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THE CANNABIS CUP A Brief History |
HIGH TIMES Editor-in-Chief Steven Hager first went to the Netherlands in 1987 to write an article on Nevil, founder of The Seed Bank, Holland's first cannabisseed company. While working on the story, he met some Americans who told him about the great harvest festivals held in California in the 1970s. "Why not hold a similar harvest festival in Amsterdam?" he thought. "Then we could help establish an international standard for cannabis seeds."
The following year it became a reality. In January, Dr. Indoors, Jiffy Schnack and Hager flew over as the only three judges. The competition was restricted to seed companies, and four entered: Cultivators' Choice, S.S.S.C., Sensi Seed Club, and The Seed Bank.
The 2nd Cannabis Cup had the same four seed companies but more samples (19 total) and six judges, including Ed Rosenthal, Flick Ford, Patty Collins, John of C.J. Enterprises, and Steve, a West Coast connoisseur. An awards dinner was held at the YumYum restaurant in Rotterdam and The Seed Bank swept all five categories.
The 3rd Cannabis Cup was held just four weeks before The Seed Bank was shut down, forced out of business by Operation Green Merchant. The judges that year included Thom Hnavis, Paul Mavrides, Gilbert Shelton, Jasper Grootveld and Kees Hoekert. The Seed Bank won in all categories.
The 4th Cup marked a departure from the seedcompany competition. Instead, the Cup became a "coffeeshop crawl." The Blue Bird, Free City, La Tertullia and The Hustler all submitted varieties. The judges included Lou Stathis, Simon Vinkenoog, Rodger Belknap and Pope Weasel.
The 5th Cup mixed both coffeeshops and seed companies. The Seed Bank had been incorporated into Sensi Seed Club, resulting in Sensi Seed Bank. Other entries came from Homegrown Fantasy, Blue Bird, Holland Vijaya Seeds and the Dutch Hemp Association. Judges included Steve Bloom, Elvy Musikka, Dave Abruzzese, Eric Johnson, Dr. Eric Fromberg, the Dutch band Gotcha!, Edgar Summertyme, and Neil Reeves. The awards dinner was held at the Garden Cafe.
After five years of running the Cup on a shoestring budget with a handful of invited guests, big changes were planned for 1993. In the past, ordinary trophies had been handed out. This time, Robin David "The Hammer" Ludwig was commissioned to create an original design. The master was handcrafted out of pure silver and 10 replicas were created to hand out to the winners. Most importantly, the event was opened to the public through a brief announcement made in HIGH TIMES. Fifty people responded and flew over to Amsterdam during Thanksgiving to take part in the historic event, which was being coordinated with the help of the newly established Cannabis in Amsterdam (CIA). The celebrity judges included Gatewood Galbraith, Jack Herer, Paul Krassner, Sebastian Bach and Chip Z'Nuff. Three seed companies entered: Dutch Passion, NHV, Nirvana and Sensi Seed Bank. Fifteen coffeeshops from Amsterdam and seven from outside Amsterdam also officially entered the competition.
A recordsetting 700 judges showed for the 7th Cup. The event included a Hemp Expo at the Pax Party House and Opening Ceremonies at the Melkweg, traditions that continue today. For the first time The Sensi Seed Bank operated a tour to Cannabis Castle, where Nevil originally bred many of his awardwinning strains. Three seed companies entered: Sensi Seed Bank, Cerebral Seeds and Positronics. A separate competition was held for the 15 coffeeshops in Amsterdam that entered. The celebrity judges included Zero Boy, Soma, Dave Zintel, Chris Conrad, Jack Herer and Chip and Donny from E'nuff Z'nuff.
Arjan of the Green House swept four Cups, including best coffeeshop, best bio weed, best hydro weed and best hash. Sensi Seed Bank won best seed company as well as the Cannabis Cup, which was given to their newly created "Jack Herer" strain, an unstable hybrid of Haze, Northern Lights#5 and Skunk#1. De Boot in Hoorn won best coffeeshop outside Amsterdam and Positronics won best Expo booth.
The 7th Cup became a worldwide media event: an hourlong documentary was shown on Tokyo TV, and a lengthy article appeared in the New York Times Magazine, complete with a flowering "seaofgreen" clone on the cover.
