Strains & products

2020’s Cannabis Cup winners, and where to buy them

Published on December 28, 2020 · Last updated November 7, 2022
Runtz crossed to Grape Pie and MAC makes "Spritzer"— the contest cultivar for the 2020 The Grow-Off competition in Colorado. Above, winning Spritzer from home grower Duran Jackson. (Courtesy The Grow-Off)
Runtz crossed to Grape Pie and MAC makes "Spritzer"—the contest cultivar for the 2020 The Grow-Off competition in Colorado. Above, winning Spritzer from home grower Duran Jackson. (Courtesy The Grow-Off)

The year 2020 might have been an epic fail, but at least some fire cannabis still shined.

It was clear in March, as long-standing 4/20 events were canceled or postponed, that the usual slew of cannabis competitions—High Times’ Cannabis Cup, The Emerald Cup, Harvest Cup—could not happen; at least in the traditional sense. So they pivoted, democratizing the voting process, or holding remote judging.

This year, High Times’ Events Director Mark Kazinec helped organize the first national Hemp Cup and three “People’s Choice” Cannabis Cups in Oklahoma, Illinois, and Colorado, with three in the works for Oregon, Arizona, and Southern California early next year.

High Times judges kits bring smiles to Oregon consumers this year. (Courtesy High Times)
High Times judges kits bring smiles to Oregon consumers this year. (Courtesy High Times)

Instead of curating a select group of celebrity judges, Cup kits shipped to dispensaries across each state, allowing for thousands of regular degular people to share their opinions on the best their state had to offer.

High Times judges kits bring smiles to Oregon consumers this year. (Courtesy High Times)
Two Oregon judges about to tap in. (Courtesy High Times)

“We wanted to make this competition and the chances to be a judge more accessible, and bring some fun to a dark world this year,” says Kazinec. “Why not allow people to buy amazing products we curate? The people’s choice is all to the people; it’s not just for the OGs. We also want the soccer moms who want topicals, the people who are going to dispensaries.”

Despite the constraints that made traditional gatherings impossible—the circus-like tents, and fairgrounds to smoke, dab, vape, or eat cannabis with thousands of other fans—cannasseurs around the nation and the world remained committed to judging and crowning the best buds in the business.

While we wait in California until 2021 for a postponed Emerald Cup, here’s where to shop 2020’s most lauded cultivars, extracts, brands, and much more.

Colorado keepers

A happy Grow-Off 2020 micro-grow winner. (Courtesy The Grow-Off)
A happy Grow-Off 2020 micro-grow winner Duran Jackson flexes on some foos. (Courtesy The Grow-Off)

Originating from Colorado, The Grow-Off competition uses one cultivar to determine who can cultivate the dankest of the dank. This year, they partnered with leading breeders Cannarado to see who could grow the terpiest, stoniest, most high-quality nugs of Spritzer, a new cross between a Runtz mom and a Grape Pie x Capulator MAC dad.

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Look out for Colorado growers Hummingbird Cannabis, who nabbed Best Overall Quality (and third for Potency).

Also, stuff your basket with the brand Fat Face Farms—they cinched both the terpenes and potency categories.

The Grow-Off Colorado 2020 winners Fat Face Farms. (Courtesy The Grow-Off)
The Grow-Off Colorado 2020 winners Fat Face Farms all have standard thickness faces. (Courtesy The Grow-Off)

Grow-Off trophies also went to the same categories for non-commercial home growers; although to sample those you may need to know a guy.

Buy:

  • You can find Hummingbird Cannabis at The Farm in Boulder.
  • And Fat Face Farms at Rocky Mountain Cannabis in the towns of Dinosaur, and Craig. (Yes, those are Colorado town names.)

Moving on, The High Times Cannabis Cup Colorado: People’s Choice 2020 contest had three categories for flower, two for edibles, and one apiece for concentrates, topicals, and prerolls.

The brand Indico dominated flower with Sour Strawberry and Mandarin Sunset alongside Pagosa Therapeutics’ Jabberwocky.

Pagosa Therapeutics’ Jabberwocky (Courtesy Pagosa Therapeutics)
Pagosa Therapeutics’ Jabberwocky (Courtesy Pagosa Therapeutics)

High Country Cones won Best Pre-Roll for one colorfully dubbed, ahem, French Wh*re.

Buy:

Related
The Leafly Strain of the Year 2020 is—Runtz!

California champs

Honeydew sungrown Gelonade (Courtesy Honeydew Farms)
Honeydew sungrown Gelonade (Courtesy Honeydew Farms)

Competition remains stiff in California, and it shows the diversity of winners for this year’s WEEDCon.

The brand Top Shelf Cultivation’s Whoa-Si-Whoa won for Indicas, while Honeydew Farms’ sungrown Gelonade won the Sativa category. Zkittlez Mints from Mohave Reserve won Best Hybrid.

And in a unique category, Oaksterdam OG by the brand Originals won Best OG Kush Flower.

