The 2020 Illinois High Times Cannabis Cup: People’s Choice Edition arrived at almost the exact moment Illinois cannabis entered a new era. Adult-use sales had begun on January 1, 2020, only months before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted public gatherings across the United States. Under ordinary circumstances, High Times might have introduced Illinois to the Cannabis Cup through a large festival filled with vendors, music, celebrity appearances and a conventional awards stage. Instead, the company brought its newly created People’s Choice format to the state, turning qualified Illinois cannabis consumers into the judges and distributing the competition through licensed retail channels rather than one centralized event. Illinois became one of the earliest states to participate in the redesigned Cannabis Cup model.
The results produced one of the most dominant performances of any early People’s Choice competition. Revolution Cannabis captured first place in Indica Flower, Hybrid Flower, Sativa Flower and Pre-Rolls, while its Revolution Craft line also won Concentrates and Vape Pens. Bhang was the only company to prevent a complete Revolution sweep, taking first in Edibles with its 100mg Toffee Chocolate. The event therefore became both an introduction to Illinois’ young recreational market and a showcase for one cultivator that managed to win six of the seven available categories.
Illinois Legalization Sets the Stage
Illinois entered 2020 with one of the most closely watched adult-use cannabis rollouts in the country. Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act in June 2019, making Illinois the first state to create a comprehensive adult-use marijuana market through its legislature rather than through a voter initiative. Recreational sales officially began January 1, 2020, allowing adults 21 and older to purchase cannabis from licensed dispensaries while also creating expungement provisions and social-equity components intended to address some of the harms created by prohibition.
Demand was immediate. State records showed more than $19 million in adult-use sales during the first twelve days alone, with almost half a million individual transactions recorded. The early sales volume demonstrated that Illinois already had a substantial consumer base even before the market had time to mature. That rapid launch made the state a logical destination for High Times, which increasingly used regional Cannabis Cups to document the cultivators, strains and consumer preferences emerging in newly legal markets.
COVID-19 Forces the Cannabis Cup to Reinvent Itself
The pandemic made the traditional Cannabis Cup festival impossible just as Illinois’ recreational industry was finding its footing. High Times responded by creating the People’s Choice model, replacing a relatively small expert judging panel with much larger groups of local consumers. Whereas traditional categories often relied on roughly 28 to 35 invited judges, the new format could distribute as many as 227 or 228 judge kits per category. Participants took the products home, evaluated the full group of entries and submitted scores through the Cannabis Cup judging system.
Illinois became the fourth People’s Choice competition launched in 2020 after the Hemp Cup, Oklahoma and Colorado editions. The format fit the moment unusually well. Rather than asking thousands of people to travel to one venue during a public-health crisis, High Times brought the competition directly into the regulated state market. The change also made the results more representative of local consumer preference: Illinois residents, rather than a visiting panel of industry personalities, determined which products earned the trophies.
A Cannabis Cup Without the Traditional Celebrity Guest List
The 2020 Illinois Cup did not feature the type of notable guest lineup associated with classic Cannabis Cups. There were no packed concert stages, breeder seminars or celebrity judging tables comparable with earlier High Times events in Amsterdam, Denver or California. The awards were presented digitally, and the competition unfolded through dispensaries and private judging rather than through a central festival site. That absence was not a weakness of the event; it was one of the defining characteristics of the early People’s Choice era.
The notable participants were instead the Illinois consumers who became official judges and the cultivation teams competing in one of America’s newest recreational markets. In previous decades, well-known musicians, activists and cannabis figures often attracted as much attention as the winning strains. Illinois 2020 reversed that relationship. The products themselves became the centerpiece, with judges concentrating on qualities such as appearance, aroma, flavor, burnability and effects over an extended evaluation period rather than during a crowded weekend.
2020 High Times Cannabis Cup Illinois Winners in All Categories
The inaugural Illinois People’s Choice competition ultimately published results in seven official categories. Although some archived navigation pages reference a Sungrown Flower heading, no 2020 Illinois Sungrown podium is included in the official winner list. The documented competition consisted of three flower divisions plus Pre-Rolls, Concentrates, Vape Pens and Edibles.
