3rd Annual San Francisco Cannabis Cup 2009

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