Excellent herbal formulas to support relaxation and sleep
Teas made from CBD isolate
A unique method of using CBD
Glow Water Review
Glow Water specializes in CBD teas to help restore and relax the mind and body. Made with micro-emulsion CBD for improved absorption and a blend of synergistic herbs, these teas are worth a try if you’re experiencing sleep disturbances or are feeling overly stressed.
Although teas are generally more expensive per mg of CBD, there’s nothing quite like a relaxing brew of fresh tea to help you unwind.
Mission/Charity4/5
Glow Water doesn’t collaborate with charities, but it does have a clear mission — to support the symptoms of overwork, stress, and anxiety with gentle tea formulas.
This rating could improve if Glow Water contributed to the CBD community via research, community programs, or even offering discount codes to those who could benefit from CBD but can’t afford the steep price tag.
Hemp Source3/5
We couldn’t find any details about the hemp source or any Certificates of Analysis (CoA) for the CBD isolate on the website. We reached out to the company through email. The founder, Amy Hammond responded saying the hemp is sourced from a family friend’s farm in Nevada and it’s 100% organic.
She sent a CoA for the CBD extract of the current batch of teas, which only detailed the cannabinoid profile. We wish Glow Water requested complete CoAs to prove the quality of its hemp source. As it’s not certified organic, we don’t have any way of knowing if it was indeed grown without pesticides, is clean from harmful solvents, and other contaminants.
Product Range4/5
Glow Water specializes in tea, and it offers four flavors in its catalog. Each comes with 25 mg of CBD and a unique blend of herbs depending on the flavor and effects you’re after.
In the future we’d love to see more variation in tea flavors for energizing benefits, perhaps for a pre-work out and higher CBD dose options in its tea bags.
Innovation4/5
We love that Glow Water uses micro-emulsion CBD to increase the bioavailability of the CBD content and that it includes a reasonable CBD potency of 25 mg per bag.
The herbs in each recipe are great ingredients to help boost the effects of CBD for the intended purposes. These teas are simple but have excellent formulation nonetheless.
Safety4/5
The herbs used in these formulas are well tolerated by most people. Teas are a gentle way to include CBD to your regimen — they’re not as strong as other forms of supplementation (oils, vape, tinctures, concentrates).
Customer Service5/5
Our email was answered within the hour, and they were responsive and accommodating to our questions, even though they weren’t able to provide complete lab results or a Certificate of Analysis.
The return policy is standard — You have 30 days to return unused products for a full-refund (minus the cost of shipping.
In 2016, fitness instructor Amy Hammond founded
Glow Water to support her clients’ active lifestyles.
As a fitness instructor, Hammond works closely with people suffering from anxiety, pain, and sleep issues. She wanted to create a product that helped address these problems in a natural way.
With more research emerging about CBD as a
therapeutic compound for addressing pain, inflammation, and anxiety, it made
sense for Glow Water to feature CBD in its tea blends.
Where Does Glow Water
Source Its Hemp?
There’s no mention of a hemp source anywhere on
the website or on the product packaging — which is always an unsettling sign
for us.
We reached out to Glow Water via email, and Amy
Hammond responded to let us know she sources the hemp crops from a family
friend’s farm in Nevada.
She says the hemp is 100% organic, but couldn’t provide organic certifications or complete third-party lab testing to back this claim. This isn’t necessarily Glow Waters’ fault — it’s actually very difficult to get official recognition as an organic hemp farm in the United States at the moment.
Unlike many of the other CBD companies we review on our website that offer dozens of products from oils, capsules, vapes, concentrates, pet products (and anything in between), Glow Water only sells CBD-infused teas.
This isn’t necessarily a negative. Specializing in one product type can sometimes mean that the brand is able to focus 100% of its efforts on making the best products possible in that specific category.
Let’s dive into what Glow Water has to offer in
its catalog.
The Glow Water Sleep Tea is formulated to help with sleep using lavender and chamomile.
While most commonly used in aromatherapy, lavender is excellent for internal use as well. It interacts with our GABA system — a neurotransmitter essential for calming neurological processes in the brain.
A common reason for sleepless nights is high
stress. CBD is thought to interact with the stress pathways to help reduce
heart rate and blood pressure and may improve resilience against stress when
taken over long periods of time [1].
Cost and Potency Breakdown of
Sleep CBD Tea:
Image
Product Name
Total mg of CBD
Price Per Package
CBD Per Sachet
Price Per mg CBD
Glow Water Sleep Tea — 5 sachets
125 mg
$28.00
25 mg
$0.22
B) Calm CBD Tea
Calm
includes the herbs, spearmint, rose, licorice, and rooibos.
