Season 0 · Western New York · Indoor Flower
Every cup says the
best flower wins.
Ours shows the math.
Head-to-head, blind, against a rubric we publish before entries open. Eight growers. Five judges. One bracket. Every scorecard goes public afterward with the judge's name attached to their own numbers.
Entrant and judge waitlists open · No entry fee for Season 0 · 21+
You already know why you don't trust cannabis competitions.
Somebody bought the trophy, or the judges knew whose jar was whose, or nobody ever published a number you could argue with. Small growers pay to enter anyway, because there is no other way to prove the flower is good.
We took the three things that make a result believable — blind samples, a published rubric, and named judges — and made all three non-negotiable. That is the whole product. Everything else is a bracket and a camera.
- Blind
No brand, packaging, or strain name reaches the panel until the reveal.
- Published
The rubric is public before entries open. So is every scorecard after.
- Named
Judges sign their numbers, disclose conflicts, and recuse.
How it works
Four steps, and you can audit all of them.
- 01
Enter
You submit a sample of one indoor flower. It gets a code on intake — HJ-0926-A through H — assigned by someone who is not judging. Your name comes off it and stays off.
- 02
Test
Every entry runs a full lab panel before judging: potency, terpenes, and pesticide and microbial safety. Safety is a hard pass-fail gate. Potency is published but scores zero points.
- 03
Judge
Five judges score both samples in a head-to-head matchup against the published 100-point rubric. High and low scores are dropped. The middle three average.
- 04
Publish
Every scorecard goes public after the season, with each judge's name attached to their own numbers. You see exactly where you lost points and who said so.
The scorecard
Published before entries open. That is not a courtesy — it is what makes this a skill competition.
| # | Criterion | Points | What is being scored |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Aroma | 20 | Nose intensity, complexity, terpene distinction, jar appeal |
| 02 | Appearance | 15 | Structure, trichome coverage, trim quality, cure and moisture |
| 03 | Flavor | 25 | Taste on inhale and exhale, retention through the bowl, harshness |
| 04 | Effect | 30 | Onset, character, duration, functionality |
| 05 | Finish | 10 | Burn quality, ash color, even combustion |
Outliers get dropped
Five judges score. High and low come off. The middle three average.
Potency scores zero
THC is measured and published, but it wins nothing. This scores craft.
Safety is pass-fail
Every entry runs a pesticide and microbial panel before judging. No exceptions.
Season 0 · The bracket
Rochester brings four. Buffalo brings four. One of them leaves with the seal.
Seventy-five miles, two brackets, one cross-bracket final. Judges score both jars in a matchup on the same session, so the winner advances on an absolute number — not on which one someone liked better that afternoon.
Rochester
Monroe County
- HJ-ASlot open
- HJ-BSlot open
- HJ-CSlot open
- HJ-DSlot open
Buffalo
Erie County
- HJ-ESlot open
- HJ-FSlot open
- HJ-GSlot open
- HJ-HSlot open
Questions
The ones worth answering.
- What does it cost to enter?
- Season 0 is free. It is a closed, invite-only pilot with no entry fee and no prize purse — the point is to prove the format on camera and publish a rulebook that holds up. Paid entry starts in Season 1, once the licensed event structure is in place.
- Who are the judges?
- Five per season: two industry (breeder, extractor, or long-tenured budtender), two experienced consumers, one wildcard from outside the trade. Every judge is named publicly, discloses conflicts, and recuses from any entry they have a relationship with.
- How do I know it isn't pay-to-play?
- Because you can check. Judging is blind — no brand, no packaging, no strain name reaches the panel until the reveal. Every scorecard is published with judge names attached. If a result looks wrong, the numbers are right there to argue with. That is the entire reason this exists.
- Does higher THC win?
- No. Potency is measured, published, and worth zero points. The rubric scores craft — aroma, appearance, flavor, effect, and finish. A 22% flower beats a 31% flower here regularly, and that result is the point.
- Do I need a license to enter?
- Season 0 is open to licensed cultivators and microbusinesses in Monroe and Erie counties, and to home growers under a separate non-commercial track. Season 1 runs under a New York Cannabis Showcase Event permit, which is licensed-only.
- Why Rochester and Buffalo?
- Because Western New York is thick with small licensed craft growers who have no way to signal quality to a customer, and because a 75-mile rivalry makes a better bracket than one city ever could. Four entries from each, one cross-bracket final.
Eight slots. Five seats.
Both lists are open.
Season 0 is a closed pilot in Rochester and Buffalo — no entry fee, no purse, and a rulebook we intend to still be using in Season 5. Tell us which side of the table you want to be on.