Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

Back for my tenth trip but my first solo mission. Had an awesome time staying in De Pijp, getting to see a more residential 'real' side of Amsterdam living. For those interested, here's my last report: https://www.coffeeshopdirect.com/forum/viewt ... 10&t=25262

DAY 1

I walked out of Centraal to be greeted by a sunny, spring morning in my favourite city. After a starry-eyed stumble down Damrak, I decided to hop on a tram to De Pijp to find my apartment. I found it on a picturesque residential street - kids playing football in the road, an elderly couple walking their dog, a couple of local bars and shops, and of course my first glimpse of a coffeeshop. I got myself settled in, stocked up on food and headed out.

Ocean - Since this was literally a couple of doors down from me, I thought I'd give it a try despite not really knowing anything about it. I was the only person in there and when I got in, I was immediately greeted with a shitty attitude. The young male budtender looked up from his phone+ and sighed out the words "Can I help you?". I looked at the something-or-other haze and it smelt of nothing and looked very poorly trimmed. I decided I wanted more from my first coffeeshop stop so I left without a purchase.

Katsu - I wasn't put off by Ocean because I was in too much of a good mood to care. It was warm and sunny, I was in my favourite place, everybody who walked past me was smiling and after walking through Sarphatipark I found myself at Katsu. The front room had a few locals sitting around talking amongst themselves and having a smoke. I was greeted by the slightly older female BT with a smile and a menu. I first looked at the sogouda ice (0.4g/€10) but there wasn't much smell to it and I'm never particularly excited by the look of prebagged hash. I had a look at the mango haze and immediately took 0.7g for €10 based on the aroma. Really full on fruity pineapple smell going on and very healthy looking nugs. I sat down and rolled it into one joint. Unfortunately the downstairs bit is closed for renovations so no verdampers and it did get slightly cramped when groups came in but it seemed like people were just buying and flying. The mango really had a beautiful taste to it (very representative of the smell), burnt with entirely white/grey and a light sativa-y head high that made the tip of my tongue very numb. Not blisteringly strong but just what I wanted for my first smoke.

I left and made my way through Albert Cuypmarkt to get to Vondlepark. As I was walking through the market, the high started to intensify and give me that weird forgetful and slightly confused high that I'm normally not a fan of but, once again, I was so happy to be there that nothing could kill my buzz. Once I had walked through half of Vondlepark with my head in the clouds, I reached my next destination.

Kashmir Lounge - I walked into the coffeeshop counter part and bought half a gram of diesel for €5.50. I honestly don't remember much about the coffeeshop because I went straight across the road to the lounge. I'm a big fan of the vibe in here. Very relaxed, very comfortable seating and (as my stoned notes tell me) very good music. Think they were playing some old soul classics . I got a drink and rolled up my bud of diesel. Don't remember much about the look or the effect but I do remember buying it because of its hefty fuel smell that came across very well in taste too. This is definitely the most distinctive diesel I've ever smelt and it really lives up to its namesake. Once I had recharged my body and mind, I thanked the helpful bartender and emerged from the gloom back out into the afternoon sun.

Dampkring - After a blissed-out walk up through Centrum, I arrived at Spui and subsequently Dampkring. I came here for sensibille but they were out. The bearded BT told me to come back in half an hour so I left and had a wander. There was an art and book market on the square so I had a browse and got myself a ridiculous painting of a Medieval Dutch man striking a pose as if to shout "READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!!" with a story in Dutch on the back (which I should probably translate at some point). I walked past the Dampkring Gallery but to be honest the art looked pretty terrible (for my taste) so I didn't go in. Having walked all the way up to Oude Kerk, I turned back to head for some rifman hash... When I walked in the door, the BT who initially served me whipped out the tub as soon as he saw me and ushered me to the front of the queue. It looked as perfect as ever so I got myself 2g of sensibille for €30. One of those grams made it home with me. This stuff is very soft and quite sweet but still retains the earthy smell of outdoor plants. Effects-wise it's a river in paradise, just as advertised.

