It looks like a futuristic coffee machine, but instead of Italy it comes from the Netherlands and instead of coffee it makes cannabis extract. NOID is compact, sleek and simple to use – what more can you ask for. At Cannafest, we interviewed the owner and CEO, Chu Chai.
What is your educational background and what were you doing before entering cannabis business?
My name is Chu Chai, I’m from the part of China where the Gobi Desert converges with the Loess Plateau, and where Han Chinese meet the Mongolians. Our family name is 5000 years old and my clan is 22 generations young. My clan had its own village for the living and burial mountain for the dead before the communists redistributed everything. Was fun growing up over there, resources were scarce, wolves were lurking in the valleys and the winters were harsh. I major in Software Engineering and English Literature in college. I was a screenwriter before I tumbled into the cannabis industry.
What brought you to the idea of trying to create such a complex product as homemade extractor?
I saw a problem no one else seemed to be solving, so I solved it. The problem was this: a lot of people need full spectrum cannabis oil for self medication, and most of these people cannot get what they need. The difficulties are in medical cannabis license restrictions, limited strain choices, questionable quality of commercially available CBD/hemp oil and the legal mess associated with THC… the list goes on. But the thing is, cannabis self medication is not rocket science, everyone can make cannabis oil at home. So I designed this machine to allow everyone to make high quality cannabis medicine at home with zero difficulties.
Life is already a bit difficult for medical cannabis users. My aim was to make it a bit easier by giving them full control over the medicine, build a machine for them, so they can decide what to make, when to make it, and how to use it. I was not thinking about the complexity of creating such a machine, I was thinking about the ease of using it. It was a humbling experience, but I’m happy that I made it.
What is your personal story in regard to cannabis? Are you more of a patient or casual adult user who prefers cannabis over beer?
My personal story in regard to cannabis is short: I don’t use cannabis. I have smoked a puff here and there before, but I didn’t like the feeling, my tolerance towards cannabinoids is extremely low, maybe because I’m East Asian.
How hard was it to get from the original idea to the final product, how many years, prototypes, improvements are behind NOIDS?
It was hard, way harder than I expected. I started from scratch, especially the heating part, it is completely different from other household machines. It took me 2 years to finalize the product, 4 main prototypes and dozens of improvements, and over 2000 design drafts back and forth during communication. I talked to over 150 manufactures over materials, small and big parts, and tested 4 types of heating technology. It took me 6 months to just find out that it is indeed possible to control the temperature fluctuation to within 1C, and another 6 months of daily testing and data collection to develop the algorithm. In the end, my engineer told me that POT is “over-developed”, that “the quality is unnecessarily high for a household machine”. I was so happy to hear it, because I wanted the machine to exceed expectations.
Did you design and manufacture it yourself or is it done in cooperation with some other scientists, etc.?
I designed the machine myself, but yes I needed a team to bring my ideas to life. I found a good engineer to work with me side by side during development, and I found a factory that is capable of prototyping and manufacturing on demand. One can say I was lucky.
What materials are used?
The machine body is made of reinforced aluminum alloy, the glass container borosilicate glass, the filter unit is made of medical grade stainless steel, and the silicon used is the best kind as in the feeding teats of nursing bottles. I have avoided all avoidable plastic at design stage, you can only find plastic on the electrical parts.
What are the main benefits of NOIDS in comparison to what’s now on them market?
- Precise temperature control, the most important thing when it comes to medical cannabis. POT by NOIDS doesn’t have any heat peak that other machines, including ovens and competitor devices, have. It means, cannabinoids are not destroyed during decarboxylation, it makes it possible to accurate and consistent dosage, which is the key to medical use.
- All in one. POT is the only machine in the market that can decarboxylate dry and fresh flowers/trims, infuse oil, butter or vape juice, and extract highly potent concentrate with ethanol. It is truly the only machine you need to make high quality full spectrum cannabis edibles and medicines at home.
- Unique settings for THC and CBD strains. Most people don’t know that THC and CBD dominant strains need different temperatures and time for decarboxylation and infusion. POT by NOIDS took it into consideration and gave the best result regarding activation rate and cannabinoids preservation.
- Easy to use, easy to clean. POT comes with a filter, a pipette, a condenser and detachable beaker, so the entire cooking process is clean and easy. No mess, no hassle, and no loss.
- High quality. The machine is designed to run daily for 10 years. We have stress tested it thoroughly to make sure that this is the case.
Who is your potential customer?
Medical cannabis users and also those who would love to enjoy cannabis in a healthier manner without smoking.
Is your product stupid-proof?
Yes. The patented temperature control technology allows users to run multiple rounds of decarboxylation without noticeable reduction in potency. The machine sensor is designed to notice all kinds of wrong practices, the safety design is approved by TÜV Rheinland, Also, the ethanol extraction is set to be slow, it is impossible to make it dangerous.
Do you have any interesting stories of your customers (please note we need to be very careful with health claims)
Yes, we have so many interesting stories of our customers that to a point we decided to start interviewing them. Here are some stories from our interview:
Where can Czech customers buy NOIDS and how does it work regarding warranty?
Warranty is 3 years for all customers. Czech customers can buy POT on our website: https://noidsamsterdam.com/ We offer free shipping to all the EU countries.
Is there anything that needs improvement, will there be any version 2.0, etc.?
Yes. The first POT by NOIDS was designed for small batch home cooking with preset automatic cooking modes. Now we are developing a bigger POT that is for community and social clubs. It will be 3L large and will allow more experienced users to manually set up temperature and time.
Are you planning more types, variants or this one product is just perfect?
Maybe different colors in the future, but it is not on my to do list. This current POT serves its purpose very well. I’m actually working on a grow tent that would allow medical users to grow their own medicine at home with ease and full control. If the tent is finished, then NOIDS will be more or less complete. My vision for NOIDS is to build good machines and devices for medical cannabis users to make their personalized cannabis medicine at home from a single seed. It is how it should be, isn’t it?
