“From the get-go, our intention was to differentiate ourselves and look for products and form factors that didn’t exist in the market.” -Tanmoy “TJ” Jadhav, owner of Mojo Botanica
For this South Orange resident, that meant learning from the absolute best. TJ reached out to Tony Verzura, founder of Blue River and a true pioneer when it comes to solventless extraction. “Tony is part of the group that basically invented live rosin as a concept back in the early 2000s,” TJ explains.
Those conversations led to an opportunity TJ couldn’t pass up. At the time, Tony was experimenting with Ampersand, a new kind of oral cannabis concentrate, and TJ immediately saw the potential. He got involved early to help launch it, including one of the first times Ampersand was sampled at MJ Unpacked in Atlantic City in partnership with Mojo Botanica. The response was immediate, and TJ knew this kind of innovation needed a home in New Jersey. Based on the Ampersand technology, The Highly Co became one of Mojo Botanica’s first products, but turning that vision into a licensed business wasn’t as easy.
After a grueling four-year process filled with applications, permits and fees, TJ poured every last dollar of his savings into bringing Mojo Botanica to life. In October 2025, they officially secured both cultivation and manufacturing licenses. Today, Mojo Botanica is up and running out of a 10,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Elizabeth, focused on crafting thoughtful solventless extractions, with plans to activate its cultivation license in the coming year.
Meet TJ
“I’m a joint person. I roll my own and have for over 20 years. I take pride in my joints and I’ll accept a joint roll-off challenge from anybody!” -TJ
Before perfecting pre-rolls, TJ’s first introduction to cannabis started overseas. Growing up in India, cannabis was introduced to him as hash or hashish, a concentrate made by collecting and compressing resin-rich trichomes. India has a tradition of hash making spanning thousands of years, often tied to medicinal and spiritual practices.
His first experience as a consumer came later, during undergrad in Canada, and his love for it quickly grew into a side hustle.
Still, a future in cannabis felt far off. “Coming from a traditional South Asian family, cannabis wasn’t a career path,” TJ says. “And Canada at that time had not been fully legalized. So I went to the traditional corporate route.” TJ went on to successfully work in finance, commodities trading, asset management and consulting, all while never fully letting go of his entrepreneurial drive or his love for cannabis.
After a 20-year run in the corporate world building products, brands and teams, TJ decided to apply that experience to building businesses of his own. He went on to launch two restaurants and a consulting company to help mom and pop businesses get online and sell during COVID. When legalization hit in 2021, it felt like destiny calling him to do both things he loves. Thus, Mojo Botanica was born.
Supporting Indie Cultivators
“We focus on smaller, mom and pop, artisanal craft farms, because that’s who we are.” -TJ
As a small business, everything Mojo Botanica crafts is small-batched and intentional. That’s why it was important for them to source from independent craft cultivators, even if it means paying more for the quality. They currently partner with some of the best cannabis grows in NJ: Neptune’s Garden, Hamilton Farms and Bass River Buds. As well as gorgeous sun-grown flower from Glass Meadows and North Lake Supply. “They don’t always have the most biomass,” TJ explains, “But they have some of the best flower. We source as much as we can and do our best with it.”
Highly Original & Effective
“It is the cleanest way to consume cannabis. I will accept anybody’s challenge otherwise.” -TJ
Say hello one of NJ’s most innovative products in the cannabis market: The Highly Co-Labs. It’s a solventless, water-soluble hash rosin powder designed to dissolve in your mouth or mix easily into drinks or food.
Why we’re obsessed:
- It’s clean. Made using only water, ice, pressure and natural plant ingredients, the high feels more energetic and euphoric, without the heavy couch-lock you might get from other products.
- It’s versatile. Eat it, sip it, mix it in. Even infusing food is easy! Because it’s water soluble, it blends smoothly without clumping and distributes THC evenly throughout every batch, giving you predictable, consistent dosing every time.
- It’s fast-acting. Unlike traditional edibles that rely on digestion (and take hours to hit), this dissolves quickly and absorbs through your lymphatic system (the onset is between 5-15 minutes). The best part is it works for people who swear edibles “don’t work” on them.
- It’s functional. Each blend is thoughtfully formulated with minor cannabinoids to support different moments and moods. Dial in your day with Zen, Social, Snoozy, Productive or keep it strain-specific with Original Grease Bucket or Tropical Cherry!
Fun fact: The name Highly comes from TJ being known as a highly functional stoner back in the days.
If you have more questions, swing by and we’d be happy to answer them!
Hashtag OG x Blue River
“Bring the best possible hash to the state” -TJ
Keep your eyes on these Jersey hashmakers. Hashtag OG is teaming up with Blue River and gearing up to launch hash rosin vape, live rosin vape, infused pre rolls and pre rolls. Stay tuned!
Shop: Hash Rosin Gummy Bar
Visit Pure Blossom for Cannabis and Other Essentials
Explore Pure Blossom’s curated selection of New Jersey cannabis brands and essential accessories. Whether you’re doing the old Google thing, searching for a dispensary near me or nearby dispensaries in New Jersey, Pure Blossom is a short, scenic, calming drive away, and our friendly guide-connoisseurs are excited to take you through our curated selection of New Jersey cannabis brands (and other essentials). We’ll see you there!