Walking through the lush understory of Mendocino County Forest, we journey in lively groups toward the statues and halls that hold some of the best cannabis products on the planet.  

We are greeted with smiles, intense coughs, and a thick layer of ganja smoke that proliferates every inch of available air in the room. Assembled teams of cannabis judges line long wooden tables like knights of the round table and with pens in hand, the testing and evaluations commence.  

Rich smells of decadent foods and snacks swell from the kitchen area as hours and hours of conversations on the many types of cannabis flowers, oils, rosins, and extracts take place.   

Each entry is tediously cared for and given to judges with nothing more than a number labeling the jars. SAP quality measures taught by the Ganjier program at times are used, but not always. The Emerald Cup team takes great care in keeping entries secret from us as assessors and the quality of each is top-notch when it's finally rolled, smoked, and scrutinized. 

After submission, each entry is cold-stored and passed to the judging teams weeks before the final competition, giving time for each participant to truly invest their focus into the product assessments. Everything from terpenes to flavonoids is tested, including the consistency in dry weight quality, burn quality, and ash. COAs are submitted with each entry, but judges are not privy to that private information.

As my first experience of judging in 2016 as a rosin and extracts judge, I have had the opportunity to judge several of the categories that they take submissions in. From alternative cannabinoids such as CBD products to tinctures, lotions, and topicals through flowers, each category is treated with care and respect.

Home-grown submissions have proven to be a wonderful way for cultivators to show off their fantastic sungrown products without the pressure of being a legal distributor. This section as well as the cannabis photo competition (judged by the public) brings a wide breadth of exciting opportunities for people within societies.  

As a member of the cannabis industry for 25 years and a patented inventor, my favorite categories to judge are cannabis innovations and edibles. I started my first edibles company in 2001 and it’s amazing to see all the innovative consumable ideas that are now taking place. This category is the only section that is not judged blind, and all aspects of the product are taken into consideration, including labeling, ingredients, sourcing, branding, organic quality, consistency, and stability of infusions.  Everything from cGmP to sustainable packaging becomes part of the conversations.

Tim Blake, founder of The Emerald Cup, made the much-anticipated announcement of the brand new venue in the Bay Area that will become the next greatest cannabis party location on the planet. On May 4th and 5th, we will be gathering at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts building in Oakland California to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Emerald Cup, and all are welcome 

With this whole new venue space, there’s going to be an amazing musical lineup as well as the world-renowned craft farmers marketplace with regeneratively grown cannabis leading the charge! Booths are available for all sorts of different business platforms and a few equity booths will be offered for new businesspeople who want to participate free of charge.

From yoga and spaces to smoke to the best breeders on the globe, this event will have it all.  The evening will be an elegant performance and awards ceremony for all the winners. This new space is an easy place to conveniently fly into and see the diverse, innovative, and resourceful work of California’s best cannabis products, with a trusted reputation on which I stake my career. 

As society slowly integrates cannabis back into the ranks of accepted use, we, as grassroots, legacy farmers, and operators look forward to standing in unity with other states and sectors that join the movement and collaborating with the highest regard for sustainability and earth-conscious innovation. 

Please come join us or submit your finest and show us your fire!!  Either way, I look forward to again joining together with other members of the cannabis community and celebrating another magical year in collaboration. Learn more at Indicainnovations.com