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How We Make Our Pure, Potent, and Sustainable Hemp Oil

Synchronicity Hemp Oil is a proud supplier of CBD products such as CBD tinctures and capsules in differing strengths. For anyone trying hemp for the first time, you'll be sure to find something that suits your needs here.

If you’re looking for natural relief from 100% pure hemp botanicals, you’ve come to the right place. We pride ourselves on our pure Hemp Oil products. Still, given our reviews and loyal customer base, you’d be forgiven for thinking we have a high-tech, secret laboratory nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. The reality is just — a little different. We don’t have any hidden doors behind waterfalls, and we don’t have to leave Colorado on helicopters in the dead of night to access a dungeon filled with beakers and crazy-haired chemists.

To help clarify how we do business, I asked our Chief Mad Scientist (officially known as the “Lab Director”), to enlighten everyone about what happens at “the lab.” Essentially, I asked what the full process for creating our world-renowned Hemp Oil products entailed. Here’s what I learned:

It All Starts With the Hemp Plant

Want to hear a secret? We’re one of the few Hemp Oil producers in the world that grow our own patented hemp strain. Officially named CBDRx18 (at least, according to the patent), our hemp plant is recognized by the NCBI as the gold standard for the cannabis genome sequence.

That’s thanks to our Chief Science Officer, Tim Gordon. If there’s anyone on the planet who could earn a Ph.D. in hemp growing, it would be Tim. He’s been growing hemp for decades — and he started out on rural farmland.
In essence, Tim has been cross-breeding and selectively breeding hemp plants for nearly his entire life. And, he’s used his “hemp-jitsu” to develop a world-class cannabis genome sequence that contains sub-0.3% THC and around 60% CBD. CBDRx18 is also a GMO-free, natural, and sustainable hemp plant that contains over a hundred cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and minerals.

The Components of the Hemp Plant

Here’s a quick refresher on some of the compounds that are found naturally in hemp:
There are many support functions for those facing addiction, withdrawal, or otherwise. Relying on friends and family for a shoulder to lean on is great. Remember, everything in moderation folks.
  • Cannabinoids: These are naturally occurring compounds in hemp that interact with your endocannabinoid system. In other words, your brain is pre-wired to absorb and utilize the cannabinoids in Hemp Oil. To learn more about cannabinoids, check out our recent cannabinoids blog post.
  • Terpenes: These are the incredible molecules that give hemp its unique aroma. Aromatherapy is based on terpenes, and they exist in nearly every plant on the planet.
  • Flavonoids: This is another phytonutrient (natural plant compounds or nutrients) that’s present in many veggies you eat. Research suggests that flavonoids positively impact cell survival signaling pathways. In a nutshell, flavonoids modify how the body reacts to carcinogens and viruses.
  • Minerals: Hemp contains iron, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, calcium, and zinc.
  • Vitamins: Hemp contains vitamins A, B, C, and E.
  • Essential oils: Believe it or not, hemp contains a healthy dose of omega fatty acids.

CBDRx18 and Tim's Story

CBDRx18 contains over 100 phytonutrients, helping us accomplish something we call the True Entourage Effect™. In other words, all of these phytonutrients work together, in perfect harmony, to deliver a more complete physiological experience. This gets a little technical, so check out our in depth article on terpenes and the True Entourage Effect™ page to learn more.

Tim works on our farms in Pueblo Colorado and Iowa — where hemp is grown and nurtured to maturity using sustainable practices. Our Colorado farm is nestled between lofty mountains and bordered by two mountain-fed tributaries. It’s a unique ecosystem that’s ideal for growing high-quality hemp.

And speaking of quality, the first of many third-party quality checks that our pure Hemp Oil goes through is carried out at the farm. Before we harvest the hemp and send it off to the lab, it’s tested by the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) to ensure that the THC levels are 0.3% or less and that there’s no mold, pesticides, or other hazardous chemicals contaminating the plants. Once we have the green-light from CDA, it’s harvested and sent off to the lab to make Hemp Oil.

This is where things start to get interesting.

