After a permitting brouhaha two years ago, High Times returned to Colorado on Nov. 21 to celebrate the Centennial State’s best cannabis growers and processors at the 2019 Colorado Cannabis Cup. (The U.S. Cannabis Cup used to be held in Denver up until 2016, when the aforementioned permitting obstacle pushed the legendary pot magazine to hold its national contest in California. While High Times promised a conciliatory Colorado-only competition in 2016, that failed to materialize for the past two years. So welcome back, High Times.)
Not surprisingly, among the winners in the 14 categories were a couple of Boulder companies. We thought we’d take a minute to highlight these community cannabis champions and the products for which they took home honors.
Dank by Pank, a Boulder-based cannabis wholesale cultivator (not open to the public, only to licensed dispensaries), is owned and operated by the original founders of Trill Alternatives.
According to a write-up by Dope Magazine, the Dank team utilizes a 30,000-square-foot facility to “mimic the plant’s natural environment.” Its mission, in the company’s own words, is to “proliferate and preserve the genetics of previously exclusive cannabis genetics.
“Using cutting-edge scientific techniques like gene sequencing and cannbinoid/terpene analysis,’” the company writes on HerbanPlanet.com, “we can better select valuable traits from the cannabis gene pool. Our seeds are the revolutionary product of the groundbreaking, with modern, research-backed knowledge.”
No wonder they took home three awards at this year’s Colorado Cannabis Cup. In the Indica Flower category, Dank by Pank nabbed a third place honor for its Blackberry Meringue #12. While I’ve never tried Blackberry Meringue #12, the pictures from Dank by Pank show a plant with the beautiful tight leaf structure and frosty buds that are typically seen in the Blackberry strain.
Dank took the top prize in the Hybrid Flower category for its Orange Cookies strain, which combines the fruity, herbal punch of the Orange Juice strain with the sweet and earthy aroma of GSC (formerly known as Girl Scout Cookies).
“The flavors of Orange Cookies gives way to deep calming body effects that mingle with a euphoric cerebral buzz to leave you happy and relaxed,” according to Leafly. As an avid indica flower consumer, I can attest to the robust flavor and euphoric high from Orange Cookies. This is a favorite I snatch whenever it’s available at my local dispensary.
Finally, Dank took home second place in the Sativa Flower category for Pank Lemonade, Dank’s cultivar of the Pink Lemonade strain. For consumers seeking a functional high that’s great for all-day hiking or house-cleaning or yard word, Pank Lemonade offers a fruity and tart treat that’ll take the edge off of any repetitive task.
In the Sativa Concentrate category, Boulder’s Kush Masters took second place for its Hawaiian Sunset Live Diamonds. Here’s what Kush Masters has to say about its live diamonds:
“Meticulously grown over several weeks, Kush Masters live diamonds are at the pinnacle of the merger of extracts and science. Grown using the principles of crystallization, this type of cannabis extract yields the most pure form of diamonds (THCa) available. With special techniques we separate the THCa crystals, which provides the ideal mixture of terpenes and diamonds for our customers. Live diamonds are unrivaled in terms of its high potency and superior flavor.”
THCa, for the record, is believed to offer an assortment of medicinal benefits, with purported anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, neuroprotective and antiemetic properties.
And finally, Kush Master’s scored a third place award in the Non-Solvent Hash category for Cookies n’ Cream Live Rosin. Solventless cannabis extracts aren’t obtained using butane or propane like in the traditional method of extraction. Instead, in the case of Kush Masters’ non-solvent hash, trichome heads are removed from the cannabis plant via agitation in “an ice cold water washing system. After agitation the final product is collected using a series of fine screens and creates ‘water hash.’ The water hash is then freeze dried to provide even drying and to prevent microbial growth. After the drying process the water hash can be sold as-is or taken a step further by creating ‘Live Rosin’ using only heat and pressure.”
The end result is a concentrate that retains more of the natural cannabis flavor and medicinal properties that consumers are after.
For a full list of 2019 Colorado Cannabis Cup winners, visit hightimes.com/news/the-winners-of-the-cannabis-cup-colorado-2019/
