@Black-King
Cheers!
Finally I managed to write this up. Went back to Groningen as planned mid of July. General feel of town was a lot more calm than before most probably as there was semester break so lots of young people weren't around. At the mid of the trip we rented some bikes from Centraal Station which was quite fun even though feel bad about traffic safety but on the other hand it's not driving a car which is a serious irresponsibility.
We had a couple of sidetrips and all in all a nice stay again. Updated title of thread. Enjoy and if you find any hidden pictures let me know.
Upper 10
See here
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23011 , Rest In Peace, Upper 10!
De Vliegende Hollander
Since I'm a sucker for cheese I went for something of this and think a kush. Both around 10-12€/g. Not special at all but did the trick.
The Happy
Went for Polm Zero(10€/g) and my alltime favourite haze I just can't get enough of which is Amnesia. Two size of bags available. Both nothing to complain about but of course go for the nice moroccan. Wanted to give that place a go since Upper 10 closed down. Vibe was ok enough with only locals. Medium sized. Think they also had a billard table but not too sure on that one.
Asked budtendress aboaut Upper 10 and ownership and she surprisingly replied they don't have the same owner but supplier. Nice one
!
De Medley
Finally tried their only moroccan hash(not more than 9€/g )which was nothing special at all but still good enough. Worth a try.
De Dees
Didn't buy anything just hanging out as usual but atmosphere was quite dead this time as only locals were hanging around. Still nice people and staff but it really was a change from last time. Especially makes you realise how fucked up and rundown that place is
. Though they had a little patio open at the back.
Metamorphose
Didn't buy anything either but was hanging around as much as at De Dees and chatted to tenders and locals.
They had a patio with a couple of tables and chairs in front of the shop. Nice one.
Taverne Oasis
Of course also went here everyday but didn't buy much due to very similar menu like last time. Made it our first stop of the trip and had my first smoke here after a consume break of two weeks prior(always do this for holidays as want to judge strains proper strengthwise; before that didn't smoke much too as am an occassional consumer anyway)and it did me good like last time! Unfortunately not hard hitting enough but what else do I expect from moroccan hashish
? Agree on 'diep stoned' written on the menu and like that moroccan grade, lovely!
Also had 'Zweef'(12€/g, didn't read that word since ages, 'Skuff')which was nothing special, some what ever it was called Kush(about 11-12€/g)and Santa Maria(around 9€/g) as an other house strain(about 8€/g?) recommended by the budtenders.
All were good enough but rather grotty looking buds. They say their stuff is organic grown and it
does the trick tastewise but not that impressive from look. Bet organic just means 'soil grown' which
I often thought when it comes to coffeeshop weed of the last years
.
Nonetheless I again had a nice time here and sat on the patio which was the only reason returning to
Groningen. Mission completed
. By the way there is a nice place to have a bite down the road,
http://www.cafetariafrietvanpiet.nl/ .
Retro
This time had 'Jack Flash'(11€/g)which was one of the best smokes in Groningen but not too special in itsself.
However, we decided to hit
Leeuwarden since heard and read a lot beforehand. Special thanks to
Epsilon,
Spaldwickapeface,
Bocco,
Spidergawd and
Fat_Old_Dwarf for inspiration.
Definitely return at some point since we had a
great and interesting daytrip! Went to all shops to get a feel of town since only silly fools visit museums and other cultural crap in foreign countries instead of pubs one wise man once said but of course don't take him too serious on that
. What I found worth mentioning is that a couple of shops open from 8AM to 3AM all week(and a few to 2AM), in general they're opened relatively late like in Amsterdam(1AM maximum!), even longer as stated. That says something about the town's politics regarding coffeeshops, nice
(still no one beats
De Apotheker in Eindhoven opened until 4AM on weekends
; only opened from 12:00 though).
De Vriendschap
Didn't make any friends there but tender was friendly and recommended their classic Hia(10€/g)which was
good enough! They only had two strains weedwise and two moroccans. Dark, small and basic place with a few couches in the back.