The 8th Cup attracted 1,500 judges, 21 coffeeshops, 2 entries from U.S. growers, 1 entry from Canada, 1 entry from Switzerland, and five seed companies (Sensi Seed Bank, Serious Seeds, Dutch Passion, Sagarmatha Seeds, and Seeds of Courage). Morley Safer from 60 Minutes covered the event, along with more than 50 other reporters and media representatives from around the globe. The celebrity judges included Stephen and Ina May Gaskin, Alex and Allyson Grey, Ed Rosenthal, and Chef RA. The firstever Cannabis Cup wedding was performed during the Opening Ceremonies, which were directed by Gnavick Beck.
Arjan of the Green House led the winners by taking the Cannabis Cup, Coffeeshop Cup, Bio Cup, and Hydro Cup. Sensi Seed Bank won the Seed Company Cup; Blue Bird won the Hash Cup; Ohio Hempery won both the Hemp Product Cup and Hemp Fashion Cup; and Eagle Bill's Vaporizer won the Expo Booth Cup.
The 9th Cup was hampered by new limitations on cannabis imposed under the plans to unify Europe's currencies. The Cannabis Castle tour was canceled, and the official strains were not put on display. However, the appearance of many Native American celebrities, including John Trudell, former chairman of the American Indian Movement, helped create one of the most exciting Cups ever. De Dampkring pulled off a major upset, capturing four Cups, including the Cannabis Cup. Sensi Seed Bank won the Seed Company Cup, and Green Prisoners Release won Expo Booth. The Ohio Hempery won for Hemp Product and Hemp Fashion. Green House took the Hydro Cup and Nederhash Cup. Celebrity judges included Dennis Peron, Mel Frank, John Trudell, Mila, Felipe Chavez and Eagle Bill.
The Cannabis Hall of Fame became a major part of the event during the 10th Cup, and Bob Marley become its first inductee; his widow, Rita Marley, made a surprise trip from Kingston, Jamaica to join the festivities. Homegrown Fantasy was a surprise winner of the Seed Company competition, but most of the Cups were won by Green House and De Dampkring, which have emerged as the current cannabis powerhouses in Amsterdam.
Because some of the HIGH TIMES staff had never made the trip to Amsterdam, the entire office was invited to attend and the celebrity judges included such staffers as Rob Braswell, Chris Simunek, Chris Eudaley, Liz Lapof and Steve Bloom. Also on the list were Ras Menelik, Rocker T, Robin Ludwig, Mountain Girl and Rita Marley.
The Cannabis Cup Band stole the show with a four-hour tribute to Bob Marley, which was emceed by Chef RA. The Awards Night was emceed by counterculture icon Paul Krassner.
The 11th Annual HIGH TIMES Cannabis Cup, staving John Sinclair and his Blues Scholars and the Cannabis Cup Band.
John Sinclair was in rare form reveling in the High Priest role. "Pops gave us the solo", he told me. "But Mezz gave us the nickel bag." Mezz Mezzrow and Louis Armstrong are the newest inductees into the HIGH TIMES Cannabis Hall of Fame.
For the past three years, de Dampkring and Green House have been locked in a sort of Cannabis Cup Cold War Bud Race, but without de Dampkring the event was not nearly as spectacular. Arjan (Greenhouse), however, was beaming from his "golden grand slam," taking home almost every Cup minus the Expo Cup to Sensi Seeds and the Hemp Cup to Jerome Baker's best bongs.
| Past Cannabis Cup Winners |
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1988 Skunk#1 from Cultivators' Choice 1989 Haze/Northern Lights#5 from Sensi Seed Bank 1990 Northern Lights#5 from The Seed Bank 1991 Skunk from Free City 1992 Haze/Skunk#1 from Homegrown Fantasy 1993 Haze/Northern Lights#5 from Sensi Seed Bank 1994 Jack Herer from Sensi Seed Bank 1995 White Widow from Green House 1996 White Russian from De Dampkring 1997 Peacemaker from De Dampkring 1998 Super Silver Haze from Greenhouse 1999 Super Silver Haze from Greenhouse |
