All in all, you usually can't go wrong with the following coffeeshops:

Grey Area - DNA Genetics strains here. Usually excellent.
Dampkring - One of the largest selections.
Barney's - Expensive as JG said, but often worth it. I once saw a guy drop 400 Euro on hash there.
Katsu - Their Crystal Clear hash is some of the best tasting.
Basjoe - Their Terminator hash is some of the strongest.

Hit or miss shops:

Greenhouse - Often out of stock on certain items, but good quality can be had there.
Old Church - The preweighing doesn't bug me as much as the inconsistency of quality.
Rokerij - Again, inconsistent quality.
Bushdoctor - You either love it or hate it.

Stay away from:

Any coffeeshop on Damstraat/Oude Hoogstraat.
Any coffeeshop on Nieuwendijk.
Any coffeeshop with an overdone reggae theme.

Most commercial product in the Netherlands is grown indoors due to the naturally short growing season in most Northern latitudes. Do they have strains that will grow in short seasons? Yes of course those strains are available, but the most marketable product ripens in an 8-10 week timeframe making it unsuitable for outdoor growing in the Netherlands.



Every batch is different, whether it is the same strain or not. There are all kinds of variables going on in an indoor grow. Depending on the time of year you might be battling heat, cold, insects, moulds, and other disease vectors. Not to mention the fact that growing pot commercially is highly illegal so growers are generally a skittish bunch that are more transient by nature…



Most strains are kept away from the public until the competition, and then it generally is available only to CC attendees for the week of the Cup. After that it is usually available to anyone that has the money.



Not that unusual to have a different reaction to the same weed at different times at all. Certainly you might have a reaction to aspirin one day and be able to tolerate it the next, no? It is the same with any chemical that you put in your body (caffeine, tobacco, Tylenol, etc.), your body’s hormone levels, emotional state, and overall physical condition are all variables that can allow you accept or deny any drug at anytime. Fortunately cannabis is so mild and natural compared to most pharmaceutical drugs that the body generally accepts it most of the time without hesitation.


Soylent, I would add the Greenplace Coffeeshop to your ‘can’t miss’ list as well. A nice place in the Nieuwmarkt, it is one of the three DNA outlets in Amsterdam. The Chocolope was great here the last time I was there, as was the Blueberry Cheese. Right by both de Bekeerde Suster and t’ Loosje in case you want to wet your whistle…

HW:

Thanks for the responses ... good background.

I guess I was just suprised in May 09 because I've never had the experience of visiting Amsterdam and not getting really stoned from the weed especially with the first smoke of the trip. I wasn't sure if it was me or the weed ... probably me. Either way, hopefully it was an aberration.

The Green Place
Blueberry Cheese - a nice sativa dominate smoke. Aromas of blueberry chewing gum and a skunks ass. Not as potent as the last time I picked some of this up here, but a good quality smoke overall, at e12 per gram it is recommended.

OG Kush - the opposite of the BBC, this indica dominate (probably pure indica) hits your brain like a brick through a plate-glass window. Once you smoke some of this, you willbe immoble for the next 1/2 hour (good or bad, thats whats going to happen...)

Tweede Kamer
Chocolope Just as good as the last time... This stuff just never seems to lose strength or flavor. Tastes of Thai Basil and ripe cheese mix wonderfully withthis strain. TK always has the best smoke...

420 Cafe
420 Kush From what I can recall, this was some powerfull stuff as well. Bought a gram on the way to Cafe Belgique to meet up with mijneer 420 to drink some good Belgian beer and smoke some good weed. Some people from New York actually ended up rolling it up, so I did not even get to smell the stuff before it was being passed around. Watching the eyes of people hitting this joint go from bright and aware to sleepy and stoned in a matter of seconds is all the recommendation I need... Good stuff indeed...

Hunters
SoGouda A really nice smoke, flavorful and hard-hitting. Not much else to say other than stop in and pick some up...

More to come as it happens...

HW

Weed is just such a subjective thing that it is very difficult to pin down a list of strains in order of desirability. As has been pointed out in previous posts, individual chemical makeup can influence the effects that a given strain could have.

During my last trip, I sampled some of the favorites touted here, and was surprisingly underwhelmed by Chocoloupe, for example. My personal experience with Grey Area has been that nothing I've ever smoked there has lasted more than an hour or so. Nice enough high - nothing spectacular - then back down.

My own personal favorite is Super Silver Haze, particularly from 8 or 9 years ago, from the Greenhouse. However, during this last trip, it did not hit me as hard as I remembered, and certainly not as hard as Amnesia Haze did. So, I guess it all boils down to figuring out the kind of effect you like, and staying with a range of strains that suit that purpose.

PlayItAgainSam - I think the issue is that the strains of weed mutate through cross-breeding, etc....so gradually it's effects/flavour/smell changes......also, our personal tastes change and so does our chemical make-up, so different weeds effect us all differently from one year to the next. My personal favourite for about 2 years was Buddah's Sister....cracking stuff....just didn't seem the same last time I tried it! :-(

HW:
"OG Kush - the opposite of the BBC, this indica dominate (probably pure indica) hits your brain like a brick through a plate-glass window. Once you smoke some of this, you willbe immoble for the next 1/2 hour (good or bad, thats whats going to happen...)"

