name for the buds produced by the hemp plant.

Buds from both hemp and psychoactive cannabis (aka, “marijuana”) look almost identical and can be utilized in the same way. That means you can smoke hemp flower, or turn the buds into concentrated tinctures and oils. The only real difference between the two is the cannabinoid content; specifically, hemp contains 0.3% or less THC.

Regardless of whether your CBD is made from hemp or psychoactive cannabis, it’s structurally the same and offers the same benefits. So why use hemp flower? One of its most attractive qualities is that it comes from plants bred to be high in CBD (and other beneficial cannabinoids and terpenes), making it ideal for CBD tinctures. Plus, since it’s fully legal, it’s easy to buy and ingest hemp flower.

How to make your own CBD oil?

To make your own tincture, you’ll need a mason jar, an oven, a baking sheet, parchment paper, cheesecloth, high-proof alcohol, hemp flower, and something to grind your hemp flower. You’ll also need a container to use for your final product.

How much hemp flower and alcohol to use is up to you. It’s flexible since it depends on the plant you’re using, your tolerance levels, and how potent you’d like your tincture to be. Ultimately, this means making your own tincture may require some experimentation to determine how much to use.

Making CBD Oil: Our step-by-step guide

• Step 1: Prepare your hemp flower. First, you’ll want to grind it to a fine consistency. Spread the hemp flower over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake at 220 degrees F in the oven for 30-45 minutes. This is called decarboxylation, and it’s necessary to convert CBDA into CBD. Let cool before moving to the next step.
• Step 2: Fill a mason jar with high-proof alcohol, such as Everclear. Mix your decarboxylated hemp flower into the alcohol or you can use something like a Magic Butter machine (check the above video to know more.
• Step 3: Close the jar, and let it sit for a few weeks away from sunlight, preferably in the freezer. Shake the mixture once per day. Alternatively, if you don’t want to wait, you can simmer the jar (make sure it’s glass) in a water bath for 20 minutes at 170 degrees F, and then move to step 4. If using the water bath method, place your jar into cold water and heat slowly on low heat, and do not leave it unattended (alcohol is flammable!).
• Step 4: Use a cheesecloth to strain the mixture into a vial, bottle, or jar. That’s it! Keep your tincture stored in a cool and dark place, and mix well before use. Before using your tincture for the first time, be sure to test its potency by taking one or two drops.

Pros and cons of making CBD oil at home

By making your own CBD tincture, you can the strain of cannabis used to produce the tincture. This means you can buy hemp flower with a profile suited to your needs since every strain has varying amounts of cannabinoids and terpenes, all of which come with their own effects. Not to mention, making your own tincture can even save you a few bucks.

That said, making your own tincture isn’t for everyone. The DIY route produces a full spectrum tincture, which means it contains everything extracted from your hemp flower, including traces of THC and other cannabinoids, like CBN and CBG. For most people, this is a good thing, because it means you’ll benefit from the entourage effect; these other cannabinoids and terpenes enhance the properties of CBD while bringing their own benefits to the table.

But if you’re sensitive to THC or otherwise need to avoid it completely, you’ll want to buy broad-spectrum or CBD isolate tinctures, which are THC-free. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to make CBD isolate yourself from hemp flower, at least not without specialized equipment.

Another potential downside is that it’s almost impossible to precisely calculate potency with homemade tinctures. They’re also made with alcohol, which can cause a burning sensation and shouldn’t be held under the tongue like oil-based tinctures. 

If you’re sensitive to alcohol, it may be best to buy a CBD oil tincture instead. These are usually made with a carrier oil, like hemp seed oil or MCT oil, rather than alcohol. Some people also find the taste of DIY CBD tincture mixes well with lemon-lime soda or drinks with similar flavor profiles. 

Closing thoughts: is making CBD oil at home hard?

As you can see, making your own CBD tincture from hemp flower is pretty straightforward. It’s easy to use, too; simply add a few drops to any food or drink, or ingest it directly.

It may take some trial and error to figure out how much to use to find relief, but making your own tincture is undoubtedly the best way to experience the powerful health benefits that CBD-rich hemp flower has to offer.

The post How To Make CBD Oil: A Guide To DIY CBD Oil appeared first on Ministry of Hemp.

Business owners and entrepreneurs are reaching out to wholesale CBD companies to include hemp flower and other related CBD products as part of their product offerings, but is it the right business for you? 

The simple fact is CBD has proven to be a moneymaker and seems like it will continue to be for the foreseeable future. According to Grandview Research, in 2018, the global cannabinoid market was valued at $4.6 billion and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.2% from 2019 to 2025. Obviously, this is a huge marketplace! However, does it make sense for the average small business owner or entrepreneur to enter into this market? 

In today’s article, we’re going to discuss the benefits and pitfalls of wholesale hemp flower booming marketplace and what you need to know to get started in the CBD business.  We will suggest a reputable hemp company with a great wholesale program for you to contact and give some tips to help jumpstart your new business venture. 

We’re going to kick things off with benefits.

Benefits of a wholesale hemp or CBD business

The CBD market is an emerging market with a great deal of potential for existing business owners seeking additional products to offer, or for those interested in starting a new business venture. Either way, CBD might just be a perfect choice.  

Let’s look at 4 key benefits.

• Financial

There is money in selling CBD products. For example, the profit margins on hemp flowers are around 50%! And with the average sale around $100, that’s a net profit of $50.00

• Helping people

CBD is making a real difference in people’s lives. Owning a business that contributes to helping people is a business worth having.

