Botanic Tonics

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

Contacts & Login

• Official website: https://botanictonics.com/
• Customer support / refund requests: [email protected]
• Manage / cancel subscription: https://botanictonics.com/tools/recurring/get-subscription-access

Locations

Bought Feel Free? What the 2025 class settlement, refunds and label changes mean

Botanic Tonics, LLC makes feel free, a line of kava-based herbal tonics and capsules sold online and at retailers nationwide, including convenience stores and grocers. One version, feel free CLASSIC, is described on the company's own ingredients page as “caffeine-free and ... a blend of noble kava root and natural kratom leaf”; newer lines sold under the feel free name (including feel free Kava Maté) do not contain kratom, according to the same page.

If you purchased “Feel Free tonic” or “Feel Free Classic tonic” anywhere in the United States between March 28, 2019 and March 5, 2025, you were a member of a settlement class in a consolidated federal case, In re Botanic Tonics Litigation (N.D. Cal., Master File No. 3:23-cv-01460-VC). The court granted final approval of a class settlement on October 20, 2025. The claims-submission period is closed: of 736,353 claims submitted, the settlement administrator (RG/2) flagged 693,791 as potentially invalid, and under the court-approved Deficiency Notice Plan the court directed the administrator to reject 680,192 of them, while 42,562 claims had no deficiency flag and about 13,599 more claimants were given 30 days to submit further documentation. If you filed a claim and have a question about its status, that is handled by the settlement administrator, RG/2 Claims Administration (toll-free 1-844-951-2340, [email protected], per feelfreeclassaction.com), not by Botanic Tonics' ordinary customer service.

Going forward, the settlement requires Botanic Tonics to add this specific warning to every Feel Free product label that contains kratom, and to its social media advertising: “Warning: This product contains leaf kratom which can become habit-forming and cause serious adverse health effects. Consider avoiding this product if you have a history of substance abuse.” Botanic Tonics' own current label for feel free CLASSIC separately states the product “CAN BE HABIT-FORMING. CONSUME RESPONSIBLY. FOR ADULTS 21+ ONLY,” warns not to exceed one serving (half a bottle) at a time or two servings (one bottle) in 24 hours, and says “DO NOT USE if you have a history of substance abuse.”

• For an individual refund (separate from the class settlement): the company's FAQ says to email [email protected] within 30 days of an online purchase and limits refunds to one 12-pack carton per person for online orders; its Refund Policy page says it does not offer exchanges.
• To manage or cancel a subscription: log in to your account, or request a one-time secure login link from botanictonics.com's subscription portal, then cancel or pause any time before the next shipment is charged, or email [email protected].
• Before use: the company's label states that its products can interact with certain medications and advises consulting a licensed, qualified healthcare professional before use.
• If you are struggling with kratom use, SAMHSA's free, confidential National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), provides treatment referral and information in English and Spanish; FindTreatment.gov lists treatment facilities.
• If you think a product made you ill, FDA asks consumers to stop using it and file a report through the HHS Safety Reporting Portal (safetyreporting.hhs.gov).

Arizona Attorney General lawsuit (2026), FDA/DOJ forfeiture case, and FDA's position on kratom

Arizona Attorney General lawsuit (September 2026). On September 23, 2026, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a lawsuit against Botanic Tonics, LLC in Maricopa County Superior Court under the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act. The AG's complaint alleges that the company promoted its 2-ounce kratom shots as energy drinks, obscured feel free's kratom content, marketed it as a wellness tonic and an alternative to alcohol, and failed to adequately disclose risks of addiction, dependence and withdrawal. These are the state's allegations in a newly filed case, not court findings.

Botanic Tonics, LLC is the claimant in a federal civil forfeiture case, United States v. 250,000 Filled Bottles of Liquid Product, et al. (N.D. Okla., No. 4:23-cv-00168-GAG-CDL). The government's complaint, filed April 26, 2023 and amended May 10, 2023, seeks forfeiture of Feel Free product and bulk kratom powder located at Botanic Tonics' own listed address, 13105 East 61st Street, Suites A&B, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Per the court's recitation of the government's allegations, FDA investigators inspected the premises in October–November 2022 and again on April 26, 2023, observed large quantities of “Feel Free Plant Based Herbal Supplement” bottles and bulk kratom powder, and in early 2023 test-purchased capsules from botanictonics.com that were confirmed on receipt to be labeled as containing kratom. An emergency warrant to arrest the property in rem was issued and executed the day the case was filed. As of September 28, 2026, CourtListener's public docket for the case showed no termination date; some legal-industry reports say the government later dismissed the case without prejudice, which this page could not confirm from the court record.