Buy:

Washington winners

A Melonade rosin from Cascadia Cartel (via i502_growercascadiacartel)
A Melonade rosin from Cascadia Cartel. (via i502_growercascadiacartel)

The results of Oregon’s High Times People’s Cup got pushed back until January, but outdoor growers in Washington state had the Sun Cup.

Major grower CannaSol Farms’ indica-dominant Blackwater won for Best Sungrown THC Flower, and their Lemon Meringue, a sativa, won for Best Light Deprivation THC Flower.

Melonade by Cascadia Cartel won best Solventless Concentrate.

“We were really excited to do so well.”

CannaSol Founder Jeremy Moberg

“We were really excited to do so well,” says CannaSol founder Jeremy Moberg, who initially proposed the Sun Cup to the Washington Sungrowers Industry Association as a fundraiser. “We basically swept the flower category and we feel super proud.”

A statewide Craft Cannabis Cup for small-scale indoor growers comes in January 2021.

Buy:

Also, don’t sleep on any of The Oregon Grower’s Cup 2020 winners, including: Fenario Farms; Alter Farms; Luvli; plus, the Decibel Banana Punch and GMO rosins; and Blueberry Muffin greenhouse flower by Grateful Greenery.

Illinois—make some noise

Incredibles’ CBN-infused Snoozzzeberry Gummies (via Leafly)
Incredibles’ CBN-infused Snoozzzeberry Gummies (via Leafly)

In Illinois’ first Cannabis Cup, one brand proved themselves a cut above the rest. Revolution Global won gold in every category except edibles, where they took third place. Their best buds of the year? Turbo Lemon Cake, Gorilla’d Cheese, and Florida Orange, the latter of which also won the vape category for the company’s Terp Tanks. You can find these winners at The Herbal Care Center in Chicago and New Age Care in Mount Prospect.

The only brands to break Revolution’s winning streak? Bhang’s Toffee chocolate bar and Incredibles’CBN-infused Snoozzzeberry Gummies.

Buy:

New England/ East Coast represent

Mary Palmer's award-winning Rose Lotion. (Courtesy Mary Palmer)
Mary Palmer’s award-winning Rose Lotion. (Courtesy Mary Palmer)

The Garden State is looking a lot greener going into 2021. As New Jersey prepares for the recreational market, the New England Harvest Cup held their fourth competition remotely with a streamed awards ceremony. Joe Merkt and Shamanic Roots won the Sativa and Indica categories for creamy lemon Bonkers and Rasta Pie, respectively.

Most of the Harvest Cup categories skipped flowers, and showcase products you won’t find in California. Edible and topical brand Mary Palmer took home a majority of the awards in their categories, with standout products like 24K Truffle Oil and 911 Salve. Their THC-infused pickles also won best edibles at the Maine-based Pheno Cup.

Outstanding in Oklahoma

Red River Pharms and Exotic Genetix Tina elevated Oklahoma. (Courtesy Red River Pharms)
Red River Pharms and Exotic Genetix Tina elevated Oklahoma. (Courtesy Red River Pharms)

Oklahoma led the way in 2020 with the first High Times People’s Choice Cup in June, paving the way for a new slew of cannabis competitions across the country.

Collaboration proved key this year, as the combined force of Red River Pharms and Exotic Genetix took first place in the indica and hybrid flower categories for strains Tina and Tropic Truffle.

ALTVM’s Lilac Diesel won for Sativa flower. ALTVM also partnered with Leaf Logic to win gold for dabbables with a solventless Garlic Breath (GMO X Mendo Breath).

Buy:

International all-stars

Banana Split diamond and sauce (via thebackyardbcn)
Banana Split diamond and sauce (via thebackyardbcn)

Covid canceled Spannabis this year, but promoters still held a (not so) Secret Cup! Secret Cup Bizkaia streamed their seven-hour award ceremony on Youtube in lieu of an in-person gathering. The best flowers in Basque country were:

Standout extracts came in the form of:

Parting shot: Hemp hitters

Award-winning, terpy Hawaiian Haze from Gold Standard CBD. (Leafly)
Award-winning, terpy Hawaiian Haze from Gold Standard CBD. (Leafly)

Unlike the Cannabis Cup, the High Times’ 2020 Hemp Cup invited growers and manufacturers coast to coast to square up, and they did. The best hemp flower of the year was Hawaiian Haze Hemp by Gold Standard CBD. Magu’s Nectar won best vape with Luxury Hemp Live Resin Lot #LR001, and Grön’s 135mg Truffles won best edibles.

What’s your favorite cultivar, grower, or THC product of 2020? Comment below.

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Amelia Williams
Amelia Williams
New York-based freelance cannabis journalist Amelia Williams is a graduate of San Francisco State University's journalism program, and a former budtender. Williams has contributed to the San Francisco Chronicle's GreenState, MG Magazine, Culture Magazine, and Cannabis Now, Kirkus Reviews, and The Bold Italic.
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