Strains by Shop

[Lemming]

There are several good strains databases on the Internet so there doesn't seem much point in duplicating them but I am interested in comparing coffeeshops.

To that end I've chucked some data into a suitable structure so that the prices of common varieties can be compared. So far I've taken a few random menus from FBN and some information posted on the ACD and these forums by the likes of Marok21, Jesscass and Tokeing Tom. The following list shows strains that appear on at least two shop's menus:

Popular Strains by Shop

There is also an even longer list of all strains in the database so far:

All Strains by Shop

These are a bit rough and may not work well on a phone (try turning it sideways for landscape mode maybe).

For this to be really useful I'll need to enter a huge amount of data. It'll then need breaking up in some way.

Google likes to rate places as cheap, average or expensive ($, $$, $$$). It seems to me that calculating an average price for common products and then comparing each shop's prices against the average would be a good way to objectively rate shops by price.

I'd be very interested to read your thoughts on this idea.

[AzLaker]

A BIG Thank you Lemming!!
That’s a great list to work from when folks are in town or elsewhere. I’ll definitely try it out when I’m in town this April.
I understand that not all coffee shops will have that certain product when I’m there, and not all coffee shops are on the list, but a lot of good strains both flowers and hash to check out.
And it works great from my iPhone.

AzLaker

[Lemming]

Thanks AZ.

I've now made a first attempt at rating these 25 shops by price. It seems that the most expensive of this random selection is Paradox and the cheapest is Central.

Shops by Price

This relies on a big assumption that the same name on different menus indicates the same product. Of course, the quality of a strain may vary between shops and we know that names are sometimes meaningless.

I think some of the groupings could be improved and this is where I'd really appreciate some help from all of you experts out there.

For instance, is Isolator the same as IceOlator? Is Mr K's Guava the same as the, much more expensive, Terps Army version? Is it fair to lump all of the Gelatos together or should imported batches be expected to command a premium price?

Please comment!

[Willjay]

Thanks Lemming now I know I’ll save money at the Bluebird and spend more at Paradox and still wouldn’t care I would be in Amsterdam

[Mr Incognito]

This is a cool new feature!

Is there scope for forum members to get involved in compiling strains/prices?

I can imagine having a fun few days visiting coffeeshops and going through the menus!

[Lemming]

Thanks Lemming now I know I’ll save money at the Bluebird and spend more at Paradox and still wouldn’t care I would be in Amsterdam

True!

This is a cool new feature!

Is there scope for forum members to get involved in compiling strains/prices?

I can imagine having a fun few days visiting coffeeshops and going through the menus!

Absolutely! That's exactly what I'm hoping for.

Everyone can help, firstly by continuing to send menu photos to FBN, posting in the forum coffeeshop reviews and emailing reviews to me. Additionally, you can email menu details to me - text is easier that photos. Any other data, strain reviews and suggestions will also be appreciated.

How this evolves depends largely on what data comes in and, of course, on this lazy stoner getting it together. I can imagine integrating this into the site by having pages for strains and cross-referencing these to shops.

Just to reiterate, these are the three rough lists I've made so far:

Shops by Price
This attempts to list shops in price order from cheapest to most expensive based on the very limited data in the database so far. Only strains available from more than one shop are listed with the shop's price compared with the average.

Popular Strains by Shop
Strains available in more than one shop are listed with prices. The price is shown in brackets where no gram price is available and it's been calculated from a pre-pack price. Where the details come from an FBN menu the text is the details from the menu and a link is provided to the FBN page. Where the details come from an ACD review the text is from the post.

All Strains by Shop
A ridiculously long list of all of the strains in the database so far.

[Ghost]

Popular Strains by Shop

Strains available in more than one shop are listed with prices. The price is shown in brackets where no gram price is available and it's been calculated from a pre-pack price. Where the details come from an FBN menu the text is the details from the menu and a link is provided to the FBN page.

Nice feature @Lemming this one i really like and think it could become really useful for anyone in town looking to get the best deals on their favourite strains , i will be giving it a go in April and will try gathering some extra information(menu pics) for F.B.N i normally start off ok taking pics then it always goes out of the window, but will try With more information from ACD members who are based in town and all the people who visit gathering info on shops then it could be extremely helpful. Could a drinks and snack addition from each shop that sells drinks/food be included in some way or would that just be more hassle? I suppose it is no different than taking a pic of a drink/snack menu? Either way i like it.

