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No two Delta8 THC products are made equal — there’s a growing number of poor-quality or straight-up scammy companies on the market.
That’s why we always underline the importance of research and customer awareness when buying delta 8 — or any other product that’s in high demand for that matter.
In this article, we’ll cover the top 4 of the best delta 8 THC brands on top of some tips on how to spot a reputable company in the booming industry.
Top Delta 8 THC Brands for 2021
1. Area 52
Area52 is the new player on the scene, offering premium delta 8 extracts from organic hemp and extracted with ethical and state-of-the-art methods. The company prides itself in making pure Delta 8 extracts in traditional formats, including tinctures, edibles, and vape liquids.
The main reason we recommend this brand over other delta 8 suppliers is their transparency and dedication to quality. Area52 products are tested at different stages of production, and each product comes with a batch-specific certificate of analysis — listing the potency and content analysis for contaminants, solvents, mycotoxins, and heavy metals.
Despite being slightly more expensive than its competition, Area52 offers top-shelf quality ingredients in simple formulations, making it the best Delta 8 vendor in our opinion overall.
Products Offered by Area52
- Delta 8 THC Tinctures
- Delta 8 THC Gummies
- Delta 8 THC Cartridges
2. Finest Labs
Finest Labs is another young company that specializes in delta 8 THC products. The brand uses a similar technology to Area52 and shares some common product formats — but they are available in lower potencies.
This delta 8 THC vendor is great for people who have just dipped their toes in the delta 8 niche and are trying to find their ideal dosage without worrying about going too far. With potencies like 10 mg (gummies) or 500 mg (tinctures), it’s easy to go low and slow with your product than with stronger options.
Lower potencies also translate into lower cost per product. If you’re looking for affordable delta 8 extracts that follow the quality standards provided by Area52, you won’t be disappointed.
Products Offered By Finest Labs
- Delta 8 THC Tinctures
- Delta 8 THC Gummies
- Delta 8 THC Cartridges
3. 3Chi
3Chi is currently one of the most talked-about brands in the delta 8 THC space at the time.
This company offers a wide range of delta 8 THC products — covering all categories, from tinctures, to gummies to vape cartridges.
Transparency and consistency in lab-testing are the two biggest advantages of 3Chi. The company publishes relevant and up-to-date certificates of analysis for all products — including the results for potency, solvents, and microbial contaminants.
How to Spot a Reputable Delta 8 Company?
Source: iStock
Like we said, it’s difficult to choose between different brands offering Delta 8 THC if this is your first time with this type of product. The market is unregulated, creating space for companies trying to capitalize on the booming market no matter the cost.Â
Here’s what to look for if you want to make a well-informed purchase decision.
1. Third-Party Testing (THE most important)
Lab testing is the golden standard for quality-ensuring practices throughout the cannabis industry — this applies to the Delta 8 THC space too.
However, this type of testing is particularly important for delta 8 companies, as it speaks much about their credibility.
Delta 8 THC can be extracted in three ways. Unless the source material is marijuana (which may be illegal in your state), it needs to be synthesized from CBD. This process involves several hazardous chemicals — including hydrochloric acid and zinc bromide. These chemicals are removed once the process is complete, but purification requires a lot of skill and expensive equipment to run it properly. Low-quality companies don’t always remove 100% of these chemicals from the end product.
A third-party test is performed to analyze the content of the provided sample. It’s the only way to prove that the company succeeded in removing the sais chemicals from the delta 8 extract. It can also determine the concentration of delta 9 THC.
A laboratory test is considered “third-party,†if the laboratory doesn’t have affiliation with the manufacturer. There are several such labs throughout the United States, providing an unbiased analysis of a wide range of cannabis products.
We recommend purchasing only from companies that provide up-to-date and batch-specific Certificates of Analysis (COAs).
