Last weekend was the 14th annual celebration of the Emerald Cup at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, California. The size of the event continued to increase this year and the high attendance numbers were surely boosted by two days of sunny, 70-degree weather.
Without a doubt, the most remarkable aspect of this years event was how organized it was. In past years, lines were often slow and workers needed to find supervisors to ask questions. Since we are all fans of Emerald Cup, most took this inconvenience with a smile. That said, at some points in past years, it could take more than an hour to get your 215 wristband or to get in the front gates. Not this year! Attendees were whisked through the gates, press passes were at the ready, 215 bands seemed to be issued as fast as people could walk up to the table and show their doctor’s recommendation and the speaker rooms were on time and packed.
The fairgrounds were also so much more beautiful this year, with lights in the trees, well-adorned stages, and the extras that change an event from looking thrown together to being a real sight to see! This was a huge improvement over the history of Emerald Cup and those working the event knew it. Staff members were full of smiles, unstressed and mentioned several times how well trained they felt they were for the weekend.
It was so extraordinary, I asked Emerald Cup what was at the heart of the huge change versus past years. Here’s the response:
Without a doubt, The Emerald Cup’s new production partner, led by Jim Lewi, made it possible for us to “up our game” this year. In terms of talent acquisition and over-all production, working with Jim’s team gave us access to some of the best and brightest professionals in the industry, adding years of experience and wisdom to The Cup’s core team. This included a world-class art director, head of security, and head of operations. Combining this crew of all-stars with The Emerald Cup’s core team of cannabis-industry experts who share Tim Blake’s unwavering commitment to cannabis education and organic, regenerative farming and lifestyle, led to a challenging, inspiring, and ultimately very productive collaboration. As a whole, we feel very proud of what our new team accomplished together in 2017, but we’re just getting started. We can’t wait for our fans to see what we have planned for 2018.
No doubt. The addition of Jim Lewi to the leadership team has remade the event into something very professional.
Lemon Crush from Molecular Farms won in the flower category this year. A full list of winners is also included below.
The weather was sunny and in the 70s both days, allowing folks to peel off coats and get some sun on their skin. It clearly helped everyone’s mood, too, because smiles were everywhere. Last year’s rain meant attendees would often toke and then step out into cool, gray weather and sometimes rain — but this year felt like a summer day even though it was early December. This meant that vendors, speakers, scientists and others were able to do a lot of networking outdoors, which is one of the most valuable aspects of Emerald Cup for industry players. People from all over the world come to the cup with a list of people to talk and trade with.
The highlight of the event for many every year is the 215 medical tent, where top vendors of flower, oils, edibles and genetics provide for California patients. As would be expected, booth design, packaging design, product diversity and overall availability was way up this year. That said, many of the top genetics providers sold out midday on Sunday because so many patients save their money all year to get the latest seeds at this event and come ready to buy in volume. In fact, other revered breeders like Dungeons Vault Genetics sold out of the limited editions within the first hours of the event. A positive upside from this was that some lesser-known breeders had lines at their booth on Sunday afternoon and will no doubt have increased visibility over the next year because of growers using their seed stock. Flower vendors said that sales volumes were way up this year too. There is no way to know if it was simply because of the increased attendance or because cannabis is going to be taxed in a month, but, for whatever reason, vendors and attendees were both thrilled.
The panels and speakers this year were, again, top notch. Most of the panels were standing room only, as usual at Emerald Cup. That’s what happens when you have exceptionally relevant speakers. Included in the speakers this year were Ganjapreneur podcast guests Eric Brandstad, Martin Lee, Kristin Nevedal and Mowgli Holmes. Be sure to check those interviews out.
While our team missed most of the music artists because we were interviewing cannabis luminaries, second-hand reports of The Roots, Portugal. The Man and others were exceptionally upbeat and there were none of the ticketing issues that plagued last year’s Damian Marley performance.
One topic that was on everyone’s lips was the coming launch of the recreational cannabis market. What will happen to medical? How many licenses will be issued? What the hell were regulators thinking in removing the one-acre cap that protected artisan farmers for the first five years of legalization? It was exceptionally refreshing to hear so much public policy being discussed in the cannabis community. And we don’t just mean complaining. The whole Ganjapreneur team reported spending time in groups of folks having very well informed discussions on the new California cannabis regulations, how they might impact their businesses and what could be done to make them even better.
Another remarkable aspect is that the California black market is not going anywhere. For every entrepreneur excited about their state license were two producers saying that they were headed back to growing for black market and out-of-state sales because the California regulations were overly restrictive. We’ve seen this in every state to legalize so far. At some point, regulators will have to understand that treating cannabis as a dangerous drug instead of a healing herb and applying a “sin tax” and unnecessarily burdensome regulations just creates the diversion they are trying to prevent.
No doubt, next year’s Emerald Cup under the new California laws will be a brand new landscape of vendors. We are excited to see what happens and you can be sure Ganjapreneur will be there to tell you about it.
