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On May 13, 2023, the 19th installment of the Emerald Cup Awards brought together the absolute best California has to offer. Held at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, CA, the 45,000-square-foot venue was filled with some of the industry\u2019s top players and the state\u2019s best cannabis cultivators and manufacturers. The event was a welcome reprieve from the recent issues faced by California\u2019s cannabis industry. There was a lot of love in the air: for the plant, for the community and for those tireless advocates.<\/p>\n
Considered by some to be the \u201cAcademy Awards of Cannabis,\u201d Tim Blake<\/a>, the founder of the Emerald Cup, called the 2023 ceremony \u201cthe most inspiring yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Craneway was the perfect venue for our Emerald Cup Awards ceremony,\u201d Blake said. \u201cMother Nature blessed us with perfect weather and our community came out in force to celebrate the best of the best and to party the night away on the Bay.\u201d<\/p>\n Official sponsors of the event included legacy brands Mendocino Grasslands and Guild Extracts (their luxury yacht served as the VIP area for the event). Guests on the yacht enjoyed infused beverages provided by Pabst Labs and St. Ides, flower by Elite Eighth and dabs aplenty.<\/p>\n The Emerald Cup Awards honor more than just California\u2019s best products; they also honor some of the industry\u2019s most influential figures. This year\u2019s honorees included Mila Jansen<\/a>, winner of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award; Amber E. Senter<\/a>, winner of the Visionary Award for Advocates and Entrepreneurs; Weldon Angelos<\/a>, winner of the Social Justice Award honoring freedom fighters; Alex Aquino, winner of the Trailblazer Award and renowned breeder Soma<\/a> was inducted into the Breeders Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n As one of the pioneers of the social equity movement in the Bay Area and with more than two decades of experience in just about every aspect of the cannabis industry, Amber E. Senter is the definition of a visionary. She\u2019s one of the founding members of Supernova Women<\/a> as well as founder and CEO of Makr House<\/a>, a producer of infused cannabis goods and distribution service. Senter\u2019s work with the city of Oakland to establish the first social equity program in the US opened doors for those adversely impacted by the War on Drugs to be a part of this industry, something most thought would never happen.<\/p>\n \u201cI accept this award on behalf of my community,\u201d Senter said. \u201cMy community has really done the impossible. Everybody in here is a visionary.\u201d<\/p>\n Aquino has been making an impact on the community in the Bay Area since the late 1980s. In 2007, Aquino took over planning Hippie Hill\u2019s 420 Celebration, which has turned into much more than just a sesh in the park. \u201cThere are so many people that do the heavy lifting being the scenes, especially in this industry,\u201d Mario Sherbinski<\/a> said as he presented Aquino with his Trailblazer Award. \u201cAlex is just one of those people.\u201d Aquino has been involved with the production of Bay Area hip-hop festivals that most SF natives have fond memories of, including Rock the Bells and Hiero Day.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to talk about inspiration because there\u2019s so many of you guys,\u201d Aquino said, addressing the cultivators in the crowd. \u201cYou inspire me; you inspire the world. Northern California is the most influential market in this industry and it\u2019s because of you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n The Emerald Cup Awards is renowned for showcasing only the very best cannabis products and this year\u2019s entries were no exception. \u201cIt was invigorating to see the better-than-ever quality of the entries, to have our community come together to celebrate our mutual survival,\u201d Blake said.<\/p>\n Taking home first place in the Solventless Concentrate category was Whitethorn Rose Live Bubble Hash, a collab between Frenchy Cannoli\u2019s former apprentice Cherry Blossom Belle<\/a> of Heritage Hash Co<\/a> and Huckleberry Hill Farms. Belle paid homage to her Sensi, finishing her acceptance speech with a poignant, \u201cFor Frenchy!\u201d<\/p>\n Other winners included Wendy Baker taking home first place for Best Alternative Cannabinoid Edible with the CBN Sleepy Fig Mind Expanding Belt<\/a> and first place for Best Edible Gummy with the Sour Space Drops<\/a>, her first-ever Emerald Cup win.<\/p>\n Pure Beauty\u2019s Terry T X Gelato won first place for Best Alternative Cannabinoid Flower as well as the choice for Breeder\u2019s Cup in the same category. Fig Farm\u2019s Blue Face took home first place for Best Indoor Flower, the Breeder\u2019s Cup choice and Best In Show\u2014the first indoor flower to claim this prize. Fig Farms<\/a> was the big winner of the night with nine awards.<\/p>\n SC Labs helped produce a new series of awards highlighting the highest and most unique terpene profiles. Nevada City, CA equity cultivators Sanctuary Farms took home Highest Terpene Flower with Blunicorn, which totaled an impressive 4.87% terpenes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most important thing about this is the plant and remembering how beautiful the plant is, and bringing it back to genetic, the land and the farmer,\u201d Cherry Blossom Belle of Heritage Hash Co said. \u201cLet\u2019s not forget about the beauty of this plant.\u201d<\/p>\n View the\u00a0complete list of all the winners<\/a> from the Emerald Cup Awards 2023.<\/p>\n The post And the Winners Are\u2026Emerald Cup Awards 2023<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
On May 13, 2023, the 19th installment of the Emerald Cup Awards brought together the absolute best California has to offer. Held at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, CA, the 45,000-square-foot venue was filled with some of the industry\u2019s top players and the state\u2019s best cannabis cultivators and manufacturers. TheContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":532,"featured_media":65238,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[148,50,3835,5208,478,17195,17196,235,69,5153,1066],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65237"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/532"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65239,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65237\/revisions\/65239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Amber](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Amber-E-Senter.jpg\")
<\/a>The People<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"Pure](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Pure-Beauty-Terry-T-X-Gelato.jpg\")
<\/a>The Products<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: And the Winners Are\u2026Emerald Cup Awards 2023<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"