Utrecht Coffeeshops

[convictblazer]

Hey. this is my first post so i'll give a brief intro, too. I'm a 20 year old Aussie from Melbourne. in case you were wondering, 90% of Melbourne weed is very average, it's tough indica-hydro stuff that tastes bad but gets you stoned. (also, a coloquial term for a joint here is a 'jozza'.)

Anyway, I'm about to move to Utrecht to attend university and was wondering what the coffeeshop/weed experience is like. I've google maps'd a couple of places but can't really gather much info on the utrecht coffeeshop life so I'm looking for some personal recommendations and tips.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

[dwain82]

https://www.coffeeshopdirect.com/Tx_Utrecht.html

[convictblazer]

was looking for more detailed, anecdotal accounts than the anonymous directory comments but cheers, i think.

[FlyByNite]

Before you can use your more detailed, anecdotal accounts, you have to find them.

Utrecht Coffeeshop Map.

Wietstock, excellent weed, good prices
Culture Boat, Odd to sit across the canal from a prison.

The only menu I have is an old Wietstock circa April 2004.
You could easily update that if you will be living there.




The train station is in the middle of a big shopping mall.

That's about all I remember

Enjoy
FlyByNite - Travel preference, not business practice
Coffeeshop Menus - Let your Mouse do the walking

[HighTree]

There are quite a few coffeeshops dotted around the centre of Utrecht. I've only been to Bordeaux Rood though, but their Silver Haze was amazing if a little expensive. A very memorable smoke. The coffeeshops in the rest of Holland are different to Amsterdam, as very few tourists go outside of Amsterdam (and border towns). This means that weed is, on average, probably better and cheaper, as only locals visit those coffeeshops and they can't rely on ignorant tourists.
I came to Holland to study too (Delft) and it's very easy to get used to the ease of buying at shops. Really don't miss the hassle of dealers. The coffeeshop in Delft isn't great you but can always count on good and relatively cheap weed. It'll be at least the same and most likely a lot better in Utrecht. Surprisingly few Dutch students visit coffeeshops though.

[aaron]

what kind of anecdotal accounts? I've been to most of Utrecht's coffeeshops several times, you can read my reviews on the main Utrecht page.

What do you like / want in a coffeeshop? Where are you staying?

If I were you, considering you will be in town for a while, go to all the remaining ones in Utrecht. you can buy, experience the hospitality and let us know what you think. There's only a dozen or so left, easily doable!

I loved the old coffeeshops myself ; bring back Sarasani, No Name, De Break

Utrecht is a great city, beautiful architecture, good bars and restaurants, sit along the sunken canal watching the boats go by and enjoy!

[felixxy]

Don't go to Wietstock! Just been there and got totally ripped off! I bought 60 € WW and 20 € Amnesia as i read Boner and others liked this shop, but each bag was 0.5-0.6 too little. Made me a total loss of 12,5 €! And the weed is rubbish! I never have been so hardly a**-fu**** in a legal coffeeshop and i'm driving to the netherlands for almost 10 years to get my stuff.

If you're looking for good weed try Hi/Low or Culture Boat. I think t'Grasje is also closed down now as there was no service at 15pm on monday.

[Hemp4Victory]

I lived in Utrecht for two years (07-09) and IMO 't Grasje is the best and probably cheapest CS in Utrecht. It's a pretty small local's shop, but the staff is usually friendly and from what I remember, they always had excellent top shelf - sometimes some kind of obscure haze variety that you won't find in Amsterdam. I had some A5 Haze there, which was an incredible smoke.

It's always closed on sundays/mondays, which is probably why Felixxy didn't have much luck. Oh, and if you want to stay and smoke, be aware that they don't sell any other drinks than coffee/tea. When I visited last year, the staff didn't mind us bringing our own drinks from the supermarket around the corner, so keep that in mind

As for the other shops in Utrecht, I'm pretty sure the Andersom and Wietstock both have the same owner, since they stock similar product. The weed is sub-par, but probably still better than what you get at home, and the Andersom has a great central location close to the Dom. Freakshop on Breedstraat can be a bit difficult to find, but they had decent weed and the quality seemed to be improving around the time I moved back home in 09.

I've only been to Koffiedik and Culture Boat once. At the Koffiedik, I got sold a bag of some Big Bud (IIRC). Upon closer inspection, the weed looked like it had been stored in somebody's pocket, as there was quite a bit of wool/pocket-lint mixed in with the buds. Needless to say, I only visited that shop once, so I can't really say if that was just a one time thing, but I wouldn't recommend it. As for the Culture Boat, I went there once with my buddy. The location on the canal next to the prison was really great, but the weed was pretty expensive and the staff seemed a bit stand-offish. Other than the expensive weed, I can't really recommend for or against the Culture Boat, as I've only visited it that one time.

I would also recommend El Torro, which had the same owner as Mellow Yellow/Noon in Amsterdam, but I think that shop got closed down some time ago. It was definitely closed down, when I visited last year.

