The Emerald Cup: history and origins

The Emerald Cup, or Emerald Cup, is a cannabis competition—a smaller, high-quality version of the Cannabis Cups sponsored by High Times. It features only organically grown, outdoor-cultivated cannabis plants. Here is its story, as told by its founder, Tim Blake, manager of Healing Harvest Farm.

«In the fall of 2003, I was talking with a friend of mine about how Mendocino (a region in California) produced the best weed on the planet, but nobody knew it. That was back when organizing a public competition was still risky. We didn’t advertise—we just put up a few posters at the last minute, spread the word a bit by word of mouth, and 23 people showed up to compete in the first weed contest.”.

The crowd was very small, and very few people were willing to show their faces, let alone come forward to claim their prize. However, the evening got off to a quick start, and—aside from possible undercover police officers—everything went off without a hitch. In fact, in California, most cannabis farms are illegal, and law enforcement crackdowns—despite the legalization of medical cannabis—are still common.

The following year, the event grew a bit; more posters were put up, word of mouth spread more widely, and the message got through. Gradually, the Emerald Cup took off. Forty-three tickets were sold, and the weed was much better than the year before because the growers had started growing their plants in direct sunlight instead of under grow lights.

It was also the final appearance by Vince Welnick, a well-known musician in the United States who has played with the bands The Tubes and Grateful Dead.

For the third edition of the Emerald Cup, we all had medical licenses, and everyone was growing outdoors. Cannabis was beginning to become a fully accepted part of American life. For the fourth edition, there were 51 participants, and in 2009, 99—all organic and grown outdoors. In 2010, we surpassed 150 entries for the first time.

The selection process has become more difficult year after year. Weed is judged based on its color, smell, trichomes, crystals, taste, vibrancy, and, finally, how it alters consciousness. »Contestants must register one month before the Cup so that all entries can be judged."

The 2015 Emerald Cup will be held on December 12 and 13. It now features several categories of cannabis, including natural forms, concentrates, and varieties classified by CBD content. All varieties entered in the competition are tested beforehand to ensure their quality, particularly to verify that they have not been grown with pesticides.