Terpenes are aromatic molecules produced in plants, and they act as the building blocks for a plants aroma and taste. Strains produces hundreds of these molecules at naturally high levels, and the rate and types of terpenes produced in the plant comes in many varieties. Each strain has a unique arrangement of terpenes which attribute to their individual personalities. Terpenes are large contributors of the newly coined term, the “entourage effect,” which is the synergistic response of terpenes.
There are a number of different ways terpenes can be isolated from their botanical source, most common is steam distillation. Other ways include expression, fractionation, CO2 and absolute extraction. Regardless of how a terpene is extracted, the most important part is the purity of the terpene. This is where the reputation and certifications of the QC and lab protocols are paramount.
TasteBudds are Extract Consultants line of flavorings for use with concentrates. Our flavors are designed to taste as nature intended and are highly concentrated, allowing an add-back rate of just 1% to 3% without separation. TasteBudds flavors contain as much as 20% active flavoring; whereas, most traditional, food grade, flavor products contain 3% or less active flavoring. If you use a traditional flavor with a 3% active flavoring, you will need to add back 7x as
much flavor by volume to impart the same profile as TasteBudds. Using that much
flavor creates a runny final product that potentially requires a thickening agent to fix. Any perceived cost savings is eliminated due to the amount of flavoring and
thickening agents needed. TasteBudds allows you to use significantly less
flavoring — no thickening agent required. We offer both Propylene glycol (PG)-based flavors, as well as a line of all-natural flavors using fractionated coconut oil as the solvent. MCT oils, or Medium Chain Triglyceride compounds, are typically used in flavor development among other consumer products, such as vitamins, and are generally accepted as safe for consumption. All of our materials are food grade products, non-GMO and GRAS. They can be used with our Isolated Terpenes and Terpene Blends, or alone.
PROS: MCT- All natural. More flexible usage rate. Better market acceptance. PG - Lower usage rate. Higher flavor impact. More cost effective. Is a sugar derived molecule and is naturally sweet. CONS: MCT- Requires more usage. Can taste “fatty” and is in general not as tasty as PG. PG- Negative market stigma. Contains synthetic materials. Has solubility issues at large percentages.
Our TasteBudds line of flavors is made up of MCT based flavors, PG based flavors and flavors for confections. They contain terpenes, flavonoids, and other aromatic compounds. The MCT based flavors are made of different all-natural flavoring materials in a MCT base. The PG based flavors are natural and artificial with a PG base. The confection line products are all, all-natural flavorings with a few different bases.
TasteBudds Flavors are undiluted and extremely concentrated. You don’t need a lot. Start by mixing at a low percentage and slowly increase for desired flavor. We recommend a 1-3% range of flavor product to oil, depending on which base you have chosen.
TasteBudds may exhibit color changes without any effects on taste or functionality due to exposure to oxygen, heat, light and other natural occurring variations within the source plant material. Store TasteBudds products correctly in a cool dry place to mitigate any color changes with your flavoring agents.
Our Remedies line of Effect blends are built strategically and specifically for the distillate. They are designed for use in primarily carts, tinctures, topicals and aromatherapy concepts. Our 3 product categories are each designed to offer a unique type of effect control that a customer may want to use to design his or her individual products. These fully functional blends are built using extensive creativity and expertise, and we are very confident that you will be more than satisfied with the way that they represent your brand!
Our Full spectrum line is built entirely with high end, natural essential oils. Essential oils contain the entire terpene profile of each material, hence the title “full spectrum.” When referring to a full spectrum product, they are talking about the entire “essential oil profile” of the plant, not just the specific terpenes they produce. Therefore, we have introduced a line of oils for add back that represent that same philosophy. These are truly wonderful creative products and we are confident that they will represent your brand very well. Conversely, our Broad Spectrum line is built entirely with isolated terpenes, and are designed to represent the specific effect that they are named after. Utilizing only hand selected terpenes, these blends are sure to target the desired intended use very well.
Our Entourage blends are highly potent materials that are meant to be used in conjunction with Remedies blends or our line of Solvent Free Terpene Blends. These 3 products have been designed to represent the broad categories of Indica, Sativa and Hybrid. We have taken a large collection of data of each entourage definition and have come up with three very unique and creative blends that will impart a controlled effect for each product that they are paired with. They are meant to be used in very small amounts, and should not exceed 1% usage in any particular formula.