De Kikker I was told is closed and
Africa(near their what seems only bordello)we found closed with shutters down.
Miami
Eight strains of weed on offer and two versions of shake. About four to five moroccans and one Afgahn. Seems you can't smoke at the floor where you buy your wares but upstairs where are about 20 seats provided.
Asked for their best hash and dutch guy on shift told me they have the best in town no one gets because their owners come from Morocco. What ever that means
! Went for it and then upstairs. There we played some boardgames with locals and had a very nice stay
! After a few hits of the hash(10€/g, also named 'Hia' I think) I had to admit that tender wasn't too wrong about it. Adequate mix of high and stoned while delivering classic moroccan taste. Best hashish for 10€/g in town that day! Recommended.
De Os
Of course this was a must see! Bright and airy medium sized place on two levels with about fifty to sixty seats. Ground floor there was a smoking room with just one of these inviting big tables beside the bar area where you are only allowed to smoke pure and buy your wares(also displayed behind glass).
On the first level there is another one beside other options of seats. Sort of arty feel when it comes to decoration and stuff! Spontaneously and hilariously reminded me of coffeeshops Zero Zero(no big fan though)in Arnhem and even Heaven of 69(nice place for hanging out) in Maastricht. Not sure if anyone can relate though
! Could also get away with being described as a gallery.
Mostly spent our time chatting to the tenders while blazing away our purchases. Only shop we returned to twice this day for good reason, agree a top place!
Menuwise they had six strains of weed, three moroccans, one nepalese, one kashmir(16€?/g)and 'Cream'(16€/g)as 'Manali'(16€/g). Got some moroccan(8,5€) for taste as recommended by the budtendress which was good enough classic gear but their classic 'Hia'(10€/g)was better.
Miami's on the other hand was a touch better in my humble opinion.
Curious about the Cream which I thought was of moroccan descent of an other genepool but all budtenders asked on that day were not sure about it, they were saying 'probably from Nepal'.
Had some arguments in a very funny way there, classy people
! Only to find out the next day as a wake and bake taste- and effectwise it's probably(clear as fuck) indeed a damn Nepalese
. Remember we even compared it side-by-side on look and smell with their Manali which is excellent high grade too but please still keep them away from me. Could have sworn it was one of these moroccan hashes with nepalese respectively indian background I had from Kadinsky or Original Dampkring(some batches of 'Sensabille' if remembered correctly). Not regret anything though about visiting this fine place, quite the opposite
!
Eenhorn
Uninteresting place. Two strains of wiet as of hasj. Their best was some good enough looking moroccan polm for like 10€ for about 1.5g or a smilar value thing. Same street as:
American
This sort of small shop having a theme, embarassing(De Pinguin in Arnhem used to have one too back in the day). Always wonder what silly names and stuff are around, especially nations
. Apart from decoration there were fifteen to twenty seats in this small place.
Again we're not there for any crap but drugs and socialising so they had nine strains of wiet with 'Diamond Haze'(12€/g) being their best. Hashish was moroccan, a cheap one and 'Hia'(8,5€/g)and 'Super Hia'(9,5€/g).
Latter one was my choice(somehow I think we also went for the Diamond Haze which looked good enough but not sure on that one, most probably though as my mate enjoys smoking every now and then and we had a few wiet purchases that day)and also recommended by the friendly young budtender who was weighing in front of us was a nice human being.
Also had a little chat with us. Quality was fine with this blackish moroccan with foreign genetics(Afghani or Paki would be my guess), similar to the 'Gardellas'(sp)around for some time(as 'Amnesia Cream' from Utopia just to give you an idea. Sort of marginally differences in my humble opinion with those type of batches.)which isn't too special anymore but easily the best hashish strength- and pricewise on that day in this price range. So special prize for 'best foreign genetics' as you anally can't compare them to the classic ones around that day. Am I a fair judge or what?
Downstairs
Small to medium sized shop on two levels with about thirty seats including billard table.
