The 2020 Oregon High Times Cannabis Cup: People’s Choice Edition arrived during a year that forced both the cannabis industry and High Times to rethink how a major competition could operate. Oregon had hosted its first official High Times Cannabis Cup only one year earlier, but the 2020 event looked completely different. COVID-19 made the intimate awards gathering and live event structure used in 2019 impractical, so High Times brought its newly developed People’s Choice model to the state. Instead of relying on a small panel of invited judges gathered at one location, Oregon consumers purchased category-specific judge kits from licensed retailers, sampled the competing products at home and submitted their own scores.
The result was a competition that highlighted both Oregon’s established cultivation culture and the rapidly changing ways consumers were evaluating legal cannabis. Deschutes Growery won Indica Flower with Strawberry Guava, PDX Organics captured both Sativa and Hybrid with Mimosa and Platinum Candy Mintz, and Million Elephants took Sungrown Flower with Blueberry Muffins. Decibel Farms became one of the most important names of the Cup by winning both Pre-Rolls and Concentrates with Banana Punch products, while Happy Cabbage Farms and Evans Creek Farms topped Vape Pens with a Tropicanna Cookies solventless rosin vape. Two separate edible categories rounded out a nine-category competition that displayed the depth of Oregon’s legal market.
Oregon’s Cannabis Culture Before the High Times Cup
Oregon had been associated with cannabis cultivation for decades before High Times finally launched a dedicated state competition. The Pacific Northwest’s relatively favorable growing regions, strong countercultural traditions and long-established medical cannabis community helped produce a sophisticated cultivation scene well before adult-use legalization. Oregon voters approved recreational marijuana in 2014, and regulated adult-use sales eventually created a market where both small craft farms and larger licensed operations could compete openly.
High Times did not bring its first official Oregon Cannabis Cup to the state until 2019. Rather than trying to recreate the giant two- and three-day festivals previously staged in places such as California and Colorado, organizers designed the inaugural Oregon Cup around the state’s growers and processors. The one-day event took place at Portland’s North Warehouse and culminated in an awards show at 4:20 p.m. Phresh Cannabis won Indica with Cuvee Cookies, Cloud Cover Cannabis took Sativa with Strawnana, and Deschutes Growery won Hybrid with MAC #1. That first competition established a foundation that would become especially important when the pandemic changed everything the following year.
The People’s Choice Era Comes to Oregon
High Times announced the 2020 Oregon competition during the summer as part of the newly created Cannabis Cup: People’s Choice Edition series. The format had emerged after COVID-19 shut down traditional events, beginning a major evolution in Cannabis Cup history. Instead of approximately 30 expert or industry judges evaluating a category, People’s Choice events could make roughly 228 judging kits available for each division. Local consumers became the judging body, giving the competition a much larger sample of opinions and turning the Cup into something closer to a statewide consumer evaluation.
Oregon’s event was open to both recreational and medical products manufactured by licensed businesses within the state. The final competition offered nine judge-kit categories: Indica Flower, Sativa Flower, Hybrid Flower, Sungrown Flower, Pre-Rolls, Concentrates, Vape Pens, Edibles: Gummies/Candies, and Edibles: Baked Goods/Other. Judge kits became available in late October, and participants had through November 30 to submit scores. The champions were ultimately announced during a virtual awards presentation on January 10, 2021.
Wildfires Add Another Challenge to an Already Unusual Year
COVID-19 was not the only major disruption affecting the Oregon Cup. Devastating wildfires swept through Oregon during the 2020 fire season, creating widespread evacuations, hazardous smoke and enormous losses across communities and agricultural areas. High Times adjusted its competition schedule as a result, moving product intake, judge-kit pickup and the final awards timeline to accommodate the crisis.
The delay gave the 2020 competition another connection to the realities of Oregon cannabis production. Outdoor and sungrown cultivators in particular operate directly within the state’s environment, where wildfire smoke, heat waves, early rain and changing seasonal conditions can influence an entire harvest. The existence of a dedicated Sungrown Flower category therefore carried additional significance during a year when outdoor agriculture faced extraordinary challenges.
Notable Participants and a Cannabis Cup Without Celebrity Guests
Unlike the traditional Cannabis Cups of earlier years, the 2020 Oregon event did not revolve around celebrity appearances, live concerts or a festival stage. There was no conventional list of headline performers or famous guest judges because the pandemic-era People’s Choice format was specifically designed to avoid large gatherings. Oregon consumers became the central participants, judging entries privately and sending their scores to High Times rather than attending one central competition venue.
The recognizable names instead came from Oregon’s cannabis community and the brands represented on the podium. The results included Deschutes Growery, PDX Organics, Frost Factory, Decibel Farms, Happy Cabbage Farms, Evans Creek Farms and numerous other cultivators and processors. One particularly recognizable name appeared in the Vape Pen results through Select and Belushi’s Farm, the Southern Oregon cannabis operation associated with actor and performer Jim Belushi. The 2020 Cup therefore lacked the celebrity-centered atmosphere of older High Times festivals while still reflecting the blend of cultivation, culture and personalities that had long surrounded Oregon cannabis.
