30Apr
CBD drops are measured doses of CBD oil placed under the tongue and held there for 60 to 90 seconds before swallowing. Holding them lets part of the CBD absorb through the tissue under the tongue instead of passing through the digestive system first. This guide is for anyone with a bottle in front of them: what the drops are, how to take them, how to work out the milligrams in each one, how long they take and how to store them.
What are CBD drops?
CBD drops are a liquid CBD product taken with a glass pipette. The bottle holds hemp extract suspended in a carrier oil, usually hemp seed oil, olive oil or MCT, and the dropper is how you measure a serving. The term describes the format, not a different compound.
The extract is where products differ. At Endoca the hemp is grown organically on our own farms and the cannabinoids are separated with supercritical CO2 rather than chemical solvents, which keeps terpenes, flavonoids and minor cannabinoids intact. Every batch is tested by an independent laboratory for cannabinoid content, more than 200 pesticides, heavy metals and mycotoxins, with certificates published on our lab testing page.
You will also see two versions of the same oil. Raw drops are unheated, so they contain CBDa, the acidic form the plant produces, alongside CBD. Heated drops have been gently decarboxylated, which converts the CBDa and gives a higher CBD figure on the label. Raw is closer to the plant; heated is more concentrated in CBD.
How to work out the milligrams in one drop
UK and European labels lead with a percentage, and 1% means 10mg of CBD per millilitre. So a 3% oil is 30mg per millilitre and a 15% oil is 150mg per millilitre. The large milligram figure you also see, such as 300mg or 1,500mg, is almost always the total in the whole bottle rather than the amount in one drop.
To get from there to a per-drop figure you need one more number, and it is the one that varies: how many drops your pipette gives per millilitre. Taking 20 drops per millilitre as a working assumption, a 10ml bottle holds around 200 drops, so a 300mg bottle works out at roughly 1.5mg per drop and a 1,500mg bottle at roughly 7.5mg. Many droppers run nearer 30 drops per millilitre, which gives about 1mg and 5mg respectively, and Endoca’s own product pages quote those lower figures. Count your own dropper once by emptying a full millilitre and counting, and you will have a number that is right for the bottle in your hand. The full conversion is set out in the CBD oil strength guide.
CBD drops vs CBD tincture vs CBD oil
The three terms get used interchangeably and usually describe the same bottle. Strictly, a tincture is a botanical extract made with alcohol, and most products sold as CBD tinctures are not that. They are hemp extract in a carrier oil, under a word the supplement trade inherited from herbal medicine.
| Term | What it strictly means | What it usually means on a UK label |
|---|---|---|
| CBD oil | Hemp extract suspended in a carrier oil | The liquid itself, labelled by percentage and bottle size |
| CBD tincture | An alcohol-based botanical extract | Almost always the same oil-based product, under an older name |
| CBD drops | The serving delivered by the pipette | The same liquid, described by how you take it |
A genuine alcohol tincture exists but is rare. If a label says tincture, read the ingredients: if the carrier is hemp seed oil, olive oil or MCT, you are holding CBD oil whatever the front says.
How to take CBD drops under the tongue
Sublingual means under the tongue. It is the most common way to take CBD drops and the easiest to get right, because you can start with a single drop and work up. Here is the method.
- Shake the bottle. Cannabinoids and carrier oil separate a little in storage, particularly with thicker raw extracts.
- Check the strength. Work out roughly how many milligrams one drop contains, so you know what you are taking rather than how much you are taking.
- Draw up your serving. Squeeze the bulb, release, and count the drops out rather than judging by eye.
- Place the drops under your tongue. Lift the tongue and let the oil pool in the floor of the mouth. Do not let the pipette touch your mouth, which keeps the bottle clean.
- Hold for 60 to 90 seconds. Resist swallowing straight away. Some people find it easier to sit still and breathe through the nose for that part.
- Swallow the rest. Whatever has not absorbed goes down and is processed like any other oral supplement.
- Wait a few minutes before eating or drinking. A mouthful of tea immediately afterwards washes away oil that is still absorbing.
Why the 60 to 90 seconds matters
The floor of the mouth is lined with thin tissue and a dense bed of capillaries. Compounds that cross it enter the bloodstream directly, skipping the first pass through the liver that every swallowed substance goes through, where enzymes break down a large share of CBD before it reaches circulation. A systematic review of human pharmacokinetic data put oral bioavailability of cannabidiol at roughly 6 per cent (Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2018), which is why the wait is worth it. Holding the oil longer than 90 seconds does not appear to add much, and sixty seconds done consistently beats three minutes attempted once.
