Cannabis Cup XXIV

[Velvet]

Amsterdam.

A world class city that boasts some of the world's most awe-inspiring collections of art, from the Rijksmuseum stocked full of Rembrandts to the astounding collection housed in the Van Gogh museum, and of course home to Anne Frank Haus, former hiding spot of history's most beloved teen author and tragic hero. Sunflowers, tulips, windmills and wooden shoes.

Amsterdam.

The go-to city for sin-as-sport, with a red light district that dates back centuries and world-famous for its liberal attitude towards marijuana and its derivatives, Amsterdam has long been a stop of choice among the choicest of travelers. Classier than Vegas, subtler than Bangkok, almost as sexy as Rio, Amsterdam is a safe, clean and enlightened minitropolis ringed with canals and bicycle paths that lead past some very odd storefronts.

Amsterdam.

A city rife with tourists and local controversy, recent governments have struggled with the city's unique trades, which tend to cater mostly to out-of-towners. Debate is hearty while sex and smoke shops that find themselves too close to public schools are quietly forced to close down and a new national law banning drug sales to non-residents undergoes sporadic implementation. Some claim the vice trade brings violence and a bad name upon The Netherlands while others see the city as a shining example of sensibility and freedom in a world that prefers to keep historical blinders firmly in place. Either way, politics has re-opened a debate that had been long decided, and Amsterdam currently finds itself on the verge of rejoining the rest of the west in the race towards arcane policies.

Amsterdam.

Host city of the Cannabis Cup for 24 years running. The world's preeminent annual marijuana festival, the Cannabis Cup is an exposition for all things pot. Concerts, seminars, workshops, booths stocked with the latest paraphernalia, and all of it dedicated to the little weed that could. Presented by the good folks at High Times, the Cup is billed as the bucket-list event for ganja enthusiasts and given the questionable climate of Holland's pot laws of late there are rumblings that this might be the Cup's final year.

Amsterdam.

My home for the next week. Armed with both a media pass and a judges pass for this year's Cannabis Cup I've booked myself and my photographer (a man I'll refer to herewith as Carstairs) into a swank five star hotel in the city's core. Upper-level debauchery and wanton disregard for personal well being is high on the menu for the next seven days, as is a near-constant sampling of the world's greatest strains of marijuana in search of this year's winner. We'll be hitting the seminars and the parties, the concerts and the museums, and voting for the best marijuana on planet Earth.

As always I will be writing down all I can remember. Check this space daily.

Amsterdam.

[bouche]

Photography paired with Velvet at Cannibis Cup? Oh yeah! I can't wait.

[backbacon]

Totally awesome! Excited for your reports!!

[Esau.]

Nice. Be great to hear about what it's like now-a-days. I went to the 10th.

Have a fun.

[Northern Wish]

My brother will be there in two days Velvet. I'm sure he will recognize you if you cross paths....in whichever universe.

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

sounds like a tough gig

[bouche]

how does one even judge this? I can't imagine anyone having the capacity to be objective.

[Esau.]

how does one even judge this? I can't imagine anyone having the capacity to be objective.

When I was there, we were given a packet/kit which contained numerous treats and what not, but also included a list of all the entered strains (herb/hash), the coffee shop that entered them and their location(s) (eg: address). As well, it list all coffee shops you could vote for (best atmosphere etc) and all the halls where the speakers/bands/celebs were going be, plus a ton of other helpful info like the location of both daily 420s (usually had a band and speaker). Basically, a guide/program/judges list/coffee shop address book etc.

Only way I was able to make a somewhat informed vote was to try something new each morning - take notes (smell, taste, type of buzz etc), then I'd go for a walk check out the sights and when it wore off, I'd try something else and repeat the process for the day until dinner. Evenings, I never tried to keep notes or track of what I was smoking (unless it really stood out). I basically made my choices in the first 3 or 4 days. After that, I just bought what I enjoyed the best (temple ball/dutch star), partied and waited for voting day. Although, I was there solo, so I didn't have many distractions.

Everyone who buys a ticket is a judge, but not everyone actively keeps track of what they smoke or even votes. But really, it's not that hard to do.

[deranger]

how does one even judge this? I can't imagine anyone having the capacity to be objective.

When I was there' date=' we were given a packet/kit which contained numerous treats and what not, but also included a list of all the entered strains (herb/hash), the coffee shop that entered them and their location(s) (eg: address). As well, it list all coffee shops you could vote for (best atmosphere etc) and all the halls where the speakers/bands/celebs were going be, plus a ton of other helpful info like the location of both daily 420s (usually had a band and speaker). Basically, a guide/program/judges list/coffee shop address book etc.

Only way I was able to make a somewhat informed vote was to try something new each morning - take notes (smell, taste, type of buzz etc), then I'd go for a walk check out the sights and when it wore off, I'd try something else and repeat the process for the day until dinner. Evenings, I never tried to keep notes or track of what I was smoking (unless it really stood out). I basically made my choices in the first 3 or 4 days. After that, I just bought what I enjoyed the best (temple ball/dutch star), partied and waited for voting day. Although, I was there solo, so I didn't have many distractions.