2. Positive Reviews
One of the best ways to do a quality check of any company is to look for reviews from other users. The delta 8 THC space is very young, but there’s a decently active community of dedicated users sharing their experiences on Reddit. You can visit places like the /r/delta8/ subreddit or the /r/cleancarts subreddit for those of you who are into delta 8 THC vapes.
Check out expert blogs and third-party websites to get a bigger picture of the company you want to buy delta 8 from.
Some telltale signs that a company may sell low-quality products include:
- An overwhelming number of negative reviews
- ZERO mentions of the company
- Clear evidence that the company is being dishonest (we’ll elaborate on this later)
3. Transparency
Reputable Delta 8 THC vendors share a lot of details on how their products are made, from farming to laboratory testing. They also have a clear and to-the-point mission statement.
If a company doesn’t provide any information that could give potential customers a valuable insight into their activity, they may have something to hide — and this certainly isn’t a good sign.
4. Extraction Method
Extraction method is another important factor to consider. The best method of getting large yields of delta 8 THC is to extract it from marijuana plants directly. This method doesn’t use any chemicals, but it’s illegal in most states.
The more common method is to synthesize delta 8 THC from CBD using hemp plants. This is compliant with the federal law but involves harsh chemicals.
It’s important to know the source of your delta 8 products. If you order delta 8 THC from a company that uses marijuana for extraction, you may be breaking the law.
How Much Does Delta 8 THC Cost?
The best method to estimate the cost of delta 8 THC products is to compare the cost per milligram of the active cannabinoid. This allows us to objectively compare the prices of different extracts.
The average cost of delta 8 THC is around $0.06 – $0.10 for every milligram of active D8.
Here’s a quick price range comparison by each product type:
- Tinctures – $0.06 – $0.12
- Gummies – $0.05 – $0.10
- Cartridges – $0.08 – $0.15
- Distillate – $0.03 – $0.07
Types of Delta 8 THC Products
Every delta 8 THC product starts from a distillate. The distillate can be used on its own or infused into cartridges, edibles, oils, and capsules. Below we cover the most common forms of delta 8 THC on the market these days.
1. Delta 8 THC Tinctures
Everybody is familiar with CBD oils and tinctures by now — they have become one of the most popular contemporary health supplements in the world over the past decade.
Delta 8 THC is also available as tinctures, providing all the same advantages. D8 tinctures allow you to take precise doses, are very cost effective, and easy to use.
Choosing the right potency for your size and tolerance is important when buying delta 8 THC tinctures. The strength may range from 300 mg per bottle up to 3000 mg of total delta 8.
Always follow the dosage recommendations provided by your vendor when using delta 8 THC tinctures to avoid overdosing by accident.
2. Delta 8 THC Gummies
Gummies are another popular type of cannabis product. They can be made with just about any cannabinoid out there — including CBD, CBG, delta 9 THC, and its delta 8 isomer.
A delta 8 THC uses the same delicious fruity gummy base with a specific dose of the cannabinoids (10 or 25 mg each).
4. Delta 8 THC Distillates
Distillates are concentrated forms of cannabinoids. A delta 8 THC distillate consists of a very viscous and syrupy extract from pure delta 8 THC.
Delta 8 THC distillates may come with a cloudy or off-yellow color, but they are usually crystal clear. They’re also the least expensive of all the formats we’ve covered here.
As mentioned, distillates can be used directly or added into a vape, smoked in a dab rig, or consumed in derivatives like tinctures and gummies.
How to Spot a Delta 8 THC Scammer?
Source: iStock
Until recently, the delta 8 THC space has been considered underground. Now it made it into the public space, but prior to 2020, nobody has heard of the delta 8 market.
As with any booming industry — there’s a lot of junk products churned out by low-quality manufacturers and scammers. Many delta 8 companies are highly unethical and use black market practices to sell their extracts.
The most evident problem in this market is a lack of testing. Pure delta 8 THC has a good safety profile — there have been no records of fatal overdoses or severe side effects — but it can be contaminated with harsh chemicals or impurities that haven’t been purged from the source material.