2020 High Times Cannabis Cup Oregon Winners in All Categories
| Category | 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indica Flower | Strawberry Guava — Deschutes Growery | White Hot Guava #10 — Phresh Cannabis | Planet of the Grapes — Frost Factory |
| Sativa Flower | Mimosa — PDX Organics | Orangotang — Frost Factory | Tropicana Cookies — Deschutes Growery |
| Hybrid Flower | Platinum Candy Mintz — PDX Organics | MAC1 — Deschutes Growery | Motorbreath #15 — Portland High Standards |
| Sungrown Flower | Blueberry Muffins — Million Elephants | OA × MAC — Decibel Farms | Sherbet Breath #14 — Rolen Stones Farms |
| Pre-Rolls | Banana Punch Solventless Loud Pre-Roll — Decibel Farms | Black Raspberry Bliss Stixx — Excolo Farms × Truly Pure | Cookies ’n Cream Pre-Roll — Quantum Alchemy |
| Concentrates | Banana Punch Live Rosin — Decibel Farms | Sumo Oranges Solventless Hash Rosin — Happy Cabbage Farms × Gadsden Gardens | Don Draper Live Resin Diamonds — Capital Cannabis |
| Vape Pens | Tropicanna Cookies Solventless Rosin Vape — Happy Cabbage Farms × Evans Creek Farms | Grease Monkey Kush Live Resin Vape — NW Kind | Captain Jack’s Vape — Select × Belushi’s Farm |
| Edibles: Gummies/Candies | Variety Pack Cannabis Dark Chocolate Truffles — Crop Circle Chocolate | Solventless Salted Caramel Chews — Cannavore | Squib Pineapple Gummies — Lunchbox Alchemy |
| Edibles: Baked Goods/Other | Chocolate Brownie — Hapy Kitchen | Chocolate Chip Anzac Cookie — Seafarer | Strawberry Cheesecake Bar — Koala Edibles |
Strawberry Guava Gives Deschutes Growery the Indica Championship
Deschutes Growery captured the Indica Flower title with Strawberry Guava, beating Phresh Cannabis’ White Hot Guava #10 and Frost Factory’s Planet of the Grapes. The result continued a strong Oregon Cannabis Cup history for Deschutes, which had won Hybrid Flower at the inaugural 2019 competition with MAC #1. The company returned in 2020 not merely as a repeat competitor but as one of the event’s strongest overall performers.
Its success extended beyond Indica. Deschutes also placed second in Hybrid with MAC1 and third in Sativa with Tropicana Cookies, giving the cultivator podium finishes in all three indoor-style flower classifications. That breadth was one of the most impressive achievements of the event because it demonstrated quality across very different genetic and experiential categories rather than depending on one standout strain.
PDX Organics Sweeps Sativa and Hybrid Flower
PDX Organics produced the strongest first-place flower performance of the Cup by winning two divisions. Mimosa captured the Sativa championship, while Platinum Candy Mintz took first in Hybrid. Both cultivars fit neatly into the terpene-driven direction of cannabis breeding during the late 2010s and early 2020s, when recognizable fruit, citrus, candy and dessert profiles increasingly dominated dispensary menus and competition results.
The two victories also gave PDX Organics an unusual distinction: no other cultivator won more than one of the three primary indoor flower classes. Mimosa defeated Frost Factory’s Orangotang and Deschutes Growery’s Tropicana Cookies, while Platinum Candy Mintz finished ahead of MAC1 and Motorbreath #15. Together, the results positioned PDX Organics as one of the defining cultivation names of the 2020 Oregon Cup.
Million Elephants Wins Sungrown With Blueberry Muffins
Million Elephants took first place in Sungrown Flower with Blueberry Muffins, followed by Decibel Farms’ OA × MAC and Rolen Stones Farms’ Sherbet Breath #14. The category was particularly relevant in Oregon, where outdoor and greenhouse cultivation remain important parts of the state’s cannabis identity. Separating sungrown cannabis from other flower allowed cultivators working with natural sunlight to compete against products grown under comparable conditions.
Blueberry Muffins also represented the flavor-focused genetics increasingly popular during this period. Its championship stood alongside Strawberry Guava, Mimosa and Platinum Candy Mintz, producing a winner list filled with fruit, candy and dessert associations. The names illustrate how strongly aromatic identity had become tied to both cannabis branding and consumer expectations by 2020.
Decibel Farms Dominates Pre-Rolls and Concentrates With Banana Punch
One of the clearest crossover victories of the event belonged to Decibel Farms. Its Banana Punch Solventless Loud Pre-Roll won the Pre-Roll category, and Banana Punch Live Rosin took first in Concentrates. The company also finished second in Sungrown Flower with OA × MAC, giving it three podium positions across three separate product classes.
