MICHIGAN—If you ask 10 Michigan stoners who’s growing the best weed in the state, you’ll get about 15 different answers. So, this year, I asked thousands of them.
For most of August and September, readers of The MichiGanja Report—our free newsletter about Michigan cannabis—cast their ballots in our poll to find the best weed in the state.
The rules were simple: Vote for up to three brands. One ballot per person. Write-ins welcome. Any company actively growing for Michigan’s recreational marijuana market was fair game. I also asked everyone to ignore the marketing. This contest isn’t about fun packaging, slick branding, or clever strain names. It’s about who’s actually growing good weed.
Here are the 10 brands that received the most votes:
Information Entropy
If you spend 30 seconds on Michigan’s cannabis subreddit, you’ll see why this brand collected more votes than any other cultivation company on the list. In addition to operating two dispensaries in Ann Arbor and New Buffalo, Information Entropy also grows all of its own marijuana in-house—then turns it into everything from live rosin to vape pens to gummies.
I wrote a whole review of the brand earlier this year. The hype is real.
Hytek
Hytek’s growers learned their craft long before legalization, in basements, barns, and warehouses across Michigan, with a simple goal: to produce “endless fire.”
In 2016, the company’s founder bought a rundown property in Detroit and spent five years rehabbing it into an operation that now spans a full city block and employs more than 30 people.
I’ve featured Hytek in The MichiGanja Report newsletter plenty of times—and for good reason. This brand is consistently churning out some of the most flavorful, potent weed in the state.
710 Labs
The only multi-state brand on this list, and it earned its spot.
710 Labs was founded in Boulder, Colorado, in 2009 and got its name from concentrate culture: Flip “710” upside down and it spells “OIL.” The company launched in Michigan in late 2022 and has built a cult following in just about every state where it’s sold.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: This is top-shelf weed from a top-shelf company.
Favrd
Favrd was started by two growers with more than two decades in the game, mostly in New York’s medical marijuana scene. They launched in 2019 with classic strains like Trainwreck and Jack Herer, and they’ve since built out a huge catalog that’s now sold exclusively in Michigan.
When I reviewed four strains this summer, the cure is what stood out most: sticky buds, no dust at the bottom of the bag, and loud terpenes at only about $75 a half-ounce.
It’s some of the best money I’ve spent on weed in years.
Growing Pains
Growing Pains started out as a caregiver operation in a basement. Today, the Paw Paw brand grows out of a 17,000-square-foot facility, produces roughly 250 pounds of weed each month, and sells it at more than 100 dispensaries across Michigan. But even at that scale, every bud is still trimmed by hand. And that obsession with post-harvest handling shows up in every jar.
During my tour, I learned the company’s whole cannabis growing philosophy boils down to three things, in this order: smoothness, flavor, and effects. And judging by the votes, it’s working.
Local Grove
Based in Harrison Township, Local Grove is an owner-operated grow operation that’s rooted in Michigan’s caregiver era. And the team there takes a craft-first approach to cultivation.
The brand says most of its strains are pheno-hunted and selected from seed in-house.
When I picked up two half-ounce jars this spring—Swampwater Fumez and Count Chunkula—both were frosty, properly trimmed, and cured the way good weed should be.
In a market full of dried-out disappointments, that alone goes a long way.
Voyage Bloom
Brandon Coffield launched Voyage Bloom as a caregiver operation in his basement in 2021 before moving into a licensed grow north of Flint the following year. Inside, every harvest is trimmed by hand, and a real team of humans rolls every joint. It also swept three first-place Zalympix awards in 2024, for best overall flower, best terpenes, and best-tasting flower.
Coffield sent me six strains from his latest harvest this summer, and there wasn’t a dud in the box—all at only about $25 an eighth. Six for six is hard for any grower to pull off.
MI Loud Flower Farms
MI Loud Flower Farms is a family-owned craft grow operation in Jackson that got its start in 2018 as a medical marijuana facility and has since expanded into the recreational market.
The pitch is simple: weed you’d trust enough to share with friends and family.
The plants there reportedly stay in the ground up to 20 days longer than at a typical commercial grow, every bud is trimmed by hand, and each batch slow-cures for nearly a full month. That’s a whole lot of patience in a market that usually rushes things. If you see it on the shelf, grab it.
Premier Cannabis Farms
You might know them better as “517.”
This family-owned brand has been growing for decades, from the pre-legalization days through the medical program and into the recreational market in 2022. Every plant at their Lansing facility is watered and trimmed by hand, harvests are never remediated, and the buds always get a slow cure. The jars even list what music was played for the plants while they grew.
When I splurged on two strains over the holidays last year, I got the most potent, unadulterated high I’d had from Michigan weed in years. The 517 Headband genuinely humbled me.
Freshy Fine
The name comes from an old-school stoner custom: making sure everyone in the circle gets a fresh, green hit. This family-owned company has caregiver roots, and its team claims more than 100 years of combined experience across Colorado, Oregon, and Michigan. The focus is on premium strains, grown with an old-school approach and an obsession with consistency.
It’s also probably the most affordable brand on this list—which makes it an easy one to try.
The bottom line
Read back through that list and a pattern jumps out.
Nearly all of these brands trace their roots to the caregiver days or earlier—back when growing weed usually meant keeping your mouth shut and your windows covered. Most are small and family-owned. And they all still grow like they expect to smoke it with you.
Thanks to everyone who voted.
I’ll run this poll again next year, and I’m already curious to see who climbs the list.
READ MORE: 6 quick hits of cannabis news from across Michigan
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