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It is great to see that lockdowns and COVID have not ruined all the fun this year – cannabis cups (at least those based in the UK) seem to have come off reasonably unscathed.
Over the past few weeks, I have been a judge for the indoor flowers category for The Secret Session Cannabis Cup.
Cannabis cups are industry-focused contests to find the best cannabis strains and products. Contenders find themselves up against some incredibly stiff competition, and the winners take home bragging rights (plus a trophy and usually some fabulous prizes to boot).
If you missed my previous article in this series focussing on The Extractor’s Cup 2021 (where I judged Solvent + Solventless), you can learn all about that in this video, or read the results in the article written for this website.
The Secret Session Cannabis Cup has been in operation for a number of years. It was launched as an expansion to a successful canna events brand, and now boasts several categories, including Indoor (the one I judged), Breeder’s Choice, Pre-Rolls and CBD.
Let’s take a look at the Indoor Flowers category…
I was impressed with the presentation. The samples came in a fully branded box, and no expenses seemed spared to create the initial moment of joy for judges to take in what they have in store.
Inside my box, I found 15 samples in individual jars, with numbers on each. There was no indication of what each sample was, which was important to ensure judges remain objective.
The Secret Session team handily included a rolling kit (tray, grinder, papers), so even though I picked this up on the move, I could get started judging straight away.
I wanted to give every sample a fair and comparable analysis, so I opted to consume each of them in the same way. First, I would judge the sample for appearance and smell, and then I would grind the whole thing up and roll it into a pure joint (no first-hand tobacco smoke enters these lungs).
The result was 15 well-packed joints, varying degrees of flavour and more terpene profiles than I can shake a stick at!
Of course, like any cannabis cup, there were some good and some not-so-good samples, with varying levels of appearance, aroma, taste, effects and burn quality throughout the contest.
But entry quality was fairly high – I think there were only 2 or 3 joints that I didn’t want to finish – out of 15, which isn’t bad at all. Most scored highly, and two or three strains stuck out for distinguishability. I wouldn’t be surprised if these samples end up scoring highly or winning the whole thing.
I cannot say for sure what cultivars I tried or who grew them. But I can say that I had a great time judging some good quality indoor flowers in the indoor category for this contest.
The winners will be announced for each category this weekend at Product Earth, and I look forward to seeing who entered what (and what comes out on top) in all the categories of this year’s Secret Session Cannabis Cup.
Entries Gallery (Indoor Category)
