Many people choose to smoke weed in the Netherlands — but forget about its great, mellow alternative: hash. But where exactly can you get the best hash in Amsterdam?
Hashish is not as popular in the Netherlands as weed is, but as its THC-infused cousin, it’s definitely worth a try. Milder and more refined as a high, hash is well-suited for daily activities.
Ready to take a ‘trip’ to the capital to learn about the best coffeeshops to get hash in Amsterdam? Read on!
What is hashish?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s find out more about hash in the Netherlands: what is it and what’s up with it?
For starters, hash is made from the cannabis plant, but it’s obtained through a different process than weed. For weed, you dry out the plant, and take the savoury buds, gleaming with pollen full of THC.
To get the famous brown block we call hash, there are several different methods. The Moroccan method, for example, uses a sieve to sift out the pollen from the dry bulb.
This process is repeated over and over with more pressure and finer sieves until the product that emerges at the end can be compressed into the famous block hashish. This means that hash is incredibly potent, boasting a high percentage of cannabinoids such as THC.
But first, a quick reminder: like any substance, hash needs to be consumed responsibly and with care. Be mature about it, consume it in moderation, and have a good trip!
The best coffeeshops to buy hash in Amsterdam
Now that you know how hash is made, you’re probably wondering where you can snag some of Amsterdam’s best.
Amsterdam is full of coffeeshops but it’s important to note that they’re not all of the same quality. Here are our top picks! 👇
Coffeeshop Boerejongens: elegant, upper-class, and high quality
☘️ Strain: White Choco Block (Sativa)
Amsterdam’s Boerejongens Coffeeshops are among the most popular in the city. Naturally, they serve the most popular hashish strain: the White Choco Block. 🍫
Surprise! As the love child of Chocolope and White Russian, this strain has a subtle ring of chocolate to it. It has subtle flavours, both sweet and spicy, nice and deep, and its delicious smell, this bad boy is a definite favourite among customers.
You can get this strain from the Boerejongens Coffeeshops, three of which are spread throughout Amsterdam. The locations are luxurious, and the staff are knowledgeable and quick to help (and very elegantly dressed!).
The White Choco Block is their well-known bestseller, and we highly recommend you give it a try!
💨 Type of high: mild, cerebral
📍 Where to get it: Coffeeshop Boerejongens Sloterdijk, Humberweg 2, 1043 AC Amsterdam
The Tweede Kamer: joining the upper class
☘️ Strain: Fat Kid’s Cake Block (mostly Sativa)
Next up, let’s head to the Tweede Kamer. No, silly, not the political one in The Hague (although, you wonder what they are smoking there sometimes) — but the coffeeshop in Amsterdam!
Coffeeshop Tweede Kamer is not only a great coffeeshop for hashish but also a beautiful venue in a historic building, and one of the best coffeeshops in Amsterdam for your hash of choice.
Here, we’ll go for some Fat Kid’s Cake (again: not the one you think 😉).
This strong hash has an interesting flavour, as it has less of the earthy taste that hashish usually has, and instead has a very fresh flavour and smell.
Be cautious, because this strain is a knockout! Smoke in moderation, and you should reach the sweet spot of your high-ness. 🪁
💨 Type of high: strong, mental high
📍 Where to get it: Coffeeshop Tweede Kamer, Heisteeg 6, 1012 WC Amsterdam
CoffeeshopAmsterdam: for a Moroccan classic
☘️ Strain: Tbizla (mostly Sativa)
Next on the list is one of our favourite coffeeshops in Amsterdam: CoffeeshopAmsterdam. Tbizla, their Moroccan-bred hashish, is well-suited for all sorts of creative activities.
It will give you a strong and uplifting high, and if used in moderation, you can go ahead and do all sorts of things while enjoying this strain.
It has a smooth and earthy taste, akin to other flavours on this list. Prepare to feel green — despite its brown colouring! 😉
You can find this strain at CoffeeshopAmsterdam, conveniently located on the Haarlemmerstraat. This place is also a nice place to hang out and smoke, with great drinks, top staff behind the counter, and killer general vibes.
