Dutch Coffeeshop Ripoffs...the games people play
- Thread starter I.M. Boggled
- Start date
Good thread, thanks for the info 
As we're very close to the border, we drive over about twice a month. Generally go to Arnhem, Venlo is closer but it's too "touristy" for my liking Central Arnhem coffeeshops aren't that hot either but I found that the ones on Hommelseweg/Hommelstraat are all really good. It's a little walk but deffinately rewarding 
As we're very close to the border, we drive over about twice a month. Generally go to Arnhem, Venlo is closer but it's too "touristy" for my liking
Central Arnhem coffeeshops aren't that hot either but I found that the ones on Hommelseweg/Hommelstraat are all really good. It's a little walk but deffinately rewarding bareblackbottom
New member
smokey joes
smokey joes
i had one bad review for the dam. when i went last summer i started the day at smokey joes bought some hash called sputnik and continued 2 smoke it the whole day. it brought a quick fuzzy onset high, but faded quickly real waste of 12 euros. i have researched and found quite a few bad reviews of that place so y advice is 2 stay away.
smokey joes
i had one bad review for the dam. when i went last summer i started the day at smokey joes bought some hash called sputnik and continued 2 smoke it the whole day. it brought a quick fuzzy onset high, but faded quickly real waste of 12 euros. i have researched and found quite a few bad reviews of that place so y advice is 2 stay away.
drteknikal
New member
my experience in Amsterdam was different
my experience in Amsterdam was different
I went to Amsterdam last Thanksgiving, after this was published. While some of the things mentioned in the linked articles were seen, most were not. In almost every case, I was buying from the best selections. I visited just over 30 coffeeshops. Sometimes I found that my favorite wasn't the highest priced, but that was a matter of taste.
Most of what I was getting came in 1.5-2g buds. Some, especially sativa varieties, were more crumbly or came in smaller buds. Several of these were among my favorites, and none had any obvious signs of having been "shaken". Several, even many, of the coffeeshops had magnifiers on the counters where they sold the buds. Some even had microscopes. I saw several people pull out loupes or magnifiers and I never saw anyone questioned about it or discouraged. One had a microscope connected to a large video screen.
The author appears to have a strong preference for outdoor organic. That is fine, but in a country where outdoor is challenged by weather and climate, it's strange to be upset that most of the pot available was grown indoors. He asserts that all hydroponics is artificial, but only in the same sense as he does with lights -- that anything not grown outdoors organically is crap. You can grow hydroponically using organic nutrients. You can grow organically under lights. He appears to have relatively narrow tastes, and anything outside them is bad. I do not agree. I was once told, while working in a record store, that there was good music, and music for which you had yet to develop an appreciation. From reading, there would appear to be much stellar herb for which he has yet to develop an appreciation.
Spacecakes were readily available, but usually behind the counter. Sometimes, they were in a display case right next to the register.
My understanding is that marijuana is not legal in the Netherlands, but possession of small amount and sale of small amounts in coffeeshops is "tolerated." The grow workshops I attended while there were usually accompanied by the admonition that "Everything we will show you here is illegal." In any illegal business, however open and tolerated, there will be those who are unethical. Probably to a much greater extent than if it were legal. I'm sure some places have standard stuff on the menu, and dump whatever comes in into the closest bin without changing the menu. I got a number of things I disliked (like the Mexican Haze from de Tweed Kamer) and a number that were boring (like the 420 Haze), but I never got the feeling I'd been ripped off, or given a bait-and-switch. You don't know how much to trust a place until you've been there and got to know them. My general experience was that most places, if you walked in and asked what they had that was outdoor organic, they'd tell you. Like anything, there will be crap coffeeshops that bait-and-switch and lie to you, even rip you off. Rare exceptions, in my experience.
I was told more than once that a selection I had requested was out. I was told more than once to try something cheaper than I had initially ordered.
For those considering a trip to Amsterdam, don't let these articles disuade you. Consider them as information about what can happen, but don't presume it to be as prevalent as the author would suggest. I would suggest buying near the top of the menu unless you're familiar with the shop or the product. I just don't see the reason to go to Amsterdam and smoke average pot. At least sample the high end nederwiet and nederhash.
That said, I'll recommend a few shops that were among my favorites: Katsu, Chocolata, Homegrown Fantasy, Boop Too, Andalucia, de Rockerij, Blue Velvet, the Smoking Bull, Prix d'Ami, Bush Docters, GOA.
my experience in Amsterdam was different
I went to Amsterdam last Thanksgiving, after this was published. While some of the things mentioned in the linked articles were seen, most were not. In almost every case, I was buying from the best selections. I visited just over 30 coffeeshops. Sometimes I found that my favorite wasn't the highest priced, but that was a matter of taste.
