The Highlife Cup
The Highlife Cup was founded in 1994 by Dutch growers magazine Highlife in Holland and it is the largest cannabis cup in the world. It awards the best flowers, hash, and extracts from Dutch coffeeshops, headshops and seed banks and the judging is an 8-week process which kicks off in april. Below is better explained what it takes to be a judge and how it works behind the scenes.
The only real cannabis cup in the world
As a participant judge for the Highlife Cup, each person receives a smellproof bag which contains all of the entries, in alll 12 categories. Each sample is labeled with a sticker which contains only a code in letters and numbers, so it is a blind test. As a jury member you only know to which category the sample belongs, nothing else.
At no point do the judges learn which entry came from who, which is what makes this cup extremely fair and is known as the real cannabis cup. Each sample bag contains 2 gram of flower and the categories for this year's cup are as follows: 1. Hydro Weed (grown on hydro systems 2. Bio Weed (organically grown weed on soil) 3. Autoflowers (indoor and outdoor) 4. Haze on Hydro 5. Haze on soil 6. Kush varieties 7. Skunk varieties 8. Sativa (genetically >70% Sativa) 9. Indica (genetically >70% indica) 10. Medical varieties (with high CBD and low THC levels) 11. Hash (traditional hash) 12. Hash Extractions.
How To Judge Correctly
On the day the judge’s kit is given out, a score sheet is also administered which divides the scoring system into four subcategories. These are Appearance / Odour / Flavour / Effect The final score is based on a 10 or less system. Easier said than done and when you are part of who decides who has the best flowers in Holland for that year, it is vital that every flower is treated with the same open-minded view and equal testing.
The final score is based on a 50 point score system. Most importantly judges have 8 to 10 weeks to test all samples, and they can do the sampling completely on their own accord in their own surroundings. What a difference with all these other cups where ‘judges’ must smoke up to 80 samples in 1 DAY! The 15 man jury for the Highlife Cup is handpicked each year and contains only people who are proven growers and smokers with many years of cannabis experience under their belts. None of these jury members have any connection to any cannabis-related company. The results of the Highlife Cup 2019 will be announed on this website on July 8!
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