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Winners of the 21st High Times Cannabis Cup

written in December 2008

published in Spanish on Spannabis issue 56

The 21st Cannabis Cup has been a truly remarkable event for me. In part this is due to the fact that I missed last year�s edition, the 20th, and it really was a big miss. At the time I was too busy and too far, involved in the preparation of the Strain Hunters documentary (www.strainhunters.com). I remember promising myself that I would have not missed the 2008 edition, and so it went.
The hype for the 21st Cup started early in November, when the first rumours around the various entries of the different competitors started spreading around, in the usual hush-hush pre-cup atmosphere. I have been busy until the last days before the event preparing the stand for the expo, and planning for the various concerts and parties. On the Friday before the cup started I met the High Times staff and welcomed them to Amsterdam with some rather large spliffs and buds. The event started on Sunday the 21st of November.
Most judges already arrived in town, and the expo at the Power Zone opened the doors on time, at 12:00. I started blowing up big vaporizer balloons, loaded with the Green House entry: Super Lemon Haze. It�s a cross between the mother Lemon Skunk and the father Super Silver Haze, a sativa with a lemony attitude that has more than 22% thc and high cbd as well. The judges crowded the expo and the coffeeshops all day long, and in the evening it was clear it would have been a very exciting cup. The Monday went by really fast because everyone was excited for the Green House party, organized in the Melkweg club. The night was great: first the judges attended the premiere of the Strain Hunters documentary, then they partied all night on the reggae sound of the 11th son of Bob Marley, Kymani Marley. It was awesome to see old school judges and newbie crews mixing together and having the time of their life. Tobacco smoke was not allowed inside the club, in accordance with the recent smoking ban imposed by Dutch authorities. Nevertheless weed was burning in abundance, and everyone was blasted by the end of the night.
The Tuesday was the first voting day, but not many judges were finished sampling all the entries, so the crowd spread to all the coffeeshops for more shopping and tasting. Those who already finished the coffeeshop crawl were chilling at the Power Zone, getting wasted on vaporizers offered by the various stands.
The Wednesday was a fast day; most judges spent the day around the expo, voted and then went off to get ready for the party offered by DNA in the Club More. By the evening it was clear that the Super Lemon Haze was one of the most appreciated strains of the cup, and high hopes were rising in my heart. I went to sleep tired and stoned, yet my mind could not stop thinking about the cup. So much work, so much love and care, all for this day�
The Thursday started with the most intense vaporizer session offered during the cup. The 3 metres balloons were pumping one after the other, and judges were enjoying the last day of the event in a cloud of smoke and vapour. Those who still had to vote crowded the judge lounge, and by 6pm the voting procedures were closed. And the counting started� By 7pm the expo was very crowded, and the ceremony started. I was nervous, and high; the whole event became just a blur of emotions and sounds and colours. And when it was all over, Green House had won the 21st Cannabis Cup (and 2nd prizes for the isolator and imported hash as well�). During Arjan�s speech on stage he thanked the growers, those behind the scenes who take the biggest risks to make the buds we all love. It was a magic moment, and my hearth was filled with joy. After the ceremony we went to the Green House to celebrate until late.
The next day at 4:20 pm we celebrated the victory with a ceremony held in the Green House coffeeshop, where the cream of the Amsterdam cannabis scene burned Super Lemon Haze for the rest of the day. I can only say thanks to all the judges that supported Green House! See you next year!
Franco Green House Seed Company