Key Hightlights
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Beautiful aesthetic & branding
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Simple & premium product lineup
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Low-potency products have poor value
Beautiful aesthetic & branding
Simple & premium product lineup
Low-potency products have poor value
I love the simplicity of the Penguin CBD lineup. These products look and feel sophisticated, yet everything about this company, from their branding to the ingredients list, is very simple.
If you’re interested in picking up some CBD products from Penguin, I recommend sticking to the 1000 mg or above bottles of oil (the low-potency stuff is a bit overpriced) or the gummies.
I’d place this brand within the premium category of CBD products. There’s clearly a lot of effort and attention put into this brand and the products it carries — which shines through the quality of the final product.
Their closest competitors in terms of quality of branding and products are Royal CBD, Gold Bee, and Verma Farms.
Like most CBD companies, there’s a lot to be desired in terms of the company’s mission or charitable donations. The about us page is vague and nondescript — suggesting that everyone should be able to “keep calm and waddle on,” like a Penguin.
There’s no mention about who’s behind the company on their website or social media channels.
The company does offer a military discount of 25%.
Penguin sources all its hemp from Oregon. They claim to use organic hemp and offer all the necessary testing to prove the final product is free from pesticides but does not provide any specific proof about the organic status of their hemp.
The product range is very simple but covers most of the main categories of products we’ve come to expect from CBD companies — CBD oils, CBD capsules, CBD gummies, and a CBD topical.
They’re missing vape products, other edibles, and more specific topical product categories.
Within the oil range, there are 25 separate combinations to choose from — 5 potencies and 5 flavors. This is more options than most companies, which allows customers to really customize their bottle to match their budget, flavor preference, and intended dose of CBD.
There’s nothing really innovative this company is doing. Their products are about as simple and unimaginative as they come.
The saving grace here is the interesting and engaging website they’ve put together. The branding and aesthetic are really nice to look at and interact with.
All the third-party tests we look for when reviewing a CBD company are readily available and thorough.
One caveat I had with this brand was the claim that none of their CBD oils use artificial flavoring. They claim to use natural flavorings.
While this might be semantics, none of the flavorings used are “natural” — they’re synthetic molecules that are modeled after natural elements. With that aside, small amounts of synthetic additives aren’t really an issue, and if you don’t like the idea of using products with added flavors, you can also pick up a bottle without any flavor added at all — they call this one “natural.”
This company does customer service right. We received a response to our email within about 30 minutes of sending it, and the response we received was clearly written by a real human, without a script. We’ve designed our emails to ask a few key questions about the products, as well as a trick question to test whether we’re getting a real human with subject knowledge on the other end. We were pleasantly surprised to get a solid, well-thought-out answer from the team at Penguin.
Additionally, this brand offers a full money-back guarantee on their products if an email is sent within 30 days from the date of purchase.
Penguin CBD was created by Deep Patel, a seasoned entrepreneur and author of a book called A Paperboy’s Fable: The 11 Principles of Success.
He started the company when he was just 21 years old and has already grown the brand to become one of the most well-known companies in the space. That’s a huge achievement when you consider how many other CBD companies are competing for this position. Many of these companies are backed by large corporations or venture capital investors with deep pockets.
Deep was able to grow his brand to what it is by keeping the product lineup concise, employing beautiful and engaging branding, and paid sponsorships on websites like the Rolling Stone, Healthline, NY Post, and many others.
Penguin CBD lists its headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Number | Product | Total CBD | Potency | Cost per mg CBD | Link |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Penguin CBD Oil |
250–5000 |
8.3 – 166.7 mg/mL |
$0.06 – $0.18 |
|
2 |
Penguin CBD Gummies |
300 mg |
10 mg per Gummy |
$0.15 |
|
3 |
Penguin CBD Cream |
250 mg |
2.12 mg/mL |
$0.22 |
|
4 |
Penguin CBD Capsules |
300 mg |
10 mg per Capsule |
$0.15 |
CBD oils and tinctures are, by far, the most popular type of CBD product on the market today. They’re popular because they’re cost-effective, easy to use and deliver the highest customizability in terms of doses. Once you’ve determined how strong the oils you’re using are, you can take as little or as much CBD as you need.
Total CBD: | 250–5000 |
Potency: | 8.3 – 166.7 mg/mL |
Cost per mg CBD: | $0.06 – $0.18 |
Extract Type: | Broad-Spectrum |
THC Content: | 0 mg |
Penguin CBD has a lot of options for its CBD oils — which allows you to really customize the product you’re getting to match your budget and taste preference. All oils come in a standard 1 oz (30 mL) bottle and use broad-spectrum (THC-free) hemp extract as the base.
First, there are five different potencies to choose from:
Second, you can choose between 5 different flavors:
As far as price goes, the 1000, 2500, and 5000 mg bottles are pretty good value, but the lower potency oils are definitely not worth the money. You can get the same quality for much less from other brands. The 250 mg bottle, for example, will cost you 18 cents per mg of CBD — which works out to around nearly $5 for a single dose.
