Hia City, Rotterdam in late September, 2013 and July, 2014

[Jesscass]

Disclaimer: usually I don't do trip reports. Inspired by Colino's on here and Rotterdam being underrepresented I went for this. Only a list of shops and strains I purchased, short discreptions. Since I can't articulate myself that well don't expect anything when talking about strains etc..
Purpose is just showing the best places for hashish so you can start there whenever going to Rotterdam(have been there last week for a couple of days for the second time in my life after more than a decade). Can`t really help with other questions regarding Rotterdam(no lame alibis, just smoking !).

Overall impression: grass I saw wasn't that impressive. Ok to good quality I'd say. More or less reasonable priced as I rarely saw shops asking more than 9€ for it(doesn't matter if haze or skunk).
Can't really say much about it though as I was just not that interested and focus was more on hashish. Shops tend to be buy and fly only and the ones I was sitting in weren't that inviting for a longer stay.
Most of them you have to ring at the door to get buzzed in, ID check included.
As I know lots of places outside Amsterdam the scene is very much like that, means not that touristy.
I was told there are about 40000 moroccans living in Rotterdam(population of 600000)so a lot of moroccan owned coffeeshops and decent prices for hashish makes sense to me then. While I didn't find exceptional quality hashish there prices are on the lower side at about 8€ for good to very good moroccan hashish. In Amsterdam and elsewhere it would go for like 10€+. So quality is good to very good in general!

I would happily smoke that grade of quality for the rest of my life at home but wouldn't go out of my way for returning to Rotterdam though. Probably at some point mayhaps. Enjoyed my visit nevertheless.

Title for thread here is used as I was told 'Hia'(sp) is the only name from all those fantasy names from dutch coffeeshop menu which is also used in Morocco. All the best grades where called like that in town. I'm well aware of the fact that Hia in Morocco is most probably something different than in Rotterdam though !

Bambu High Tea(opening times Sun-Thur, 10AM-1AM, Fr-Sa,10AM-2AM): only stopped here as I found The President shut down and I was dying for a first smoke. Guys behind the counter were polite enough.
Few hazes and standard grass(Amnesia, Silver Haze, Bubble Gum, Nlx, looked ok) on the menu. Funny thing was their pre-packed hashish was wrapped in aluminum foil in the baggy so you couldn't really see what's going on, only smell .
Guys didn't have a problem with me giving it a closer look though. So I got their second best 'Zero Polm'(0,8g/6€)which did the trick nicely. Pleasant surprise!
Didn't stay as I went over the road to that smoker friendly bar('The Chillout Lounge' it was indeed called ).

Bellamy:
Moroccan owned, buy&fly only! Bought their best at 10€('Zero' if memory serves me right). Particulary tasty and medium strong.

Man Camarade:
Moroccan owned, buy&fly only! Had some 'Hia Ketama'(8€/g I think). Spotted some Kandy Kush on the menu. Uplifting and medium strong hashish.

London:
Moroccan owned. Went for 'Siro Siro'(7€/g)and 'Hia'(8€/g) after recommendation from the polite young budtender(there was an older guy, kind of a hypocrite, who wasn't that interested in serving). Both pretty tasty('Siro Siro' was exact the same quality as some moroccan eggs I could score at home last year), oily and strong enough.
One of the best I found in Rotterdam. Later I tried some Bubble Gum, Lemon Haze and one grass I forgot. All around 8-9€/g and nice enough.
Decent little hangout at the back of the shop(you need to get buzzed in)with an internet computer for free use as is wi-fi.
Not outstanding but I liked it. Mix of tourists and local arabs.

Seven Up:
Moroccan owned, buy&fly only! Almost all of their weed went for 8€/g. Tried some of their 'Hia'(8€/g)which was nice.

Bob Marley:
Moroccan owned, buy&fly only! Two weeds, two hashes. Got 'Super Pollen' for 8€/g which was one of my favorites. Tasty and strong enough.

Ahllen:
Moroccan owned, buy&fly! Small menu. Bought some 'Hia'(9€/g if memory serves me right)which was one of my faves.

Pluto:
Moroccan owned. Also sells truffels as far as I remember. Different selection of standard strains, hazes and hashish. Friendly guy recommended their 'Twisla'(10€/g)which was good but you get it cheaper elsewhere. Mix of locals and tourists.

Out Of Time:
Moroccan owned. About five weeds(White Widow, Bubble Gum, Skunk, Power Plant, Silver Haze) and hashes. Also sells skuff(around 10€?). Tried their 'Caramello' for 9€, which was again nice! Oily goodness. Pretty much of an oldschool coffeeshop to me and more of a pub feeling to it. Dutch and local arabs.
Liked it.

Amigo:
Moroccan owned. Went for their 'Super Pollen' on recommendation of the budtender(7€/g) as their best and most expensive one. Very nice again, good value for money! Nice selection of weeds as well for about 9€.