Most of what I was getting came in 1.5-2g buds. Some, especially sativa varieties, were more crumbly or came in smaller buds. Several of these were among my favorites, and none had any obvious signs of having been "shaken". Several, even many, of the coffeeshops had magnifiers on the counters where they sold the buds. Some even had microscopes. I saw several people pull out loupes or magnifiers and I never saw anyone questioned about it or discouraged. One had a microscope connected to a large video screen.
The author appears to have a strong preference for outdoor organic. That is fine, but in a country where outdoor is challenged by weather and climate, it's strange to be upset that most of the pot available was grown indoors. He asserts that all hydroponics is artificial, but only in the same sense as he does with lights -- that anything not grown outdoors organically is crap. You can grow hydroponically using organic nutrients. You can grow organically under lights. He appears to have relatively narrow tastes, and anything outside them is bad. I do not agree. I was once told, while working in a record store, that there was good music, and music for which you had yet to develop an appreciation. From reading, there would appear to be much stellar herb for which he has yet to develop an appreciation.
Spacecakes were readily available, but usually behind the counter. Sometimes, they were in a display case right next to the register.
My understanding is that marijuana is not legal in the Netherlands, but possession of small amount and sale of small amounts in coffeeshops is "tolerated." The grow workshops I attended while there were usually accompanied by the admonition that "Everything we will show you here is illegal." In any illegal business, however open and tolerated, there will be those who are unethical. Probably to a much greater extent than if it were legal. I'm sure some places have standard stuff on the menu, and dump whatever comes in into the closest bin without changing the menu. I got a number of things I disliked (like the Mexican Haze from de Tweed Kamer) and a number that were boring (like the 420 Haze), but I never got the feeling I'd been ripped off, or given a bait-and-switch. You don't know how much to trust a place until you've been there and got to know them. My general experience was that most places, if you walked in and asked what they had that was outdoor organic, they'd tell you. Like anything, there will be crap coffeeshops that bait-and-switch and lie to you, even rip you off. Rare exceptions, in my experience.
I was told more than once that a selection I had requested was out. I was told more than once to try something cheaper than I had initially ordered.
For those considering a trip to Amsterdam, don't let these articles disuade you. Consider them as information about what can happen, but don't presume it to be as prevalent as the author would suggest. I would suggest buying near the top of the menu unless you're familiar with the shop or the product. I just don't see the reason to go to Amsterdam and smoke average pot. At least sample the high end nederwiet and nederhash.
That said, I'll recommend a few shops that were among my favorites: Katsu, Chocolata, Homegrown Fantasy, Boop Too, Andalucia, de Rockerij, Blue Velvet, the Smoking Bull, Prix d'Ami, Bush Docters, GOA.
G
Guest
Well this is an intersting topic here!
I was in A-dam 8 yrs ago and in 2005 four times.
I had all kinds of experience,and good and bad.
1.st don't go in coffeshops where locals don't go,
2.nd coffeeshop is the place u can light ur J.-walking and puffing is RUDE to all the people that doesn't smoke.If it's ilegall in your home state,doesn't mean u can go round terrorising other ppl with your (fun)weed smokin in their face and better yet u have a place to go smoke your weed.BE POLITE is all i say
Other than that have fun,and see ya in Willie's Hempcity-Harlem.
I was in A-dam 8 yrs ago and in 2005 four times.
I had all kinds of experience,and good and bad.
1.st don't go in coffeshops where locals don't go,
2.nd coffeeshop is the place u can light ur J.-walking and puffing is RUDE to all the people that doesn't smoke.If it's ilegall in your home state,doesn't mean u can go round terrorising other ppl with your (fun)weed smokin in their face and better yet u have a place to go smoke your weed.BE POLITE is all i say
Other than that have fun,and see ya in Willie's Hempcity-Harlem.
searkgrower
New member
my favorite was the Dampkring,
Organic Hydro
Member
Here's a menu from Dampkring's sister shop De tweed kamer, it's the same exact menu, they just added some stamps in the way of the logos, but they both sell the same buds & hash. I get to see this everyday because it's on my refridge :smile:
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. Plan to be a biken' fool following tf around
Organic Hydro
Member
Cool 3ld, i'm going to try my hardest to be there too ! , here's me with a HTCC
Peace
Peace
G
Guest
central, open early,good selection of cheap, high quality weed which you choose out of those cool boxes. if you sit at the big window you can watch amsterdam go by and reflect on where you are. one of my sweetest memories of amsterdam is being on the doorstep of central when the big biker looking guy arrived to open for the day,it gave him a laugh to see me looking so keen.