There are three basic ways to make delta 8 THC:
- Direct extraction from marijuana plants – this is the safest and highest-quality method, but marijuana is federally illegal. Companies are allowed to make delta 8 THC products from marijuana in states that have legalized the plant, but they are still in the minority.
- Synthesize delta 8 THC from delta 9 THC – this is the second-best method. It’s cheap, provides a high level of safety, but is federally illegal as it uses delta 9 THC as the source cannabinoid.
- Extract CBD, synthesize Delta 9 from it, and then convert delta 9 into delta 8 THC – this is the most common method because it’s legal, but in order to yield high levels of delta 8, the manufacturer needs to use toxic chemicals.
Because these chemicals are difficult to purge from the end product, it’s paramount for all delta 8 THC products to be tested by third-party laboratories. Otherwise, their purity can’t be verified.
There’s a surprisingly large number of low-quality, scammy, or sloppy companies in the delta 8 THC market to watch out for.
Below we present our “do not buy†list, which is an anti-ranking of delta 8 THC companies. We’ve divided them into three main categories:
- Scammy companies — steer clear of them
- Companies that don’t publish any testing — another reason to avoid scammers
- Companies that test potency, but don’t test for contaminants — order at your own responsibility.
Scammy Companies — Steer Clear of Them
Think of this segment as the creme de la creme of the worst delta 8 THC companies. Never buy from companies that have already been caught red handed on misinforming the customers about farming practices, extraction methods, and test results. A few of these brands haven’t done this themselves, but are owned by companies that have.
1. Cake
This company even has no website, and we couldn’t find any trace of its origins anywhere. They only sell their products on Alibaba, claiming to offer ultra-cheap delta 8 THC. It’s likely that the brand is a scamp or is selling impure delta 8 bulk powders to people who think they’ve managed to find a source of delta8 THC suited to low budgets. Never buy from this company.
2. CannaAid
This brand has been caught using fake Reddit accounts to post suspiciously positive reviews about its products. Some of these reviews stray too far from the effects that can be reasonably linked to the use of delta 8 THC. According to one Reddit user, this company was using the same proxy service as 3Chi. While this may be taken as a coincidence, the chances are extremely low these brands use the same proxy unless they are managed by the same mother company.
3. CannaClear
The company itself may not be sketchy, but the fact their packaging is readily available online for anybody to use makes our eyebrows rise. A lot of poor-quality products branded with CannaClear have been sold online — some of which have been proven to be contaminated with vitamin E acetate and various synthetic chemicals that shouldn’t end up in a cannabis extracts.
On top of that, CannaClear doesn’t provide any safety testing on any of their products.
4. Honey Creek Labs
The problem with this company is that they don’t answer any questions regarding their production methods of delta 8 extracts. In fact, they have been caught fabricating their lab reports. One Reddit user sent a sample of their products for an independent lab testing; when he got them back, the reports didn’t match with the ones provided by the batch number the company listed.
Honey Creek Labs claimed a delta 8 potency of over 95%, but the independent test showed the D8 levels were only half as high. Moreover, the sample contained nearly 15% delta 9 THC, which made the product illegal in the user’s state.
Not only that, but this company also doesn’t run any safety tests on their products, so it’s impossible to tell whether the end product is pure or not. Based on the above misinformation, it’s safe to assume that this part was neglected as well.
5. Truelieve
Truelieve claims to extract delta 8 THC from Charlotte’s Web hemp strain. The problem with this statement is the fact that this strain doesn’t contain any meaningful concentrations of delta 8 THC. It’s very likely that the company is lying about the source of its delta 8 only to capitalize on the reputation of the well-known strain. The lab reports also lack the test for zinc chloride and zinc bromide — which is a bit suspicious.
Companies That Don’t Provide Lab-Testing Reports — Another Reason to Avoid Scammers
These companies don’t publish any lab reports for their products or don’t keep them updated. It’s enough for the company to test one batch, publish the certificate of analysis, and move forward. Every single product batch should be tested independently.
