The products that Papa & Barkley made

The top brand Papa & Barkley on the west coast was founded in summer 2016 by Adam Grossman and Guy Rocourt. Known for her infused creams, balms, and tinctures, she has been successful since day one.

I recently went on a zoom with Rocourt, the brand’s co-founder and chief product officer, to discuss the history of Papa & Barkley and the products that have made a name for themselves in California.

The origins of Papa & Barkley

When Grossman’s father was diagnosed with spinal stenosis in early 2015, he was bedridden and completely immobile. At one point, doctors told Grossman that he could be bedridden for the rest of his life if his father didn’t move soon.

The drugs he had been prescribed hadn’t helped, so Grossman took matters into his own hands. He had researched the benefits of cannabis and after watching a YouTube video about homemade topicals, he made his own batch to save his father’s life. Grossman immediately believed in the healing powers of cannabis and began working on the idea of ​​Papa & Barkley to help anyone else who needed help. “It worked pretty quickly with his father. From there, Adam carried it on, passed it on to friends and received a lot of positive feedback, ”said Rocourt.

Shortly after his father’s experience with cannabis topicals, Grossman was in Los Angeles. Here he met Guy Rocourt, who had just returned to California after years of growing cannabis in the Colorado market. Rocourt had the grass growing experience necessary to produce high quality products, while Grossman had business start-up and capital raising experience. So the two began developing wellness products under the names Papa & Barkley – “Papa” for Adam’s father and “Barkley” for the dog that never left his father’s side.

Success came almost immediately when Papa & Barkley started winning Cannabis Cups within a year of its inception; and frankly, they haven’t stopped winning since then. Today Papa & Barkley is the top wellness brand in California with a whole portfolio of different companies and products under one roof.

These are the products that Papa & Barkley made.

2015: Papa & Barkley Releaf Balm

Before Papa & Barkley were on the shelves of pharmacies, it was underground in a basement where Grossman prepared a pain reliever balm for his father’s back problems. He used a crockpot to make the balm, using ingredients he bought from Whole Foods and an how-to video he found on YouTube. This would be Papa & Barkley’s first official product and its current flagship product: the Papa & Barkley Releaf Balm.

“Our very first product was the balm. When we hit the market, we were already making the tinctures. Tinctures and topicals are the first high times [Cannabis Cup] with, ”said Rocourt.

2016-2017: Papa & Barkley Releaf Tinctures, Releaf Patches

When they saw how effective the crockpot balm was, the P&B guys knew they had something special. In 2016, the company entered the medical cannabis market with its first product line: the Papa & Barkley Releaf Balm, together with the Releaf Tinctures and Releaf Patches in various 3: 1 and 1: 3 THC: CBD ratios.

The topicals and tinctures were instantly popular. So popular that 2017 the brand’s 1: 3 CBD Relief Balm was named “Best Topical” at the NorCal Cannabis Cup. Rocourt recalls: “We had the first mover advantage and we had the good products, the sticky products. I literally handcrafted all of these initial products with Adam and the team as they expanded. ”

This initial success led Grossman and Rocourt to continue the brand’s rapid innovation. In late 2017, Papa & Barkley increased their ratio with the release of the 30: 1 CBD: THC and 1: 3 CBD: THC Releaf tinctures.

2018: Papa’s Selected Live Extracts

In September 2018, Papa & Barkley launched the Papa’s Select Living Extracts brand for concentrates. “We made bubble hash from day one. Papa’s Select was launched in September 2018. It was aimed at cannasers who appreciate the ritual of consumption, high quality cannabis, a balanced high and a clean inhalation. ”

As with the topics, success was immediate. A few months after its launch, Papa’s Select crushed the concentrate categories at the Emerald Cup in Northern California 2019 and won first to third place in Ice Water Hash with its THC Bomb, Peanut Butter Breath and Wedding Crasher concentrates.

Rocourt stated “Papa’s Select works with 40 Emerald Triangle Farms. We choose partner farms not only for their range of cannabis strains, but also for their growing practices and methods. We understand the culture and lifestyle that created many of these small local farms in Humboldt. It is our mission to honor the know-how of our farmers by producing high quality concentrates in small batches that exemplify the quality of this raw material. “

2019-2020: Papa & Barkley CBD, THC skin care

Until 2019, Papa & Barkley regularly dominated cannabis cups. In 2019, his Releaf Tinctures won second place at the NorCal Cannabis Cup for “Best Infused Product”, while his Releaf Balm won first place for “Best Topical” – the brand overall won third place for “Best Booth”. Combined with the success of Papa’s Select, it was clear that Papa & Barkley had officially become a major player in the industry.

With the passage of the Farm Bill in 2020 that legalized hemp and hemp-derived products across the country, Papa & Barkley grew from a California brand to a national brand. And then came his line of CBD. At the same time, Papa launched its THC-fortified skin care line in California. These products include the CBD Releaf Body Lotion, the CBD Releaf Repair Cream, the CBD Releaf Body Oil and the THC Releaf Body Lotion.

2020-2021: Papa & Barkley Releaf Gummies and Releaf Chocolate Bars

Between 2020 and 2021, Papa & Barkley jumped into the edible game with their Releaf Gummies and Releaf Chocolates. The gummies with 5 milligrams of THC per serving are available in four flavors: berry explosion, juicy orange, tart apple and wild strawberry. The infused chocolate bars with 10 milligrams of THC per serving are available in dark chocolate and sea salt as well as in milk chocolate. These edibles are available in California.

2021: Papa & Barkley Sleep Releaf Suite, Papa’s Select Live Hash Gummies

By this point, its topicals, tinctures, and hash lines have cemented Papa & Barkley as a staple in the cannabis industry. In April 2021, after the cancellation of the Emerald Cup 2020, P&B again conquered the solvent-free, Ice Water Hash category with its strawberry jelly, kombucha and garlic juice concentrates. The Releaf Balm also won the Men’s Health Award for “Best CBD Balm”.

Papa & Barkley introduces fans to the world of CBN, a minor cannabinoid with potentially sedative properties, with its latest offering, a full line of sleep-promoting products. The suite includes a dark candy bar, gummy drops, a tincture, and capsules that contain a CBD: THC: CBN ratio of 2: 4: 1.

In addition, Papa’s Select Live has released Ice Water Hash Gummies. If history suggests, these products could soon be some of the best-selling products in the wellness game. You could check out your next cup winners.

Selected images by Papa & Barkley