On December 14th and 15th thousands of medical cannabis patients and enthusiasts congregated at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds for the 10th annual Emerald Cup. The Emerald Cup showcases the best in California outdoor grown cannabis and solventless extracts and is my favorite cup I’ve been to thus far in my two years in the cannabis industry. Though this was my first year at the Emerald Cup all the regular attendees I spoke with were thoroughly impressed with the set-up and turn out. This year they saw their highest attendance ever which was no surprise with over two hundred and fifty flower entries, fifty concentrate entries, tons of vendors, panels, and musical headliners that were fit for a large music festival there was a little something for everyone.
This cup also seemed to have much more attendees that were very active in the cannabis community and knowledgable about the science behind cannabis. When at the SC Laboratories booth the majority of people I spoke to were very familiar with analytical testing methods and were interested in the future of lab testing and terpene profiling.
There were many informative panels with knowledgable speakers on all sorts of cannabis matters from the politics to the science. A noteworthy dialogue was the dabs panel on Friday where SC Laboratories CTO Josh Wurzer and Director of Client Relations Alec Dixon spoke alongside other extract pioneers.
There were other notable events that happened at the cup in terms of awards and life events for some of the VIP’s in the cannabis industry. One such event was the lifetime achievement award which was given to Debby Goldsberry for over 25 years of dedicated work in the cannabis movement. Another happening at the cup that involved a prominent figure was the marriage of Denis Peron who co-authored California’s proposition 215 to his long time partner John.
In short this was an awesome event that I intend to attend over other cannabis cups for its genuine vibe and great atmosphere. We’d like to give a shout out to Tim Blake, Taylor Blake, and Samantha Michelojewski for putting on such a great event every year for the last decade.