Everyone who buys a ticket is a judge, but not everyone actively keeps track of what they smoke or even votes. But really, it's not that hard to do.

[/quote']

I was thinking the same thing. The one and only time I was in Amsterdam the stuff I smoked was so much better than what I was used to I was blitzed for hours. Trying to judge the best weed in the world on a daily basis? worth a try I suppose.

Can't wait for the updates.

Edited November 20, 2011 by Guest

[Velvet]

Certainly worth a try.

[Booche]

Hahaha. Ooooooh maaaaaan. Hahahaha.

[bouche]

Hey Velvet, you've got innernetz at your hotel?

[Velvet]

Yep. And cozy slippers.

[edger]

Sounds like a perfect recipe to me.

[Im going home Donny]

Yep. And cozy slippers.

Nice! Have a fun adventure friend!

[Hartamophone]

As always I will be writing down all I can remember.

The lack of follow-up posts tells me that you are likely doing it right.

[Velvet]

Day I

Never was a more arduous journey endured with such simpatico, nor with such fine rewards.

We started on a bus, beers cracked before we left the parking lot and delicious brownies to keep us talking along the way. In no time we got to Montreal and found our flight cancelled. I helped pass the three and-a-half hour wait in line by pulling out my mandolin for a little Bach and roll. We got redirected to a flight we had to run for, but I redirected myself through the duty-free in a mad dash for Canadian Club.

Got the last two seats upstairs on a 747 to Paris where we our connecting flight was running two hours late. We finally descended into a city shrouded in fog six hours after our scheduled arrival. Tired and famished, we were finally in Amsterdam. My bag didn't make it, but I smiled at the lady all rainbows and unicorns as she explained my bag had been found and would be delivered to my hotel as soon as possible.

Amsterdam.

On the train into the city centre we stopped at a platform and Carstairs and I wondered if this was indeed Central Station. I didn't look like we remembered it but it we heard them say Central Something... We discussed the possibility of getting off the train when a guy in front of us sprang up like a maniac and flew out the door. He had obviously been wondering what we were wondering, or so we thought. We stayed put and a moment later the runner came back on the train, yelling “That guy took my bag,†gesturing outside. Bummer of a start to a vacation.

Mindful of what bags we had, we got to our stop and walked about 800 metres to our hotel. Our room needed ten minutes but that was time we just didn't have. We left our gear with the concierge and ran through the foggy streets to the closest coffee shop we could find, a friendly little place called Voyagers.

The place was abuzz with talk of the Cannabis Cup, the 24th annual exposition and competition of all things pot. Local coffee shops and seed companies enter their best strains to be judged by a phalanx of marijuana enthusiasts that come from around the world to vote for the planets best weed.

Voyagers' entry this year is Kosher Kush, so we bought some of that (18 Euros a gram, 15 Euros for judges), some Skywalker OG, a couple of pre-rolls and a coffee. Carstairs had a Coke.

We got rocked. The Skywalker seemed especially potent, though our exhaustion and hunger made us vulnerable. We stopped for a quick and terrible slice of pizza that even our starvation couldn't help us finish, and checked in to the hotel. Stuck with only the clothes I traveled in there was not much to do but have a drink and boot it to the Cup.

Just down the street is the Victoria hotel, where a free (in more ways than one) shuttle runs from the city's core to the Borchland, home of this year's Cannabis Cup.

We registered in a jiffy and got our judges pass. Unfortunately I didn't get any special media credentials; I guess I'll have to create my own all-access.

We got our passes stamped and received our goodie bags and spent the next few hours meandering the expo.

The large tin-roofed conference room was just as foggy as the streets outside. About forty booths advertised their wares and handed out swag under a constant smoky haze. There were growing supplies, seed companies, t-shirts, medical awareness, papers, and bongs, oh the bongs. Several coffee shops had booths offering vaporized samples of their entries in this year's competition. Squeezing deliciously intoxicating fumes from nine foot turkey bag tubes into the mouths of a waiting crowd, these booths were particularly popular.

The beer lines were empty, the munchy line packed. We drank beers and sucked on bags to stave off our hunger and stuffed our goodie bags with freebies for about three hours waiting for the evening's entertainment to start. Rapper B.O.B. spent a ridiculous amount of time soundchecking and when he started pointing the mic at the monitors I had to get out of there. We smoked a joint outside and hopped the canni-bus shuttle back downtown.

That was easy. Say what you want about pot smokers and organisation, but so far everything about the Cannabis Cup is going smooth like pot-butter. The bus comes often and moves fast, check-in was a breeze and the expo itself is total pro. There were tons of people there and every booth I stopped at had informative, talkative reps. I'm all around impressed.