| Category | 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indica Flower | Florida Orange — Revolution Cannabis | Velvet Glove #4 — Columbia Care | Private Stock Mag Landrace — Verano |
| Hybrid Flower | Gorilla’d Cheese — Revolution Cannabis | Grape Sugar Cookies — Bedford Grow | Jenny Kush — Aeriz |
| Sativa Flower | Turbo Lemon Cake — Revolution Cannabis | Sour Diesel — Rythm | Red Line Haze — Cresco |
| Pre-Rolls | Rocket Raspberry Bellini — Revolution Cannabis | GMO Small Batch Pre-Roll — Aeriz | Chem de Menthe Palm Pre-Roll — Bedford Grow |
| Concentrates | Gorilla Glue #4 Budder — Revolution Craft | Jenny Kush Live Resin Budder — Aeriz | Blueberry Headband Live Sugar — Grassroots Cannabis |
| Vape Pens | Terp Tank Florida Orange Vape — Revolution Craft | Origins Razzmatazz D8 Vape Cart — PharmaCann | Jet Fuel Gelato Liquid Live Resin Cartridge — Cresco |
| Edibles | 100mg Toffee Chocolate — Bhang | Snoozzzeberry Gummies — Incredibles | Fudgies Rich Chocolatey Bites — Revolution Cannabis |
Florida Orange Wins Indica Flower
Revolution Cannabis opened its historic run by winning Indica Flower with Florida Orange. Columbia Care finished second with Velvet Glove #4, while Verano placed third with Private Stock Mag Landrace. The podium already reflected the shape of the emerging Illinois market: vertically integrated operators and established medical cannabis companies were adapting quickly to adult-use demand, and the first Cannabis Cup gave consumers a way to compare some of their strongest offerings directly.
Florida Orange would become one of the recurring names associated with Revolution’s Illinois competition success. Its profile also fit a broader shift in modern cannabis toward cultivars with highly recognizable terpene identities. Instead of relying only on classic family names such as Afghan, Northern Lights or Skunk, consumers were increasingly drawn to strains whose aroma and flavor could be communicated immediately through fruit, citrus and dessert associations.
Gorilla’d Cheese Captures Hybrid Flower
Revolution followed the Indica win by taking Hybrid Flower with Gorilla’d Cheese. Bedford Grow’s Grape Sugar Cookies finished second, while Aeriz earned third with Jenny Kush. The podium combined several genetic trends that were defining legal cannabis at the start of the 2020s: Cheese ancestry, Cookies-family influence and the continued popularity of established cultivars such as Jenny Kush.
The victory was especially important because Gorilla’d Cheese would remain closely associated with Revolution Cannabis in later Illinois competition. Winning Hybrid in the state’s first High Times Cup gave the cultivar an early benchmark against some of the strongest flower then available through Illinois dispensaries. Bedford Grow and Aeriz also began building competition records that would become more visible as the Illinois Cup returned in subsequent years.
Turbo Lemon Cake Completes Revolution’s Flower Sweep
The most remarkable part of Revolution’s performance was completed when Turbo Lemon Cake won Sativa Flower. Rythm placed second with Sour Diesel, and Cresco finished third with Red Line Haze. Revolution therefore swept first place across Indica, Hybrid and Sativa Flower, an unusually decisive outcome for a competition designed to compare the strongest entries in a newly legal market.
The lower podium positions also gave the category a connection to older cannabis traditions. Sour Diesel was already a legendary American cultivar by 2020, while the Haze name had been central to Cannabis Cup history since the Amsterdam era. Their presence alongside Turbo Lemon Cake illustrated the mix of old and new that characterized Illinois dispensary shelves: classic cannabis families remained competitive while newer, terpene-forward hybrids increasingly captured first-place attention.
Rocket Raspberry Bellini Wins Pre-Rolls
Revolution’s winning streak continued in Pre-Rolls with Rocket Raspberry Bellini. Aeriz earned second for its GMO Small Batch Pre-Roll, while Bedford Grow’s Chem de Menthe Palm Pre-Roll placed third. The category showed how legal-market pre-rolls had evolved beyond leftover flower rolled for convenience. Cultivators were using premium strains, specialty formats and stronger branding to turn pre-rolls into competition-worthy products of their own.
Aeriz and Bedford Grow both appeared elsewhere in the final results, reinforcing their broader strength in the Illinois market. Aeriz would medal in flower, pre-rolls and concentrates, while Bedford Grow reached the podium in Hybrid Flower and Pre-Rolls. Even during a Cup dominated by Revolution, several other Illinois cultivators demonstrated enough consistency to place across multiple product types.
Revolution Craft Wins Concentrates With Gorilla Glue #4 Budder
The Concentrates category went to Revolution Craft for Gorilla Glue #4 Budder, with Aeriz’s Jenny Kush Live Resin Budder second and Grassroots Cannabis’ Blueberry Headband Live Sugar third. The category reflected a concentrate market already considerably more sophisticated than the hash competitions of the early Cannabis Cup era. Budder, live resin and live sugar had become familiar retail formats, each emphasizing different textures and approaches to terpene preservation.
Gorilla Glue #4 also provided a strong connection to the previous generation of elite American genetics. By 2020, GG4 had already become one of the most influential modern cannabis cultivars, and its success as concentrate material demonstrated how well-established flower genetics were being reinterpreted through extraction. Jenny Kush’s simultaneous appearance in Hybrid Flower and concentrates also showed how desirable strains could compete successfully in multiple forms.