Additionally, some companies provide these reports, but they were done in-hous or by a facility that is known for falsifying reports or other unethical practices.Â
The companies below are considered sketchy and the integrity of these reports can’t be trusted:
- BeeZBee
- Catskill Hemp Co
- Cloud 8
- Cosmo
- Delta XL
- Earthbound Hempz
- Miracle LeafÂ
- Palm Trees
- Puff Delta 8
- Saliv-8
- Straight 8Â
- Turnt
- Your Cure CBD
- Z.E.N.
Companies That Test Potency, But Don’t Test for Contaminants — Order At Your Own Responsibility
These companies provide third-party lab reports, but only for the potency of their products. They don’t test for the presence of contaminants, so it’s unclear whether these products are pure or not.
Here’s a list of companies that you can buy from, but only at your own risk. We haven’t been able to verify them in terms of safety.
- 10 Dollar Cartridge
- A Gift From Nature CBD
- Apical Greens
- Apotheca
- Bay SmokesÂ
- Barely Legal
- Bearly Legal
- Binoid CBD
- Black Tie
- Black
Water Hemp - Buffalo PuffÂ
- Buy Delta 8 OnlineÂ
- Canna RiverÂ
- Canna Stillery
- Cannagarden Co
- Colorado Cures
- Compassionate Buds
- Crystal Creek Organics
- D8 Brand
- D8Hi
- D8 Savvy
- Delta Effex
- Delta Farms
- Delta Remedies
- Deltiva
- Drip
- Exotics Delta 8Â
- Extract Labs
- Georgetown Hemp
- Green Post CBD
- Green Rush Hemp Co.Â
- Half Moon CBD
- Harbor City Hemp
- Hemp Masters
- HempHio Cannabis Co
- HempHop
- Hempire Direct
- Hempy Longstocking
- Herbee’s Holistics
- JahRootz
- Koi CBD
- Krystilion
- Loud House
- Lula CBD
- My CBD HavenÂ
- No Cap
- Oakwood Botanicals
- Owl’s Oil
- Pharma CBD
- Phat Hempies
- Pure D8 Flower
- Quality Control Carts
- Rogue Cloud
- Rogue River Extracts
- Royal Highness
- Savage
- Secret Nature CBD
- Shop.Lucidity
- SnapDragon Cannabis
- Star Thistle Ranch
- Sun State Hemp
- The Helping Friendly Hemp Co
- The Hemp Barn
- The Hemp Collect
- The Hemp Doctor
- Treetop Hemp Co.
- Triangle Trading Company
- Urb
- Urth Tree
- Utoya
- Wellness Collection
- Zilla
Summing It All Up: Best Delta 8 THC Brands (and Their Products)
Delta 8 THC has only recently made it to the mainstream. Back in 2020, hardly anyone has heard of a legal delta 8 THC space; it was simply unknown to most people. Information was limited to online forums like Reddit.
However, the recent scientific breakthroughs have made it possible to extract significant concentrations of THC using legal methods. Companies are no longer limited to marijuana plants. Today, they can use a conversion process from CBD, which is the most abundant cannabinoid in hemp — the non-intoxicating species.
Delta 8 THC users fall into two categories:
- People living in states without a legal THC market, seeking legal alternatives.
- People for whom the effects of delta 9 THC is overwhelming
If you’re reading this article, you can probably relate to one of these groups.
Our guide can be summarized in one sentence:
Only buy delta 8 THC from companies that test their products for both safety and potency.
Relevant and regularly updated testing puts a clear mark of difference between sketchy companies and reputable manufacturers.
If you’ve never used delta 8 THC before and are seeking trustworthy suppliers, we’d check out the product line up from brands like Area52, Finest Labs, or 3Chi.
We’ve tried all three and have been impressed with the quality of the products, reasonable prices, fast shipping times, and complexity of testing.
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The reviews and statements published here are those of the sponsor and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position or views of Observer.
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