Conclusion
Purefarma’s CBD oil is full spectrum derived from single strain, single origin, outdoor grown hemp. The result is the oil with the lowest proportion of THC that I’ve seen available. This really did seem to translate into a more clear headed CBD experience for me. It also felt like the CBD effects could be particularly potent. So while the amount of THC isn’t a concern for me, I do exercise caution in dosing due to the strength of the CBD.
Effects felt deeply relaxing, focused, and conducive to a positive mood.
I believe Purefarma when they tell me they are dedicated to preserving as much of the good stuff from the flower as they can in their oils. The dedication seems apparent in the taste, as this is easily the boldest oils I’ve tasted. I mean that in a good way, but this might be a personal preference. It has a strong flavour but it’s not very weedy.
To me outdoor grown is an important factor as it means Hemplixer is likely produced with one of the lowest carbon footprints in the industry.
Overview
Taste
Easily the boldest flavoured CBD oil I’ve tasted to date. I give it bonus points for that. I expect this flavour is not likely going to be for everyone, but I enjoy it.
Distinct spiciness stands out the most for me. It reminds me of a much, much, much milder version of oil of oregano in this regard. Giving it more of a medicinal rather than a weedy feel. If taking sublingually, it isn’t as noticeable. Overall I felt there was an interesting complexity with earthy and even grapefruit notes.
Under the directions section of Purefarma’s web page for Hemplixir they suggest the option of adding it to food. Added to peanut butter and honey on bread, the taste of the oil was faintly noticeable at best. When added to pancakes topped with honey and yogurt, the taste peeked through a little more. An interesting, if unusual, combo I wouldn’t mind repeating.
Onset
As with all oils, onset could be highly variable. Once I hit peak after an hour, often it took at least 4 hours. As with other full spectrum oils the noticeable effects seem to last a fairly long time.
Effects
While most CBD oils have fairly low levels of THC, Hemplixir has a somewhat lower ratio of THC compared to all others. I didn’t think the difference in experience would be quite as noticeable as it was. I was told by Purefarma that they error on the side of caution with the THC numbers listed on the package. It could be the THC levels in this product are well below the 1mg/g listed on the label.
I found Hemplixir to be an exceptionally clear headed CBD experience for the most part. Though dosing plays a factor.
Excellent for focusing my mind. I could zone in on work, and tune out everything else. Felt it could help brightening my mood and boost my appreciation for beautiful things. Deeply relaxing. Felt my patience stretched to new levels.
Dosing
I experimented with doses between 0.5ml (13.8mg CBD) and 1ml (27.6mg CBD). Most often I gravitated towards 0.75ml. Meanwhile, my wife enjoyed a 1ml dose, and wasn’t interesting in trying anything lower.
In line with what I’ve experienced with other full spectrum CBD products, I found hemplixir to be more consistent than distillate oils when used over a number of consecutive days.
I also found the strength of the CBD effects fairly potent even when compared to other full spectrum oils. During a very small number of sessions a 0.75ml-1ml dose felt a little too strong for me and even mildly uncomfortable for a short period of time during the peak of the effects. I noted something similar with a CBD isolate based beverage from Quatreau which also has minimal amounts of THC. While we often hear how CBD dampens the effects of THC, is it possible that the reverse is also true? I stumbled on the following:
It is also understood that THC and CBD modify each other. CBD can modify the psychotropic effects of THC but on the opposite end of the scale, more THC in a product seems to bring down the intensity of CBD which is why hemp makes a good choice for deriving a whole plant extract without manipulating the cannabinoids. The synergy of molecules working together in an extract makes one more effective than another for individuals.
Elaine Nuessler – Kyla’s Quest
In the end I still really enjoyed this oil. Those uncomfortable moments seemed to be more of an anomaly than the norm. It’s possible I was just short on sleep those days. Even though you don’t develop a tolerance to CBD in theory, I wonder if tolerance to some part of a full spectrum extract is somehow a factor. I had some great experiences when taking a full 1ml more often than not. It just left me on the cautious side in terms of dosing. Albeit for a different reason than with a product with slightly higher THC like Pur Dew.
I asked Elaine if she felt the intensity of the CBD is reduced too much in say a 20:1 ratio? Or if is it more a matter of minimizing the THC as much as possible while maintaining some of the THC/CBD synergy. Hear is what she had to say:
The 30:1 ratio works well and generally hemp produces this higher CBD compared to THC ratio. Whole plant is always recommended by the medical community but we also have bumped up CBD intensity with an isolate for our granddaughter so her ratio is 46:1 which works well.
