Zalympix Michigan (and East Coast Zalympix)
A people's-choice cannabis contest that started in California, was taken up in Michigan, and is often called the Grammys of Cannabis.
- 83results on record
- 2022–2026years in our data
- 5editions
- 51matched to strains
- Michiganlatest location
01Beginnings: a California idea heads to the Great Lakes
California had Zalympix before Michigan did. The contest started there in 2021 and was created by Greenwolf, a dispensary in Los Angeles12. It is a people's-choice competition: the people who buy kits do much of the judging, not a small panel. Michigan came later as a spin-off that kept the same format1.
In Michigan the contest is organized by Exotic Matter, a small-scale cultivator of flower and rosin1. Coverage describes the people behind the brand as a group of friends who care about premium cannabis1. Ty Decoeur, who handles sales and marketing, is the person quoted most often. The sources used here do not give the year the Michigan contest launched. The 2025 event was called the fourth annual, which points to a first Michigan contest around 2022 if it has run every year2.
02The story so far: a growing family of contests
Zalympix has since spread beyond California to Michigan and New York City, so the Michigan event is one branch of a wider family1. The East Coast Zalympix in this page's title most likely refers to the New York branch. The sources only mention that branch in passing, so its organizers, its format and how it differs from Michigan are not documented here.
The fourth Michigan contest ended with the winners being announced on a Saturday night at the Crofoot in Pontiac2. The sources give no exact date, only coverage dated September 2025. Results for each category will come from this site's database, so this page covers how the event works and how it has changed.
By the fifth contest the event was presented by The Refinery, Exotic Matter and Cake House. Coverage says it has earned credibility among growers and cannabis fans, unlike contests that exist mainly for promotion3. Each fifth-edition kit cost $310. Judging began with a blind preliminary round, where an industry panel went through more than 100 submissions and chose the finalists for the public round3.
03Culture: side-by-side tasting and a very exclusive party
The key idea is simple. People who buy a kit try the entries next to each other and choose the winners themselves, so marketing and budtender recommendations are meant to matter less1. The categories are best overall, best looking, best tasting, heaviest hitting, gassiest, best terps and most unique. Best candy is the exception: the industry judges it, not the kit buyers1.
Demand is a big part of the event's reputation. Kits are limited to 200 for flower and 200 for rosin, and coverage reports that some fans queued for hours before dispensaries opened to get one13. Many Michigan brands and growers take part. In the fifth contest the rosin box alone held 20 finalists3. Full entry numbers and results will be added from our database.
A Saturday-night party closes the competition, and only kit buyers can attend1. The party usually has music, food, displays from cannabis brands and the announcement of the winners3. The nickname Grammys of Cannabis appears throughout the press coverage, and Decoeur says several leading cannabis media outlets have used it too3.
04Now: the fifth edition
The fifth annual Zalympix Michigan is the latest contest covered by the sources. Kits were again limited to 200 flower boxes and 200 live rosin boxes3. They were due to go on sale on Saturday, August 8, at 19 dispensaries across Michigan. The year, 2026, is inferred because the article calls 2025 last year and mentions 20263.
The awards party was set for September 19 at the Crofoot in Pontiac, and public voting was due to close on September 173. Both dates are in 2026, inferred the same way. Those dates have now passed, but the sources were written before them. The article text used for this page does not list the fifth-edition winners, so none are named here. The preview's exact publication date is also not shown.
05Future: what comes next
The sources found do not mention any plans after 2026. An earlier report said Oklahoma planned to join the Zalympix family in 2026, but the sources do not say whether it did1. Decoeur of Exotic Matter said the Michigan contest would continue in 2026, keeping up its tradition of bringing Michigan's best cannabis together3. The sources say nothing more about Michigan's plans and nothing at all about the East Coast branch.
The results, in our data
CannaLib holds 83 results from this cup across 5 years (2022 to 2026), 51 of them matched to a strain in the catalogue.
Recent first-place strains
| Year | Strain | Category | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Lantz | Flower – Best overall | Hytek |
| 2025 | Honey Banana | Flower – Best terps | Growing Pains |
| 2025 | Lantz | Flower – Best tasting | Hytek |
| 2025 | 517 Headband | Flower – Gassiest | Premier 517 |
| 2025 | Gorilla Glue 4 | Flower – Heaviest hitting | Freshy Fine |
| 2025 | Honey Banana | Flower – Most unique | Growing Pains |
| 2024 | Wagyu | 2024 Blind Flower Entries | Clout King |
| 2024 | Wagyu | Best Looking | Clout King |
| 2024 | Magic Marker | Heaviest Hitting |  Seed Junky |
| 2024 | Lemon Vuitton | Best Looking | North Coast |
| 2024 | Permanent Marker | Heaviest Hitting | Eastside Alchemy x Matty B Stackers |
| 2023 | Candy Fumez | Overall | Rkive |
| 2023 | Titty Sprinkles | Best Terps | Light Sky Farms |
| 2023 | Candy Fumez | Best Tasting | Rkive |
Editions on record
- 2022 · Detroit, MI (2000 Brooklyn)
- 2023 · Detroit, MI (2000 Brooklyn)
- 2023 · New York, NY (Terminal 5)
- 2024 · Michigan (venue not stated)
- 2025 · Pontiac, MI (The Crofoot)
Sources
- Zalympix, the ‘Grammys of weed,’ showcases some of Michigan’s best cannabis - Detroit Metro Times
- Zalympix crowns Michigan’s best cannabis flower, rosin - Detroit Metro Times
- Michigan’s top flower and rosin go head to head in this year’s Zalympix - Detroit Metro Times
Written from the sources above and checked on 2026-10-29. Spot an error? Tell us on the contact page.