The Bristol CBD founders are enthusiastic about the health-giving potential of CBD oil and want to share it with their customers. They offer a comprehensive range of oils, including full-spectrum, whole plant products and a range of ‘golden oils’ where excess plant substances have been filtered out to improve the flavour.
This Bristol CBD 5% (500mg in 10ml) oil is from their whole-plant extract range and is a thin, dark brown liquid. The bottle is brown glass with a smart label that would look at home on the shelf of a health food shop. There is lots of useful information packed onto the label, including the ingredients, serving size and details on how to find the lab certificates on their website.
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Contents
Who is Bristol CBD?
Bristol CBD was founded in 2016 by natural healthcare practitioners Koren Barnwell and Mark Dunn. They had heard stories about the effects of CBD and saw firsthand its benefits when a seriously ill neighbour began to use it. This inspired them to start producing for a wider audience.
As their business began, they started to search for the best hemp to use in their products. They found what they call ‘the finest hemp extracts from across Europe’ and quickly began to import them. The hemp is treated with supercritical CO2 their signature products.
Their hemp is grown organically, and the buds and flowers are picked by hand to be shipped to the UK to be turned into oil. Bristol CBD has chosen to make their oil in small batches only; this means that you will only ever receive a freshly made product that hasn’t sat degrading for months in a warehouse.
Third-Party Lab Tests
An example of a third-party lab test is available for each product on Bristol CBD’s website. I couldn’t see a batch number on the label, so it is impossible to tell if the certificate refers to the batch I’m using. The certificate is basic, with only a cannabinoid profile included, but clear and easy to understand.
The results show that detectable quantities of several cannabinoids, including cannabidivarin and cannabidiolic acid:
- CBD = 4.57%
- CBDa = 0.1%
- CBG = 0.19%
- CBGa = ND (Not detected)
- CBDV = 0.08%
- CBN = ND
- CBC = 0.19%
- THCV = ND
- THC = 0.16%
- THCA = ND
There is only 4.57% CBD in the oil, which works out at 457mg. This is less than the 500mg on the label. The total amount of cannabinoids is higher than 500mg, but if this is what the label refers to, it should be made clear.
I also noticed that the amount of THC is 0.16% or 1.6mg/g. In a 10ml bottle that works out at 16mg THC which exceeds the limit of 1mg per container. Bristol CBD does note that it is below the 0.2% legal limit, but that is a common misconception. In the UK the 0.2% rule refers to the amount allowed in hemp plants that can be grown and not in finished CBD products.
Bristol CBD Ease of Use
The 10ml bottle is sturdy, leak-proof and easy to use. It has a single-use seal which you break when you first use it but no child-safe cap. It is a thin oil, but I’ve had no problems with it sneaking its way out of the bottle. For most of the one and a half weeks I used it, I’ve had it in my coat pocket and it has travelled well.
The dropper has a bulb tip which I found to be very effective and it delivers the required drops quickly and easily. The directions for use are displayed on the side of the bottle and they make the process clear. They suggest you use between 2-30 drops a day held under your tongue before swallowing. They don’t indicate how long to keep the oil under your tongue, but anything between 60 to 120 seconds is usually fine.
Bristol CBD Oil 5% Taste
The blend of whole-plant hemp extract and hemp seed oil is surprisingly thin and has a very dark colour and a pungent, nutty scent. The flavour is like that of a bitter olive with a hint of coffee. It is bitter, but it’s not too intense and doesn’t give that sharp sensation to your throat that some oils do. It’s not as mild as Cibdol’s translucent oil or as bitter as BioBloom’s 4% oil, but somewhere in between.
Potency/Effectiveness
I found this to be moderately potent for a 500mg oil. My previous experience of oils made from whole-plant extract has taught me that they are often stronger than others, however, this one is only of moderate strength.
It’s ideally suited for those getting used to CBD oil, but once you’ve used a couple of bottles, you may want to move on to something stronger. For me, it was mildly relaxing, but to get the best effect, I slowly increased it to 30 drops a day. At that measure, it worked better, but I reached the end of the bottle much quicker as a result.
Value for Money
The price of a 10ml Bristol CBD 5% oil is £25.99, which makes it one of the best-priced oils I’ve seen. It’s far cheaper than the 4% (400mg) BioBloom oil at £29.90 and Jacob Hooy 5% CBD oil from Holland & Barrett which costs £29.99. At this price, it is good value. It’s not the strongest I’ve tried so if you have some more money to spare, you may want to try Blessed CBD’s 1000mg oil, but if you’re after a bargain, this is it.
For an unbelievable price, you get a decent range of cannabinoids in dark, aromatic oil. Its flavour is slightly bitter but not too sharply intense. When some of the problems raised by the lab certificates are addressed, I would recommend this as a good starter oil for first-timers.
Would I Buy Again?
No, I would not buy Bristol CBD oil again. The price is reasonable and I found it to be somewhat effective, however, the lack of clear easy to understand lab reports means that I cannot be 100% confident in what they are doing.
There are oils available that are more effective and reasonably priced, these can be found in our best UK CBD oils article. As the product only uses hemp grown without fertilisers and pesticides it cannot be included in our best organic CBD oil reviews either.
If what you seek is a high-strength oil, at 5% it is a long way off the threshold of 25% to be included in our list of the strongest CBD oils available in the UK.
Bristol CBD Final Scores