Elaine Nuessler – Kyla’s Quest
I haven’t yet come across any other source talking about this phenomenon of dampening CBD intensity. So this might not really be the real factor for me here. I’m curious to hear if you have noticed this kind of relationship. Please let me know in the comments. I explored this concept further in my Acai Retreat review.
Smiley’s Log
Dose: 0.5ml (13.8mg CBD – 0.46mg THC)
12:45pm
Bold flavour, citrusy, herbaceous/medicinal, woody, slightly spicy.
1:05pm
Some mild aftertaste, but I’m not unhappy about it. Feel some of the initial CBD feeling slowly creeping in.
Continue Reading the Log
2:50pm
Took a few photos of the bottle for this post. Ate some left over egg drop soup with the family. Had a quick dance together, then emptied out the dishwasher. Kid even eventually helped. Something that’s happened only reluctantly recently. We’ve been trying to make it a playful thing. I guess our game was getting old. Today we stumbled upon a new game.
Wife was feeling bummed out about a couple different things that didn’t go too well for her this week. I offered her some oil. She took 1ml.
Then a new chest freezer arrived at the door. Light and small enough that I could wiggle and slide it down to the basement by myself. Took a few small pieces of Triple Crème Goat Brie into the office with me. Ready to get to work.
I do feel a very light sense of relaxation around my face.
5:01pm
Past week and a half has been unusually busy. I’ve been working away completing various tasks for a few clients this afternoon.
Around four I tossed a handful or two of chocolate chips in my mouth.
It didn’t feel like the effects had strengthened much. I’ve just been focused on getting stuff done. Now that I’m thinking about it, the effects are slightly stronger now. Mild relaxation.
5:48pm
Stopped work and am hanging out with the kid.
Wife mentioned she really liked the oil. She hasn’t tried many of the CBD products, and It’s been a while since she had something positive to say about one. Said she felt tingles around her face.
I started feeling deeply relaxed shortly after the last update, but still very focused.
We’re lying in a bed reading Sweet Dream Pie. Feel like I could sleep.
6:22pm
Watched a little Passe-Partout online. Played a memory board game.
Strength of effects reduced a bit. More energetic playing around with kid. Nice, cerebral glow remaining.
8:08pm
Ate dinner. Clowned around with the family. Feeling fairly normal at this point. Perhaps a subtle lightness of spirit remains.
9:19pm
Checking in with the wife on her experience. She reports feeling it improved her mood for a little while. Felt tingles, in a good way, throughout her body (hands, feet, chest, face). Felt she was possibly a little clumsier when juggling.
Session 2
10:14am
Dose: 1ml taken 40 minutes after breakfast (granola and yogurt with berries and peanuts).
Spiciness reminds me a little of a very, very mild version taking oil of oregano under the tongue.
12:29pm
I recently learned that an old acquaintance of mine, that I haven’t seen in over a decade, has also started a cannabis website. I spent some time putting together some ideas for her. Her project, HiBnb is geared towards normalizing and promoting cannabis community through 420 friendly events, and accomodations. HiBnb has also been producing an ‘Ask Our Expert’ video series with cannabis educator Tamara Lilien.
Feel a mild sense of relaxation, and peacefulness. Extremely clear headed.
2:09pm
Spiritleaf South Guelph sent me a message that allowed me to add some final notes to my Quatreau review.
Felt like having a simple lunch so I ate some cheese while making popcorn. Felt as though strength of effects, which had still been fairly mild, increased shortly after finishing the cheese.
Now munching on popcorn in backyard. Still exceptionally clear headed feeling. Enjoying the beauty of the budding trees. Pleasant cerebral glow. Enjoying the moment.
3:07pm
Enjoyed a stroll through the forest. Taking my time and appreciating the bloodroot in bloom which I hadn’t noticed previous springs. This all would have been a pleasant, somewhat elating experience for me anyway, but It felt more pronounced with the CBD.
Bloodroot in bloom
Had a friendly chat with a neighbouring working in the yard on my way in.
Still a very nice cerebral glow, lightness of spirit, and perfectly clear-headed.
17:16pm
Showered and shaved. Then got into some coding work sitting in the backyard. I was a little reluctant at first as I’m dealing with a problem with multiple tangled up parts and didn’t know where to start today. It didn’t take long to find a path of attack. Happy with my progress.
Still feeling extra positive, with a lighter glow now.
6:46pm
Made a pizza from scratch and a simple salad.
Listened to the tail end of a podcast which outlined how the flapper became a symbol representing all wild fears and anxieties the elders had for the future until the serious economic troubles of the 30s became a bigger story. Wild to imagine people were worrying about hospitals being overloaded with sunburn victims due to the adoption of the bob hairstyle. On the one hand, it doesn’t seem much more ridiculous than some things I hear people worry about today. On the other hand, I wonder how much I’ll worry about things where my kid gets to the age where psychologists say experimenting with cultural norms is the norm.