Seven strains of wiet like Jack Herer, Amnesia, S5. Three moroccans(best 8,5€/g), one Lebanese and Nepal as one Kashmir(11€/g), also classic crappy Afghan for 5€/g. One moroccan 'Creme' and one 'Gardella'.
Old budtendress made me smile when approached on their two outdoor wiet offers 'Only have the one from the greenhouse as the other one isn't harvested yet at that time of the year'
, which is real talk to me as I always wondered why some shops carry outdoor strains all year(of course it's obvious how they manage to do so and am cool with that). Just look at Repeltsteeltje! So went for the greenhouse version(about six to seven euro a gram)which was decent enough. Also got me a bag of 'Lebanese'(under 7€/g) which was a nice enough moroccan hash tastewise
.
Liberty
Originally was 'Sacramento' but seemed owners have changed. Small darker shop with about 15-20 seats. Two size of bags available here. One well informed local we talked to along the way told us among other things about town it's linked to some moroccan family and worth a try. Tender surprisingly came up with it's the best in town. Which
it is for about 8,5€/g
! Not extraordinary though, classic moroccan.
By the way I really don't appreciate such exaggerations. Like this advertisement of Voyagers with their only moroccan hashish, 'extreme high quality[...]perfection[...]dangerous high' or that friendly but sort of overdoing chubby guy around since ages at Original Dampkring tending to give you a showcase when buying overpriced gear there, they can piss off
!
Had Voyager's in the past and it was a nice enough quality considering their location but far from being extreme. Always imagine some people going there taking it for real and telling their friends 'I went to Amsterdam and
had some extreme high quality moroccan hash at Voyagers'. Pissing myself laughing! Sad thing is all those adverts work with teasing the recipient at least. A seller is never a friend it's all about money though. Sale in itsself has a lot to do with hypocrisy and ripping you off to some degree.
Rant over.
De Zone
Reminded me of a classic dutch 'bruin cafe', small to medium sized. Eight strains of wiet and five of hasj. Their best hash was 10€/g, moroccan.
Utoop
Had a bar-like feel here, about thirty seats. Same street as Repelsteeltje where we wanted to take a look after this. When looking at the menu they had ten sorts of hashish mostly moroccan. About five to six strains of weed from 7,5€ to 11,5€/g( 'Afghan Kush').
Asked for their best moroccan hash and was shown 'Blondy'(10€/g)
which looked nice but also spotted 'Tropicana'(or 'Tropical' not sure anymore, 10,5€/g)also on the menu and asked if it's also of moroccan lineage. Which budtender agreed with and also came up with 'It's the best hash in town, very rare' which made me laugh while telling him 'That's a statement, mate!'. He still insisted that it's the best in town(budtenders in this town seem to be very self-confident
). Guy was polite enough but clearly confused when asked questions, experiencied that type of budtender a lot outside of tourist areas. Just saying.
We went in the back and gave it a go myself. Now that was something else
! It immediately cut through the fog of already consumed moroccan hashish(which at that point only got me slightly high anymore), at least a couple of grams already which is nothing special but checked back on that since I take tolerance issues
dead serious, always use the same amount for consumption in the beginning of trips(also am no poly druggie, wether legal or illegal).
Also the two days before I already had built up a tolerance fast(its getting faster and faster over the years while still only an occasional smoker)and was exclusively smoking hash as only start with weed at the end of trips usually. Had nothing to do with my form of the day or lack of food either as the stuff smoked before was mostly good moroccan hashish, too.
This one had an instant head high and a strong body stoned. It didn't knock me sideways(what I always hope for)though but again it was particulary strong. Reminded me a bit of Fat_Old_Dwarf's post about Tweede's 'C3 Pioneer Bloc'
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=40&p=391745&hilit#p391745 .