Florida Orange Wins Again in Vape Pens
Revolution Craft’s Terp Tank Florida Orange won Vape Pens, giving Florida Orange trophies in both flower and vaporized concentrate form. PharmaCann placed second with an Origins Razzmatazz D8 Vape Cart, while Cresco took third with a Jet Fuel Gelato Liquid Live Resin cartridge. For Revolution, the duplicated Florida Orange success made the cultivar one of the defining products of the entire 2020 competition.
The second-place delta-8 entry is historically interesting because it appeared at the beginning of the enormous national interest in alternative cannabinoids that followed passage of the 2018 Farm Bill. Meanwhile, Cresco’s liquid live resin cartridge represented another important direction in vape development: preserving more of the aromatic profile of fresh cannabis rather than relying solely on highly refined distillate. The podium captured several competing philosophies of vape formulation in a single category.
Bhang Stops the Sweep in Edibles
The only first-place trophy Revolution did not win went to Bhang, whose 100mg Toffee Chocolate took the Edibles championship. Incredibles finished second with Snoozzzeberry Gummies, while Revolution Cannabis took third with Fudgies Rich Chocolatey Bites. Without Bhang’s victory, Revolution would have swept every category at the inaugural Illinois competition.
The results also captured the diversification of cannabis edibles. Chocolate remained a major category, but gummies were rapidly becoming one of the most popular formats in regulated markets. Later Illinois Cups would divide edibles into multiple classes, including gummies and non-gummies, but in 2020 all edible formats still competed together. Bhang’s chocolate therefore won during a transitional period before the category structure became more specialized.
Revolution Cannabis Becomes the Story of the Cup
Revolution’s final tally made it impossible to discuss the 2020 Illinois Cup without treating the company as the central story. Florida Orange won Indica Flower, Gorilla’d Cheese won Hybrid, Turbo Lemon Cake won Sativa, Rocket Raspberry Bellini won Pre-Rolls, Gorilla Glue #4 Budder won Concentrates and the Florida Orange Terp Tank won Vape Pens. Revolution also reached third in Edibles, giving the company a podium position in every official category.
High Times later looked back on the competition specifically as a six-out-of-seven sweep. The dominance established a benchmark for Illinois competitors and gave the 2021 edition an obvious storyline: whether anyone could break Revolution’s hold on the state’s Cannabis Cup trophies. Revolution remained a major force the following year, but increased competition from brands such as Triple 7, Bedford Grow, Select, NuEra and Aeriz showed how quickly the Illinois market was developing.
Aeriz, Bedford Grow and Cresco Establish Early Cup Records
Although Revolution controlled first place, Aeriz quietly assembled one of the next-best overall performances. Jenny Kush finished third in Hybrid Flower, GMO took second in Pre-Rolls and Jenny Kush Live Resin Budder placed second in Concentrates. Three podium finishes across flower, joints and extracts demonstrated that the company was already competitive across multiple product formats.
Bedford Grow similarly earned second in Hybrid Flower with Grape Sugar Cookies and third in Pre-Rolls with Chem de Menthe, while Cresco medaled in both Sativa Flower and Vape Pens. Those results became more meaningful with hindsight because the Illinois Cannabis Cup developed into a recurring annual competition. The 2020 podium was effectively the starting record against which later performances could be compared.
Why the 2020 Illinois Cannabis Cup Matters
The competition arrived during a year of extraordinary disruption, yet that disruption made the Cup historically important. Illinois had only just opened recreational sales when the pandemic eliminated the possibility of a traditional High Times gathering. Rather than wait for festival conditions to return, High Times brought its new People’s Choice system into the state and allowed ordinary consumers to determine the champions from home.
That model would outlast the emergency that created it. The People’s Choice Cannabis Cup continued expanding into Illinois and other states, eventually becoming one of the primary ways High Times organized regional competitions. Instead of the Cannabis Cup being something that consumers merely attended, it became something they could directly judge.
Legacy of the 2020 High Times Cannabis Cup Illinois
The 2020 High Times Cannabis Cup Illinois stands as both the first major High Times competition of the state’s adult-use era and one of the earliest demonstrations of the People’s Choice system. Illinois had begun recreational sales less than nine months before the winners were announced, making the results an unusually early snapshot of which cultivators and products were defining the new legal marketplace.
Revolution Cannabis dominated that snapshot. Florida Orange, Gorilla’d Cheese, Turbo Lemon Cake, Rocket Raspberry Bellini, Gorilla Glue #4 Budder and the Florida Orange Terp Tank collectively gave the company six first-place trophies, while Bhang’s Toffee Chocolate prevented the only possible sweep. Aeriz, Bedford Grow, Columbia Care, Verano, Rythm, Cresco, PharmaCann, Grassroots and Incredibles filled out a podium that captured many of the companies shaping Illinois cannabis in its first recreational year. More than a strain contest, the 2020 Illinois Cup documented the moment a young legal market and a newly reinvented Cannabis Cup format came together for the first time.
