The Brooklyn Boys Cannabis Company are legacy cannabis cultivators with over 20 years experience navigating New York’s pre-license market.
After spending time in Amsterdam in the early-2000s, this father / son team brought what they learned back to the states, and established their reputation by cultivating top-shelf cannabis and bringing it to market at a price point every day consumers could afford. Consistency and a focus on customer satisfaction is what sets these boys apart.
Over the last 2 years, with widespread acceptance of the cannabis industry, Co-owner and CEO, Ronnie Corey, has shifted the companies’ business model from one that thrived behind closed doors, to a brand gaining popularity in an open, public market.
Coming into the light has brought exciting opportunities into the space within which The Brooklyn Boys operate. They have not only expanded their team, but they have also expanded their product line from flower only, to one that also includes some of the finest extracts available.
How did your relationship with the plant begin?
My experience with the plant began rather young. I started smoking around 12 years old because a neighbor did, and I wanted to “look cool”. However, as I entered into high school, it became a business for me. Like a lot of people, I just started selling weed.
From there, I began smoking all these different strains, I truly started to appreciate the plant for what it was and what it could do for people. I wanted to produce my own flower and be able to offer it to people at a price pretty much anyone could afford so they could experience the benefits I had. Cannabis helped me with sleep, anxiety from being a teenager. If I were to injure myself playing sports, I noticed it even helped with the pain, and overall, it calmed me down. I cant imagine the trouble I would have gotten into without weed, which is kinda funny considering what I was doing was considered very illegal at the time.
What led to the creation of Brooklyn Boys Cannabis?
Brooklyn Boys Cannabis Company had been around almost 20 years. We started growing in 2002 and went hard and fast from the jump. It seems like nothing now, but our first opp involved six 4ft x 8ft ebb-n-flow Sea of Green tables with approx 65 plants on each. Back then, we didn’t have the info we have today. We were just looking for the fastest turn around of product we could get. Demand was very high, and our quality stood out from most others. At the time, we did not brand ourselves. We figured that would be much too big a risk, especially running out of a residential home in a quiet neighborhood where we were already worried about electricity costs and heat signatures throwing up flags. We actually learned how to grow cannabis by reading Ed Rosenthal books and “The Guide to Growing Tomatoes Indoors”. There was not much of a growers community in New York back then to trade information with outside of High Times.
What have been your best-selling or biggest strains to date?
I’d have to say, Orange Funk, which is a Tiki Madman / Clearwater Genetics collab, which is a cross between Runtz and Tropicana Cookies. Smells like fresh squeezed oranges and Watermelon Slush by Lovin in Her Eyes, which is a cross between her famous Spanish Moon and Zkittles. I’ve never smelled a “watermelon” strain that actually had the true taste and smell of watermelons. This one checks that box. Both are currently available at the iconic Astor Club in NYC.
Currently, your focus is on growing flower. Are there plans to expand into other forms of consumption?
Of course… evolve or die is something a buddy who is a partner in Long Island Hydro said to me, and he is absolutely correct. We have begun learning to wash product to make Hash Rosin. I currently have a partner in Michigan who owns and operates a BHO lab. BHO gets a bad rap for some reason here in NY, but this dude produces some of, if not the terpiest concentrates Ive ever had the pleasure of smoking. The amount of BHO left after the purge is negligible and his product kills it everywhere but NYC, but I do see a market here where people who cannot or will not pay the $60-$100 / gram price that solventless generally costs and will get a chance to try and appreciate his incredible products. We call him Dandyman the Candyman, and he’s a legend in his own right.
As a legacy cultivator, what are the highs and lows of the business?
The highs are actually not what one might think. The money isn’t bad, but we have an incredible amount of overhead and the profit margins are getting smaller almost weekly. Everything from property, to utilities, to equipment, to the prices in other states and people shipping it in, to pure and simple time. Something that is impossible to place a value on. The amount of time we spend tending to our garden and marketing our brand is tremendous.
However, it is so worth it when we put out a killer batch and people go nuts for it. For me, that’s the pinnacle. Putting out an insane flower that someone tells you helps them sleep, or stops their anxiety, or even helps their seizures. That’s the high of the high for me. It is also why we don’t bang people in the head for our products.
As a Native New Yorker, what would you want consumers to take away from their experience with your product?
Listen, I’m NY through and through. I’ve lived here my whole life and love the shit out of this state and the boroughs. I plan on building a brand here that represents what I do and who I am as a NY’er. The product will be as top notch as any Bensonhurst slice. It’ll be as flavorful as any uptown chopped cheese, and it’ll kick your ass just like we did to each other back in the day. Overall, if you want NYC quality weed, we aren’t a bad bet.
What’s next for Brooklyn Boys?
So many things…. Expansion always. hopefully eventually backing and licensing. If not, we will continue to do what we’ve been doing for 20 years.
In the meantime, we are gonna keep investing in ourselves and the people around us who truly need it. We do take on a limited amount of medicinal patients who pay nothing for the products we provide. We also do occasional raffles where the proceeds got to 501c3 charities. We recently donated to Bidawee no kill animal shelter and a rehab / halfway house.
In the end, we just wanna be a good influence on the world, and we wanna do it smoking on some killer fucking weed.
