The cannabis contest scene has positively exploded. Every month there seems to be an announcement for the next no-holds-barred, winner-take-all, no-guts-no-glory slam fest. Within this growing list, a handful from within the hash community is turning things on their head by molding a more relaxed kind of contest that’s just as much about bringing the community together as it is about securing bragging rights. The Smoking Jacket is one of these events. A private, catered competition run by the popular podcast The Hashish Inn, The Smoking Jacket brings together a community of dedicated dabbers for multiple days of education, judging, and tastings, all for the love of hash. Last year, attendees, competitors, and expert judges sat family-style as they worked through 25 unmarked entries to see who would walk away with a custom jacket.
These experts included some of the hashiest minds of our time, including Cuban Grower, Brandon from Third Gen Farms, Danny & Pepe of Ogre Farms, Flynn from Wooksauce Winery, and Simplee Adam, winner of the 2022 Ego Clash for Melt. Besides the experts and competitors, a small number of public tickets were available for people who wanted to experience the event and judge the entries. On a podcast episode, after the event, creators Shoragim and Adam discussed how they want this to be a shared experience as well as a friendly fight. They understand that for some people the cost is a little prohibitive, but they also stressed that this isn’t just a contest or just an event but something much more like a solventless symposium. It was during a planning session for one of the highly successful Coffee and Donuts events, that they both started unpacking this idea of a community gathering of hashmakers. As more and more ideas kept being added – like podcast recording, guided tastings, catered lunches, and gift bags, it was clear they had unknowingly created a whole new project.
When you first hear about a competition called “The Smoking Jacket,” you think of the Master’s Golf Tournament and its iconic green championship jacket, but the inspiration for the event is actually a classic piece of outerwear that’s been around since the 1700s. Smoking jackets were used to keep your clothes from smelling like smoke and to protect you from the dangers of falling ash or cinders. Over the years, like smoking hash, this iconic piece of fashion has fallen in and out of favor, but participation has always made you part of a certain crowd. This crowd of attendees received a custom kit with the entries, a gift bag that included a gram of full melt, as well as full food and beverage service for two days.
In order to tailor such a lavish event, managing the major duties was split between Shoragim, who handled logistics and event coordination, and Adam who helped oversee the creation of the judging criteria. Thanks to them and their indispensable team, once you walked through the entryway of The Smoking Jacket, everything was taken care of. Cold storage for your terps, rigs/torches were available through guest services, and a barista was ready to serve you coffee before you hit the dab brunch. Once you found your spot, tableside menus detailed your lunch and drink options. For competitors, intake, and portioning were all handled by the event who then handed out custom pelican case judge’s kits to the crowd along with their scorecards.
The scoring sheet, which was shared online and has been used in other events around the country, was made with basic reaction scores to things like smell, taste, and appearance, almost a roundup of your gut reactions. Followed by sub-categories that you can use to express more nuanced qualities and help you break a tie between entries. In order to get everyone familiar with the system, a series of guided tastings allowed attendees a rare chance to interact while learning how to score an entry as a group. Cuban Grower, The Real Cannabis Chris, Humphrey Hashish, and Simplee Adam all brought exclusive offerings, taking the time to explain where each course came from, how it was grown, washed, and blended, and the inspiration behind the jar.
Though admittedly not a brand-new concept, “guided tastings” are popping up around the event scene. Just sitting down and smoking some of this hash is an incredible treat, but to have the maker sit down with you and explain the journey it took from the garden to the jar is an inside-the-actor’s studio moment. As we try and break people away from our tiny screens to participate in activities, it’s these intimate shared experiences that will, in my opinion, be most memorable. The Smoking Jacket was a special moment where that hash you’ve been staring at online is right there in front of you, being held by the hands that put the plant to the press. People who attended got to sit side by side with serious artists of the industry, many of whom came from outside the state to participate in this inaugural edition. We shared meals, grabbed each other coffee, and bonded over shared nerdiness for dabs.
Longtime supporters of the hardest-working hash makers in the world, Shoragim and Adam have a genuine positivity and passion for their scene that makes Smoking Jacket more than just an event. It honestly feels like summer camp the way you sit down at a table in the morning, have fun all day, then wave goodbye to a whole new set of friends you can’t wait to see the next day. People are expressing a strong desire for these smaller settings now that events have fully ramped up. Large festivals will always be popular, but two-to-one people say they prefer these private gatherings where you can really engage with people and walk away with not just new memories but shared memories.
Even though only one person can walk away with the champion’s coat, there are two other ways of winning at the Smoking Jacket. Along with their prized Expert Judge’s Choice, there’s also a People’s Choice determined by the public judges, and a Maker’s Choice taken from only the competitor’s scores. This means a hashmaker can have something that might not capture the judges’ fancy, but their fellow artisans or the hash-lovin’ public might easily see it as something award-winning. It’s nice to see three different perspectives (judge, public, and craftsman), all represented. It gave everyone a sense that their votes mattered not just in terms of scores but also in terms of respect for their opinion and position in the scene. That’s something this had which many other events are working to achieve, recognizing the identity and contributions of everyone who walks in the room.
As a journalist wandering the room, you could see the look of concentration on people’s faces as they took their role in this seriously, inspecting each jar with quiet contemplation. At the end of the two days, top honors from the experts went to The Real Cannabis Chris for his Guava Pie #2 Reserva Privada. People’s Choice went to Dammit Bobby for Oishii #7 rosin, a new Archive Seeds release. Maker’s Choice was Helios Hash for their Chem Brulee + Rainbow Belts rosin. Though the contest is currently only set for rosin, the organizers expressed that they want to leave it open for melt to walk through the door once they have another year or two buttoned up.
The Smoking Jacket II is set for September in Portland, Oregon. Along with their judges’ kit, attendees can look forward to another fully catered, fully stocked experience – just bring your lungs, your rig, and your torch. This year, the competitors list has been increased to 30 and already every spot has been snapped up, prompting the release of additional public judging tickets as well as some GA tickets to attend the awards ceremonies. With three days planned at Archive’s new private event space, a confirmed tasting with Resin Ranch, a competitor list that includes Athena and Solventless Refinery, and recruiting Slite23 from Spain to be an expert judge, we can’t wait to see what other surprises are planned for the second year of this unique hash celebration. Check out their Instagram page for more information @thismokingjacket.
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