Hash is quite blonde almost yellowish, loosely pressed if at all and falling apart immediately more or less when touching, powder-like consistency. Fluffing up nicely but not too dry. Like Skuff. It also smells like indoor weed in a fruity way. In fact even similar to Triple X(26€/g) from damn Barney's and 'Quad'(25€/g)from great De Graal on that one. Poor comparison but on the other hand both were better processed but this hash here was way more potent and nothing else matters in the end for me
. Smell was tranfered good to taste also. Also
fully melted away when touched with a flame. Too bad I forgot my pocket microscope at home.
Finally this was hash stronger than the average weed; not like classic moroccans which can't compete with average indoor weed no matter what quality. Always found that sad with moroccans while I still dig them but in theory hashish is a concentrate which should be stronger than weed. Basic knowledge! Theory and practise though!
Still think farmers in Morocco or elsewhere could improve their skills as their high grade products; what they're doing at the minute with lots of strains from the dutch genepool but am talking about selecting their own traditional genepool(landrace)for some superior mothers while crossing the best specimens. Also better methods of dry sifting required then; would make an even more competitive product. Afraid this is only wishful thinking though as it would mean loads of work to be done and have a feel their stupid philosophy is 'time is money'. Hope dies last and all that!
After consumption I thought that guy on shift had no clue and sold me skuff. As suggested had a feel he didn't have deeper knowledge. When leaving I got me another bag for further testing and asked if it's really from Morocco as it looks like Skuff to me. He again said it's from there and something I haven't heard for a long time(classic moment not too important here
).
After some days had another try after smoking several strains of wiet and hasj just before it the very same day(which didn't got me high anymore at all due to damn tolerance) and it still cut through them remarkably(not as strong as before as you just can't cheat on tolerance yet but still noticeable). Still gave me a bit of a punch as a wake and bake on my last day. Quite impressed and its origin was something I was pondering about all of the trip.
So it's either quite good Skuff or indeed moroccan hashish with foreign genetics like the stuff Boerejongens and Tweede sold a lot in the last months. Last one is quite possible as I probably was only that amazed because I never found any of that type of hash outside of Amsterdam or Haarlem yet. So a particular change to the classic moroccans around, even though they were quality too mostly. Who knows?
Also strengthwise it
stood out from what I've seen in the last years when it comes to imports, impressed to say the least. As said had a couple of so called 'bloc hashes' from Boerejongens and Tweede, also 'Shoreline Ltd' and 'Tangerine G13 Bloc'(20€/g) but they were not on that level strengthwise. Thinking about it back at home the closest thing was 'C5 Noor'(16€/g)at Original Dampkring a couple of months back which had a similar strong effect. Considering Marok21's latest reports on it I had the blonde version. Also similar in look in fact, there is a picture in Pengaldinho's latest report,
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=32488#p395433 .
At Taverne Oasis I gave older budtender who smokes mostly imports the blind test when asking him what he thinks of it. He replied it looks good. Then I told him its supposed to be hashish from Morocco while it really reminds me of Skuff. After that he tells me: 'It looks like Tropicana we had a while back on the menu.' Yes
!
I confirmed this and he said back then he thought like me but it is from Morocco. Nice to see someone else was impressed.
Special prize for this mysterious hash! Will take a closer look next time in the Dam at Boerejongens although am not a big fan.
Funnily a couple of days after returning got my hands on some Skuff from a homegrown production supposed to be 50µg(it's all about size of trichomes though!) which had a similar look and feel but more or less only was strong body affair effectwise.
Repelsteeltje
Same street as Utoop. Another must see on my list for Leeuwarden. Medium to big sized establishment here, if remembered right on three floors. When you enter you go downstairs to purchase. What I found amazing was the fact you still can buy psychoactive truffels there, they consider themselves a smartshop, too.
At the bar you can't consume but get your wares. Their weed menu I found nothing to write home about(well...), think took a look at the hash but wasn't better than anything I saw before that day(last stop here more or less).
Was happy to find two outdoor strains listed though which I bought a pre-packed bag from each(you see Reepelsteeltje is probably one shop offering outdoor magically all year. Or do they have a secret method allowing them to just harvest earlier
than others
?) Both about 7-8€, one was a purple strain. On recommendation of the friendly budtendress, we had a chat with.
