THC CHAMPIONSHIP 2021 JUDGING DISCUSSION - PICKUP A

Dear Friend & Subscriber-

Today, I’m giving you all the dirty deets and feedback on the Hemp Connoisseur’s 2021 Championship Judging…at least the first half (Pickup B is first half of August).

I picked up my Judging Kits at the end of June from The Clinic on Colorado Boulevard and it was a super smooth process.

It was easy to pick up both medical and recreational entries, and I was thrilled with the opportunity to judge cured concentrates, live resin and diamond sauce, and solventless categories during the first pick up.

I was disappointed that the live resin and solventless entries weren’t refrigerated, and that there wasn’t a physical instruction card for judging.

The manual had been emailed to us prior, but was buried in my inbox and I would’ve liked even a small business card with a QR code linking to everything I needed to know.

I assumed judging categories were the same as always (Aroma, Appearance, Burnability, Taste, Effect) and added an additional category, Consistency, to reflect my opinion on the desirability of a concentrate's consistency.

The manual doesn’t call for this, nor did the judge’s form allow for it to be input, but I included it below and in my additional comments as it is a relevant category to judging.

One thing that Hemp Connoisseur did succeed in this year is creating fully-blind packaging.

Notably, license numbers are on the products and if you really want to look them up, you could probably track down who made what from what grow, for compliance reasons. But, compared to previous years, there weren’t any stickers that could be easily peeled off to reveal strain names, brands, etc. to reveal who the entry was from.

Unfortunately, the black concentrate jars also made judging appearance of concentrates exceedingly difficult, with the exception of solventless.

The lack of ability for light to shine through the product, either with a white opaque coloring or silver reflective covering would’ve made judging cured and live concentrates significantly easier. Rosin looks amazing in black jars, but was the exception, not the rule, when judging in the new packaging.

Each concentrate comes in quarter gram samples, allegedly.

While I did not weigh each sample, there were some that clearly gave judges a little extra, and some that abided exactly by quarter gram (or maybe even did one of those 0.245 gram type shenanigans).

JUDGING METHOD:

Over the course of the next few days, evaluating entries, starting with smell, appearance, and consistency.

These are the easiest qualities to judge without actually consuming the product, as I was spacing out my dabs for judging effects (the manual actually says 2-3 hours between dabs).

Rather than taking one dab every 3 hours, I selected one entry, and enjoyed that entry alone followed by a 3-hour window before moving on to the next sample.

As a heavy consumer, I found this to be the best way to judge the efficacy of the product while also maintaining the integrity of its effects separate from other entries.

• All entries were consumed using a Chad G dab rig, Glass Lab 10mm Bucket, and Gordo Scientific Bubble Cap.

• All entries were consumed at 575-585ºF as measured by a Dab Rite (which I won at the annual Dine with Roilty event).

• Burnability was judged based on residual left in nail and on Q-Tip post-dab.

Overall, I was pleased with the judging process this year.

There were some great-tasting cured shatters, and the solventless category did not disappoint, but I was sad that there weren’t any live badders in the mix of entries.

But, without further ado, here are my thoughts on each sample.

Photos/Raw Judging Notes/Scoring/Feedback:

Key:

• M = Med

• AU = Adult Use (Rec)

• CC = Cured Concentrate

• LR = Live Resin

• DS = Diamond Sauce

• SL = Solventless

M-CC-01: Shatter - Overall: 8

• Appearance: 8 for shatter; 6 for desired personally - Golden amber shatter; Glass like, a few vac holes from purging,

• Aroma: 5 - not bad or good; No real scent; maybe slight lemon, but very slight, 1 out of 10 intensity; neutral rating

• Consistency: Shatter; like glass. 10/10 for shatter, 5/10 personal preference

• Taste: 7 - definitely lemon, haze, chemical aftertaste though; Jordan got piney

• Effect: 7 - noticeable onset; fades quickly; center head and uplifting high, so definitely on the haze side

• Burnability: 7 - residual oil but nothing excessive or dark; tan/medium brown tip; nothing burned

• Comments: Overall not a fan of shatter as much these days. A little harsh on the throat, not a huge aroma, decent flavor profile and higher potency effect (typical with shatter), but consistency makes it hard to handle (literally shatters everywhere) and a heated dabber was necessary to avoid further loss of product.

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