the coin, first place i smoked lavender and one of those diesel weeds,(oh sweet jesus i love those diesels),super friendly staff and in the mornings a lot of the customers are dutchies on their way home from various night shifts and other activities that have kept them out of the house until morning. you hear a different sort of conversation in the coin at that time, dead relaxed, easy to feel like you belong. also i saw some stoned french people make real dicks of themselves in here, they were funny to the point that a room full of strangers fell about laughing. it was like being at the theatre but without the sodding actors. just for that the coin will always have a place in my heart.
rokerij, the one at the top of the singel. i just love sitting in that lean to bit at the front of the shop, pretty girls on bikes go past there all the time, and pretty girls on roller skates. some of them are on their way to picnics and the like. this is one of those spots where you find yourself trying to decide if you could make a go of it in amsterdam. pretty good dope too, not cheap though. i bought a hell of a nice piece of primera here the last time i was in town.
siberie, just round the corner from the rokerij, great place. very cheap weed.very good weed. siberian tiger get some. wave at your mates on the webcam. this was the first place i saw a woman with her knickers deliberatly sticking up out of the back of her trousers,( it was a good few years ago), and it impressed me deeply. i can still see her now if i shut my eyes. siberie is so good.
grey area, what can you say about the grey area? john is supercool and steve is from space. lately i see people moaning about the quality of the weed, ive never had anything but fucking amazing weed in there. as for hash, try the golden soles,it will feed you when you are hungry and warm you in the cold. last time i went there was a young brit fellow behind the bar and they were open for longer on more days of the week.you dont see so many pretty women in here though. also gypsy's shop is just over the cut from grey area.
more as i think of them, or not.
the coin, first place i smoked lavender and one of those diesel weeds,(oh sweet jesus i love those diesels),super friendly staff and in the mornings a lot of the customers are dutchies on their way home from various night shifts and other activities that have kept them out of the house until morning. you hear a different sort of conversation in the coin at that time, dead relaxed, easy to feel like you belong. also i saw some stoned french people make real dicks of themselves in here, they were funny to the point that a room full of strangers fell about laughing. it was like being at the theatre but without the sodding actors. just for that the coin will always have a place in my heart.
rokerij, the one at the top of the singel. i just love sitting in that lean to bit at the front of the shop, pretty girls on bikes go past there all the time, and pretty girls on roller skates. some of them are on their way to picnics and the like. this is one of those spots where you find yourself trying to decide if you could make a go of it in amsterdam. pretty good dope too, not cheap though. i bought a hell of a nice piece of primera here the last time i was in town.
siberie, just round the corner from the rokerij, great place. very cheap weed.very good weed. siberian tiger get some. wave at your mates on the webcam. this was the first place i saw a woman with her knickers deliberatly sticking up out of the back of her trousers,( it was a good few years ago), and it impressed me deeply. i can still see her now if i shut my eyes. siberie is so good.
grey area, what can you say about the grey area? john is supercool and steve is from space. lately i see people moaning about the quality of the weed, ive never had anything but fucking amazing weed in there. as for hash, try the golden soles,it will feed you when you are hungry and warm you in the cold. last time i went there was a young brit fellow behind the bar and they were open for longer on more days of the week.you dont see so many pretty women in here though. also gypsy's shop is just over the cut from grey area.
more as i think of them, or not.
Evil-Ash
New member
adam has alot of good pot but they r always up to somethin at the bad shops every1 has their own special weed white tiger white dolphin knigston special(my ass)
its all the same shit might as well be bc commercial garbage
ur best bet in my opinion is to find what shops carry grows from the growers and seed companys u actually trust(i no thats what i do)
its all the same shit might as well be bc commercial garbage
ur best bet in my opinion is to find what shops carry grows from the growers and seed companys u actually trust(i no thats what i do)
G
Guest
hmm i didnt except that from them wow eye opener oh well fuck em
In one of these Rokerij coffeeshops you cant wear a cap lmao they kinda threw us out but ok, must admit that we were tripping. But still, no hats? That teeny bitch there...grr...
lmao they kinda threw us out but ok, must admit that we were tripping. But still, no hats? That teeny bitch there...grr...
G
Guest
charge 15Euro for 2 grams!!!
The hats thing is so they have a picture of your face on camera ..JOHN ... alot of shops (and by this i mean in uk) do this aswell ./..
Might have just thrown you out bcoz you were trippin //// never know
PEACE
Might have just thrown you out bcoz you were trippin //// never know
PEACE
naga_sadu
Active member
As far as I understand the Dutch situation, cannabis is just tolerated and not really a legit business par se. This puts the inexperienced tourists @ risk, I suppose.
I just wish they have a national quality control norms for cannabis shops out there sometime soon.
I just wish they have a national quality control norms for cannabis shops out there sometime soon.
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