From Hemp to Pure Hemp Oil

Our manufacturing process is both humane and sustainable. This means we don’t produce 5,000 gallons of pure Hemp Oil a day in sweltering, sweat-shop conditions. At Functional Remedies, we keep things simple and pleasant. Kai and our rag-tag team of dedicated staff turn our CBDRx18 hemp into precious Hemp Oil in a small (cozy) laboratory.
This small building looks more like a commercial kitchen than a Hemp Oil production facility, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t efficient. Despite the small, “mom-and-pop burger joint” vibe, this is a state-of-the-art facility. Inside, you’ll find six, 30-liter pressure cookers, a custom-made press, multi-headed pipette dispensers, and an automated pump dispenser. All of these are best-in-class, production-quality pieces of equipment that we either purchased from the best providers on earth or customized to handle our unique manufacturing needs.
Green Hemp Plant Tops, also known as the aerial parts of the plant. Synchronicity is a resource for anyone looking to learn more about hemp. Hemp oil production is a process that varies greatly across suppliers, so it's good to be curious, it can make a big difference.
And, “unique” perfectly describes our production process. We don’t use automated assembly lines and IoT-connected equipment. In all fairness, we probably wouldn’t feature in the documentary series “How It’s Made.” We do everything by hand. From growing and harvesting our hemp to gently extracting its rich phytonutrients, there’s no point in the process where we slap hemp onto a conveyor belt.

Pure Hemp Oil Made With Care

In fact, we even label and seal our containers by hand. We know the process takes longer and is less “efficient” in light of the increasing adoption of digital technologies in the hemp industry.
But, we believe that gentle care and steadfast attention to detail is what makes our products so incredibly unique. Humans, not machines, power the entire manufacturing process. This results in a high level of quality control and unparalleled Entourage Effect from every bottle, tincture, and salve.

Extracting Phytonutrients to Make Pure Hemp Oil

Let’s get this out of the way: we don’t extract the phytonutrients from our hemp plants like any other hemp business on the planet. If you go out and buy CBD at your local retailer, there’s a 99.99% chance that your CBD is an isolate. That means it’s a pure CBD product containing no flavonoids, terpenes, minerals, vitamins, or other types of cannabinoids.
To get a pure CBD isolate, the manufacturers use harsh solvents to strip out the CBD and separate it from all the other beneficial nutrients. But, why do they do this? Well, for three reasons:
  1. It’s cheap
  2. It doesn’t require a bunch of equipment
  3. It doesn’t require hefty knowledge about hemp nutrients. You just have to extract one specific molecule (i.e. CBD).

Ethanol, Hexane, and CO2 Extraction Oh My!

Some manufacturers use solvents like ethanol to extract the cannabinoids and terpenes, but this method also extracts the chlorophyll — the beneficial phytonutrients that give plants their green color. This extraction method leaves a big problem. How do you get rid of the solvent after extraction? After all, no one wants to ingest solvents.
Hemp extracted with solvents like ethanol or hexane will often show up in laboratory tests. Of course, there are so-called “safe” levels of solvents that are deemed “acceptable” for human consumption. But, do you really want to expose yourself to even small amounts of harsh chemicals as part of your daily wellness routine? Probably not.

Now, there’s another option. You can purchase a sustainably sourced CBD oil online from a specialty provider. And, that’s great! But, there’s a good chance that oil was produced via CO2 gas extraction. To be sure, CO2 extraction doesn’t use solvents, so there’s no ethanol or hexane to remove. The process involves cooling CO2 gas, pressurizing it to 10,000 pounds (4.54 t) per square inch (p.s.i.), then heating it again and blasting the hemp with it. To put that into perspective, your car tires are probably around 30 p.s.i.

CO2 extraction is hard on hemp, stripping it of all phytonutrients and many terpenes. It’s also expensive and requires a lot of maintenance, driving up the final price for the end-user.
At Functional Remedies, we don’t use either method. In fact, we don’t “extract” the phytonutrients at all.