You can save quite a bit (20%) by signing up for their monthly subscription, which can be canceled at any time. This is the best option for people who plan to use CBD products long-term. At this discount, you basically get a free bottle every five months.
Total CBD: | 300 mg |
Potency: | 10 mg per Gummy |
Cost per mg CBD: | $0.15 |
Extract Type: | CBD Isolate |
THC Content: | 0 mg |
Penguin CBD gummy worms are straight-up delicious. They’re chewy, sweet, and don’t have any residual hemp taste. I love this style of gummy, which has a slightly sour or tart flavor on the outside and a really sweet chewy middle.
Each worm contains 10 mg of CBD isolate, which I initially thought was a bit too low — but after trying them out, I found it hard to stop at just one gummy. Normally I take between 30 and 40 mg of CBD (I have a high tolerance), so the lower potency lets me take about 3 or 4 of them before I’ve hit my dose.
Some gummies are much higher potency, which forces me to stop eating them after just one or two.
These gummies are great, if not a little bit expensive. You’re going to pay roughly 15 cents per mg, which is about $1.50 per gummy. They aren’t expensive, but there are certainly cheaper options out there.
View our list of the best CBD gummies.
Total CBD: | 250 mg |
Potency: | 2.12 mg/mL |
Cost per mg CBD: | $0.22 |
Extract Type: | Broad-Spectrum |
THC Content: | 0 mg |
CBD topicals are great for use on dry, irritated, or inflamed skin. They’re also great for use on sore muscles or after a workout to prevent sore muscles later (a condition called DOMS).
There are three main things I look for in a high-grade CBD topical:
This particular topical ticks two out of three boxes.
It includes broad-spectrum hemp extract along with mint and lavender essential oils (excellent for soothing the skin) and costs around 22 cents per mg of CBD — which is definitely reasonable. I also really like the silky smooth texture.
The only reason I don’t particularly recommend this topical is the low dose of CBD. If you’re going to buy a CBD topical, it might as well deliver a decent dose of CBD. This product only has about 2 mg per mL of cream, which is going to be insufficient for anything beyond the mildest irritation and is not strong enough to provide noticeable relief for pain in deeper tissues like the muscles or joints.
I would recommend this stuff as a daily moisturizer, however.
Total CBD: | 300 mg |
Potency: | 10 mg per Capsule |
Cost per mg CBD: | $0.15 |
Extract Type: | Broad-Spectrum |
THC Content: | 0 mg |
CBD capsules are a pretty good option for people who don’t want to use oils and want something a little more serious than gummy worms. If you’re already taking a few capsules or pills for your daily supplementation or medication routine, this is perhaps the easiest way to integrate CBD into your health routine.
My caveat with these capsules is the fact that they only contain 10 mg of CBD each. While they’re nice and small, this really isn’t enough of a dose for most people.
I tend to take 30 or 40 mg of CBD at a time, which means I’d need to take 3 or 4 capsules at a time. This is quite a bit, especially if you’re taking other capsules as well.
They’re also a bit expensive. You’ll end up paying around $1.50 per capsule, so a single dose of 2–4 caps can cost between $3 and $6. If you’re like me and take CBD every day, this is going to add up very quickly. You’ll be better off finding capsules that contain higher doses of CBD and cost about half as much — such as the caps from CBDistillery.
Penguin CBD does a great job at acknowledging the necessity of third-party testing — which they outline in a full blog post on the website. The company also provides a simple user interface to examine the most recent reports for every product type on their website.
Unlike many other CBD companies, they test each oil rather than just the extract that’s used to make the oil. It’s more expensive to do it this way because they need to run more tests — but it’s much more accurate and transparent.
Kudos to Penguin for the level of care and attention they’re dedicating to the testing process.
After reading through about a dozen or so of these tests, there was nothing that stuck out as being a problem. They check for all the tests we’re expecting, which goes above and beyond purely the cannabinoid profiles. They also check for 20 or so common contaminants, organic solvents, pesticides, heavy metals, and mycotoxins or other microbial contaminants.
This brand offers a full refund on products returned within 30 days of purchase. It takes about three days to arrive if you live in the United States, which leaves about 27 days to decide whether you like it or not. Even if you’ve opened it, if you decide it isn’t working for you, the process to return it is as follows;
Send an email to [email protected] and tell them you’d like a refund. They’ll email you a return shipping label that covers the cost of the return shipping. Once the package arrives, you’ll get a refund directly onto the card used to buy the product.
At the moment, Penguin CBD only ships within the United States.
This company has beautiful branding. The entire user experience when shopping for these oils is excellent, and the bottles that arrive in the mail have a high-quality polish.
I really like the gummy worms. They have an excellent flavor and really nice chewy consistency. It’s really hard to stop at just one, and because of the low dose of CBD for each one, you don’t have to. A dose is anywhere from about 2 to 5 gummies at a time.
The oils are also great quality, but anything less than the 1000 mg bottle isn’t worth the price tag.
If you order the 1000, 2500, or 5000 mg bottles, the price is more on-par with the rest of the industry in the premium range. You can also get an extra 20% off if you sign up for the subscription plan, which can save you a ton of money in the long run.