The product description says, “CALM is great for relieving stress
throughout the day; a mild and refreshing combination.”
Let’s have a closer look at the ingredients.
Spearmint does more than just add a pleasant flavor. It has a long history of use in herbal medicine for a wide range of ailments for its anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, and soothing effects.
Rose petals are closely linked to beauty. It’s often incorporated into skin-care products for its calming effects on the skin, reducing redness, inflammation, and increases the speed of healing acne scars. When ingested, rose petals may help relieve
heart palpitations, arrhythmias, and high blood pressure — key markers of the
stress response [2].
Licorice root is commonly used as a natural sweetener — don’t worry this doesn’t taste like the black licorice candy. Licorice root also has calming effects for the digestive system and offers support for your adrenal glands that produce the stress hormone, cortisol. The active compounds found in licorice stimulates a healthy production of cortisol in the adrenal glands.
Rooibos — also known as red tea — has a soothing effect on the central nervous system. It’s a great caffeine-free alternative to black tea, and it still has many beneficial antioxidants and a rich flavor.
Cost and Potency Breakdown of
Calm CBD Tea:
Image
Product Name
Total mg of CBD
Price Per Package
CBD Per Sachet
Price Per mg CBD
Glow Water Calm Tea — 5 sachets
125 mg
$28.00
25 mg
$0.22
C) Restore CBD Tea
Restore is ideal for post-workout recovery. It includes ingredients that help with pain relief and inflammation. The recipe includes hibiscus, ginger, and CBD.
The anti-inflammatory herbs in this recipe are
excellent supporting ingredients to CBD’s anti-inflammatory benefits.
Every time we exercise, we cause microscopic
tears in our muscle fibers. The body responds to this damage by triggering the
inflammatory response to start the repairing process, bringing a healthy supply
of blood flow and nutrients to the affected area.
When this inflammation process goes on for too
long, it can delay your progress in the gym because you’re still far too sore
to work out again. This is where the anti-inflammatory benefits of CBD and
other herbs come into play.
The anti-inflammatory properties help speed up
recovery time so this inflammatory process won’t have the chance to linger
longer than it needs to. This allows you to get back to your next workout a lot
sooner.
Hibiscus flower tea is jam-packed with antioxidants and is often recommended to reduce blood pressure for those with high blood pressure levels. Some anecdotal evidence claims hibiscus helps with weight loss.
Ginger is often used to settle stomachs, decrease bloating, and it contains several antioxidant compounds that can help reduce joint and muscle inflammation. Ginger and CBD are very compatible as anti-inflammatory agents.
Together, these ingredients may be used as an
anti-inflammatory remedy for arthritic joints, sore muscles, and inflamed skin.
Cost and Potency Breakdown of
Restore CBD Tea:
Image
Product Name
Total mg of CBD
Price Per Package
CBD Per Sachet
Price Per mg CBD
Glow Water Restore Tea — 5 sachets
125 mg
$28.00
25 mg
$0.22
D) Rise CBD Tea
Rise is the latest addition to the Glow Water
catalog, and it’s the only caffeinated tea option.
Rise is a blend of jasmine green tea, lemongrass, and spearmint. Because of the caffeine from the green tea, this is best brewed in the morning.
Green tea is rich in l-theanine, which is an amino acid known to have anti-anxiety effects and can help with cognitive focus.
Lemongrass also has anti-anxiety effects and is a natural mood elevator.
Rise is the perfect brew to start your morning
on a high note.
Cost and Potency Breakdown of
Rise CBD Tea:
Image
Product Name
Total mg of CBD
Price Per Package
CBD Per Sachet
Price Per mg CBD
Glow Water Rise Tea — 5 sachets
125 mg
$28.00
25 mg
$0.22
What Does Glow Water Do
Well?
1. Excellent Herbal
Formulas
These
teas feature herbs that are flavorful and beneficial to support relaxation,
sleep, and recovery. The herbs include hibiscus, ginger, lemongrass, spearmint,
rose, licorice, rooibos, lavender, and chamomile.
CBD interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid
system, which plays a role in maintaining homeostasis (balance) in the body.
Because of this, CBD has a wide range of effects. When combined with medicinal
herbs such as those found in these teas, the active compounds build off each
other’s effects for more targeted benefits.
2. Made With Micro-Emulsion CBD
CBD and other cannabinoids are hydrophobic. What does this mean you ask?
