I just excerpted this from my trip report "Christmas with Hans Brinker" (
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=22376), currently active in the Trip Reports forum. I have been going to Baba lately. I don't buy weed there; I just like to go there.
I usually vaporize my weed, so I headed over to Baba coffeeshop, a place that I have been frequenting in my more recent Amsterdam visits. I rarely buy any weed there, so I can't vouch for the quality of their stuff, but there are several other reasons I go there. One, of course, is the vaporizers.
Baba has a large number of vaporizers and you can almost always find one available, though it make take some squeezing around to do it. You can't be fussy about your personal space in coffeeshops or, for that matter in general. You kind of have to get used to a lot more jostling than we normally tolerate. But Baba is a fairly large coffeeshop, and things have to be really busy for it to be impossible to find a spot.
The layout of the coffeeshop permits a good flow of people. By "good" I mean with relation to many other coffeeshops where you nearly have to crawl over people to get anywhere and in/out traffic must share the same space. It can still get tight. One of the tables is bordered on its long side by a brass rail that separates it from the bathroom area. It's my favorite table. Anyone seated in that area can simply duck under the rail for quick access to the bathrooms which, by the way, are relatively large and well kept, for a coffeeshop. It is also the quickest way to get to the weed bar.
The vaporizers themselves are huge glass monstrosities, close to two feet tall. I would never have one around my house. But in a commercial environment they serve well. Volcanos cannot stand up to the use that vaporizers in Amsterdam coffeeshops see. The balloons quickly develop leaks, they frequently seem to have problems with air flow, and often they simply aren't even working. The temperature of the glass vaporizers can't be controlled, but it's close enough. And they are surprisingly durable, considering the number of parts, the height of the assembled pieces, and the close proximity of very many, very stoned, humans.
I like the feel of the place too. The people there are nice, despite the place's proximity to the RLD and there are a couple of quite cute and very friendly bartenders. While some coffeeshops have something of a sleazy feel to them, Baba is clean and the decor is even nicely done. There are Indian wood carvings and a large hammered brass sculpture of Baba Ganesh
Baba Ganesh2.jpg [ 372.28 KiB ]
The prices for drinks tends to be lower there than at other shops. I often have Looza fruit drinks or a coffee. Each costs 2 euros at Baba, while they are often 2.50 or even 3 euros at others. And I usually like the music there too. I don't know my genres well enough to classify it, but at least its not cookie cutter American chart toppers. They often have video of DJ performances, but most of the time the video and audio are not related. Sometimes, though, they do have some of the DJ performances going to the audio and I have started to have a better appreciation of what they do. It's fascinating to watch them work a crowd.
Since I'm recycling that piece of writing already, I might as well add this:
I stopped in at Greenhouse Effect on Warmoesstraat. It's close, and I know one of the budtenders there, whose recommendations I can trust. He hooked me up with some Amnesia Haze. Very tasty stuff. And very effective... I can definitely endorse the Amnesia Haze from Greenhouse Effect. In a vaporizer, it has a somewhat citrusy, almost lime-like, flavor. Very fresh tasting. Harvery Wallenbanger (not here yet) is much more of a rolled joint guy and we also smoked a good bit of the Haze that way as well. It was still quite tasty in joint form too... The Haze did an excellent job of eliminating the remaining jitters and weak feeling that comes from travel.
We smoked a number of varieties, though most were sativas. One of the days we were there we tried an indica and it damn near finished me off for the day. Despite the amount that we were smoking, the Amnesia Haze continued to be effective, while some of the others had me wondering why I was abusing my lungs.
I was not as impressed with the Dr. Grinspoon from Barney's as I was on the last visit. It seemed overly dried and didn't have much flavor, even in a vaporizer. The potency wasn't there either. I bought some other stuff too, but I can't remember what it was or where I got it. We were going through a
lot of weed.
the dogs