The government's legal theory, as stated in its complaint, is that kratom is a “new dietary ingredient” under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for which there is “inadequate information to provide reasonable assurance” that it does not present “a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury,” making products containing it “adulterated” under 21 U.S.C. §342(f)(1)(B), and that introducing adulterated product into interstate commerce violates 21 U.S.C. §331(a). The complaint also alleges — allegations only, not independent findings — that kratom use has been “linked to neurologic, analgesic and sedative effects, addiction, and liver toxicity” and can cause “respiratory depression, vomiting, nervousness, weight loss, and constipation.”

Botanic Tonics filed a claim to the seized property and moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing it failed to plead around statutory exceptions for new dietary ingredients (21 U.S.C. §350(b)) and lacked sufficient factual support. On December 10, 2025, the court (Judge Gustavo A. Gelpí, Jr., sitting by designation) denied Botanic Tonics' motion to dismiss, holding that the government's detailed allegations about kratom's effects were sufficient to meet the pleading standard that applies to civil forfeiture cases. This ruling addresses only whether the government's complaint was adequately pleaded — it is not a finding that the seized product is in fact adulterated or unsafe, and it was never followed by a merits ruling. According to a January 7, 2026 report by the law firm Keller and Heckman LLP, the government then filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice and the court entered a judgment ending the action on January 5, 2026; the report says the notice cited Botanic Tonics' representation that the products were expired and the government's view that sustaining the case would not be a prudent use of resources. The case therefore ended without any ruling on whether the product was adulterated or must be forfeited. (The copy of the docket on CourtListener checked on September 28, 2026 does not yet show these January 2026 entries.)

Separately, FDA's general public statement on kratom (last updated per the page's own metadata on December 2, 2025) says: “kratom is not appropriate for use as a dietary supplement… dietary supplements that are or contain kratom are adulterated under section 402(f)(1)(B) of the FD&C Act… kratom is not lawfully marketed in the U.S. as a drug product, a dietary supplement, or a food additive in conventional food.” FDA states kratom use carries risk of “liver toxicity, seizures, and substance use disorder (SUD),” and that some kratom products have been found contaminated with Salmonella or heavy metals — general statements about the kratom ingredient across the market, not findings specific to Botanic Tonics.

Company background

Botanic Tonics, LLC describes its own history as beginning with “a journey through the South Pacific and Southeast Asia,” culminating, per its About Us page, “in 2020” with the launch of feel free — the company's own account, not independently verified here. The company’s ingredients page describes feel free CLASSIC as containing kava root and kratom leaf, while its newer feel free and feel free Kava Maté lines do not contain kratom. The company says its kava root comes from Vanuatu and its kratom leaf from Indonesia.

In a Certificate of Interested Entities that Botanic Tonics, LLC filed with the federal court in the Torres litigation (June 8, 2023), the company identified “Other Affiliate JW Ross, Other Affiliate Hydra623 Holdings, LLC, Other Affiliate Anthos Capital V. L.P.” — a required disclosure of affiliated parties and investors, not further described by the company and not independently investigated beyond this court filing. Hydra623 Holdings, LLC later answered the same lawsuit jointly with Botanic Tonics, LLC. A separate co-defendant in that case, Nowhere Partners, LLC, does business as Erewhon, the California grocery chain, according to the court's own docket notice.

Botanic Tonics lists a single address on its own Contact Us page — 13105 East 61st Street, Suite A, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 74012 — which matches the “Premises” address named in the federal forfeiture case described above as the location of its product and bulk kratom powder. No other headquarters address was found on the company's own website as of this check; a claim that the company is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona could not be verified on any page checked for this profile and is not reported here.

