Bud & Tender are a new name in the CBD oil market and they are a welcome arrival. Their stated aims are to produce a clean tasting, clear oil that preserves terpenes and cannabinoids so you can benefit from the “entourage effect”. With this in mind, I spent two weeks using the 1000mg (10%) CBD oil to find out for myself.
They produce premium filtered oils that they claim have a “Fresh fruity-floral taste”. Even so, I began with low expectations of the taste but with a curiosity to see if they could live up to this bold claim. I enjoy the flavour that the hemp plant adds to most CBD oils even though the majority wouldn’t agree. However, I still reach for the water to wash down the bitter taste as quickly as possible.
There is only so much you can do to turn the intensity of flavour into something pleasant. I was eager to find out if Bud & Tender were successful but first, a little background information.
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Contents
Who are Bud & Tender?
Bud & Tender have brought CBD products to the market for some time now, but this was their first oil. Previously they produced CBD flowers and related edible products. All this experience getting the best raw materials has given them a strong base to start manufacturing a premium oil.
They have used their contacts and extensive knowledge to create an oil that compares favourably to generic brands in a number of areas (see the chart above from their site). The oil is made in England and customers have already begun to leave a flurry of reviews.
There is some buzz about the great taste and potency of Bud & Tender’s CBD oil. If you visit Trustpilot there are a number of reviews giving them 5 stars. This impressive start seems to be down to ‘attention to detail, quality of the oil and taste’.
Third-Party Lab Tests
Filtration and purity form a large part of the appeal and sales pitch for this oil. It is clear from their website that they see their product as a market leader, trading on its cleanliness and potency. My first stop was to find if this was reflected in the lab reports.
The lab reports are easily accessible from the product page and go into exceptional detail. They include a detailed screening for contaminants, a terpene profile and a cannabinoid profile. I also discovered that Bud & Tender provide an excellent outline of precisely what is covered in each one. With such excellent information, it’s a lot easier to understand the details in the analysis.
The report for the 1000mg oil confirmed that it was contaminant-free, had more than 10% CBD (10.72%) and less than the 1mg per container UK legal limit of THC and CBN. In fact, the amount of THC was less than the lowest detectable level, backing up the websites claims of ‘No detected THC’.
The certificate published on the website was dated 18/09/2020 and related to the latest batch. It would be useful to be able to access previous certificates as well as the current ones. This provides evidence that a brand maintains its standards over time.
Ease of Use
Now on to the personal testing. First up, how easy is it to administer the oil. It is hard to create an easy to use CBD oil bottle. The oil usually finds a way of escaping and making the bottle greasy or gunking up the dropper making it unusable. The bottle in this case is truly impressive and is one of the best that I’ve used so far.
From the very start, my experience was user friendly. The child-safe top is one of the best mechanisms available. It requires a very firm press and then opens smoothly. Once the bottle is open you can reseal it again with a quick twist. I even carried it around with me for a few days after the first open and no residue leaked out.
The dropper itself works well and now comes with a measure on the side to help you apply each amount with accuracy. This is an excellent feature and stops you from having to awkwardly glance at a mirror as you hold your head back.
The only small issue I found occurred when I had nearly finished the bottle. Because of the length of the dropper and the bottle shape, it is impossible, at any angle, to get the last three of four doses out without decanting to another container.
I found this an easy product to use and a significant improvement on many of the CBD oil bottles available already.
Bud & Tender CBD Oil Taste
With such impressive claims, this is the part that I was particularly interested in. To cut to the chase, this is a great tasting oil. In fact, it is definitely the best tasting natural oil I have ever tried and I found myself looking forward to each dose. That said, you probably need to modify your expectations following Bud & Tender’s claims that it is, ‘gorgeous, fresh, fruity and floral tasting’.
Compared to the intensely bitter flavour of many of its contemporaries this oil is surprisingly light given its potency. The removal of non-essential lipids and plant matter has left it with a lighter taste. It is still very definitely a hemp product and carries a characteristic grassy flavour that you would expect.
With regular use, you will notice its fruitier side and the MCT oil base adds a very pleasant nutty bass note. Overall this is the first non-flavoured oil I have been able to use without swilling my mouth with water afterwards.
Potency/ Effectiveness
For me, the most potent oils are usually thick and brown with hemp particles. This oil could not be further from this, so upon trying it I was pleasantly surprised.
I found it very effective at immediately removing the tension headaches that I have been suffering from recently. It left me clear-headed during the day and worked well as an aid to sleep in the evening.
It is also worth mentioning that the labelling recommends that you only use it when you feel that your endocannabinoid system needs boosting. This was a refreshingly honest suggestion. Using it in this way enhanced its effects for me rather than taking it two or three times a day regardless of how I felt.
Value for Money
This is one of the more expensive oils available, however, everything about it backs up its premium status. Not only does it look like it’s worth the money, but the 1000mg of CBD really delivers. If this is a little out of your budget check out Eir Health No 30 and Cibdol 4% which both offer excellent value.
CBD is an expensive product to produce due to the time required to create and monitor the raw materials and then to extract and purify them. In this case, you can see where that money has gone. The extraction and purification have produced CBD oil that is clear, nutty and oddly tasty. If you can bear to put something so expensive into a cooking pot it would also work really well in a mild flavoured meal or salad dressing.
Would I Buy Again?
Yes, I would buy Bud and Tender CBD oil again. The price is a little high but there are detailed lab reports that are easily available and the oil itself is very effective. As a result, it scores highly enough to be included in our best UK CBD oils article as our recommendation for the best THC free CBD oil. As Bud and Tender only use organic hemp, it cannot be included in our best organic CBD oil reviews.
If what you seek is a high-strength oil, this is also available in a 40% concentration this is why it is included in our list of the strongest CBD oils available in the UK.
Bud & Tender 1000mg Final Scores
Bud & Tender 1000mg CBD Oil
Overall
Bud & Tender have created an oil that has plenty of style, but it’s backed up with plenty of substance. For a CBD oil, it tastes great with a nutty flavour that would work well with salads or buddha bowls. It’s not full-spectrum but its blend of cannabinoids and terpenes deliver an unexpectedly potent punch.
Third-party lab tests
9
Ease of Use
9.5
Potency/ Effectiveness
9
Value for Money
8.5
Pros
Entourage effect from cannabinoids and terpenes
Pleasant flavour
Child safe bottle
Leak proof bottle
Potency
Vegan
Verified as broad-spectrum
Easy to use measure on the dropper
Cons
Difficult to get the last few doses from the bottle
