What makes our oil so good?

In such a now-crowded marketplace we know just how difficult it can be for consumers to differentiate a good quality Black Seed Oil from some of the less-than-premium offerings, so we’re here to help.

For the shortened version, simply visit our shop. You will find nothing but the highest quality Black Seed Oil – and with availability in three different strengths, there’s something for everyone.

But we’re going to assume you’re here for some insight into our oils, so let’s get to it…

Sourcing of quality Black Seeds

We are often asked from where our Nigella Sativa Seeds are sourced.

This varies throughout the course of the year – and more often than not we are using our own special blend of seeds to produce our oils. Our blends typically comprise of seeds originating from two or more countries.

Generally the seeds that we use will originate from Ethiopia, Egypt, Bangladesh, and Turkey.

More importantly – we personally oversee the growing of our own plants in several locations and have very strict cultivation requirements in place with our select farmers. No chemicals or pesticides are used and additionally, no machinery is used during the growing process – all of the work is carried out by hand.

Our reason for multi-country sourcing is simple – we are constantly working to provide a consistent level of quality, taste and strength of our Black Seed Oils. Many people know that climate and soil conditions impact these things greatly – and sourcing from several locations throughout the course of the year also helps us maintain a good consistency of produce all year round.

If you have tried our Black Seed Oils already you will know that each of our three strengths of oil tend to have their own distinct taste. This taste usually remains quite consistent with each batch that we produce. Part of the reason for this is continuity with the blend of seeds that we use for each strength of oil.
For example for one strength of oil we may use Ethiopian and Turkish seeds with a 70/30 mix.
For another strength we may use a 40/40/20 mix of seeds from Bangladesh, Turkey, and Egypt respectively.

Regardless of which country our seeds originate from – you can rest assured that they’re sourced ethically, and that our plants are grown organically.

Preparation Prior to Oil Extraction

Prior to extracting the oil, our seeds are hand-sorted to remove ’empty shells’ and ‘twigs’ otherwise left behind by seed suppliers.

Seeds are usually sold by the metric tonne, so the majority of Nigella Seed suppliers will not remove twigs and empty shells because it reduces net weight.
With empty shells & twigs accounting for anywhere from 5-20% of net weight, this of course would reduce their profit margins considerably.

Likewise the majority of manufacturers will consider twig & empty shell removal an unnecessary process because it increases the time needed to send seeds to press – but for us, with our absolute commitment to producing nothing but the best Black Seed Oil, we deem this process a necessity!

Steam Pasteurisation of the seeds is a process that many companies use because it will prolong the shelf-life of the oil and also the seeds themselves.

We choose not to opt for Steam Pasteurisation because during our research & development this was proven to deteriorate the effectiveness of the volatile oils.

If you have tried our Nigella Sativa Seeds you will likely have noticed a distinct difference in taste & aroma when comparing to supermarket-purchased seeds (for example). Here in the UK at least, our findings show that at least all of the major supermarkets are selling steam-pasteurised seeds.

So in summary: If you’re buying Nigella Sativa Seeds or Black Seed Oil for culinary use, using steam pasteurised and/or seeds containing stalks and empty shells this isn’t going to make a huge difference; but if you’re buying the oil or seeds to help support your health, you’re likely not going to see the results that you might expect.

Producing quality Black Seed Oil

To extract the oil from the seeds we use a process known as cold-pressing. This is a phrase that many brands seem to throw around, but more often than not they will still be using heat to extract the oil.

Heat is bad for the oil – but it is good for the company pressing it since it will give them a considerably higher yield per batch of seeds that they press.

Some companies will also use a chemical extraction method as this too gives a considerably-higher yield.

And the same goes for multi-pressing of the seeds. Whilst more oil can be extracted from the seeds by pressing them several times over; we only press our seeds once. A single-press technique reduces the yield considerably, but at the same time it results in a much more superior quality of oil.

Additionally, unlike many other brands of Black Seed Oils on the market; due to the single-press method that we use, our oils truly are pure virgin quality. This is another phrase often thrown around by brands, but is very rarely a genuine claim – or at least, in its genuine meaning.

Whilst there is nothing wrong with the second press of the seeds, the produce is far less superior to the first pressing and it offers nowhere near the Volatile Oil Content nor Thymoquinone levels that you will see from the results of the first press.

By the second or third press it also is no longer a true virgin oil.
This does not make it a ‘bad’ oil – it does however mean that it is far from being a high quality oil.

Our oils are extracted using our own cold-press methods, without the use of any chemicals, and are the result of the first (and only) pressing of our seeds.

The Taste of Black Seed Oil

Our oils are unfiltered (hence you will likely notice a haze or cloudiness inside the bottle if it’s been allowed to stand for any period of time – which is completely normal). We choose to leave our oils unfiltered for a more natural & pungent taste. The seeds themselves are also very nutritious.

With our Super-Super-Strength Oil in particular you will notice the spicy/peppery taste – this is mostly due to (though not limited to) the oil being unfiltered.

Whilst taste can help determine the quality of Black Seed Oil, it is far from being an accurate measurement of the oils strength.

Be under no illusion – if you are looking for something that tastes great – Black Seed Oil really isn’t the answer. 
If you stick with it, over time, most will become accustomed to its taste but will it ever be an enjoyable taste? The simple answer is that for most people – it will not.

If you’re looking for a near-tasteless way of consuming the oil, we’d have to recommend taking the Capsules rather than by the teaspoon from a bottle.