[radjew]

Ever since Sarasani was shut down I have been trying most of the coffeeshops on the out-skirts as many in the centre seem to either be unfriendly or sell average weed. The boat and t'grasje are probably the best that remain. Most of the coffeeshops in the centre will not survive the 350m law coming in on 1st Jan 2014 unless the political situation halts to implementation. Have to wait and see. I think there are about 13 left and this would close 7 although they could be given the opportunity to relocate I guess.

http://www.rtvutrecht.nl/nieuws/839896/ ... ij-scholen

Around half have had to convert to dealing cubicles because of pressure from the authorities due to noise and traffic annoying neighbours (Zanzi, Shabab, Malabata which was shut May 2012).

[felixxy]

Thanks you for the replies and new information.
Everybody told me that t'Grasje is a must visit shop, what a shame that they are closed on (sundays and) mondays.
El Torro is definitely closed they exceeded limits as every good shop does, but they were caught.
Andersom and Wietstock are belonging together, as the filters from Wietstock have the Andersom-Logo printed on them. I've been to andersom about one year ago and was very disappointed with the weed. I've got a sore throat from smoking their stuff and remember that bad experience very good. If I have known that they belong together i would have saved myself a lot of trouble.

I sampled everything i bought now and here is the list for your information:

Wietstock:

The White Widow is just ultra mild, but at least clean. Even my girlfriend does hardly get an effect from it. I've mentioned that every bag had 0.5g marihuana missing. 1/10
Amnesia is okay, still a little bit too wet, but effect is good. As this was 0.4 short i'll have to give it a 4/10
Weed-Menu was: Zilver Haze, Power Plant, White Widow and Amnesia Haze
Will always make a large bow round this hole.

Hi/Low

In my eyes the weed-quality in this shop is outstanding. It could easy be amsterdam quality. The Interior is the most stylish i've ever seen in a shop.
Had a look at every weed (friendly bartender) and went for:

Shiva (9,5€)
It is a dark plant with earthy and touch of hazy aroma. Not the classic type of Shiva aroma that i remember from like 3-4 Years ago but delicious. Nicely cured. Strong stoned effect i would say. If i roll a fattie i lay on the couch for 1-2 hours. Bought this two weeks ago on my return from Amsterdam and wanted to have it again, so drove all the way to utrecht: 9,5/10

Lemon Haze(12€):
Very nice, i think it's the lemony phenotype. Taste awesome, High is not the strongest but lasts for hours. 9/10

Amnesia (12,5 €)
I think it's bio, can't be better in taste and high 10/10

What i remember from the Weed-Menu starting at 8,5€ up to 12,5€:
White Widow, Power Plant, Moonflower, Shiva, Super Silver Haze, Lemon Haze, Amnesia Haze


Culture Boat

Only had the Bio-Shiva from here, covered in crystals, taste is very nice, but also not the typical Shiva taste. I think it's more of a unknown white-strain, but this grown with passion: 9/10

Menu: Silver Haze, Amnesia, Bio Shiva, White Widow. Had a look on the Amnesia and it looked very crystally also, but as you said it was expensive. I think I paid 15 € for 1.6g Shiva and the Amnesia would have been 15€ for 1,3g...



It is not that i give 9/10 too fast, but the stuff really impressed me. It could be coincidenced with the high temperatures these days.

[Colino]

wietstock had some amazing sherazade for 8euro/g 2 weeks ago, bio shiva from culture boat is nice too and 0.7g for 8E and the place is really nice and clean!

[aaron]

Where is Hi/Low?

Wietstock used to have the most unfriendly owner ever, complete tw@t but the weed was good. Andersom has always been unfriendly.

I think whoever had a bad experience at KoffieDik should give it another chance, usually the weed is good. hopefully it was a slipup and they haven't gone down.

Shame about Malabata, it was doing good business when I last walked past it a couple of years ago.

[Chalice]

Hope you all had a good time in Utrecht! I live here so I thought I update this topic for anyone who is planning to come. Koffiedik and Shabab have closed. The Best coffeeshops that remain are: Hi-Lo, 't Grasje and Culture boat.

Hi-Lo is located at Croesselaan 213, in the same street as the binocular-shaped towers near central station. They have some very potent high quality weed. Staff is friendly and you always get exactly what you pay for, they even remove the stems and leaves.

't Grasje located at Obrechtstraat 1 (street crossing Biltstraat), always have a large variety of stock and it's all grown with passion. I'm not sure if they're actually a 'coffeeshop' though, it seems they're registered as a 'buurthuis' (community center). They're closed on sundays, and you may find them closed in the summer for a few weeks as they close up when they go on vacation.

Culture Boat, Wittevrouwensingel 206. It's on a boat and they have bio-weed and some strong hashj.

For cheaper shopping I take a trip to Hilversum. Coffeeshop Andorra there sells 5 grams for the price of 4, Paradise sells 3.6 gr bags with nice tops of Bob Marley weed for 25E. I return home with 15 grams for about 80E. We're only allowed to purchase 5 grams in each shop though. We're also allowed to grow max. 3 plants non-professionally for personal use, so if you're coming to live here for a while and have the opportunity, you may as well.

[vinyl]

Thanks Chalice, very useful

[aaron]

What happened to koffiedik? That was good.

I read about shabab, sad news.