Being hydrophobic means CBD doesn’t dissolve easily in water, making it less bioavailable when ingested as a tea. This is why you often find CBD combined with carrier oils (coconut oil, hemp oil, MCT oil, olive oil) instead of water.
Technically speaking, there’s no way to reverse
CBD’s hydrophobic nature. However, with micro-emulsion — sometimes called nano-emulsion
technology — manufacturers can make the CBD particles
small enough (nano) to behave like a dissolved substance in water.
This process involves finely milling the CBD
isolate crystals and mixing them rigorously with a fat. Sometimes surfactants
are used, but the most common “water-soluble” CBD is nano-CBD and liposomal
preparations.
The
result makes CBD much easier to absorb in the body as the smaller particles
have more surface area to come into contact with the body’s digestive enzymes
and absorptive tissues.
3. Delivers A High Dose of CBD For A Tea
Because
CBD doesn’t dissolve well in water, you want to find CBD teas with at least 7
mg of CBD per tea bag to make the most out of each cup.
Dosing CBD is a personal affair. As a general rule, it’s safest to start low and go slow. Tea is not the most precise dosing method, but you can make your teas as strong or as gentle as you’d like by letting the tea steep for a longer (stronger) or shorter (gentler) amount of time.
Where Could Glow Water
Improve?
Hemp Sourcing
Transparency
It’s no secret that the CBD can be a highly lucrative business. Due to the lack of regulation in this space, there are companies on the market taking shortcuts where they shouldn’t.
We wish Glow Water valued hemp sourcing transparency as many other top tier CBD brands. There’s no information about where the hemp comes from or any third-party lab test results.
Even after emailing Glow Water’s support team, we were only told that the hemp comes from a family friend’s farm in Nevada and that it’s 100% organic. Glow Water didn’t have the certificate to substantiate this, so you’ll have to take their word for it.
Additionally, the test provided via email
showed that the CBD extract was only tested for its cannabinoid profile and
potency — this is only part of what we consider to be complete lab testing.
Glow Water’s CBD is lacking tests for contaminants such as residual pesticides,
solvents, or mycotoxins.
Safety &
Third-Party Testing
Glow Water CBD fails to mention a hemp source
or share third-party lab tests for its CBD on its website.
Hemp sourcing and lab testing are important
because a company’s hemp source will determine the quality of its products.
Hemp is a bioaccumulator. This means hemp absorbs the elements of its growing environment at a much faster rate than other plants. It’s a good thing if the soil is rich in nutrients — but it can be a real problem if the soil is contaminated or if the farm uses nasty pesticides.
Third-party labs are an unbiased way of
ensuring the hemp is free from harmful contaminants. It isn’t mandatory in the
industry, but it’s become a standard.
If you don’t see a hemp source or Certificate
of Analysis (CoA) on the website, we encourage you to reach out to the company
to show your interest in testing. I emailed [email protected] and founder, Amy Hammon herself responded.
She
says the hemp is sourced from a family friend’s farm in Nevada, and it’s 100%
organic. However, it doesn’t have the USDA organic certification.
It’s
too bad Glow Water didn’t opt for complete lab testing to verify the quality of
the hemp. Without the organic certification or lab tests,
there’s no way to verify the hemp extract is free from residual pesticides,
heavy metals, solvents, or other toxins.
The CoA she provided only shows the extract’s cannabinoid profile, proving it’s an isolate extract — not full-spectrum as it says on the label. This is a tad concerning because these types of slip-ups contribute to the misinformation rampant in the CBD industry.
Glow Water CBD Teas are available for
international shipping, and the shipping cost will depend on the package’s
destination.
If you’re not happy with your purchase, connect
with Glow Water’s customer service to let them know. You can return most unused products within 30 days of purchase for a
full refund (minus the cost of shipping).
Final Verdict:
Excellent Tea Formulas for Relaxation
The Glow Water teas are one of the few teas
we’ve come across on the market that contain a fairly high CBD content for teas
with 25 mg of micro-emulsion CBD per sachet.
If you’re looking for a soothing CBD supplement, the Glow Water CBD teas are worth the sip. These teas come in four delicious flavors and are made with other excellent herbal ingredients.
If there’s a factor we think Glow Water could
work on, it would be to include more information on its website about its CBD
source and third-party lab testing. In a highly unregulated CBD market, it’s
important to show your customers your dedication to sourcing high-quality hemp
for products.
References
Blessing, E. M., Steenkamp, M. M., Manzanares, J., & Marmar, C.
R. (2015, October). “Cannabidiol as a Potential Treatment for Anxiety
Disorders”. Neurotherapeutics.
Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13311-015-0387-1