Is Our Oil Organic?

Natural health is extremely important to us and we truly believe in the natural healing abilities that nature’s blessed seed has to offer.

We also care greatly about the quality of our products, which is why our oils are 100% Natural, Unfiltered, and contain absolutely no additives or preservatives. Our oil is just as nature intended – only having been pressed from the seeds, it is much more concentrated in oil-form. More power to us (and you)!

Whilst we’re not yet allowed to label our products as Organic here in the UK without completing a very lengthy certification process, we  can say that 1) our oils are Non-GMO, 2) our plants are grown Organically, and 3) we can tell you that our Oil is pressed from Organic Nigella Sativa Seeds.

Truth be told, the Nigella Sativa plant doesn’t need any help to grow – merely just a hot climate and good quality soil.

UK Organic Certification? We hear you. We’re working on it.

The Cost of Black Seed Oil

We’re not here to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. We know that our Black Seed Oil (particularly our Super-Strength) is priced more towards the higher end of the spectrum. But this is simply the result of a high quality oil; higher costs equal a higher retail price.

We do of course have our Original and Strong oils however, and if you look at the price of our Original oil it is around the average market price per 100ml – and yet it remains around twice the strength of most other brands of (genuine) virgin cold-pressed Black Seed Oil.

Whilst on the face of it our oils may seem quite costly, if you dig in to our pricing structure you will find that for regular users, when using our ‘Multi-buy’ discounts our oil prices are actually in-line with (or cheaper than) the industry average. 

We did initially plan to also offer a ‘Mild’ oil – which would have been a second press (non virgin) offering comprising of a substantially-lower VOC. With this we could have sold it off very cheaply (circa the £3.99-£7.99 price point). This could have (and would have) been sold in huge numbers – as many other brands already do. However there are reasons we opted against this…

Firstly, it is such a saturated market when it comes to low-quality oils. The industry is not regulated as it should be and so many companies are selling poor quality oils and are making false claims. ‘Organic’, ‘cold-pressed’, ‘virgin’, ‘pure’, ‘strong’, ‘extra strong’ to name but a few.
And secondly, it would have meant us selling a less-than-perfect product. That alone would have made us feel rather uncomfortable. 

We do not want customers associating poor quality products to our brand. Our brand has been built on the quality of our products and that is something we are very proud of and would never risk jeopardising. 

But next time you’re looking at other brands of Black Seed Oil ask yourself this – is that price too good to be true?

We know our market very well as it’s what we do, it’s all we do, and we’ve been around for a long time.
We know that oils priced on the low-end of the spectrum are able to be priced that way solely because corners have been cut somewhere. How do we know this? Because unlike many other brands, we aren’t reliant on ‘middle-men’; and yet even we couldn’t produce and sell Black Seed Oil at some of the prices offered in this crowded marketplace unless we chose to cut corners and lessen the quality of our oil in the process.

Our brand is built on quality & trust, and that’s not something we were willing to jeopardise by introducing a sub-par product offering.

But one thing we’ve learned over the years, especially thanks to our high repeat order rate – is that our products work, and that our customers are prepared to pay just that little bit more for a considerably better product.

Preserving Black Seed Oil

It may sound somewhat cliché but: look after your Black Seed Oil and your Black Seed Oil will look after you.

Once the oil has been extracted from the seeds, we bottle it right away to ensure its goodness is locked away. We use only the best quality pharmaceutical-grade glass bottles for our oils. Our bottles are made from a tinted glass – this helps keep UV light out and ensure the oil quality is maintained for a longer period of time.

Up until the point your order is shipped, we also store the oil in a temperature-controlled environment.

Storage of your oil should be carefully considered post-purchase (of which some guidance can be found here: Black Seed Oil Care).

What makes our Black Seed Oil the best available anywhere in the world?

Research has found that a higher volatile oil content equals a more effective Black Seed Oil. Whilst many brands claim to produce the strongest oil, back in 2014 we started to research this extensively…

We tested thirteen Black Seed Oils from leading brands around the globe and found that our Black Seed Oil is (on average) up to 5 times stronger!

In fact, our research revealed that our Super Strength Black Seed Oil is the strongest available anywhere in the world; period. We came to this conclusion after finding that most Black Seed Oils have (on average) a Volatile Oil Content (VOC) of just 1.15% – of which less than 35% of that small percentage was Thymoquinone.

Some brands claiming to be selling a ‘strong’ oils actually never even topped 0.6% VOC. This is very, very poor quality! In fact this is the kind of quality you can expect when pressing oil from leftover (already pressed) seeds, using a heat source to allow an even higher yield.

To put this into perspective – our mildest offering which is our Original Black Seed Oil, has a volatile oil content of 1.8%. Our Strong Black Seed Oil contains 4.8%, and our Super Strength Black Seed Oil contains 5.8%. Our own figures have a +/- tolerance level of just 0.8%, but usually there will only be a +/- of around 0.3%.

As well as this, a minimum of 72% (of our VOC percentage) is Thymoquinone (this is considerably more than other brands!).

The different strengths of our Black Seed Oil range is clearly noticeable not only due to the more pungent taste from the stronger oils, but also in the results that our oils are giving our customers time & time again.

Our Black Seed Oil Guarantee

Why not try our Black Seed Oil’s for yourself? With a full 30 day money-back guarantee on our entire product range, we’re sure you’ll never look back at a below-par Black Seed Oil again in your lifetime.