💨 Type of high: medium strength, weed-like
📍 Where to get it: Coffeeshop Amsterdam, Haarlemmerstraat 44, 1013 ES Amsterdam
Coffeeshop DNA: a lemony delight
☘️ Strain: Super Silver Haze Block (mostly Sativa)
In the south of Amsterdam, you’ll find Coffeeshop DNA. This place sells an amazing Super Silver Haze Block, a great hashish strain that boasts a sour, lemony taste. Lekker! 🍋
This strain tastes like a sunny day at a festival in Amsterdam, and while its high is relaxing, it sure is strong, so be prepared!
Coffeeshop DNA also sells some of the best edibles in Amsterdam and has some great ganja paraphernalia. We recommend their pistachio-flavoured spacecake, which is not only delicious but can also take you on a wild high.
💨 Type of high: strong, relaxing high
📍 Where to get it: Coffeeshop DNA, Achillesstraat 104, 1076 RH Amsterdam, Netherlands
Want more options for hash in Amsterdam? Read on
These may be some of the top places to get hash in Amsterdam, but, of course, the list goes on (and on)! Here are some more of the best hash strains to be found in Amsterdam.
Coffeeshop Siberië: for some Ketama Gold
☘️ Strain: Ketama Gold
A short walk away from Amsterdam’s Central Station lies the Coffeeshop Siberië.
Step into the inspiring shop, and enjoy the artwork with a side of some Ketama Gold, and ride an energising high.
Coffeeshop Sensemilia: have some Tidgin with a view
☘️ Strain: Tidgin
Take a voyage to this fabulous shop in Amsterdam Nieuw-West and get some of that Tidgin Hash. It’s affordable and gets you right where you want to be.
The best part? Coffeeshop Sensemilia has a stunning view of the Sloterplas Lake, so you can relax while looking at some of Amsterdam’s best views.
Eerste Hulp Coffeeshop: smoke up some Sour Diesel
☘️ Strain: Sour Diesel
The name of this coffeeshop translates to “first aid”. And indeed, Eerste Hulp Coffeeshop is coming to your rescue if you are in need of some Diesel flavoured hash.
Some smokers live for this particular strain, and it’s much sought after. Will you give it a go?
Coffeeshop Katsu: forget about your problems with the Amnesia Block
☘️ Strain: Amnesia Block
Katsu is a top old-school coffeeshop in De Pijp. Good (psychedelic) vibes are found there, along with some excellent Amnesia Block — a tasty dark Moroccan hash made from the amnesia plant.
Coffeeshop The Stud: get fruity with Strawberry Banana Hash
☘️ Strain: Strawberry Banana
Last but not least, the Stud is a phenomenal place in the east of A’dam.
The name of this strain should say enough: you’re in for a relaxed time with some fruity flavours. Too bad it isn’t strawberry or banana-looking.
Tell me more about the history of hashish
As you might guess by now, hash doesn’t grow next to tulips and cheese (also, cheese doesn’t grow, by the way). Instead, hash has a long and rich history spanning across many different cultures, from India and Nepal to Egypt and Morocco.
When hashish first arrived in Europe back in the 18th century, it was more of a curiosity than a daily habit of people. By the 19th century, however, hashish was widespread in certain literary circles throughout Europe.
The international trade of hashish started later in the 20th century. Pakistan and Afghanistan used to be some of the major exporters of hashish, but after conflicts in the region, Morocco took over the international market.
For a long time, until the ’90s, they managed to maintain a quasi-monopoly. Today, however, Afghanistan is considered the biggest producer of higher-quality hashish.
Smoking hash vs smoking weed: how is it different?
Now, what does hashish give you that weed doesn’t? And why should you give smoking hash in Amsterdam a try?
First of all, both hash and weed going to get you high, that’s for sure. The main difference is that hashish will give you a milder high than weed.
While weed is prone to give you that heavy, hazy high, hashish is better suited for doing activities and not (just) sitting on your couch.
The flavour is also a major point of difference, as hashish usually has a more earthy taste (although some hashes, depending on their quality, can be more similar in taste to weed).