[Lemming]

Continuing to fiddle with this.

The All Strains page is now an index of links to around 400 individual strain pages.

The strain pages themselves are very rough. I'll do more formatting and stuff in time.

The Shops by Price page now links to the strain pages.

I will probably scrap the Popular Strains by Shop page eventually as the Strains Index does the whole job now.

[Ghost]

Continuing to fiddle with this.

The All Strains page is now an index of links to around 400 individual strain pages.

The strain pages themselves are very rough. I'll do more formatting and stuff in time.

The Shops by Price page now links to the strain pages.

I will probably scrap the Popular Strains by Shop page eventually as the Strains Index does the whole job now.

Really like it myself, have been looking through the Strains Index at some of my favourite strains in town and which shops are still stocking them and there current price. Will defo be using this feature when in town next.

[AzLaker]

Continuing to fiddle with this.

The All Strains page is now an index of links to around 400 individual strain pages.

The strain pages themselves are very rough. I'll do more formatting and stuff in time.

The Shops by Price page now links to the strain pages.

I will probably scrap the Popular Strains by Shop page eventually as the Strains Index does the whole job now.

Really like it myself, have been looking through the Strains Index at some of my favourite strains in town and which shops are still stocking them and there current price. Will defo be using this feature when in town next.

+1

[Lemming]

Added more data and tweaked the programs some more.

Eventually I intend to wire this into the main site and add strain lists to the shop pages. For the time being this is the only way in:

> Strains Index

> Shops by Price

[AzLaker]

Thanks Lem., this will be very helpful come April.

AzLaker

[Lemming]

Growing steadily.

Amongst other things, I've been experimenting with embedding topics from the Cannabis Strains forum. For instance:

Gorilla Glue and Zkittlez

There are loads more of these I can connect up but the strains forum is not as disciplined as the shops review one so I need to do some tidying up, merging threads and so on.

The Shops by Price listing is now collapsed so that it's a bit more manageable. Click on the button to the right of each shop name to open up the list of strains used for comparison.

For the time being, the very long Strains Index is the only route to the individual strains.

Could a drinks and snack addition from each shop that sells drinks/food be included in some way or would that just be more hassle?

To be honest, this task is looking daunting already so I think I'll stick with the strains for now!


All suggestions and observations are gratefully received though. If you spot a duplicate or anything else that needs correcting, please let me know.

[Ghost]

Could a drinks and snack addition from each shop that sells drinks/food be included in some way or would that just be more hassle?

To be honest, this task is looking daunting already so I think I'll stick with the strains for now!

yes i bet it is

[Lemming]

Got data on 739 strains from 65 shops in this database now.

I've been tweaking the data processing a bit so that, for instance, only the latest price for a strain from a shop is used in calculations. I've also merged some threads in the Cannabis Strains forum and embedded them into the strain pages.

For example, on the Amnesia Haze page there are two menus from The Stud. The older price (which in this case hasn't changed) is shown in grey and not used in calculating the average price.

Gram prices in brackets are where the shop sells by weight and doesn't have a gram price as such.

Further down on that page are the latest posts on the forum. I merged together three threads about Amnesia Haze so all of the contributor's wisdom on the subject can found in one place. If you have any new info on this strain please post in the thread so your comments will automatically appear on the strain page.

A version of the common strains index is now back so there are these three indexes of links to the individual strain pages:

All Strains - an index to all of the strain pages in alphabetical order.

Common Strains - strains that appear on two or more menus.

Shops by Price - a chart listing of cheapest to most expensive. Click on the symbol next to each shop name to see a breakdown.


There are a few apparent anomalies that may be distorting the average prices. If you know anything about these or have any comments or opinions please post them. Probably the most extreme is Mr K's Isolator at €55 for a half gram! Maybe I misread or misunderstood that. There are also several varieties (e.g. Gelato) where some shops are selling Dutch-grown buds and others ones supposedly imported from California and commanding huge prices. It may be that I need to divide these lists although it's not always obvious where the dividing line should be. Any thoughts?

Despite these, there are some interesting stories being told. For instance, bottom of the charts Andalucia seems to charge significantly more than everywhere else for almost everything. Prices in Abraxas appear to have fallen significantly over the past three years, maybe because the Plague has driven away tourists and forced them to appeal to local take away customers.