Complete List of Winners for the Emerald Cup 2017
Flower
1st – Molecular Farms – Lemon Crush
2nd – 3rd Gen Family x Dying Breed Seeds – Roze
3rd – Malcolm Hunter – Cultivate for the Cure Mac Daddy – OG Private Reserve
4th – Pure Melt Rosin Ranch – Mimosa #3
5th – Grownwell Farms – Sour Tangie
6th – Tarhill Cannabis – Lemon Hashplant
7th – Eel River Sanctuary – Humble Pie
8th – Endo – Lemon Tree
9th – Tarhill Cannabis – Pink Lemonade
10th – Kings of the North – Glue Trap
11th – Wynter Farms – Lemon Kush
12th – Golden Lion Genetics – Berry Cobbler
13th – Royal Budline – Tangie Select
14th – Greenshock Farms – Purple Candy Cane
15th – Farmers Reserve – Gelato 33
16th – Rebel Grown – Double OG Chem #7
17th – Booney Acre Farm – Mimosa
18th – Armando’s Private Reserve – Gorilla Dawg
19th – Higher Flower – Scooby Snacks
20th – Kings of the North – White Tahoe Cookies
21st – Molecular Farms – Gewurztraimer
22nd – Molecular Farms – Candy Limeade
23rd – Salmuri – Zkittles
24th – Eden Farms x Karls Select – Stardawg Afgoo
25th – Derek’s Organic Anderson Valley Garden – In the Pines
Light Dep Flower
1st – Eden Farms – Edens White Fire
2nd – Royal Budline – Zkittles
3rd – Spring Creek Farm – Silver OG
4th – Eden Farms – Grape Soda
5th – O.C.S. Original Connoisseur Society – Black Pearl
6th – Casa Humboldt – Blueberry Muffin 10
7th – Connected Cannabis Company – Smarties
8th – Forever Honeydew Farms – Cheese
9th – Humboldt Redwood Healing – Sour OG
10th – Phytologie – Lemon Crush
CBD
Flowers
1st – Molecular Farms – Guava Jam
2nd – Abatin Farms – Kashmir Jade
Concentrate
1st – Gold Drop x Blue River – CBDiamonds
2nd – Gold Drop x Blue River – Star Crystals
Edibles
1st – OM Edibles – CBD Mango
2nd – Lifted – Sour Bites
Topical
1st – CAD (Carters Aromatherapy Designs) – CBD Pain Cream
2nd – Prana – Prana Nectar Balm
Tincture
1st – Treatwell – Balance
2nd – Miracle Relief – Pure CBD Sublingual Serum
Concentrates
Solventless
1st – Ahti Hash x Tarhill Cannabis – Pink Lemonade
2nd – Moonshine Melts x 3rd Gen Family x Dying Breed Seeds – Gak Melon
3rd – Moonshine Melts x 3rd Gen Family x Dying Breed Seeds x Lempire Farms – Lem
4th – Moonshine Melts x 3rd Gen Family x Dying Breed Seeds – Zkittlez
5th – Ahti Hash x Tarhill Cannabis – The Ringer
6th – Ahti Hash x Tarhill Cannabis – OG Chem
7th – Moonshine Melts x 3rd Gen Family x Dying Breed Seeds – Muffins
8th – Moonshine Melts x 3rd Gen Family x Dying Breed Seeds – Banana Pudding
9th – Moonshine Melts x 3rd Gen Family x Dying Breed Seeds – 4 Locoz
10th – Ahti Hash x Tarhill Cannabis – OGiesel
Rosin
1st – Moonshine Melts x 3rd Gen Family x Dying Breed Seeds – Muffinz
2nd – Moonshine Melts x 3rd Gen Family x Dying Breed Seeds – Zkittlez
3rd – Ahti Hash x Tarhill Cannabis – Pink Lemonade
4th – Connoisseur Union – Tropical Zmoothie
5th – Terp Hogz x Green Fieldz x Cold Water Concoctions – Zmoothie
6th – Connoisseur Union x Rosin Brothers – Zkittlez
7th – Moonshine Melts x 3rd Gen Family x Dying Breed Seeds – 4 Locoz
8th – Moonshine melts x 3rd Gen Family x Dying Breed Seeds – Hot Lixz #3
9th – Ahti Hash x Green R Fieldz x Terp Hogz – Zkittlez
10th – Connoisseur Union – Mandarin Zkittles
CO2
1st – Serenity Sunset Sherbet CO2 – Cryo Sauce
2nd – Big sur extracts/Indigo Pro (Producer Series) – Cloud Drop
3rd – Wildseed in collaboration with Cannabis refined – Berry White C02 Cartridge
4th – HILLSTRONG – The Clean
5th – Eel River Organics .5g C02 Cartridge – Fog Berry
6th – Caliva – Kiss the sky
7th – Super Critical THC x First MC Processing – Cherry Pie Surprise
8th – Eden Extracts – Sunset Sherbert
9th – Eel River Organics – .5g C02 Cartridge – Ancient Lime
