#2: Coast Mountain: The Organic Choice For Craft Cannabis
#2: Coast Mountain: The Organic Choice For Craft Cannabis
Located in the coast mountains of the Pacific Northwest, surrounded by majestic forests and lakes, a small cannabis company in British Columbia is making big waves in the world of craft cannabis. With its pristine natural beauty and abundance of fresh water, Pemberton, BC has long been the perfect location for growing cannabis. And one company is taking full advantage of these conditions to produce some of the highest quality, certified organic craft cannabis in the country.
Coast Mountain Cannabis is an independent premium cannabis company with long established roots in the legacy market. Founded by people passionate about sustainable agriculture and the environment, they set out with uncompromising goal to grow the finest cannabis in Canada.
The founders and their amazing team of organic farmers and legacy growers love where they live and love what they do, and it shows in the quality of their product. At Coast Mountain Cannabis, the focus is on building and working with the best possible soil to create a healthy balanced living biome for the plants to thrive in.
The result is vibrant and sticky buds, with a complex aroma that’s sure to please even the most discerning cannabis connoisseur. These are not your average cannabis buds – they’re the product of months of love and attention, and it shows.
We had a chance to speak with the founders about their company to dive deeper into the culture of the firm and what makes them so unique:
Coast Mountain Cannabis has formed deep roots in the Pemberton community and with legacy growers. Can you tell us a bit about the farm’s history and how it all started?
The team came together through a shared love of the mountains and valleys of the Pemberton area and a long and rich history operating in the BC legacy market. In the year prior to legalization in 2018, the company was formed around a shared vision and capital was raised to build the first phase of our facility.
From the start we built the company around 5 guiding principles:
1. Grow sustainably in living soil to minimize our impact on the environment
2. Produce clean and pure Certified Organic flower
3. Build the business around a team of passionate, happy people
4. Put the customer experience first
5. Always be authentic
What inspired you to start Coast Mountain Cannabis?
We believed that there was an opportunity to build and create an ultra-premium brand around the experience and reputation that had been created over many years in BC’s legacy market.
We always believed that great cannabis could only be grown on a small scale with care and felt that many operators entering the market were making the mistake of chasing scale over quality and we have seen how that has played out. Coast Mountain Cannabis was inspired by the desire to share the magic of what we can grow here in beautiful BC with the rest of Canada. We genuinely believe that we can improve the quality of people’s lives through what we do.
Can you explain your philosophy on Organic Living Soil and Microbial Teas, and how it benefits the cannabis plant?
Our cultivation team led by Elliot Fromowitz and Bob Balek, have always been obsessed with the soil and it’s natural regeneration Their philosophy is predicated on a deep understanding of soil biology and what goes into to making the soil a truly balanced living biome. Too many producers focus on “feeding the plants”, more often with artificial salt-based nutrients that impact the plant and its aromas and ultimately wash back into the earth and water systems, harming the planet.
At Coast Mountain Cannabis we treat the soil like the human digestive system. If it’s healthy and in balance then the body, or in our case the plants, are given the best opportunity and the ideal conditions to take up the nutrients they need. Our microbial teas, that we make in-house from organic matter, are added to the soil to help maintain the balance of the biology within our soil. The soil we use today has been in the beds for over 3 years and continues to get better.
“Everything a plant needs is in the soil, the key is unlocking it.
When the soil is ALIVE, the minerals and nutrients become available for the plants to uptake.
When a plant has what it needs naturally, it will show its true potential.”
Elliot Fromowitz
Cold curing is an important part of your process. Can you tell us a bit about why it’s important and how you do it?
Being patient and carefully cold curing freshly harvested flower helps accentuate the terpene profile and preserve the unique aromas and flavors of each strain. Our process involves an initial cold dry time of up to 2 weeks. This is followed by a hand trim in a cool dry environment and a further cold curing process prior to packaging. This ensures that the final packaged product is released in optimal condition so that it is perfect when it reaches the consumer.
You have a solid lineup of heavy-hitting genetics. What are some of your personal favorites and why?
We were fortunate to have some unique and proprietary genetics from launch and have narrowed those down to a few that have become fan favourites. Our BC Organic Pure Cake Skunk probably tops the list and consistently punches in at around 30% THC. Definitely not for your first-time consumer, but very popular among more seasoned users or those with specific medical needs, looking for the full force of this indica dominant strain.
Other strains that are part of our stable include BC Organic Peanut Butter Souffle and BC Organic Pemberton Pink which is such an incredible BC genetic that we named it after the town where we grow it!
Finally, we are super excited about the upcoming limited release of BC Organic Dancehall our more balanced THC:CBD strain that will appeal to consumers looking for a more gentle experience and the benefits of a full spectrum of THC and CBD cannabinoids.
Can you give us a sneak peek of what’s in store for Coast Mountain Cannabis in the future?
We talked about strains, but on the product side we are excited to be bringing out our first launch of pre-rolls in the same great strains. The first of these should drop in October. Initially these will be offered in packs of 3 x 0.5g, but we will add 5 packs soon after. Eventually we hope to offer a mixer to give people a chance to experience three different strains in one box.
We are also planning to release the strains mentioned above in large format, most likely 14g. A lot of our consumers have found their favourite CMC strain in the 3.5g format but now want the opportunity to buy the same great quality premium flower in larger formats. Once again, we are looking to release these before the end of the year. As with all our products we only use glass or cardboard and never use plastic packaging.
Lastly, you have a very close relationship with the local community in Pemberton. Can you tell us a bit about that and how it’s important to you?
Pemberton is a small tight-knit community, built around a healthy outdoor lifestyle, and Coast Mountain Cannabis are proud to be a part of it. Our entire team is drawn from the incredible pool of talent that lives in the area and call it home. That ensures that our success and the income from the jobs we create flows back into the local economy. We also recognize that we are located within the unceded territory of the Lilwat Nation and honour their language, culture and history and look forward to working more closely in partnership with them going forward.
Back to all posts
