How CBD Is Extracted From Hemp?

There are a few different ways of extracting CBD from hemp plants, and most of these extraction methods are very expensive and very time consuming. Cheaper methods of extraction tend to be less precise, and can also leave harmful chemicals behind in the final product. For these reasons, it’s often completely worth it to use a more advanced extraction method, even if it costs considerably more than other extraction methods. 

Instead of talking about all the different extraction methods, we’ll focus on the methods we use for extracting our CBD. 

CO2 & Ethanol Extraction

CO2 and ethanol extraction are considered the ultimate CBD extraction methods currently available. The machinery required for these extractions, especially CO2 extraction, is wildly expensive. But, there are huge benefits of using these methods to extract CBD, and that makes it more than worth it- 

  • Extreme precision. These methods are extremely precise operations. More precision= more control, which allows us to be as accurate as possible when it comes to how much CBD we can extract, and how purely we’re extracting it. 
  • Environmentally Friendly. These processes, when compared to other forms of extraction, are more energy-efficient, and produce fewer byproducts. 
  • Clean finish. CO2 and ethanol extraction leave no residue behind in the finished product, which means that your CBD is pure and clean. 

CO2 extraction is particularly precise, and particularly pricey. Like we said above, the machinery required for CO2 extraction is pretty extreme- but the results are worth the cost. CO2 extraction is absolutely the best when it comes to getting really pure extractions. If you’re looking to extract specifically CBD, or any of the other cannabinoids for that matter, CO2 extraction will give you the purest finished product. 

When you extract one cannabinoid at a time you don’t get as much of the ‘entourage effect’ that comes with using different cannabinoids together, but for some people it’s worth it to be sure there’s nothing but the desired cannabinoid in the finished product. . 

Ethanol extraction, while still being known as a precise method of extraction, is perhaps less precise than CO2. Ethanol gives more of a ‘whole-plant’ extraction without the specificity that comes with CO2 extraction. One benefit of ethanol extraction is that it tends to be mostly flavorless, as the terpenes are often lost during the process.

[We use two kinds of CBD extract: CBD Isolate, and Full-Spectrum CBD, which is why we utilize both these extraction methods.]