The 7/10 Solventless Cup was yesterday, and I wanted to take a moment while it’s all still fresh to talk about what happened, and more importantly, what it (and events like it) mean to the community. Let’s talk about why we pour our time and resources into them.
For those unfamiliar, the Solventless Cup is an annual competition held in Buffalo, NY, bringing together the best of the best of NY’s solventless market, competing across best-in-class categories and celebrating 7/10 (Oil Day). To some, it’s a niche corner of the cannabis industry. But to the 710 community, the significant subset of the cannabis community who love heady glass and concentrates made without the need for nonpolar solvents like butane, it’s the one that matters.
There’s also a full set of industry-relevant People’s Choice categories, like Budtender of the Year, Dispensary of the Year, and even Consumption Lounge of the Year (more on that later). The event runs programming all week for judges and participants, and it culminates every year in an epic party for the awards ceremony.
Because of the nature of concentrates, how they’re consumed, how they’re shared, and the almost cultural need to show off something special in the room where it’s happening—the Solventless Cup is built around consumption-friendly experiences. At many of these gatherings, judges are still smoking and dabbing the very entries they evaluated, while attendees have the opportunity to experience many of the same products alongside them.
As an (inevitable) result, the vibes are always exceptional, we always end up having a lot of fun, and a fair amount of business gets done — because on-site consumption isn’t an afterthought at cannabis community events. We need to be able to consume cannabis when we gather, or the gatherings don’t really make sense.
“Your friend sharing a dab is always a good time. Your friend sharing the dab that just won the Solventless Cup? That’s a story you’ll still be telling next year.” – John Dough
Fighting the stigma means more than fighting for billboard advertising, ladies and gentlemen. It means fighting for cannabis consumption to be at least as ubiquitous and socially acceptable as alcohol consumption. I, for one, will keep fighting that fight, and I welcome collaboration with all of you who do too. Especially when it means throwing awesome parties.
