Richmond, Virginia hosts 1st East Coast Connoisseur Cup

This past weekend, I attended an interstate cannabis cup awards ceremony in Richmond, Virginia. My first since the state legalized marijuana. Attendees from across the Beast Coast descended on the geographically central location at the local hydro store HomeGrown VA to gather, sesh, and find out who the winners were. Despite the heat and humidity, over 500 attendees showed up over the course of the free event with a peak of around 200 attendees at 4:20 during the E3C awards ceremony hosted by Chronicles of Cas. The Richmond Times Dispatch was on site doing interviews and covering the historic event; even NBC and Elliot in the Morning picked up the story. The East Coast Connoisseur Cup, or E3C for short, has been in the works since 2022 and is the brainchild of The Wandering Hashishan. The Highest Critic was on deck as a flower judge and media sponsor. Entries into this cup were allowed from anywhere East of the Mississippi river and this represents the first cross state cup that I’ve had the pleasure of judging and being a media partner for. The cup saw over 80 entries over several categories including flower categories (Sativa, Indica, and Auto), concentrate categories (Solventless and Flower Rosin), and edibles categories (Baked goods, Candy, Other Infused). Judging was completely blind – a new industry standard for experience based cups.

East Coast Connoisseur Cup Winners

Winners received prizes sponsored by the event’s top sponsors. I watched EZ Farms receive his prize and The Wandering Hashishan was describing just how rare the seed packs provided by Twenty20Mendocino are. Cash prizes are fun and get the people riled up, but with 80+ entries, growers and processors clearly value specialty prizes, as well.

East Coast showed up for E3C

East Coast Connoisseur Cup assembled connoisseurs from up and down the coast and inland. I got to meet faces and names that I’d only known through a screen. NC Rosin Reviews, Terpene Therapy Podcast, The Wandering Hashishan hisself, and more. People came in from all over to set up at a table and dab for hours or live the life of an hourly Jimmy two joints. There were people that drove in from the western direction, like Casey from the Terpene Therapy Podcast from the up and coming legal state of Kentucky. North Carolina in particular had quite the showing – including the Carolina Connoisseurs and their winning genetics. All vendors were showing off that southern hospitality. Even if they came from as far as possible from the other side of the Mason Dixie line – like North Atlantic Seed Co or Sky High. Glass, seeds, art, apparel, edibles and other dank food… if it could be legally sold, it was. BTW, that sign which hangs proudly at the helluva venue that is HomeGrown VA said:

“Plant Moms Ain’t Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit”

E3C Highlights

I was so happy to find landraces and dedicated breeders with admirable missions at this event. The clearest sign, to me at least, that E3C had succeeded in drawing elements of real cannabis culture out from the underground, down from the hill, out of the trap house for one day to celebrate legally under the light of day. Other signs included the pelican case to person ratio as well as the sheer amount of vendors and sponsors that were breeders or seedbanks or in the case of the soon be hatched Dirty Bird Genetics by the team at North Atlantic Seed Co., both. G.I. Genetix was showing off his Alien Technology and the new lines he has been able to make from it – like the Alien Chuter. I was gifted a tester – Red Chuter (Alien Chuter x Panama Red). His cultivars had unique bud structures and cannabinoid profiles: he’s targeting medicinal effects for GIs or anyone that wants em. The Old Dominion State’s own Virginia Ganjier introduced me to Seeds of Kismet and I’m soooo glad he did. I saw my very first box of Japanese landrace cannabis at the Seeds of Kismet booth and was blessed to receive them: Green Cheese Hokkaido Seeds bred by Red Ox Labs. He also had Purple Paro from Bhutan in rosin form and Colombiana in flower form. I wasn’t expecting to find Hokkaido genetics or a taste of Columbia or Paro, Bhutan in Richmond, VA – but that’s exactly the kind of magic that happens when weed nerds are gathered at an event like this. Talking extinct and near extinct cannabis genetics, internodal structure, which terpene profiles have been correlated with other cannabinoids, which regions are most genetically interesting and why – we could go on for days. Even got to try some Destroyer bred by Cannabiogen (Meao Thai x Colombian/Mexican). Dare I say it was the most unique high at the event – or that I’ve had in a bit – and I can see how it got its name. I was told that Destroyer rosin can make you vomit, and a heady head over my shoulder was heard reacting:

“Oh shit, I want to try THAT!”

I even got my first taste of Maryland’s fresh off the press legal market. I got to try some Eden (solventless) and Alchemist (BHO) from my fellow Ganjier Trichome TJ… suffice to say the Lilac Diesel with almost 15% total terps and nearly 5% terpinolene was my favorite. Taste it for twenty minutes after, and the high is still developing over that timeframe, too. I am sad that I lack this diesel at home. It’s only anecdata for now but I look forward to the coming METRC data proving the common knowledge that the market for this exact type of hazey diesel is a LOT stronger on the East Coast than it is on the West Coast. I don’t know who needs to hear this – but just because California has the highest concentration of movers and shakers in the American cannabis space doesn’t mean that movers and shakers can’t be found elsewhere. There were also clear signs I wasn’t on the west side anymore. No terp sous vides. Dab Rites were present but they weren’t the only IRs in this town. Less Z and papaya in the air but many of the same import brands were spotted in headstashes. When it comes to concentrates, the top consumers really are located everywhere, even if the production hasn’t historically been. Still too, I realized that certain waves in cannabis culture are felt around the world, but in different ways and at different times. Tenuating variables include distance (time and space) and severity of Prohibition. The fact that flower rosin is still around and has evolved and is now (again or still) its own category was very interesting to me but very prevalent even in the MidWest. After the formal festivities, the E3C afterparty was held at a private venue for those that had bought a VIP pass or a VIP party ticket. There, I took my first legal indoor dab in Virginia of some blended errl from the High from Virginia booth out of an e-nail on their Stundenglass. It was nearly ten years ago to this day that my face melted from my very first dab just down the street. Yabbadabbadoo. How times have changed. It was there that I got to take a look at Carolina Cannabis Company’s line up of flowers. The most impressive where the in house bred ones, and the winner of the Indica category – Carolina Cookies #7 was from such a jar. I didn’t get a chance to try any of the Bourbon Berry by Lauren Labs that won the Auto category or the Biscotti Cake by EZ Farms that won the Sativa category… But I did try (half) of one of his 40mg orange gummies so I can attest to the efficacy and deliciousness of that. Soon enough, the party ended and everyone dispersed back to their respective corners of the country. For one day, East Coast Connoisseur Cup successfully took over Richmond, VA. E3C2 aka E3C2024 is already in the works and word on the street is that the target destination is in Michigan. Fingers crossed for dope that is even doper than super dope and corned beef egg rolls. Or will it be somewhere else… but multi day and camping? Special shout out to the other sponsors of the event – in particular Twenty20 Mendocino for these seeds and Aaron’s clutch move saving the afterparty. PS: High from Virginia, cuz Hey is for horses.