After smoking a bit of that, having a chat with that same BT and receiving a free drink at his request (really top notch service here this time round), I headed out for some dinner. I found Norling Tibetan restaurant near Spui. Tasteful interior, great service, nice atmosphere and most importantly, fantastic food. I had a stab in the dark and got some kind of creamy/potato-y/spicey rice dish. It was bloody brilliant. Not too extortionate in price for that area either so I'd highly recommend it if you're looking for some slightly left field Oriental food.

Utopia - My next stop was a TnT at my favourite coffeeshop. Despite having been active on the forum for a while, I'd never actually got round to doing any of the ACD meets so I figured this had to be the best opportunity since I didn't have any friends that I was guiding (or dragging) around. I had been walking all day so I opted for a full-body indica to finish off the job I had started . James recommended the kandydential and silver LA. Both looked great but genetics-wise I much prefer silver bubble to kandy kush so I opted for a gram of the latter for €13. It didn't really have much of an LA smell or look to it and definitely had the silver present in taste but as I'd discover, that LA really comes across strong in effect. I sat down and introduced myself to Lemming, J, Gapie, Danny211204, a couple others whose names slipped by me and of course Ingi (who I see every trip but never formally introduce myself). I had a lovely time chatting with her, Lem and J while being constantly bombarded with an onslaught of crazy joints from Gapie's table. Don't know what was in them but I know Ingi contributed a fair bit of iso's and I know there was some shatter in there somewhere. I tried to give back as much as I took but my silver LA was gone pretty quickly!! Nice sesh but it was suddenly dark which meant it was time for me to venture out and see the other side of the city. We agreed on a plan to meet in Birdy in Haarlem at 4:20 the next day.

I'm not entirely sure where I walked that night but I know I was wandering about for around 2 hours before reaching De Pijp and my apartment. I sat down to relax and smoke some leftover hash but I realised that I can sit at home smoking hash in London, Malawi or anywhere in the world so I hopped up and got myself round the corner to...

De Graal - Quite possibly my favourite CS experience of the trip. Entered the dealer's booth to be greeted enthusiastic by the friendly gentleman serving. Really diverse and large menu at the moment. I asked to see the kashmir and super cream. No SC but was shown the cream. Looked like a standard nice blonde moroc but for €12 not really something was interested in at that moment. Kashmir however looked fantastic so I bought 1.33g for €20. Usually I'm not a massive fan of black hash but I was going for a late-night indica leaning hash and this stuff just looked perfectly dark and soft with a spicey twist on that oily black smell. I went and sat in a dangerously comfy armchair downstairs. A couple of others were down there quietly playing chess and enjoying their Friday night smoke. It was just so nice and relaxed. I smoked a big joint with a mint tea accompaniment and just slumped into my chair. Not much of a strong taste with this stuff but it will creep up on you and completely rock you. Not one I'd pick for the daytime, but an excellent choice for nights - put my faith back into black hash. The budtender was kind enough to sell me another 0.33g for €5 so I could roll another for the road and send the remaining gram back home. I thanked him for his help and headed back out.

I strolled down scenic canalsides, smoking my last joint and wondering what tomorrow had in store. The creeps hanging around outside the local red lights weren't giving me the best of looks but the kashmir was doing its magic so I breezed past and back to the flat. I sunk into my bed and hit the lights. Great first day. TBC...

nice start m8 it was good meeting you, and yeh they were some crazy joints in utopia that night.

Nice start! Thx for sharing

Nice read

DAY 2

It was Record Store Day so I got up at 7:30 and made my way to Velvet Music on Rozengracht for the store opening at 9 (in the UK you have to turn up at least an hour early on RSD if you want a chance of getting anything). I got there at about 8 and there was nobody to be seen and the sign said it didn't open till 10 anyway! So I head back down the road to 1e Hulp for a morning smoke. The shop is empty but as I ask to look at the tubs, the female BT asks me for ID. I didn't bring any as didn't think I'd be coffeeshopping so I'm respectfully asked to leave. Completely fair play. I head back home, get properly ready for the day and head back out. On my way to the tram stop I notice that my local bike shop has just opened (it now being about 9) so I decide to make my rental now. The man says the store is closed on Sunday so I'll have to have it for two days - the sun is shining and it's €12 per day so this is not a problem. Back up to...

