Adam Mint wants to see the cannabis growers of the Kootenays have an opportunity to finally showcase decades of experience growing craft cannabis to the world. 

Mint, the head grower at Paradise Valley Botanics, located near Nelson, British Columbia, received a micro cultivation licence this past March. Although his first crops are just hitting the BC market, he brings more than 30 years of experience growing cannabis in the Nelson area, joining the ranks of many other micro growers in BC’s Kootenay region.

It’s this rich history that Mint hopes the area can build on, finally welcoming the world to experience its deep community, which has until recently been kept hidden away. 

“When you have an intense concentration of people who have been dedicated to their craft for that long and have given a lot of time, passion, and energy to try and be the best at their craft as they can be, that’s what I strive for, to try to create the best product I can. I would just love it if we could start to showcase all this work we’ve done for so long that has always been underground.”

Mint is also proud of Paradise Valley’s awards over the past few years, which include first and third place flower and third place for hash at the Unicorn Cup 2021, first place at the Karma Cup 2022, first place at the Solstice Cup 2023, and first place Dab A Doo Cup Hash 2023.

While the region’s cannabis community continues to change, he’s hopeful for what the future holds rather than what it once was. Like many, Mint leans on examples of what BC’s Kootenay region can look like from the different regions that have become known for wineries and wine tourism. 

“It won’t be like back in the legacy days where every other person was a grower. But I think we can work together in this community to create an area like Napa or Burgundy in France. Working together to create a regional stronghold that we can promote worldwide. What we have should be broadcast around the world.”

Another way he sees this brand of BC bud being spread worldwide is how many BC micro growers have been finding interest on the international market. 

BC has long been known for cannabis, and now, as consumers in new markets can finally buy some, they are finding their high expectations met, he says. 

Currently, though, Mint’s focus at Paradise Valley is on serving the domestic market. His first products will launch in BC, hopefully followed by Ontario. Ideally, they will sell into BC’s direct delivery program, especially if he and his partners can secure their processing licence. The processing licence could also allow them to begin making their own hash, a skill Mint says he learned in the 90s in India. 

Mint says the team focuses on a high-quality craft product by keeping things small, manageable, and clean. They operate two flowering rooms planted in rockwool with alternating harvests, and one room for mothers and vegging. 

Mint says he brought thousands of plant lines with him into the legal market when he was licensed—including seeds, clones, and mothers—something he’s trying to work his way through while also working to stay ahead of consumer trends.

“My hope is first that consumers can get past this THC myth. As a grower for 31 years, no one has ever mentioned THC levels before. I just think there’s so much more to it. I could do a blind taste test with someone with a 16%er and a 26%er and I don’t think that anyone would ever say they got more stoned from the 26%. So I hope, as consumers, we can really get past that. And that will mean consumers will have access to a lot of great genetics with a lot of different terpene profiles than what’s out right now.”

Again, he points back to the wine industry. 

“When you go on a wine tour, you’re not buying the strongest wine you can buy. You’re buying what tastes good to you, what has an interesting story or farm behind it. And that’s what I think we can build here in the Kootenays, too.”