3rd Annual San
Francisco Cannabis Cup 2009
Cafe Cocomo - 650
Indiana Street, San Francisco
November 10th 2009 7pm
to 2am
Well I had to sit on
this subject for a bit before I wrote something about the event. I learned a
lot and in the next few days I will be doing more writing on people and
services that I found out about while there at the Cannabis Cup.
So when I came back and
I was asked by my friends "What was it like", the first thing I could
think of to say was that it was just a tad counter-culture. I mean that when
you find yourself at an event where people can get away with smoking indoors or
out like a concert or such. You catch people sharing the "Ganja" they
pass what they are smoking and you do to. But at the Cannabis Cup it was not
like that at all. I would have thought that at the very least someone would
have said, "Well you like that, try this I grew it this year."
Most of the folks there
were in groups of two to six or so and of course the clicks were
sharing among themselves and you would expect that sort of thing, but
the thing I always loved about smoking Marijuana is that its something you
share with others. But when I offered to smoke some of what I had with others
(and my stuff comes from a premiere dispensary as well) they all turned me
down. It was as if what they had was so much better that whatever anyone else
had. Now I know I sound very whinny but it just seemed strange to me that this
crowd of all others was not more "accommodating" .... is the word I
am looking for.
But aside from that the
evening was a smash! The bands were live and great music was heard all night.
It was not a "Mosh Pit" but the dancing was going on there and the
floor was crowded. The food provided by the sponsors was terrific. I mean the
sandwiches were plentiful and they were of the catered variety. There were
a few bars within Cocomo's so if you wanted to drink you were provided with a
wrist band at the door. Oh and around the Green Cross table they had cotton
candy and popcorn. All around the patio of the club there were munchies like
toffee pecans and different kinds of chips. But the Pista de resistance
was the chocolate fondue with fruit.
There
were other very nice things to eat and it was all worth the general admission
price of $40. Now for the price of $250 you get a sample of each
of the entries to the contest and they say that is guaranteed to be at least 20
of them, this year there were 26 entries, that is the judge pack and you
have to have a doctor’s recommendation to be a judge. At
$350 dollars you get the VIP package which includes all the samples
and access to the VIP lounge at the event, I would expect that in the
VIP area the drinks are free, but I did not ask.
But there
was something strange about the contest, I asked a few questions and learned
that in order to enter the contest you must donate about 2ounces. This is
to enable those participating in the judging to have their samples. (each
sample to the judges is just over a half a gram @ 0.7) but the
strange thing is that whenever you buy the package you
don't receive it until the night of the contest. You are given 20
varieties of marijuana then you are expected to try them all in 4 1/2 hours.
How can you be expected to tell the difference between them all in such a short
time? I thought they would give you some time to try them by giving you the
packet in advance.
And the
other thing, I will give you a list of the entries and the winners in a moment
but of all the 26 entries 17 of them came from the same place. So it makes sense
that the first and second place winners were from that place, it kind of
made the whole thing seem fixed in a way. I mean come on a few hours to
try them and then most of the entries come from the same place
and what do you get? You get the most interesting strains tried and
the others have to wait. I mean I could not try that many different
strains in that time and be able to tell you what I liked. I would
not have the time to sample the best or know which was the worst. (not
that any of them could be bad)
But even
with these drawbacks, I would expect that the Annual Cannabis Cup event will
become a big Bay Area hit in a few more years. The venue was terrific, the
food was better that expected and the entertainment was great! The
people were nice and it was a very interesting time. Check it out next
year and I will see you there.
The list of this years entries:
Strain
|
G-Protein
|
County of Origin
|
Dispensary
|
1st Dragons
Breath
|
IH Sativa (org)
|
San Francisco
|
The Green Cross
|
2nd Jack
Herer
|
OD Sativa
|
Santa Cruz
|
The Green Cross
|
3rd Blue
Train
|
ID Hydro Sativa
|
Contra Costa
|
EB Patients Assoc.
|
Organic
Sour Diesel
|
OD
Sativa
|
Santa
Cruz
|
The
Green Cross
|
Purple Kush
|
IH
Indica (org)
|
Sonoma
|
Vitamin
L
|
Organic
Blue Dreams
|
OD
Sativa
|
Santa
Cruz
|
The
Green Cross
|
Romulan
|
IH
Indica
|
Contra
Costa
|
EB
Patients Assoc.
|
Banana Kush
|
IH
Hybrid (org)
|
San
Francisco
|
The
Green Cross
|
Kali Mist
|
IH
Sativa (org)
|
San
Francisco
|
The
Green Cross
|
Blue God
|
OD
Indica (org)
|
Mendocino
|
The
Green Cross
|
Hindu Kush Skunk
|
ID
Indica
|
Santa
Cruz
|
The
Green Cross
|
Super Gu
|
ID
Indica
|
San
Francisco
|
The
Green Cross
|
SF Sticky Icky
|
IH
Indica (org)
|
San
Francisco
|
The
Green Cross
|
Super Silver Haze
|
IH
Sativa
|
San
Francisco
|
The
Green Cross
|
BOG Life Saver
|
OD Hydro
Hybrid
|
Santa
Clara
|
Patients Organizing Themselves
|
Purple Urkel
|
ID
Indica (org)
|
Humboldt
|
Duder’s
|
X-Factor
|
ID
Indica
|
Shasta
|
Green
Heart
|
SF Exotic Purple
|
ID
Hydro Indica
|
San
Francisco
|
The
Green Cross
|
Exotic Purple
|
ID
Indica
|
San
Francisco
|
The
Green Cross
|
SF Sour Diesel
|
ID
Hydro Sativa
|
San
Francisco
|
The
Green Cross
|
AF G Daddy
|
OD
Hybrid
|
Butte
|
Chico
Cannabis
|
Grape Ape
|
ID
Hybrid (org)
|
Sonoma
|
|
Granddaddy Purple
|
ID
Hydro Indica
|
San
Francisco
|
The
Green Cross
|
Afghani Granddaddy
|
ID
Indica
|
San
Francisco
|
The
Green Cross
|
Presidential
Purple
|
ID
Indica
|
Alameda
|
The
Green Door
|
Juicy Fruit
|
OD (org)
Sativa
|
Mendocino
|
The
Green Cross
|
So after
the Awards Ceremony I caught up with the big winner of the evening Kevin Reed
of the Green Cross. He had the first and second place trophies for 2009. When I
asked Mr. Reed what he thought of receiving the trophies for the winning strains
the told me, “I can’t believe both of the winners were sativas I really don’t
like sativa as much”. He said with a smile and left for a photo shoot. Mr. Reed
prefers Indica because he said it helps with certain discomforts he has with muscle
pain.
Raven
Speaking