1e Hulp - There's a croup of English lads in front of me, having a look at the tubs. Between them I think they just about bought every strain off the menu so it took a while but I was happy to wait. Once they had bought and left, I had a look at the shoreline, enemy of the state and the OG master kush on the recommendation of the BT. She was in a terrific mood and being very friendly and chatty, which is a big difference to the sour stinkface she was giving me on my last trip (and she recommended some badly unflushed lavender that time too..). The shoreline looked fantastic - fully purple plump buds - and the others looked decent too but I was after some hash. Nothing on the hash menu really struck me so I asked if they had any pressed iceolater. The lemon ice I got last time was pretty good but I'm not big on unpressed stuff. She handed me the OG dry sieve which I immediately got a gram of for €30. Yes it's expensive but I earn myself a luxury purchase on every trip. So glad I did as this was definitely my favourite hash this trip. It had the consistency and texture of caster sugar but pressed into little discs that crumbled like a fluffy dream and smelt very distinctively skunky. I sat upstairs next to Rizla and smoked my first joint of the day, expecting it to be heavy handed but was pleasantly surprised to feel a very physically relaxed yet mentally alert high. Really great stuff, I highly recommend.

After this I wheeled my bike back up to Velvet Music, which was now open and in full swing. A blues band was playing in the entrance, which I slunk past to dig through the RSD exclusive. I got myself the OST to The Good, The Bad & The Ugly by Ennio Morrichone on translucent turquoise vinyl, a double disc 180gram pressing re-issue of MGMT's Congratulations, an exclusive Tame Impala live album on translucent green vinyl, and a 7" of a new Bombay Bicycle Club song. The store had a really great feeling. I got a cool free bag with my purchases and stuck around to watch the band until they finished.

Voyagers - I cycled in the stunning sunshine and warm(ish) weather onto Voyagers to meet the troops gathered for the Haarlem trip. I can't really remember who was there but I went straight for the queue. Lemming came over to tell me they were heading off to catch the train and they'd meet me in Birdy at 4. I was served by the new young BT who indulged me by letting me look at pretty much everything. Great menu at that moment (off the top of my head - sour power, kosher kush, strawberry SD, purple strawberry bliss, fromage bleu, lemon bubble, don t, amnesia) and everything I looked at smelt amazing. Fromage only had tiny nugs so I passed despite the intense aroma. I went for a gram of don tangleo for €10, 0.8g of lemon bubble for €10 and a half gram of purple strawberry bliss for €6.50. All brilliant and unique. LB was VERY distinctly lemony, almost a worthy adversary of the SBLH of old. Don T had a pretty unique smell that's very orangey. PSB had a pretty magnificent calyx structure like that of a tree wrapped in vines. Deep purple, heavily colour layered in crystals so as to give off a kind of pink look. Didn't smoke anything there, just inspected for a minute and headed off.

The cycle to Haarlem was literally a breeze. Such a perfect day, lovely Dutch landscape dotted with windmills and these bins of stilts that were at a 45 degree angle so you can cycle past and throw your rubbish in with no effort. Genius. I floated into the town and up to meet the ACD crew.

Birdy - Having parked outside, I walked in and stood behind Occasional Bowl and Lemming. The lady BT told us there was no jelly so I got myself a mint tea and sat down with the crew. I introduced myself to Trashcanman, ftcarer and his son, and we got smoking. I had a really great time chatted with these guys and smoking my Voyagers purchases. LB was first and it hit the sativa sweet spot. Taste is pretty phenomenal from this stuff - just like the smell. Next was Don T, whose taste was just like the smell too but the stone brought me back down to earth from the pedestal the LB had put me on. Of course everybody else was rolling and smoking (or piping in the case of Occasional Bowl ) so there were other influences there but I tended to stick to mine as much as possible to get a proper feel for them. After an hour or so, the BT came over and placed a gentle hand on our shoulders to tell us the jelly had arrived. Without so much as a word between us, we hopped up and got what we came for. I rolled all my PSB, half my jelly and Trashcan's remaining mystery haze from Ibiza in one superspliff. The taste were mainly lost on each other but good god did that thing pack a punch... Halfway down the joint, the crew decided it was time to split. FT, eldest and myself planned to meet at Anyday that evening.