Synchronicity's Patented LipidTrans™ Infusion Process

Want to know the secret to the purest, highest-quality, whole-plant Hemp Oil? It’s all in the extraction process. Or, in this case, the infusion process.
Using just the right combination of pressure, heat, and time, we add a “carrier” coconut or MCT oil to the raw hemp and allow it to gently become infused with all of the rich phytonutrients in our CBDRx18 hemp. Have you ever seen bottles of garlic-infused olive oil on the shelf at your grocery store? It’s a similar process. Garlic and fresh herbs are added to an olive oil mixture, and, over time, they infuse that olive oil with rich flavors, textures, and subtle notes.
In our LipidTrans™ infusion process, we use coconut oil or MCT oil (both of which contain beneficial fatty acids) to absorb those cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and vitamins from our best-in-class hemp plant. In essence, we infuse coconut oil with Whole-Plant hemp goodness. Obviously, this takes time and is actually a pretty labor-intensive process. Our crack team of hemp-obsessed scientists spends hours gently extracting hemp compounds with this process.
Sure, we could call it quits after this. Who wouldn’t? Our gentle infusion method already takes significantly more time than the CO2 processes used by our competitors. But, we’re sticklers for perfection and quality. So, after we’ve infused the carrier with the phytonutrients, we immediately infuse it again. We spend extra time and resources to infuse our Hemp Oil a second time. But, trust us, the results are worth it. We strive to get every last molecule of goodness from our hemp plants, which helps maximize its True Entourage Effect™.
Our responsibility to nature is evergreen, and it's up to us to police ourselves. Synchronicity focuses on renewable and smart farming, as well as state of the art production processes allowing use of more of the hemp plant.

Why We Go the Extra Mile

Why do we spend so much time maximizing our absorption process? We want our customers to have access to holistic, best-of-breed Hemp Oil that delivers on our mission statement: Wellness Through Oneness™. That statement isn’t a marketing gimmick; it’s how we run our business. As Kai puts it, “You get the full expression of the plant. It’s as close to the whole plant as you can get without bottling the plant itself.”
The concentrated oil is then tested for potency by a third-party lab before being diluted with more MCT or coconut oil to the required dosage amount. Once it’s at the required dilution, we send it off for testing again. If you’re counting, that’s three tests so far. We run third-party tests at important junctures of the manufacturing process. But, buckle up; we’re not done yet.

Turning Pure Hemp Oil Into Functional Consumer Products

At this point, we have some rich-colored Hemp Oil. But, we can’t just pour it into a bucket and hand it off to you. We have to package it. We made a conscious decision early on to take care of the packaging ourselves. Sure, we could save some overhead expenses and use a third-party packaging facility. But, if we do that, we lose quality control oversight.
Our entire process is vertically integrated. From harvesting our patented hemp in the fields to making the oil and packaging it in consumer-friendly containers, the entire process is kept in-house. This gives us a few advantages. It allows us to:
  • Develop our own internal quality control systems while still relying on third-party tests for potency.
  • Keep the entire operation hyper-sustainable.
  • Have control over the entire flow of our hemp, which we hold near-and-dear to our hearts.
Speaking of sustainability, the hemp containers we use for tinctures, salves, and capsules are all made with recycled ocean plastics. We won’t get into ocean plastics in this post, but if you’re interested, check out our guide on why these types of recycled plastics are important.
Finally, each container is filled using clean, sterile pipettes to ensure consistency, quality, and measurement accuracy.
At this point, we ship the product out, right? Not yet. We’re so passionate about the purity and quality of our Hemp Oil that we send it out for another potency and quality check at the lab. If you’re counting, that’s four third-party quality tests. And, to top things off, we also have a barrage of internal quality controls that every single container has to pass before we consider it good enough for our customers.

Introducing the World's Purest, Most Potent, and Most Vetted Hemp Oil

At Synchronicity™, our commitment to quality extends throughout the entire life of our Hemp Oil — from our farm to your table. As an FDA-registered food manufacturer, we diligently follow FDA-guided Good Manufacturing Processes (GMP) to ensure consistent quality in every bottle. We aren’t just jumping on the trend train and producing poor quality Hemp Oil at the speed of light. In other words, we take our time and do things right. And, we believe that you’ll notice the difference.

From sustainable farming to vertical integration and sustainable packaging, we gently extract the precious oils from our CBDRx18 hemp strain with pride. With four third-party tests, a tidal wave of internal controls, and one of the world’s foremost hemp genomes, every bottle of Synchronicity Hemp Oil is pure GMO-free beauty.

Are you ready to feel the Synchronicity™ difference? If so, check out our line of Hemp Oils and Full-Spectrum Hemp Oil products. Have any questions? Contact us for answers.

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