Farmer and the Felon Wins the High Times So-Cal Cannabis Cup
March 5, 2021
The High Times Cannabis Cups are the world’s most esteemed cannabis competitions. Any time you can not only compete, but win one, it’s a huge deal.
We are happy to announce that Farmer and the Felon's Lemon Sponge Cake won 1st Place Best Sungrown Flower at the High Times Cannabis Cup SoCal: People's Choice Edition 2020.
Lemon Sponge Cake’s genetics
Lemon Sponge Cake is an indica-dominant hybrid that has strong lemony citrus terpenes with a slightly fruity and vanilla-like undertone. Most people say it has an overall flavor of citrus and butter. This cultivar routinely tests over 20% in THC content, with average percentages ranging between 24% and 28% THC. Its top three most common terpenes are Caryophyllene, Limonene, and Humulene.
Lemon Sponge Cake was bred by crossing Lemon Kush Mint and Gelato. Lemon Kush Mint is a citrus-flavored strain, while Gelato is a sweet, earthy, dessert-like strain bred by the Cookies family. Being the product of two hard-hitting strains, it’s easy to see why Lemon Sponge Cake’s high quality sungrown flower was voted the People’s Champ. The Farmer and the Felon did our best to grow these plants, nurturing them to express their full potential. We hope to honor the amazing parent genetics and the breeders who created them.
The history of the Cannabis Cup contest
The High Times Cannabis Cup was founded in Amsterdam way back in 1988 by journalist and cannabis rights activist Steven Hager. Its goal was to create a place where judges from all around the world could try cannabis from all around the world, and vote on the best of the best. Since then, it has evolved into a worldwide phenomenon, with annual events held in Northern and Southern California, Denver, Seattle, Michigan, and Jamaica.
This year, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing a nationwide shutdown of public events, High Times had to make some changes to their judging system. Thus, the People’s Choice Edition of the competition was born. For the first time ever, High Times opened up its judging process to members of the public. While normally 28 to 35 expert judges would alone determine the rankings, the competition pivoted into crowdsourced rankings, offering 224 kits per category to consumers in state-wide competitions across the country.
How Lemon Sponge Cake was selected as champion
Judge kits for the People’s Choice were purchased on a first-come first-serve basis via High Times Delivery. According to High Times, “This is the People's Choice model, where anyone can be a judge! We had OGs in the cannabis industry, veterans, front-line workers, CEOs of companies, as well as mothers who are new to cannabis. We get judges from all walks of life with this new model.”
The contestants were rated on a 1-5 scale based on five flower attributes: aesthetics; aroma; taste; burnability; and effects. Scores were submitted on the High Times Judging Portal at CannabisCup.com/Judge. Only judges get access codes to be able to submit scores.
With this competition being the first ever Cannabis Cup judged by an open community, instead of a few select judges, it’s an extreme honor for Farmer and the Felon to bring home the gold medal for Best Sungrown Flower at the High Times Cannabis Cup SoCal.