We parted ways and I finished off that spliff as I stumbled down the calm streets of Haarlem. No wonder that when it did come to getting back on my bike, it took me twice as long to get back to Dam and it took me to get there. I blamed it on the wind but I think we all know the real story

I don't really recall the last part of the cycle but I think I went down through Jordaan and round the outside of Centrum before arriving home for some dinner. By the time I was finished with that, the sun was almost set, my stone was waring thin and it was time to make a move. A lovely breezy nightime cycle up through the RLD to meet FT & son in...

Anyday - I thought I was 10 minutes early but it turns out my watch had died on the way over so I was about 15 mins late. Woops! I went in to check they're there and they are indeed sitting upstairs firing up the verdamper. I go back down to get myself something to smoke (as I only had a bit of jelly left in my stash). I didn't really fancy any more weed so I had a look at the reserva X, which looked great as always but wasn't what I was feeling at the time, the OG ice, which looked great but at €40-something per gram I'm not even gonna think about, and settled on half a gram of ice 22 for €11. Took that back upstairs with a glass of boiling water for the fenel teabags I'd brought and sat down to have a little sesh. I loaded some ice 22 into the verdamper with some amnesia(?) from FTjunior, who was already halfway down his seat at this point and the rest into a joint. It was very lightly pressed and pretty much had the texture of an OXO cube. It was quite dark in colour, burnt perfectly, and smelt and tasted very hazy. The high was very much a spacey sativa effect from the joint but very creepy from the verdamper. Smoked some of FT's lemon bubble (which was obviously still lovely) and some chemdog from CS137. Despite the nugs being very compact and sticky, having a lush dark green colour, and smelling very fuelly, it had a deep musky flavour that I really wasn't a fan of - neither was anyone else, I don't think. Ended the session on a joint filled with my last bit of jelly which, needless to say, did its magic and sent us on our way. Think we were all in quite a state by the end of that! I know my mouth was dry as the sahara and my eyes as red as the devil's dick

We said our goodnights (having decided to give 't Nes a miss) and went our separate ways, agreeing on a time and place for the 420 crawl the following day... No wonder that got messed up so badly - never make plans when you're that stoned!! I had a really slow and easy cycle-wander that deliberately took me far out the way of my apartment and back again for the sake of making the most of my high, seeing the city's night lights, and of course avoiding my dangerously steep staircase. But I had to conquer the stairs eventually, and when I did it was game over. TBC...

Thanks for the detailed account. It was wonderful to meet you. Looking forward to the next episode.

great report! enjoyed the read.

great report.
I'll be there May 12-19 so very interested in your experiences.
staying in North Amsterdam but playing in sports tournament in
Nieuwe Pijp for 3 days.

Great meeting you mate
Excellent read so far , those were some fine smoke-up's

Very nicely written report, BB.... Looking forward to Day 3.

DAY 3 - 420!!

Wake up with a heavy stoneover hanging above my head so I had a lemsip and cigarette on my balcony and fell back to sleep.

DAY 3: TAKE 2

Woke up and it was already bloody 1pm!! Luckily I felt refreshed and ready for the day so I hopped up and cycled up the east side to the Jewish Quarter, which looked very different in the glorious sunshine, to Nieuwemarkt and settled at...

Green Place - I hadn't really remembered when the crawl was meant to be stopping here but in the cloud of haze that was the night before, I seemed to remember saying to meet here at 2. Turns out I was mistaken. None the less, despite having consistently poor service here over the years, I came to see the shoreline. I got a gram for €14 and sat down at one of the small tables on the wall by facing the bar. The buds were looking very sativa-y, almost that of a kali mist (or similar). No purple in there and the unique shoreline smell wasn't all too apparent until ground up, when it erupts. That real sweet berry smell translated quite well into flavour and the smoke was very smooth with completely clean ash. The high is a very balanced hybrid feeling and not too strong but makes up for strength in flavour. Unfortunately, as I waited and smoked for around an hour (in case some ACDers did turn up), I continued to experience first hand the curt, impolite and frankly very rude service given to everyone walking in. I really don't like the way these guys do business. And I know some people have good experiences here and that's good for them but I've never seen a shred of decent customer service here. Shoreline is sold elsewhere now and there are better morocs out there than twizzla so that'll definitely be the last time I come here.

