High Times Cannabis Cup Illinois: People’s Choice Edition 2023 Kicks Off

The time is upon us, so pack your bowls and fire up your torches, and if you’re a brand with the best, may the odds ever be in your favor. High Times Cannabis Cup Illinois: People’s Choice Edition is coming to town. For over 35 years, High Times Cannabis Cup events—often imitated but not duplicated—have showcased the finest cannabis and cannabis products on the planet. But like all People’s Choice events, Judge Kits are open to the public.

The High Times Cannabis Cup Illinois: People’s Choice Edition aims to identify and award the best cannabis products across Illinois, representing the many facets of cannabis in a wide range of categories, to be judged by the great people of The Prairie State. This year, new concentrate and edible categories have been added to the mix to crank it up a notch.

This event will be the fourth-ever competition that is open to the Illinois public and will see one of the largest pools of judges in history. This is a sampling dream if you’re a connoisseur of exquisite cannabis profiles. 

New flower products will face off what’s new in town in three categories, as well as infused and non-infused pre-rolls. But if it’s concentrates you’re after, solventless and non-solventless offerings will face off as well as edibles, vape pens, sublinguals, capsules, and tinctures. Flower and other products are judged on Aesthetics/Visual Appeal of product, not the packaging, as well as Aroma/Scent, Taste/Flavor Profile, Burnability, Effects/Effectiveness, and Terpene Profile.

Last year at High Times Cannabis Cup Illinois: People’s Choice Edition, some notable winners include the unforgettable and psychedelic Fig Farms Figment (Purple Fig x Animal Mints 199 #4, First Place Sativa Flower) with a lavender and confetti cake taste, which is now emerging in the Illinois market, and RYTHM Brownie Scout (Platinum Girl Scout Cookies x Kosher Kush, First Place Indica Flower) that has “a blazingly intense initial surge, then dives into an exultant indica trance.”

Among the concentrate winners of last year, Gorilla’d Cheese Rosin (GG#4 x Clementine, First Place Concentrates & Extracts) by Revolution Cannabis snagged for its cheesy, earthy flavor with Limonene, Beta-Caryophyllene, Beta-Myrcene, Linalool, and Elemene.

Competitor product submissions will be accepted August 7-11 across Illinois. Judge Kits will be available across Illinois Saturday, August 19, including official intake partners RISE Dispensary, nuEra, and Zen Leaf locations. Judges simply login to the Judging Portal and select the corresponding event to begin judging. The judging deadline is October 22, and on November 5, winners will be announced via digital Awards Show.

May the best products win.

15 CATEGORIES:

1. Indica Flower (3 entries Max per Company)
2. Sativa Flower (3  entries Max per Company)
3. Hybrid Flower (3 entries Max per Company)
4. Non-Infused Pre-Rolls (2 entries Max per Company)
5. Infused Pre-Rolls (1 entry Max per Company)
6. Solvent Concentrates (2 entries Max per Company)
7. Non-Solvent Concentrates (2 entries Max per Company)
8. Vape Pens & Cartridges (1 entry Max per Company) (Category may split)
9. Edibles: Gummies & Fruit Chews  (1 entry Max per Company)
10. Edibles: Chocolates & Non-Gummies  (1 entry Max per Company)
11. Edibles: Beverages (1 entry Max per Company)
12. Sublinguals, Capsules, Tinctures + Topicals (1 Entry Max per Company)
13. Medical: Flower (3 entries Max per Company)
14. Medical: Vape Pens (2 entries per Company)
15. Medical: Edibles (1 entry Max per Company)

Now’s the time to visit the High Times Cannabis Cup website to see how you can get involved with the The High Times Cannabis Cup Illinois: People’s Choice Edition this year.

A special thank you to our partners!