We make two lines of chews. One is built on hemp-derived terpenes, one is built on botanical terpenes, and the single most common question we get is what the difference actually is. Short answer: it is a question of where the molecule was grown, not what the molecule is.

The same compounds, different addresses

Limonene is limonene. It does not carry a passport. The limonene in an orange peel and the limonene in a jar of cannabis flower are the same compound with the same structure and the same smell, because a terpene is defined by its chemistry and not by its hometown.

That is the part people find surprising, and it is the part that makes the whole botanical category make sense. Cannabis has no monopoly on any of these compounds. It is just unusually good at concentrating a lot of them in one small, sticky place.

So where do botanical terpenes come from

From everything else. Citrus peel is a major commercial source of limonene. Pine and rosemary give up pinene. Lavender is the classic source for linalool. Hops, black pepper, and cloves supply caryophyllene. Mango, lemongrass, and thyme all contribute to the myrcene supply chain.

The extraction methods are the same ones the flavor and fragrance industry has used for a century. Steam distillation is the workhorse: run steam through plant material, the volatile aromatic compounds ride along with the vapor, condense it, separate the oil from the water. Cold pressing does the job for citrus peel. Fractional distillation then isolates individual terpenes out of the resulting oil so they can be blended back together to a target profile.

None of this is exotic. It is the same machinery that makes the peppermint in your toothpaste and the orange in your cleaning spray.

Why we build a botanical line at all

Two reasons, and neither of them is a compromise.

The first is flavor. A botanical blend is built rather than harvested, which means we can dial a profile to be flavor-forward in a way a raw hemp extract will not always cooperate with. Our botanical chews are designed as a culinary-first experience. The candy leads and the strain character supports it.

The second is reach. Botanical products contain no hemp or cannabis extract at all, which means they are simply candy and they go anywhere candy goes. That is a meaningful practical difference for anyone in a state or a situation where hemp-derived products are complicated.

What you give up, honestly

A hemp-derived profile carries the full aromatic fingerprint of the plant, including the trace compounds nobody has bothered to name. A botanical blend recreates the recognizable architecture of a strain but it is a rendering, not a photograph. Purists notice. If authenticity to the flower is what you are after, the hemp line is the one you want.

If flavor is what you are after, and you want it to go anywhere, botanical wins. We say that plainly because pretending otherwise would be insulting.

Try the difference

Gelato #33 x Concord Grape is a good first taste of what the botanical line does well. Creamy dessert character from the Gelato #33 architecture, deep jammy Concord grape running through it, zero hemp and zero cannabis extract in the bag. It is the most straightforwardly delicious thing we make and it is not close.

Every batch of both lines gets a full panel from a DEA-registered lab, and the results live on the COA page whether you want the hemp receipts or the food-safety ones.

Fast facts

• Same molecules: a terpene is defined by structure, not by source plant
• Common botanical sources: citrus peel, pine, lavender, hops, pepper, cloves, thyme
• How they are isolated: steam distillation, cold pressing, fractional distillation
• Botanical line contains: no hemp extract, no cannabis extract
• Trade-off: hemp is more faithful to the flower, botanical is more flavor-forward and travels further

The long-form comparison lives on hemp-derived vs botanical terpenes. Browse the whole botanical collection, or look up any individual compound in the Terpene Library.