Sensi Smile:

About six weeds and hashes. Pre-packed stuff. Older budtender(bit impatient)didn't speak any english in opposite to polite lady. She sold me some nice 'Polm' for 12€/1,5g which was good value for money.
Open from 9AM(definitely) to(I gues)11PM.

Miami:Moroccan owned, not sure if a buy&fly place or not. Got some 'Super Pollen'(8€ if memory serves me right) which was nice.

Cafe Witte De With:
Moroccan owned. Polite guys. Sells truffeles as well. Got told by locals it's the best in town. Not in my humble opinion. Their 'Twisla' for 10€ was good but you could get better elsewhere cheaper. Also got some Cheese out of sheer boredom for like 13€ and it was a joke. Only place where I noticed lots of weed going for about 12€. Had some Jamaican(7€/2g)just for fun and as a mixer as well - was like as I expected it to be from foreign outdoor.
Big let down was you could only stand around at some tables smoking and rolling not sitting.

Thanks for reading!

[Colino]

Great write up man! Didn't remember there were so many maroccan owned coffeeshop in rotterdam. This should bring lot of quality hashish in theory but didn't find myself too the first quality of maroccan hash but lot of decent standard hash, quite cheap though. hope you enjoyed your time and thanks again for taking the time!

[goldensoles]

Thank you for the intel on a little mentioned area.

[USbongLord]

Cool,gonna help when we visit next week

[Jesscass]

Better late than never: thanks to Colino, Golden Soles and USbonglord !

In the meantime I returned to Rotterdam at the beginning of July, 2014 for some reasons.
As expected everything was more or less the same. Beside most of those shops mentioned above I visited a couple of new ones and mailed a few reviews to Lemming for the main site(not so much worth mentioning). Again wiet wasn't so much on my agenda again and stuff I saw and bought was nothing special, see above as well.
On the other side Rotterdam grew a bit more on me this stay. I had a fine time again !

I regret not giving Witte De With another go as I passed it several times but there will always be next time, right ?

So special thanks to coffeeshop London(Siro Siro(7€) and more was again moroccan pakistani goodness. Also for hanging out.), Sensi Smile(Deluxe Pollen(sp), 1,4g/12€)and Out Of Time(Caramello, 9€. Especially for hanging out!)for providing most of my smokes(and for being standouts!) !

[Jesscass]

December, 2017

This return was overdue big time. For two reasons. Firstly haven't been to the harbour since ages and also wanted to check back on the hashish scene there. Secondly I connected with some people in the know the oldschool way eye to eye instead of some unsafe and impersonal social media bullshit like the kids irresponsibly do today in the meantime in that area.
So killed two birds with one stone.
Coffeeshopwise I went to the already mentioned during our stay in town and as sort of expected didn't find much changed at all. Prices for wiet and hasj seemed to be roughly the same.
Think they had more trendy names for wiet on this time but didn't care as usual. Quality in general is the same as last time and on that stay London and Ahlen delivered the best stuff! Only one shop(SkyHigh if I recall correctly, which is not belonging to other chains elsewhere by the way) had some Amnesia Moroccan on and it was one from the what I call second generation of those hashes which means they were more looking like old school Moroccan.
Otherwise only got blank looks and/or heads shaking when approaching on those type of resin from staff and owners. I like that !
Take it there is still loads of old school Moroccan to be had and rest is just propaganda. Especially if I think about average menus no matter where in this country as the oldschool ones are still more featured than the new ones with foreign genetics.
So definitely still some time to go until the other ones taking over. Though you can't deny those new ones are somewhat on the rise. Old hat. Of course Amsterdam or maybe The Hague are something different but as I always pointed out former one isn't representative for the rest of the country. Hope it lasts a bit though(probably a bit too positive about it personally). Fingers crossed.
Contact met is in the trade since decades without dedication involved but at least with certain professionalism and had some funny stories to tell. Confirmed again my experiencies with disgustingly dutch traders mentality.
Cutting a long story short: sadly everything discussed about processing such hashish in this huge thread about those hashes with foreign genetics on here takes place due to so many businessmen involved and unfortunately they're doing good work.
Really some insights I didn't see coming and enjoyed to the max.
Apart from that got sorted some beautifully and lightly pressed old school moroccan from the same private source which was what I was looking for. Leaves not much to be desired even though there are better grades out there of course but is a matter of quantity again.
Pissed myself laughing when showing said Moroccan for his guidance to another private source there we also met for the first time when that old Moroccan guy got pissed off a bit and wrongly told us that this is no Moroccan but Lebanese. You see again nationality has again fuck to do with knowledge. Staying positive means such is quite helpful when picking out bad apples !
One of the most interesting times I had there this stay. Will definitely return at some point, oh my.