It’s South Carolina’s most celebrated kratom vendor, with over 18,000 likes and followers on social media and a reputation for Private Reserve Kratom. Blue River Wellness is a nationally recognized brand that seems appealing on its surface, but you may feel differently after you read our complete vendor review.
Founded in 2012, Blue River Wellness Kratom arrived just as the United States discovered the wonders of the Mitragyna speciosa herb. You could say that the brand couldn’t have arrived at a better time. Many Americans were dealing with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and needed a pick-me-up.
Blue River swiftly established a reputation for fine kratom powder and kratom capsules, providing the Palmetto State with early access to adulterant-free, all-natural kratom. Over the years, this Deep South speciosa brand has earned a lot of attention from industry bloggers and kratom enthusiasts alike.
Visit any online kratom forum and you’ll find lots of chatter about this supplier, most of it positive and all of it worthy of review. For example, (I Love Kratom) is a great place to start. There, you’ll find Blue River Wellness Kratom on its list of approved vendors, but you’ll also find former patrons spilling the tea.
There is a lot we appreciate about this Goose Creek kratom supplier, not least of which is its talent for producing quality crushed leaf and specialty blends. Its ultra-enhanced kratom is somewhat hit or miss, but its blends are said to be superior to others on the market.
Blue River Wellness Bright Eyes is this vendor’s most popular signature blend. Its profound aroma and balanced alkaloid profile explain its popularity. If you’re a fan of rainbow kratom blends, you’ll probably dig this one, too. Bright Eyes is the illuminating mix of green, red and white veins it sounds like.
This vendor stocks Elephant Indo, Green Maeng Da, Green Malay, Private Reserve Crushed Leaf, Red Vein Thai, Red Vein Sumatra, Ultra Maeng Da, Ultra Premium Bali, and White Vietnam. These variations may vary from time to time. Most are available in both powder and capsule form. If you need help choosing a strain, check out our complete list and guide to the best kratom strains.
This vendor is a supporting member of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and the American Herbalists Guild. In 2020, the American Herbalists Guild introduced an intensive webinar series centered around kratom. Unfortunately, BRW is not a supporting member of the American Kratom Association (AKA).
We don’t mean to drag this brand, but offering a mere four reward points when a customer spends over $175 is weak as hell. And that’s to say nothing of its limited payment options or its even more restrictive return policy.
There’s also the whole matter of this vendor’s approach to consumer engagement. Edward Bond once said, “If you engage people on a vital, important level, they will respond.” That’s just the problem: Blue River Wellness does not engage on a vital level, at least beyond its fundamental role as a purveyor of premium kratom. It only attempts to be cute in a rather off-putting way.
Instead of speaking directly to their customers as one human being to another, the owner of Blue River Wellness puts up a front and speaks through their magically-bearded mascot. The info on display is scant and corny, leaving much to be desired. No mention is made of lab testing, whether in-house or via a third party.
Although Blue River Wellness Kratom maintains a return policy, it’s not exactly the most generous. Where most first-rate vendors provide a 30-day money-back guarantee, Blue River only gives you a one-week window to request a refund. This can be inconvenient, depending on your location and access to a nearby carrier.
This vendor does not participate in the AKA’s GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) Standards Program. While involvement in the program is not mandatory, opting out demonstrates an unwillingness to be held accountable. The GMP program requires brands to submit to a third-party audit.
You can get a five-gram sample for $2.99, which sounds cheap on the surface, but when you break it down it’s obvious this is little more than a shrewd cash grab. If you divide $2.99 by five grams, you get 0.598. That means you are paying nearly 60 cents per gram, which is at least 25-30 cents more than the industry average for a full ounce (28 grams at 30-35 cents per gram).
BRW charges $10.99 for an ounce, which is in keeping with fair market pricing. Four ounces sell for $32.99, which also falls well within the acceptable range. For the sake of comparison, MIT45 offers 125 grams of its MIT45 Raw Leaf for $25.95. That’s more than four ounces for almost seven bucks less. (Full Disclosure: MIT45 recently became our parent company.)
Nevertheless, Blue River does right by its customers with its small-batch kratom. Even if it’s a few bucks more than top brands, it’s still within the affordable range. Especially for the quality, which is said to be on point.
Eight ounces of its powder goes for $53.99, which means you’re paying more than what most pay for a half kilo (500 grams) for what amounts to less than a quarter kilo. $95.99 will get you 16 ounces, which is less than 455 grams. To put that into perspective, you could get a full kilo from New Dawn for just four dollars more.
Blue River Wellness charges a steep $175.99 for 35.273 ounces, which equates to 999.972729 grams of powder. That is less than 1,000 grams for about $65-75 more than the current industry average for a kratom kilo.
By contrast, GMP-certified brands like New Dawn Kratom and Soulful Herbals sell 1,000 grams for under $100.00. Some even offer bulk deals on kratom bundles or split kilos. We suggest consulting the AKA’s page of GMP vendors for a full list of trusted and affordable alternatives.
This seller doesn’t do the email newsletter thing that seems to be omnipresent these days. And you won’t find any tempting wheel-spinning pop-ups on its landing page. Instead, BRW has kept things quiet with its Blue River Wellness coupon codes, exclusively offering them to followers on its Facebook page.
The last promo code it advertised was a 15% off code for Martin Luther King Day. We have not tried this code. Therefore, we cannot confirm nor deny that it is still accepted. However, the code – MLK15 – is still up on Facebook. It doesn’t hurt to try.
On the downside, such savings have not been posted in some time. This last post appeared in 2018. Since then, owner Robert McMahan has laid low, posting only to the brand’s online store. Any sales have been advertised on its homepage.
While the potency of its proprietary blend hits differently, we’re not inclined to recommend this brand to others. There’s little evidence to support it as legit and its lofty prices are enough to make us dip. For a list of vendors that are truly legit, we encourage you to click on our Complete List of the Best Kratom Vendors.