We quickly settled into a can't-walk-by policy with regards to Voyagers coffee shop. We stopped in on the way to the hotel, found my bag hadn't arrived yet, and stopped in again on our way back out of the hotel.

We met a couple of Brits, Charlie and Dave, regular Cup attendees and nice guys. They gave us the low down on where to get what and a good burger recommendation taboot. An indeterminate amount of time later we bade our new friends farewell, searching for the Green House coffee shop/restaurant for dinner, a spot Carstairs was looking forward to trying.

We finally found the place, but it was one of three Green House places, and not one that served food. We shrugged our hungry shoulders and set off for the spot Charlie had told us about, Burgerbar.

That we were utterly famished by the time we tore into our food should not diminish the validity of my opinion of my dinner; I am, after all, on a worldwide non-competitive search for the planet's best cheeseburger. This was one mighty, mighty meat sandwich. I had the Irish beef version, with blue cheese, and friends, that burger may be what I remember the most fondly from my grand and extended first day in Amsterdam, 2011. Every bite felt like angels licking my soul.

Good fries too. Crispy.

We were close to Prix d'Ami, the self-proclaimed world's largest coffee shop. It wasn't that big, though multi-storied, with a very steel and sterile décor. It's the only place I've seen with a doorman. We bought a bunch of strains, Big Buddha Cheese, AMG, Dr. Grinspoon, and their hash entry which we sat down and enjoyed at a table near the door.

The atmosphere was lacking so we made our time short at Prix, meandering along the misty canals and slippery bricked alleys back to our looming gothic hotel. Through the ancient circular door and up the marble staircase, we found our room despite the labyrinth of hallways and tore into the minibar like mad fiends. My suitcase has not yet arrived.

Drunk and happy, with bags and bags of the city's best pot on the table and bellies churning quality proteins, we lay down for sleep after a great day that had lasted about 36 hours. Visions of the coming six days danced in my head for about ten seconds before I fell into a twelve hour coma.

[edger]

I dig the giddy energy...

[Im going home Donny]

Amazing. I'd love to see pictures! Do you Flikr or something???

[Hartamophone]

There he is. Apologies for speaking too soon.

[jVids]

Mmmm crispy fries.....

[Velvet]

Day II

It was so hard to drag myself out of my comfy little hovel at noon, I could have used at least five more hours of sweet, nourishing sleep. We got primed at Voyagers where we ran into Charlie and Dave again before headed out on foot through this beautiful water-centric city.

Over the canals and along the curved winding streets we went, passing an endless stream of picturesque architecture and cobbled bridges and in no time at all we were on the other side of the train station.

We found Barneys, a trio of establishments that sell food, pot, and beer/seeds respectively. We opted for all of it, starting with a fine lunch in Barneys restaurant. No drugs are for sale there, though the bartenders come around with bags full of vaporized Liberty Haze, Barneys' official entry in this year's Cup. Patrons are allowed to smoke their own and did heartily while a dj mixed live in the corner.

We found ourselves next to a mother and son here together from Miami. They are in town for the Cannabis Cup and having a great time together. When they left a motorcycle enthusiast from Ohio took their seat. Chit-chat flows easily from table to table, as the smoke and the smell of blue cheeseburgers christens the air.

After lunch we waited in line for our freebies at the Barneys coffee shop across the street. The very enthusiastic and informative attendant presented us both with our free judges samples, including a nice baggy of Liberty Haze and a fair chunk of tasty hash (17%), and a third bag that he actually warned us about. 70% thc content isolator hash that normally sells for 45 euros a gram. Be careful!

Pockets full we went next door to Barneys seed store where we had a beer and got some free swag, a t-shirt and I don't know what else. Down the street at Green House was the same thing, pockets full of free samples for Cannabis Cup judges and a swag bag.

We made the round and grabbed free and discounted stuff at a half dozen or so places, including being ushered to the front of a packed bar for our judges samples at Grey Area. The coffeeshops are jammed with judges and regular clientele alike, and the whole town seems to been hummin'.

The afternoon was spent bouncing from one coffeeshop to another, sampling wares, absorbing decors and meeting like-minded people. I find the music surprisingly undiverse, hip-hop and rap being the standard at pretty much every place we stopped into. I notice a dearth of hippy-type people as well, so it may be no surprise that there aren't any places playing the Dead or the Allmans. The crowd is mostly young and homey, but everyone seems friendly enough.

We went back to Green House for a late burger supper (yes, all I've had is burgers so far), and they were dee-dee-licious. There was probably another coffee shop stop in there before we closed down our local favourite joint Voyagers, which shuts it's doors at midnite, and after a dozen hours prowling Amsterdam's infamous dens of inequity we were back at the hotel inequiting the minibar.

Amazing that they keep refilling it every day.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

You gotta try croquettes, they may be the ultimate munchie food.

Keep on keepin on mon ami

[bouche]

is this Burger Cup or Cannabis cup?

[Hartamophone]

is this Burger Cup or Cannabis cup?

Our man is a two-sport star.