Caleb Chen is a cannabis researcher, entrepreneur, and educator advocating for cannabis genetic diversity, ethnographies of cannabis culture, and the kindest bud. Caleb founded The Highest Critic in 2018 where he is currently Editor in Chief. There, he features the latest nevWs, reviews, and interviews from the cutting edge of cannabis culture with a team of over 100 cannabis reviewers from around the world. Nothing makes him happier than working with farmers and breeders around the world to highlight their unique cultivars and the moving stories behind them.

To find the kindest bud, he has served as a cannabis cup judge all around the United States including in Oklahoma at the Cowboy Cup, in Virginia at the East Coast Connoisseur Cup, and in California at Cannifest. In 2024, Caleb was chosen to become one of the first cannabis flower judges at the California State Fair.

Caleb is dedicated to giving back to the cannabis community and serves as a moderator for the largest online forum for marijuana enthusiasts. In 2022, he was certified as a Ganjier; in 2023, he joined the Budist team.

As a student of the ethnobiology of cannabis, Caleb advocates for cannabis grown by the sun with roots in native soil because only then is terroir reflected in the final product. At the same time, he is indebted to the science, technology, and society advancements from indoor cultivation that allow longer flowering cultivars to be grown anywhere. Having started his smoking career on the East Coast, it's no Wonder that you can catch him looking for dat piff, searching for dour, on an exodus for some cheese. Whatever the cultivar, however it was cultivated, Caleb follows his nose and enjoys hashing out the history of human use of particular cannabis cultivars.

That journey has led Caleb to experience cannabis culture around the world from Europe to Africa to Asia and back. Nowadays, you can find Caleb in the Emerald Triangle where he is working as a graduate research assistant on the Legacy Genetics Grant at the Cal Poly Humboldt Cannabis Studies Lab. There, he combines ethnography and archival research to highlight new and historical trends in cannabis genetic diversity and stewardship of this plant that brings people together.

Check out all of Caleb's reviews on his Budist app profile.