Complaint and review record: USAComplaints, Trustpilot, BBB

Several sources were checked for complaints and reviews about Botanic Tonics or feel free, and each is reported separately rather than combined into one figure:

• USAComplaints: 0 approved complaints matching “Botanic Tonics”, “Feel Free”, or the combination of “kratom” and “kava” were found on this site as of September 28, 2026.
• Trustpilot: an unclaimed profile for botanictonics.com shows a 3.2 out of 5 TrustScore from only 2 reviews total (1 posted in the last 12 months) — too small a sample to characterize a trend. The two visible reviews are mixed: a five-star review (August 2025) praises subscription management and email support; a one-star review (April 2026) criticizes an out-of-stock “rewards” promotion for excluding roughly half of US states from redemption.
• BBB: Botanic Tonics LLC's BBB profile (Santa Monica, California) shows a BBB Rating of A-, not BBB accredited, with BBB's stated reason "1 complaint(s) filed against business that were not resolved"; its complaints tab shows 5 total complaints in the last 3 years and 0 closed in the last 12 months, and its reviews tab shows a 1.8/5 average of 15 customer reviews; its complaints tab shows 5 total complaints in the last 3 years and 0 closed in the last 12 months, and its reviews tab shows a 1.8/5 average of 15 customer reviews; BBB's file was opened October 4, 2022 and lists a business start of March 24, 2020.
• ComplaintsBoard: no profile for Botanic Tonics or Feel Free was found via the site's own search as of September 28, 2026.

The CFPB's consumer complaint database covers financial products and services; since Botanic Tonics is not a financial-services company, it was not queried for this profile.

The consolidated class action and settlement

In re Botanic Tonics Litigation, Master File No. 3:23-cv-01460-VC (N.D. Cal., Judge Vince Chhabria), consolidated an original complaint filed by Romulo Torres on March 28, 2023 with a related case, C.C. v. Botanic Tonics, LLC (N.D. Cal. 3:23-cv-04136). The original complaint alleged violations of California's Unfair Competition Law (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §17200) and False Advertising Law (§17500), common law fraud, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, and unjust enrichment against Botanic Tonics, LLC, 7-Eleven, Inc., Nowhere Partners, LLC (d/b/a Erewhon), and Hydra623 Holdings, LLC — allegations only, never proven or admitted in court.

The court preliminarily approved a class settlement on March 5, 2025 and granted final approval on October 20, 2025. The settlement class covered all US purchasers of “Feel Free tonic” and “Feel Free Classic tonic” from March 28, 2019 through March 5, 2025. Of 736,353 claims submitted, the settlement administrator (RG/2) flagged 693,791 as potentially invalid; under an adopted Deficiency Notice Plan, 680,192 of those were rejected outright, 13,599 claimants were given 30 days to submit additional documentation, and 42,562 claims had no deficiency flag; 40 late claims were also accepted under the Plan's terms. Only 8 people opted out of the settlement, and the final order states none had objected as of that order's date. Payouts were allocated pro rata by number of bottles purchased, with claims of 10 bottles or fewer allowed without proof of purchase.

The court awarded $5,000 service payments each to the four named Class Representatives (Romulo Torres, Sam Rosenfield, C.C., and Paul Teitler), and approved $2,187,500 in attorneys' fees (stated in the order to be 25% of the total settlement fund) plus $35,000 in costs for Class Counsel; 85% of the fees and all of the costs were payable immediately, with the remaining 15% of fees withheld pending a later accounting. The settlement administrator was approved for fees of up to $500,258. As part of the settlement, class members' claims were dismissed with prejudice, but the release “specifically excludes claims for personal injury”. The order also states that if the settlement does not become final for any reason, it is vacated and nothing in it is to be treated as an admission of wrongdoing by any party.

The docket shows a further filing titled “Objection” (Dkt. 160) after the final order, to which the named plaintiffs filed a response, including a “Declaration of Montague,” on December 11, 2025; the content and outcome of that objection required a PACER account to view and are not reported here.

Is Botanic Tonics Legitimate?

Botanic Tonics, LLC is a real, operating company that sells feel free tonics and capsules online and through retailers nationwide, and it has appeared under that exact legal name as a party in multiple federal court cases, including as claimant in an FDA/DOJ product-forfeiture case in Oklahoma and as a settling defendant in a consolidated consumer class action in California. The federal government's forfeiture case rests on FDA's position that kratom is an unapproved “new dietary ingredient” that makes any product containing it “adulterated” under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act — a legal theory the court found adequately pleaded in December 2025, though the case has not been decided on the merits. Separately, Botanic Tonics settled a consumer class action over its Feel Free tonic in October 2025 without any court finding that its marketing was false or that the product caused any injury; the settlement's release specifically excludes personal-injury claims, and it requires the company to add an explicit kratom habit-forming warning to its labels and ads going forward. This page assigns Botanic Tonics no rating, score, or “scam” label of its own — the regulatory, litigation, and complaint record above is reported so readers can weigh it for themselves.

Court & Public Records

Company Relationships

• Affiliated with: Hydra623 Holdings, LLC

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