The matched Banana Punch victories were especially important because they demonstrated how a successful cultivar could translate across formats. The flower and resin qualities that made Banana Punch useful for solventless extraction also supported a premium infused pre-roll product. In modern Cannabis Cup competition, that type of versatility increasingly separated strong genetics from cultivars that performed well only as dried flower.
Solventless Extraction Takes Center Stage
The Concentrates podium showed how influential solventless processing had become in Oregon. Decibel Farms won with Banana Punch Live Rosin, while Happy Cabbage Farms and Gadsden Gardens finished second with Sumo Oranges Solventless Hash Rosin. Capital Cannabis’ Don Draper Live Resin Diamonds took third, providing a contrasting solvent-based format on the podium.
That combination captured a major shift in concentrate culture. Oregon had long been known for high-quality extracts, but rosin and other solventless techniques were becoming increasingly prestigious because they could preserve the aromatic and resin characteristics of the source material without hydrocarbon solvents. The first two places going to rosin-based products demonstrated how strongly Oregon consumers were responding to that approach.
Happy Cabbage and Evans Creek Farms Win Vape Pens
Happy Cabbage Farms added another major trophy by collaborating with Evans Creek Farms on the winning Tropicanna Cookies Solventless Rosin Vape. NW Kind finished second with a Grease Monkey Kush Live Resin Vape, while Select and Belushi’s Farm took third with Captain Jack’s Vape.
The category was notable because it mirrored the same technological divide seen in concentrates. Solventless rosin had moved into vape hardware, competing against live-resin formulations and other cartridge products. Vape pens were no longer judged simply on potency or convenience; extraction quality, terpene preservation, flavor and hardware performance had become important parts of the experience.
Chocolate Truffles Win Gummies and Candies
Despite the category title, the Edibles: Gummies/Candies championship went to Crop Circle Chocolate for its Variety Pack Cannabis Dark Chocolate Truffles. Cannavore’s Solventless Salted Caramel Chews finished second, while Lunchbox Alchemy took third with Squib Pineapple Gummies.
The podium demonstrated why broad edible categories could produce unusually diverse results. Chocolate truffles were competing directly against caramels and fruit gummies, each requiring very different culinary techniques. Later Cannabis Cup competitions increasingly separated gummies from chocolates, baked goods and other formats, but Oregon’s 2020 structure still captured several types of confectionery under one division.
Hapy Kitchen Leads Baked Goods and Other Edibles
The second edible category went to Hapy Kitchen for its Chocolate Brownie. Seafarer finished second with a Chocolate Chip Anzac Cookie, while Koala Edibles earned third with a Strawberry Cheesecake Bar. The podium brought the competition back to some of the oldest forms of cannabis edibles while showing how professionally manufactured versions had evolved far beyond the homemade brownies historically associated with marijuana culture.
Taste, consistency and dosing had become critical in regulated edible markets, where consumers expected a finished food product rather than simply a strong cannabis delivery system. The dedicated Baked Goods/Other category recognized that distinction and gave products such as brownies, cookies and dessert bars space to compete outside the rapidly expanding gummy market.
Oregon’s 2019 and 2020 Cups Represent Two Different Eras
Only about a year separated Oregon’s first High Times Cannabis Cup from the 2020 People’s Choice competition, yet the events belonged to two fundamentally different periods. The 2019 Cup featured an awards gathering in Portland with vendors and live music, retaining the event-centered character that had defined High Times competitions for decades. The following year, public-health restrictions forced the Cup into dispensaries and private homes.
Rather than weakening the competition, that shift changed its scale. Consumers who might never have been selected for an expert judging panel could purchase kits and participate directly. Oregon therefore became part of the first generation of state markets that helped prove the People’s Choice concept could function beyond a temporary pandemic workaround.
Legacy of the 2020 High Times Cannabis Cup Oregon
The 2020 High Times Cannabis Cup Oregon documented one of America’s most mature cannabis-producing states during an extraordinary year. Deschutes Growery won Indica with Strawberry Guava and reached the podium in all three primary flower categories. PDX Organics swept Sativa and Hybrid with Mimosa and Platinum Candy Mintz. Million Elephants gave sungrown cultivation its championship with Blueberry Muffins, while Decibel Farms turned Banana Punch into victories in both Pre-Rolls and Concentrates.
The remaining categories showed how diverse Oregon cannabis had already become. Happy Cabbage Farms and Evans Creek Farms brought solventless rosin technology into the winning vape, Crop Circle Chocolate led confectionery edibles, and Hapy Kitchen took the baked-goods title with a classic chocolate brownie. There was no crowded festival, celebrity judging table or live awards hall, yet the competition reached Oregon consumers more directly than the conventional Cup format ever had. In that sense, the 2020 Oregon Cannabis Cup became more than a pandemic-era substitute: it helped establish the People’s Choice model as a lasting chapter in High Times history.