I walked out into the shockingly bright outside light (compared to the gloomy darkness of the coffeeshop) and hopped back on my bike. I noticed that my earring had fallen out and got lost so I stopped by a piercing shop to get a new one. I picked out a ring, paid for it and tried to put it in while still in the shop. It was too thick and when I told the dude serving, he came out and genuinely tried to force it into my ear despite it very clearly being the wrong size. He was actually starting to hurt me so I complained and asked for my money back, at which point he realised it was a nose ring... ... So he gave me my money back and gave me an EARring instead. So I cycled on through the Dam Square carnival madness and up to Homegrown Fantasy. I parked my bike outside, looked in the window and saw it was rammed inside so skipped over the road.

Utopia - Back in Utopia and Ingi's behind the bar. They had just added big buddha cheese to the menu so I had a look and, to be completely honest, it's the first thing I've ever seen in here that hasn't taken my fancy. It just didn't have a strong smell and looked a bit damp and undertrimmed. Well no matter because I've never gone wrong with the trusty citral. Love this strain and this batch was no different. Ridiculously sparkly buds, lovely citrus smell and taste, great all-rounder hybrid high that gets me talkative yet physically very relaxed. Ingi let me pick out my own juicy nug and the one I settled on was about 0.8g, for which I paid about €10. She introduced me to Rob_OG and S, who were sitting down by the counter. We started chatting about Rob's line of work and life in Zandvoort, leading to the realisation that where they used to live in London was two streets away from me AND he used to live in a small town in Malawi that I'm not too far from and quite familiar with! Small world, fascinating people! Before you know it, I had finished my shoreline (which I'd been smoking and saving the citral for later) and it was 4pm. Time to make our way to 420 just as Danny turned up too. But I needed to make another stop across the road.

Homegrown Fantasy - I walked in here and was greeted by the delightful older female BT. I asked to see their most unique smelling strain, to which she immediately reached for the afghan, which I'd never seen on a menu before in weed form but had been talking about how unique it was just the night before with ft. It had a very genuine musky indica smell to it, that I'm not usually a fan of but this was something different. The buds were huge and just quite perfect looking - clean, crystal coated, and pretty much entirely orange because of the hair coverage. I picked out a bud that grabbed my attention and paid about €21 for it as it weighed up at 1.6 grams. I'll really miss this place. The service has always been top notch and the product has always been masterfully grown and cured. I'll also miss the convenience of hopping between here and Utopia so best of luck in the future to all involved.

420 Café - With afghan in hand, I walked up the alley to 420 and arrived with just 10 minutes to spare. Waiting there, handing out handfuls of little golden easter eggs were Lemming, J, Occasional Bowl, FT, eldest, DRA, Splighy2 & Bifton (the latter three I hadn't bet before). It was quite busy in there as one would expect so I grabbed a drink and hastily proceeded to grind by whole afghan bud out on a small ledge on the wall. I rolled it into one big quadroached joint and counted down the seconds. HAPPY 420 EVERYONE !!! Everyone lit up their joints and the novelty biggy was lit, and although I wasn't gonna wait around for a toke of god knows how many people's saliva, it was pretty cool to see. The afghan was fantastic - super smooth, nicely heavy taste and a wonderful full body effect with an entirely clear head. I joined FT, eldest and Bifton outside and soon enough Rob, S and Danny turned up.

When everyone else piled out of the hotbox, we got our almighty leader Lemming to lead the way down to the Koningsplein webcam. Despite the hilariously stoney pace we were ambling at, we still made it for a wave at 5 for those watching.

't Nes - We stumbled round the corner down an alleyway stunningly lit by the afternoon sun to find another ACD safe haven. Gapie, Tashcanman, RvanSteensel & mate were already there sitting in the semi-outdoor smoking room with the weird butcher's freezer plastic curtain things. DC was working the bar and making sure everybody got there fill of muffins. I apprehensively ate one, knowing full well it would melt me even further but isn't that waht 420's all about anyway? I really enjoyed standing outside on the bar of the smoking room, sipping a beer, smoking my bud of citral, chatting with Rob, S, Lem, Bifton and DRA, and of course being handed an oily ball joint every now and then. Now once again I must praise Uncle Ron for his supreme generosity. Those oily balls were essentially a one hitter quitter (not literally of course but they did carry a knockout stone and a hefty bit of coughing ). And speaking of generosity, just as my muffin was kicking in and the oily balls were doing their thing, DC comes with another round of muffins - I take one for the road, say my thanks&byes and head off for a wander.