Still glowing.
10:30pm
After eating, by 7:30pm, I felt the effects had picked up a slight bit again.
Kid was full of beans for bedtime, but I felt super extra patient about it. Tried to wait it out rather than fight it. I tried to gain cooperation for oral hygiene through playfulness rather than arguing. A technique from the book I’ve mentioned reading in a few of my recent posts. While I had some initial success in the past, tonight was a challenge. Eventually we got there on good terms with each other.
I nodded off in the dark while waiting for the little one to fall asleep. I might still feel some of the feeling of CBD lightness around the temples. Or It might just be the feeling of having had a short nap. Hard to say.
Purefarma’s Medical Minded approach and excellent customer service
Browsing through Purefarma’s website lines like “We are patients helping patients” is telling about which side of the cannabis industry they have been focused on.
Then when talking to Chris, their brand manager, he mentioned they use Olive Oil due to doctors working with Kyla of Kyla’s Quest indicating MCT or fractionated coconut oil could impact digestion rate.
Then I was put in touch with another Chris. Chris Pearson told me about his family turning to cannabis after his wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Purefarma took time to answer every question I had for them and more. This was a refreshing change for me as it feels like half the brands I reach out to don’t bother to respond, or do so without giving me a clear answer. It leaves me with the impression that there at least some people at Purefarma that are very passionate about what they are doing.
Outdoor Grown
Purefarma’s input for this oil has been grown by a 3rd party family business in Southern Ontario that is producing 800kg of biomass a year for them. They have a relationship with this farm going back to 2015. They told me they felt it was important to maintaining a highly consistent product that they source from a single strain grown in the same environment.
In addition to the consistency factor, I’m very interested in outdoor grown products as the environmental footprint seems to be drastically lower for outdoor cannabis than it is for greenhouse or indoor grown. As an added bonus, Pearson told me “No pesticides of ANY KIND and EVER allowed to be used on our crops.”
How it’s made
Pearson talked to me about their goal to preserve as much of the cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids from the flower as they can. At least the ones that don’t ‘off gas’ at room temperature.
I was told about the importance of hand harvesting everything on the exact right time and then kiln drying. He cited a difference achieving 10%-13% CBD using this method vs 3%-6% that might be achieved if were to do frost harvesting and environmental curing.
They also mentioned a proprietary liquid CO2 extraction process, for their full spectrum extraction. In the end I wasn’t clear, in terms of specific numbers, on how much better their process might be at preserving cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavinoids compared to a typical extraction process.
Though the above is all done with the aim of minimizing extra work of the formulation end. To maintain consistent CBD levels from batch to batch that they do top off their full spectrum extraction with CBD isolate. I was assured this doesn’t have much impact on the terpene to CBD ratios in their product.
Why hemp?
Purefarma’s Hemplixir oil made using a single proprietary strain they call Canda. Their strain is a high CBD offshoot of hemp x59 originating from Russia.
To my knowledge, this is the only product on the recreational market promoted as hemp derived. When I asked Chris about this he told me that they use hemp because it is completly incapable of producing high amounts of THC. This helps them achieve repeatability in their CBD to THC ratio.
Chris referred to hemp as a strain of cannabis that “looks quite a bit different”. Officially all cannabis, including hemp, is classified as belonging to the same species. Though, throughout history, there has been some debate about this:
In 1924 the Russian Janischevsky recognized the wild cannabis plants of southeastern central Russia as the species C. ruderalis.
Ernest Small, American law and the species problem in Cannabis: Science and semantics
The proposed Cannabis ruderalis, which has never been widely accepted as a distinct species of cannabis, is roughly in line with what is now referred to as hemp. Cannabis researcher Dr. Ethan Russo has this to say on the matter:
Botanical taxonomists never agree on anything for very long! To paraphrase and expropriate an old Yiddish expression: 12 botanical taxonomists, 25 different opinions. Many classical botanists would argue for Cannabis as one polymorphic species based on the ability of all its types to interbreed… The debate continues. Some espouse Cannabis as a single species, while others describe up to four: Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, Cannabis ruderalis, and Cannabis afghanica (or kafiristanica).
The Cannabis sativa Versus Cannabis indica Debate: An Interview with Ethan Russo, MD
Ultimately, it’s the THC content that seems to define the usage of the term hemp in modern times, and this definition is somewhat arbitrary. In Canada, for legal purposes, hemp is defined as cannabis with less than 0.3% THC.