Difference Between CBD Oil and CBD Tincture

What is the difference between CBD oil and CBD tincture?

What is the difference between CBD oil and CBD tinctures? Are oils and tinctures the same? Or do the two CBD therapeutics differ in terms of use and efficacy?

If you are new to the world of Cannabidiol (CBD) therapeutics, navigating between different products can seem confusing. This is especially true when it comes to CBD oil and CBD tinctures. After all, both products often look visually identical.

What is the Difference Between CBD Oil and Tincture Based Therapeutics?    

Visually, CBD oil and CBD tinctures are often presented the same way.

Both CBD oil and Cannabidiol tinctures come in small glass bottles. Doses are then decanted from bottles using small droppers. Both therapeutics are often also taken sublingually (under the tongue.) However, there are differences between CBD oils and CBD tinctures that users should be aware of.

What is CBD Oil?

To understand the difference between CBD oil and CBD tinctures, we first need to clarify what CBD oil is.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of over a hundred cannabinoids that occur naturally in Hemp and Cannabis. As you likely know already, mounting evidence also suggests that CBD may be able to help treat chronic pain, inflammation, and several other conditions.

To use CBD therapeutically, it is possible to smoke or consume raw hemp flowers. However, this isn’t an ideal solution for many CBD users. This is why CBD is often extracted from hemp and cannabis, ready for processing into other therapeutics.

  • In the case of CBD oil, Cannabidiol is usually extracted from hemp using supercritical carbon dioxide (CO₂). Alternately, CBD can be extracted from hemp and cannabis using food-safe oils as a solvent.
  • After extraction, CBD is paired with a carrier oil. The most common carrier oils to use are MCT Oil, Coconut Oil, Hemp Seed Oil, and Olive Oil.
  • End CBD oil products are available in several different strengths and are legally required to contain less than 0.03% THC. As a result, all CBD oils (unless they are labeled as including THC) are non-psychoactive.

What are CBD Tinctures?

Millions of people worldwide use CBD oil every day to help alleviate symptoms of conditions like arthritis and anxiety. However, CBD oil can be expensive.

The high cost of CBD oil results from the high cost of CBD extraction. Thankfully, liquid solvent extraction techniques exist which can be used to isolate CBD from hemp more cost-effectively. 

  • Liquid solvent extraction typically sees CBD extracted from hemp using grain or isopropyl alcohol.
  • Using alcohol to isolate CBD is easy and takes less time than using supercritical carbon dioxide or food-safe oils.
  • Extracted Cannabidiol is suspended in 60% to 70% distilled alcohol in final tinctures.

Using liquid solvent extraction to extract CBD from hemp before suspending CBD in alcohol, significantly cuts CBD manufacturing costs. As a result, CBD tinctures are usually more affordable than CBD oil.

CBD Tinctures vs CBD Oil

As a rule, Cannabidiol in CBD oil is usually of a higher degree of purity than CBD in CBD tinctures. CBD oils are also often more potent than tinctures. However, oils also have an unpleasant taste and a relatively short shelf-life.

By comparison, CBD tinctures often contain ingredients like peppermint oil to sweeten their taste. Tinctures also have a longer shelf-life and contain CBD that is more quickly absorbed into the bloodstream when taken sublingually. (This is thanks to alcohol being used as a carrier agent.)

Which Therapeutic is Better?

As it stands, there isn’t a definite winner when it comes to CBD tinctures vs CBD oil. However, when buying either therapeutic, it is important to only buy direct from reputable CBD brands. Wherever possible, people should also look for full-spectrum CBD tinctures and oils, that contain CBD and a wide variety of other cannabinoids.