Also recommended as quality was indeed nice
!
Bit of a disappointment though as I expected something different judging by the reviews read prior to the trip. Maybe I should give it a go at the weekends; that early evening during the week was quite calm. I wouldn't agree with 'elegant' either, could be but with a closer look it's more of an ageing thing(some people might want to kill me but to some degree the place reminded me of coffeeshop Het Binnenhof in Zwolle which I like)but can understand that point of view when compared to other uninspiring shitholes. Nonetheless a nice shop and atmosphere though and worth a visit.
Flower Power
Bright medium sized shop with a billard and football table. They're a chain it seems as under same management as
Hofnar in Harlingen and
Heaven in Sneek. Both I haven't been to yet so interested so see their(similar? same?)menu. Friendly budtendress welcomed us and let us have a look. What I remember was Silver Haze, AK47, White Rhino I guess, Critical, Lemon, about ten strains of wiet. Hash was like Yellow Lebanese, Nepal and their best moroccan 'Intense'(about 10€/g) which was unfortunately sold out but she told us they were actually waiting for a refill so was shown their second best which looked nice enough but we said our farewells and went over the canal to:
Relax
What a lovely rundown little shithole this is
. Quite oldschool and basic, nice! Flipper and football table in here with about thirty seats. Young dutch budtender welcomed us and made us feel comfortable immediately. After telling him what I was after he told us this establishment is owned by a moroccan family offering the best hashish around. In opposite to all the other hypocrites this day he backed this up with a few plausible facts(the ones you tend to convince me with,pst!). Also he mentioned some interesting things about pharmacology and I share the same point of view. Nice
! There were nine strains of wiet including four hazes. Critical Jack is all I can remember though. He recommended 'Mango Haze'(12€/g)and 'Creme'(moroccan, 12,5€/g)and weighted generously even though the stuff was only available pre-packed, nice again!
'Mango Haze' easily can compete with the stuff I had from Katsu a year back and found it nice enough, this batch was better though. Also one of the best on this trip. The Creme was more of a darker moroccan with lovely smell and classic taste, definitely the best in Leeuwarden and also Groningen
. Chatted a good bit at the bar before leaving. Definitely recommended and more importantly unexpected find, love such moments
!
As said will for sure return to Leeuwarden at some point, agree about a laid back feeling while there but on the other hand Groningen is only one hour away if you fancy some action.
We also made
Zwolle and
Hoogezand in one day. Former one again went to
The New Balance and this time was shown King Hassan(moroccan, 10€/g)and Royal(moroccan, 10€/g)which was a hard decission but bought the Royal which was also the favourite of the budtender. Darker classic moroccan which can rival anything in Groningen
. Also purchased a bag of 'Cheese Dog'(11€?/g)on their huge menu(ten strains?) Nice and 'cheesy'! Didn't stay this time in this basic shop but went to
Het Binnenhof to smoke our wares. There we got a bag of nice enough Amnesia(forgot price tag, probably because of the excitement finding such a rare strain)and some medium moroccan(about 8€). All pre-packed, too.
It's all about the atmosphere there though for me, also pretty much like a 'bruin cafe'. Wouldn't agree with it's more directed at a younger crowd by the way. Not to forget had a high grade moroccan with foreign genetics in the past here, about 13€/g, which still was on and looking inviting.
After this we went to
Hoogezand in the evening to have a look for the second time at
A7's only moroccan which wasn't as great as last time but still very good quality for money! Dark and smelling like chocolate respectively cacao, more of an mellow up-high, yes
!
The Happy Family we closed down on that day, again went for some random good enough Haze as an alibi. Not too crowded. Unfortunately weather wasn't permitting sitting in the garden for too long but at least we made it. Another stupid mission accomplished!
So that's it. My mate had a camera so we even took photos of almost every shop we came across. Pictures are on their way to Lemming for the main site.
Perhaps one day we can have a T&T there, would be nice. 