How much to take and when
There is no recommended amount, and nothing here should be read as one. What can be described is the pattern most people follow: start low, in the range of a few milligrams once or twice a day, keep it unchanged for a week or two, then adjust by a drop or two either way. Consistency is what makes the picture readable, and how drops sit with someone on day one is often different from day sixty.
Work in milligrams rather than drops. It is the only way to compare one bottle with another, and it means a change of strength does not quietly reset your routine. Write down the figure, the time and the product.
Timing is a matter of fit rather than rules. Some people take drops in the morning with other supplements, some split the total across the day, some keep it for the evening. Taking them on an empty stomach is a common preference, though a meal containing some fat may help the swallowed portion absorb.
One thing is not optional. If you take prescription medication, speak to your GP or pharmacist before starting CBD drops, because cannabidiol is metabolised by the same liver enzymes that process a number of common medicines.
How long CBD drops take to work
Taken sublingually, most people notice something within about 15 to 45 minutes. The portion you swallow arrives later, typically over the following one to two hours, so a single serving tends to come on in two stages rather than all at once. Effects from a sublingual serving commonly last somewhere in the region of four to six hours.
Several things move those figures: how many milligrams you took, whether the bottle is raw or heated, whether you have eaten, and your own metabolism. CBD capsules take longer, because everything in them goes through the digestive tract, and our comparison of CBD oil versus capsules sets out that trade-off.
Taking CBD drops in the evening
Drops fit easily into a nightly routine. Some people take them half an hour to an hour before bed as part of winding down, which gives the sublingual portion time to absorb before the lights go off. Treat it as one element of a routine rather than the whole of it: regular hours, less screen time and a dark room do more than any supplement. Our page on CBD and sleep sets out what the research has examined and what it has not.
How to store CBD drops
Heat, light and air degrade cannabinoids, so storage is mostly about keeping all three away from the bottle.
- Keep it in a cool, dark cupboard, away from windowsills, hobs and radiators.
- Store it upright with the cap screwed on properly, so the oil is not sitting against the pipette seal.
- Do not let the dropper touch your mouth, which keeps saliva out of the bottle.
- A fridge is not necessary. Cold oil turns thick and slow to draw, and condensation inside the bottle does not help.
- Check the batch date and use the bottle within the period stated on the label.
Slight cloudiness or thickening in a cool cupboard is normal and clears as the oil warms in your hand. A sharp, rancid smell means the oil is past its useful life.
Frequently asked questions about CBD drops
How many CBD drops should I take?
There is no standard number, because the milligrams in each drop depend on the strength of the bottle and on your dropper. Most people begin with one or two drops, hold that steady for a week or two, then adjust. Work in milligrams so you can compare bottles accurately.
How many mg is one drop of 300mg CBD oil?
A 300mg bottle holding 10ml is a 3% oil at 30mg per millilitre. At 20 drops per millilitre that is roughly 1.5mg per drop, and at 30 drops per millilitre roughly 1mg. Count your own dropper once to know which applies.
Can I swallow CBD drops instead of holding them under my tongue?
You can, and nothing goes wrong. Swallowing sends everything through the digestive system and the liver, so onset is slower and less of the CBD reaches the bloodstream. If you intend to swallow the serving anyway, a capsule is a tidier and better measured way to do the same thing.
Do CBD drops taste of anything?
Full-spectrum and raw oils taste strongly of hemp: earthy, slightly bitter, a little grassy. That flavour comes from the terpenes and plant compounds left in by CO2 extraction. Most people get used to it within a week. If you do not, capsules avoid the taste entirely.
Will CBD drops make me high?
No. CBD is not intoxicating, and hemp-derived drops contain only a trace of THC, held under UK rules to a very low level per container. Ingestible CBD is regulated here as a novel food, so a product sold legally in England and Wales should appear on the Food Standards Agency public list.
Can I take CBD drops with medication?
Ask your GP or pharmacist first. Cannabidiol is processed by the same family of liver enzymes as many prescription medicines, so it can change how quickly those medicines are cleared. This matters most with anything carrying a grapefruit warning on the packaging.
Endoca information about CBD is not a substitute for medical advice, and is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose any disease, condition or disorder. If you are choosing your first bottle, decide between a raw and a heated extract, then pick a strength that lets you take a small number of drops rather than half a pipette. You can compare both types and every percentage across the Endoca CBD oil range, with the lab report for each batch published alongside it.