Terpenes can be ingested. Terpenes are aromatic and flavor compounds found in nearly all plants. All of our terpenes are rated as “Food Grade” and “GRAS” (Generally Regarded As Safe). You can find all of the supporting paperwork for our products on our website.
These compounds are extremely concentrated. We recommend starting on the low side of add-back rates, start at 1% and work you way up at .5% increments. Generally, we find that people can find an add-back rate between 1%-3%.
Headspace is the space between the liquid in the container and the lid that it is stored in. It is the air that is trapped inside the bottle. Generally speaking, the more headspace (or oxygen) in the bottle, the quicker it can age, so understanding headspace is important for responsible purchasing patterns.
Extract Consultants suggests using disposable pipettes for convenient and accurate measuring. A pipette is a laboratory tool that is commonly used in scientific settings to transport volumes of liquid. We only suggest using this as a transportation tool and not a unit of measurement. Adding terpenes by drop is not an effective way to achieve consistency in your product. We strongly recommend that everything is added and measured by weight, using a scale accurate to at least 0.00 decimal places.
Terpenes are very volatile compounds and are extremely sensitive to heat. Ideally, no heat would be used during the mixing process. If you must use heat, then we recommend not exceeding 100 F.
An Isolated terpene is a singular molecule that has been separated from its original fraction via distillation methodology. These are building blocks of a terpene blend. Our terpene blends are mixtures using these isolated terpenes and at times, other aromatic materials to create popular flavor concepts.
Our company’s history is very extensive. Extract Consultants was started by an essential oil and aromatherapy expert, who’s family has been in the aromatic world since the beginning of the 19th century. We believe that our expertise, know how, and our ability to service our customers far exceeds all of our competition, and we certainly know that our products will speak for themselves. All we ask is the chance for our products and customer service to prove it!
Our Solvent free Terpene Blends and Remedies products do not contain solvents. Our TasteBudds brands of flavors do contain either PG or MCT oil and our confectionary line can contain PG, MCT or ethanol.
With the latest investigations uncovering vitamin E acetate in some vape products, we want to reiterate our stance on thickeners used in the industry as diluents. At Extract Consultants we provide isolated terpenes, terpene blends and flavorings used to add consistent and repeatable flavor and experience to distillate products. In addition to adding flavor, terpenes are a natural way to attain the desired viscosity and flow of oil distillates, essential for vaping products, without using thickeners.
We have been aware for some time of the desire in the market for odorless and flavorless value-priced diluent/thickener alternatives to terpenes, MCT and PG products. While some offer such products, our extensive research and testing has found no safe alternatives up to this point. As such, we do not use or offer these products or compounds. None of our products contain vitamin E acetate, squalene, triethyl citrate or mineral oil. All of our products are created and tested under rigorous standards and are on the Tobacco 599 list of existing and allowed additives in the highly regulated tobacco industry. Quality, efficacy and safety are our highest concerns. We believe in transparency for the good our industry, our customers and consumers, and we hope others will join with us.
For normal orders, we are usually able to get them to you in a timely manner of 3-5 business days. We do offer priority shipping in which a customer can pay for a quicker service. For orders of larger sizes that need to go into production, we require a 10-14 day lead-time.
There are a few reasons as to why this occurred. The most common cause of cloudiness is using too much heat during production, which is why we recommend using no heat or not exceeding 100 F. Other reasons for this might be improper storage, improper mixing, or high levels of use. The age of the concentrate can also play a role in the darkening of the color.
This almost always has to do with inconsistent production methods. Always make sure that you add materials by weight (many people incorrectly count drops), and that your metrics are consistent every time you make a batch. From the amount of heat used to the amount of time spent mixing the flavor, be consistent! Even the slightest adjustment in formulation can affect the quality of the batch, so it is critical to be consistent in your blending standards.
We have been getting asked more about these bunk terpenes lately so we decided to address them. From what we understand, there are some companies on the west coast that are selling highly diluted products for the same prices as a concentrated blends. We do not sell these products. If you are finding that you need to use more than 5-8% of any particular product, it is likely you are buying a “Bunk” terpene that has been diluted with various cheap terpenes or even solvents. Always ask about usage, and if there is a high recommendation, we recommend that you stay away.
All sales are final. Orders can be refunded prior to fulfillment and shipping but once the order has been fulfilled and/or shipped, no refunds will be issued.