• Low cost of entry

It doesn’t take much upfront cash to get started in the CBD business. We’ll touch more on this further down, but realistically, a few thousand dollars can get you started. 

• Minimal inventory

You don’t need much inventory to get started in the hemp or CBD business. In fact, only a small amount of inventory is needed. 

Not that we’ve touched on the key benefits of getting into the CBD business, it’s time to address the potential challenges.

State law versus federal laws

Of course, it’s important for any business owner to obey the law. Depending on where you live, hemp flower may exist in a kind of “gray area.”

You see, in 2018, the production and marketing of Hemp were made federal legal via the 2018 Farm Bill. However, although federally legal, states have something else to say.  

Some states allow retailers to sell CBD and hemp flowers freely but impose testing or labeling requirements. Other states prohibit the distribution, marketing, sales, and use of CBD or hemp flower (smokable hemp).  You can see a full breakdown of states where CBD is legal, published by Leafly.

It’s up to each business owner to learn the state and federal laws, consult an attorney and move forward accordingly. 

Banking, social media & the legal gray area

Even if CBD, hemp flower, or anything related is legal, that doesn’t mean you can easily run a successful hemp business. The state/federal ‘gray’ area doesn’t make things easy for resellers. It can be challenging to open a bank account or accept credit card payments. While not easy, it’s not impossible. There are options available. 

It’s up to you to investigate the options available to make the best decision. It’s important to plan in advance for how you’ll handle the flow of money, before investing in the business.

You’ll also need to be a bit more creative about advertising than with other products. Both Facebook and Twitter largely ban openly advertising hemp products, but sometimes there are workarounds. You’ll need to be flexible and use organic marketing techniques (word of mouth, etc) to promote your products.

Finding a wholesale hemp flower partner

It is much easier to find a CBD wholesale partner than it was just a year or so ago.  However, it’s up to you to perform your due diligence to find a reliable and trustworthy partner.  The last thing you want is to invest time and money with the ‘wrong’ wholesale CBD/hemp company. Below are some key points to focus on when researching CBD companies. 

• Review: This is a pretty obvious one, but reviews can tell you a lot about a company and its products and service offerings. Make sure to really dive into reviews to read what others say. Also, take notice of whether the company responds to negative reviews. Everyone makes mistakes; it’s how a company handles its error that makes all the difference. 
• MOQ (minimum order quantity): Some wholesale programs require their customers to order a certain number of products or spend a set dollar amount each month to do business with them or qualify for discounts. So, those on a tight budget might not have the ability to meet MOQ requirements. 
• COA (certificate of analysis): A COA is a document issued by an accredited third party laboratory that outlines the makeup of the CBD products and any possible contaminants. This includes the percentage of CBD and other cannabinoids (including THC) and the terpenes profile, as well as contaminants, heavy metals, etc. It is vital to conduct a thorough review of a potential vendor’s COA’s during your due diligence.

Choosing wholesale CBD & hemp flower products to sell

The CBD market has become a competitive market. And while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s something that a potential CBD business owner needs to be aware of. Like all competitive markets, to be successful, business owners should focus on what makes them different than their competitors, and one way to do this is with the products being offered. 

Existing businesses like to stay with what works, and CBD companies are no different. The vast majority will sell their CBD tincture and other similar oils but may be missing the boat on other items like Delta 8 or hemp flower. Both of these products are getting a lot of attention in the market and might be a good entry point for a new CBD shop owner or someone interested in expanding their product offerings.  

Hemp flower, for example, is gaining traction in the marketplace because of its effectiveness and versatility compared to CBD oil. Hemp flowers are unprocessed; they will have a full profile of cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and other compounds like chlorophyll. Depending on the extraction method, CBD may not contain this same full profile. Hemp can be vaped, smoked, used in cooking, and to make tinctures. CBD oils do not have the same level of versatility. 

Of course, this is not to say one shouldn’t offer tincture oils or CBD isolate products, but maybe focus more on emerging market products. It’s also important to note that emerging product sales typically lead to larger profit margins — another plus.

Budget

Really, this section should probably be at the very top because determining a working budget is going to dictate so much. Many of the areas shared already will be determined by how much working capital is available. 

The great thing about the CBD business is that it can be started with a relatively low budget.  For example, Mr. Hemp Flower has a good reputation for its quality products and competitive wholesale hemp flower prices, with a point of entry around $500. 

In addition to inventory, there will be other business costs that need to be taken into consideration. One such cost is a marketing budget. 

Marketing budget

Sometimes business owners forget to include marketing into their budget calculations, and this can prove to be a costly mistake. You can have the greatest product in the world, but you still need to sell it. 

When doing your due diligence, make sure to look at the different marketing opportunities available and dedicate a portion of your budget to marketing. 

Realistically, a $500 – $1000 marketing budget should get you started. These funds can help with:

• Store signage
• Mailers
• Magazine advertising
• SEO (for online stores)
• And many others

So make sure you don’t forget about this important piece of business. 

Can wholesale hemp flower work for your business?

Getting into the CBD business can prove to be a moneymaker for many would-be entrepreneurs. With a sound plan, due diligence, and some hard work, who knows what could happen. 

The post Wholesale Hemp Flower: Is The CBD Business Right For You? appeared first on Ministry of Hemp.