Mmmm.....mmmm...mmmm.....sounds like the stuff for me!!! :-)

"Chocolope Just as good as the last time... This stuff just never seems to lose strength or flavor. Tastes of Thai Basil and ripe cheese mix wonderfully withthis strain. TK always has the best smoke..."

Really went off Chocolope after having 2 or 3 batches from different coffeeshops that were just not great! Haven't been to Tweede's or De Dampkring for some time....may have a look next week! Used to always be a favourite of mine! lol!!

"Hunters
SoGouda A really nice smoke, flavorful and hard-hitting. Not much else to say other than stop in and pick some up..."

Nice stuff from memory.....always like to pick up a few different buds in Hunters. From memory it was a pretty nice smoke throughout the day!

"More to come as it happens... "

Looking forward to it mate!!

Peace

Ramos....agreed. I'd have to say that as I get older, weed just seems to affect me in different ways. Besides, I get to smoke.... like....every other year now, so my memories of weed experiences do tend to be even more hazy than usual.

Sam

Jgramos -

Go to the Grey Area and ask for the Chocolope behind the bar and off the menu. Off the charts! You will remember why you liked it in the first place after one hit...

Enjoy!

HW

Will do HW, will do! ;-)

Peace

Katsu

Sour Diesel
Great smell, and fantastic bag appeal. Tastes of tart fruit and petrol fumes, ordinarily I would rate this very high. Unfortunately, as with much of the inventory that makes it to a coffeeshop, it was harvested a little early and rushed through the drying process. It will be much better smoke next week....

#18 Kush
Typical Kush, this tastes of candy and hits like a frying-pan to the back of the head. Beautiful stuff if you want to relax for a few hours. What more can one add? Highly recommended and at E20 for a 1.8 gram bag it is probably the best of the holiday so far...


Stones Coffeeshop

#18 Kush
Powerful and sweet, but not as good as the Katsu version. At e12 per gram it is more expensive as well. Smallish budlets and not very good bag appeal but it does get the job done.


Greenhouse Centrum

Lemon Haze
Fantastic look and a better aroma, like lemon bathroom spray with a Haze background. Good enough that if Arjan did not win the Cup with this last year he could certainly win it with this batch this year. Soaring Haze dominate high, only a little bit is needed to make you feel comfortable yet aware with hightened senses.


Hunters

Honey Hash
What a wonderful looking and smelling block of honey-blond hash this was when I first got there. It was not for long arfter that I can assure you all. Hard when left out, just pocket this stuff for a while to warm it up and you will be rewarded with the beautiful smell of warm honey with hints of old-style eastern-world hashes. Great stuff and if I remember correctly around e12-15 a gram. It will last a longtime, trust me...

More to come...

HW

Glad to find this thread for my upcoming trip. Last time I went I tried the Amnesia Haze at Barney's. It was the best I tried and great at awakening all the senses, which promptly led to a quick walk to the RLD for some incredible satisfaction. Super Silver Haze always rates high. Any Hash/Ice-o-lator recommendations? Also, how open are the cs's about letting you use their bongs, pipes, etc.? Do you have to clean out the water, clean them, etc.? This sounds like a great idea but i can imagine myself causing an accident in an inebriated state.

There's a post about hash on the next page

http://www.ignatzmice.com/WWWBoard/PHPB ... hp?t=15347

Apparently, before my time, there were more regular reports on this subject.

All coffeeshops I was in had water pipes you can use. They clean them for you. Part of the service. Most places have these vaporizer things. Barney's have them at every table. Be sure to try smoking grass in them. Incredible rush.

After smoking my 1st joint in a year (G13 Haze), I found I had trouble being coordinated enough to use any sort of pipe to smoke more. I then stumbled out of there leaving behind most of the maps I had spent the last 2 months printing out and proceeded to get totally lost.

If you're not an experienced smoker or are not somewhat at least somewhat familiar with the city, I would recommend taking it slowly at 1st with the smoke.

I highly (no pun intended) recommend this site:

http://www.coffeeshop.freeuk.com/

Besides the coffeeshop maps, they also have a forum which has lots of useful information.

The Basjoe Special is highly recommended on every site I looked at. As for Hash, Golden Soles at Grey Area seems to be well-liked by all. I've never tried hash. Rolling joints is tough enough - I was wondering what the easiest way to smoke hash is. Do you just light it in a pipe, it stays lit for a while(??), and then you inhale. Same deal for bongs or do you have to keep re-lighting it the way you do for some weed in glass pipes and bongs?
Thanks for your help.

Looked at a big D youtube video on how they make the ice o later hash and looks intriging stuff. Anyone tried it recently? Would you recomend?
Normally I do not smoke hash at all as I don't smoke tobacco but would be willing to give it a try in another way.

I like to crumble the hash and sprinkle it into a joint as I'm rolling. If you are not comfortable rolling your own, buy a rolling machine at a head-shop and practice a bit, you'll get the hang of it quickly. If not just buy a small inexpensive glass pipe and toke away...

The best tasting joint from my last trip was pure Sour Diesel from Katsu sprinkled with Honey Hash from Hunters. Stunning...

HW