Wait a minute... Where the fuck did I leave my bike... Oh well I'll just retrace my steps... Ah! It's outside HGF! And at this point I realised that there was another coffeeshop closing down soon that I haven't been to for a while. And I was standing right there with hash on my mind so I walked straight up into..

Betty Boop - The place was seemingly completely empty. I looked at the menu and scanned for something new and strong. The choices were somewhat limiting but I went for a gram of frencheese cream for €20. The younger male BT seemed quite arrogant about this stuff claiming it was "knockout buzz". That's a bit of an oxymoron so I asked if it felt more like sativa or indica (assuming it should be quite heavy if it's made from cheese), to which he replied "neither, because it's 100% THC". Right. Ok mate, whatever you say . Anyway I headed upstairs with the intention of rolling one up and smoking it if the window seat was free. Unfortunately there was a big group occupying the sunny side of the room and sitting in a dank corner on a plastic table/chair just seemed like being 13 in a London maccy D's all over again so I left. Shame about this visit being kind of dead but it's fine because, as I'd later discover, the hash was top. I've got nothing against the shop itself but the weather was way too perfect to be cooped up inside.

I was still riding on my oily ball/muffin wave so I got on my bike and got lost - in a good way! This is my favourite place in the world to get lost because you'll find some new beauty and recall some old. I liken it to listening to one of my favourite songs; every time you relisten, you find another new layer or dimension to the song which enhances the whole thing, even though you didn't think that was possible. And just like your favourite song, you'll keep coming back to the same bits that make it great, even when you get distracted by the new bits. So somehow I ended up back here.

Kashmir Lounge - I decided to stop over to roll the joint I hadn't rolled in Betty's. I sat down in the cosy corner booth (past the bar, straight forward from the entrance) with a strangely small orange juice with a strangely large straw. The cream was a lovely sandy moroc in feel and looks, not far off super cream from Graal, but had a really pungent cheese smell to it. This mixed in perfectly with the usual spicey moroccan hash flavour. The stone was very noticeably indica in effect, it just slowed everything down to a soothing snail's pace. I rolled my joint and started to smoke it but it was for some reason ridiculously stuffy and hot in there so I decided to take advantage of those final golden hours of sun.

Since it was just down the road, the next logical destination was Vondlepark. I circled the whole park a good couple of times, gracefully weaving by way between passers by, until I finally settled in front of a slightly more secluded bit of lagoon. The last bit of evening sun was beaming right down on this spot so i sat on the grass, relaxed and had a smoke. I topped that off with the other brownie, without the intention of re-upping my high but in fact just because they were super lekker. I watched the herons, the rabbits, the parakeets, the squirrels, and the large white stork that seems to be nesting in the park during the summer months. I tried to listen to some music to add to my surroundings but somehow the sounds of the nature and people enjoying themselves around me were just too perfect to substitute with anything else.

When twilight was starting to loom and the air was getting chilly, I peddled back home for some dinner with the intention of having a little nap and then heading back out the the Nes later but, of course, the brownie kicked in just before I dozed off and that was me done for the day. Lights out by 10!! TBC...

Thanks, the symphony of sounds that is nature can be amazing

Nice detailed write up! Fully agree on De Graal, Sensibille and Kashmir Lounge

Thanks for the responses guys.

And pengaldinho, I've said it before and I'll say it again - you do travelogues RIGHT so it's my pleasure to give you one to read in return.

Good blow by blow report, entertaining.

You must be able to touch type with all the detail, good job. Good memory too. As you get older your memory will fade, like mine. My travelogue will be sparse as I didn't take notes or remember much. It was great to meet to you and talk about Malawi. The things most keeping me from visiting the country are all the shots and treatments along with the costs comparable to traveling to ZA. If I remember correctly, one doesn't need any shots or Malaria treatments visiting South Africa.

Anyway, great report.