Veterans of the specialty coffee scene, Emily and Megan’s great energy and good taste can be felt throughout the entire eclectically considered space: rad retail, community forward programming and some of the best coffee, chai and vibes in Brooklyn.

Till Death was originally meant to be a warehouse space to work on motorcycles? How did you end up in this lot beneath the subway line?

EMILY: We wanted a warehouse that would have tools that you could use and be able to rent time with lifts, etc. There are garages like that now but a lot of them just have a very high entry rate with membership requirements. We were gonna do a small cafe walkup window at the front of the warehouse because we both knew coffee. We knew we could make money doing that. The motorcycle thing would be more of a learning experience on the business side. So, when I called the landlord about a warehouse space off of Craigslist, he said he had already rented it out – but introduced us to this space. After we got going here, it was like – thank god we didn't do a warehouse space. First of all, rent was at least double and it would've been a lot harder to get licensing and to deal with building codes. It's just a mess. So, we're technically a food truck and that's a lot simpler of a process to go through for the Department of Health.

MEGAN: In terms of Covid, it's been rad to have a completely outdoor space. Also in terms of motorcycles. We're on the street essentially. So, you know, we don't have to worry about noise or spilling things or neighbors. We're right by the train. 

EMILY: So, if you can sleep through the train, you can deal with a couple motorcycle crowds, you know?

Probably one of the coolest parts about Til Death is your simple but dynamic programming. How are you meeting some of these collaborators?

EMILY: A lot of people hit us up. We did a couple nights with a jazz band we met through an event that somebody else put on in our space. 

MEGAN: We meet a lot of people through people that are brought by people doing their own event. Once we meet people, it's an easy space to expand how many people we now know in the community.

What are your preferences for events in space? Is the goal really to be a vessel for the community?

EMILY: More that for sure. I mean, since we opened, I really wanted to do a jazz night, so that was really exciting for me; this is in our space and this is something that I wanted to do for a while. 

MEGAN: It's what we wanna do and then also what everyone wants to do. That's the rad part about it. We always say that we're able to do what we're good at and enjoy in this space and we want that to be the same for anybody who comes in and to have a space that's accessible and not too pricey. It's very comforting and welcoming. We know we have good people around us. You know you're coming into a good space. It's always cohesive. We've had all sorts of different stuff go on and it kind of doesn't seem to matter what we do; there's people that are interested and are hype to be here and hype to support other local people.

MEGAN: I feel like my friends. I think especially growing up in a very small conservative town, I was very inspired by my friends who were fully themselves, vocal about it and putting themselves out there in a place that could be pretty scary. My friends have continued throughout my whole life to be a big inspiration and have taught me so much about discovering myself and being comfortable and confident and kind of expanding where I'm at, what I'm thinking.

EMILY: Growing up in a very bible belt, religious home, everything in that realm was not allowed. Not allowed to watch Will and Grace; like very specific; not allowed to even interact with anything that was in that realm. So, personally I feel like most of my influences have been from moving to New York. Whether it's people in the coffee industry – because we have such a huge, dynamic demographic of people.

What were some of your first experiences with cannabis?

MEGAN: It was a pretty standard kid situation, you know, sneaking around, feeling real crazy having one nug in my possession. I think I had kind of a reintroduction and appreciation as an adult. I feel like I had my second, first time a little bit. 

EMILY: Where did you get it?

MEGAN: We did have someone selling weed in school. It was one person and everyone knew. I made my friend do it for me because I was scared. 

EMILY: That was like me. I got you to buy my first one! I was like, you have a dealer? Here’s some money. I moved here for my now ex-husband's cancer. He had a medical marijuana card, did vapes and tinctures and things like that. But first recreational-recreational, I went to Seattle for the Specialty Coffee Association. Went head to head with my boss at the time, who was like 300 pounds, on edibles. I just lost my brain.

MEGAN: Zooted.

EMILY: Since then I’ve done edibles here at work and one event Megan had to finish it out because I was up in the RV, behind the passenger seat, asleep. I just had to lay down. I'm missing half of the conversation, I'm blacking out. And she's like, “Go lay down, baby.”

Are you both excited about the future of cannabis in New York?

MEGAN:  I think it's definitely interesting to watch this huge shift go on. I mean a space I appreciate is to be able to walk into a bodega and grab it and not be waiting for the dude I text who is like, “I'll be there soon.” And it's like three hours. The convenience aspect is sick. I appreciate that. I am a full supporter as long as we're also fully supporting people that have been incarcerated and much worse over much smaller amounts of weed and possession and selling. So I think, yeah, it's exciting. And then also really hoping that the back end's gonna keep up as well and keep people safe and get people out of jail and retroactively fix a lot of wrongs that have gone on around this space.