Working in the cannabis industry can be surreal at times.
I’ve found myself in rooms where cannabis plants stretch as far as the eye can see. I have seen weed in bags piled from floor to ceiling. More recently, I have been fortunate enough to be able to judge a cannabis competition.
The Washington Sungrowers Industry Association (WSIA) is a group of sun-grown and craft cannabis growers, many of whom have been available at The Novel Tree or The Novel Tree Medical for years now. The WSIA has hosted the Sun Cup for outdoor growers, and this was the first year where indoor growers were invited to participate in the first Craft Cannabis Cup. Products were divided into categories like Indoor flower, full term flower, light dep flower, infused pre-rolls, concentrates, edibles, and topicals.
Since cannabis is so unique and special to the individual plant or strain, it can be a very intimidating prospect to rank or judge it. Every sample represents months and years of hard work, growing, and breeding. Even how cannabis affects you is subjective. If you smoke the same thing at different times of the day, or doing different activities, it will affect you differently. So how do you judge cannabis? That was something I struggled with initially when I first received my much-anticipated bag of samples.
Getting Organized: The Judging Begins
Arranging my sample bags, the first thing that I did was line them all up and take them in visually. They were each assigned a random number so that I would be able to keep everything in order as I sampled and judged. Next, I looked closely at each sample and smelled them. I studied the bud structure and density, examining how well each plant was cured, the different colors, and again my favorite thing, the smell. Some of the plants had the most incredible citrus aromas, some like orange, some tropical. Some buds were so purple they were almost black and had the most noxious gas smells (not a bad thing!) that would make a skunk pause and take a note of appreciation. There were beautiful bright green buds, with bright pine smells. All of them stunning in their own way, but it was now my job to figure out which of these really stood out as special and unique.
Sampling Each Amazing Strain While Remaining Objective
I had my plan in place, 1 sample a day until judging was over. This way I could give each plant a fair, objective shake. However, I knew that there would be times that I would get a bright energizing sativa after working all day. I had to remember that even though it was not the right set and setting for those effects, to not hold that against the bud.
I would test each sample the same way. Spend time looking at the bud under a flashlight, squeezing the bud, breaking it a part, grinding it in my grinder, smelling it after it had been freshly ground, and finally packing up my Pax 3 vaporizer. I took notes of anything that made the sample stand out.
I always started my vaporizer at low temperature, this is typically better for demonstrating the terpene profile and really experiencing the taste as well as possible. After starting at low temp vaping for the best flavor profile, I would start to turn up the temperature to get more of the cannabinoids. As I turned up the temperature the effects became more prominent. All of the samples were high THC, so regardless of stimulating or relaxing effects, they all got me pleasantly stoned.
When I discovered a sample that really stood apart from the rest, I would set anything I didn’t finish in my first session aside to test it again at the end for my final judging. While everything was amazing, some of the best cannabis flower from some of the best growers in Washington, there were some that really rose above the rest. I do want to reiterate, there was no bad weed in the samples. It was all phenomenal and world-class. Since everything was high THC, I did however look for attributes that would make a sample really stand out among the crowd of talented contemporaries.
The Final Votes Are Tallied
In the end I had 5 samples that I felt were very special, and things that I would be especially excited to show a guest when they came in the store. I gave each of them a second try before coming up with my final scores, trying to be as objective as possible. Submitting my reviews and scores, I anxiously anticipated hearing the the winners announced. Instead of having a ceremony like years passed, this year the winners were presented over a Zoom-based ceremony due to COVID restrictions.
It was amazing to see so many products carried at The Novel Tree and The Novel Tree Medical come out on top as winners (reiterating that the judging was blind, and there was no way to know which samples you were given). After the winners were announced, judges were given a list of what each sample number corresponded too, and it was fun to put names to the samples and see how the ones I ranked highest stacked up against the competition.
It was an absolute privilege to be included as a judge for the 2021 Craft Cannabis Cup. I want to thank the WSIA for the opportunity, and their continued commitment to supporting craft cannabis growers, and sungrown cannabis growers.