10th – Wildseed in collaboration with Cannabis Refined – Sour Diesel C02 Cartridge
Distillate
1st – Gold Drop x Blue River – Island Girl
2nd – Gold Drop x Blue River x Lemon Tree – Lemon Tree
3rd – Chemistry – Tangerine Power Full-spectrum Vape Cart
4th – Airo Brands x Higher Vision Cannabis x Humboldt Medicine Man – Strawberry Banana Sherbet Super Oil by IndigoPro with High Vision Cannabis
5th – Happy Sticks – Sunset Gelato
6th – Wildseed x Cannabis Refined – Gelato
7th – Kurvana – ASCND Purple Punch
8th – Airo Brands x Premium Extracts, Inc – IndigoPro Lemon Sherbet with Premium Extracts
9th – Gold Drop x Blue River x Fig Farms – Purple Fig
10th – Level x Essenciere – UK Cheese
Infused
Edibles
1st – Utopia Farms – Peanut Butter Macarron
2nd – Higher Confections x Revolution Emporium – Sea Salted Caramel
3rd – Zendo – Zendo Honey Sea Salt Almonds
4th – Connoisseur’s Union x She’s Baked Desserts – Lemon Drop Cake Jar
5th – Potisserie Infused Edibles x High Standard Organics – Half Baked Brittle
6th – Zendo – Zendo Peanut Butter
7th – Buena Leaf – Spicy Cheezy Popcorn
8th – Moonstone Medicinals – Herba Mate
9th – Higher Confections x Revolution Emporium – Higher Confections Peppermint Patties
10th – Outer Galactic Chocolates – Outer Galactic Chocolates Dark
Tincture
1st – The Squishery – 1:1 Tincture
2nd – Magnolia Mountain – Vanilla Rosa Cannabis Tincture
3rd – Dank Granny – Evening Blend-Herbally Enhanced Tincture
4th – Magnolia Mountain – Chai Spice Cannabis Tincture
5th – Emergent Botanicak – Liquid Pain Relief
6th – Fiddler’s Greens – 1:1 Ratio CBD to THC
7th – Treatwell – THC
8th – Kings Table – Ancient Remedy – Tincture 500mg THC
9th – Terphogz/connoisseur union – Zkittlez Tincture
10th – Miracle Releaf – 1:20 Sublingual Serum
Topical
1st – Newell’s Botanicals – Deep Skin Penetrating Topical Oil
2nd – Flower Power Force – Field Skin Serum
3rd – Eightfold Medicinals – Pain Relief Salve
4th – Ancient Seeds – Ancient Seeds “Da Balm” 700mg cannabinoids
5th – North Bay Nectar – Eucalyptus SPearmint Extra Strength Muscle Rub
6th – Awakened Topicals – Pain Stick
7th – Flora Folium x Sweet Creek Farm – Herbal Salve
8th – North Bay Nectar – Vanilla Bean Cinnamon Leaf Body Budder
9th – Sunnabis – F* Cancer Face Oil
10th – Todem – Todem Salt Soak
Innovation
Innovative Product
1st – Sunnabis – Festival Throat Spray CBD Formula
Terpene Categories
Most Unique Profile
Tie
Abatin Farms – Hawaiian Sunrise – Ocimene dominant, 2:1 CBD:THC
Greenshock Farms – Hawaiian Sleigh Ride – Ocimene dominant THC variety
Highest total terpene content (flower)
Greenshock Farms – Tropical Sleigh Ride – 27.4% Total Cannabinoids, 4.8% Total terpene content
Highest total terpene content (distillate)
GoldDrop – Gelato – 1:1 Cannabinoid to Terpene ratio: ~48% THC, ~48% Total terpene content (Limonene dominant)
Highest total terpene content (vape pen)
Pure Organic Oil – Poo-e-labs – Pakalolo stix
Highest total terpene content (solventless concentrate)
Terp Hogz x Green Fieldz x cold water concoctions – Zmoothie – 12% total terpene content, Beta Caryophyllene dominant
Cannabinoid Awards
Highest THC (flower)
Higher Flower – Gorilla Breath – 30% THCA ,33% total cannabinoids
Highest THC (distillate)
King Table – Ancient Remedy – Raw Distillate – 88% THC
Highest THCv concentrate/vape pen)
CA Cannabinoids Dougs – varin x Dougie’s Farm – 3:1 THC:THCV (~13.5% THCV)
Highest CBDa (flower)
Green Goddess Organics – Suzy Q ~16% CBDA
Highest CBD (concentrates)
Golddrop x Blue River – Star Crystals – 92% CBD
Regenerative Farm Award
Flower Daze Farm
Briceland Flower Farm
Lionpaw Organics
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