Lastly, while hashish is generally milder than weed, hash has much more THC compressed in it, so don’t add too much hashish to the joint.
Or do, if you want to get really, really baked. 🤷♀️
Rolling hashish vs rolling weed: what do I need to know?
Prepping weed for a joint is pretty straightforward. Using either a grinder or your own hands, you break it down into small pieces, mix (or not) with tobacco, roll, and voilà, you’ve made yourself a joint!
Hashish is a slightly different story, but don’t worry — it’s not (too) complicated.
Most hashish is quite solid and hard to break up by hand. To prepare it for the joint, you need to heat it up a bit with the flame from a lighter. That will make it softer and easier to break. Some hashish is already softer by default, so this step won’t be needed.
Once you heat it up, you can either put little crumbs of hashish in the joint or, alternatively, you can mould it into a thin, snake-like figure. If you use the “hash snake” method, be careful when you ash, because if you push too hard against the ashtray, you risk losing some of the contents of the joint.
Another thing to note is that, unlike weed, hashish will not burn on its own, so you need to add tobacco or some herb to make the joint burn. 💨
If you’re sceptical about hash and would like to try some alternatives, you can always check out edibles for a more culinary high experience, or just stick to the good ol’ marijuana.
Ready for your trip? We hope you enjoy it!
Have you tried any of these kinds of hash in Amsterdam on the list? What do you prefer more, hash or weed? Let us know in the comments!
Thank you for this interesting article, I must specified that the hashish in Amsterdam but more generally in Holland has really lost in quality since the late 1990s (1999) or early 2000 (2002). At the time, hashish came mainly from abroad ( Marocco , Lebanon, India , turkey, Pakistan, … with varieties of Origin plants. Today the hashish is partly made in Holland with canabis which is strongly totally different and the rare hashish from abroad are no longer from original plants of the country but from Dutch or American or Afgan plants as in Morocco for example the plants origin of Morocco have almost all been replaced by plants more “profitable” and less “fragile” even Moroccans in Morocco, even those who do/working the culture do not smoke this “new” product. At the time there was hashish in amsterdam from the four corners of the world from Morocco through Kashmir with a stop in Lebanon. Small information, the best hashish in the world was the Red Lebanese, not found now because the Americans sent chemical bombs on the bekaa valley the Lebanese hashish is now replaced by Afghan plants . All the times I have been to Holland the last year’s I have never found a quality Hashish sometimes there is but really very rarely.
Please define real “quality Hashish” and where exactly it could be found in Holland? Thank you in advance!
THAT is a good question and I too would like to know. NoNo what is Quality to you?
Good hashish, with that old school aroma that is so rare nowadays I’m saddened to think even in Amsterdam it isn’t available.
I found NoNo’s post interesting in its explanation of American bombings because in UK at that time late
1990’s weed did change from the ‘soap bar’ hash named for its shape which was hard and average in quality but generic not like red seal Lebanese or gold seal Moroccan black with its exotic classic smell. The hash here just turned very very bad, often contaminated, as if a new unscrupulous controller had taken over with no regard to quality. It was sometimes contaminated with diesel fuel from transport.
Then skunk became common, it was amazing but then then this green was no good either, this is not simply through Afghani seed stock as Afghani would not produce the current weed here and so now bud in the UK has become nearly all a form of what I know as PGR weed which is strange bud deformed and unsafe to smoke through chemicals, developed to increase yield at the expense of taste strength etc. It smells like weed and looks like resinous bud but close up the resin glands are actually microscopic leaf material. Besides it would be sticky if so resinous. This PGR weed cannot be discerned by most people and is probably a legal high type artificial weed with a chemical mimicking
weeds smell and effect. I’ve seen it pass undetected by police cannabis use tests on drivers.
The best I can get from dealers are various soft hash types, made by growers from trim sold in 4.5 ounce slabs. Polm, bubblehash type hash.
In 2000 we called it Lebanese or slate as its layers could be separated, it puffed up into sandy pieces on heating, it smelled great too but had no strength at all.
Maybe that smell was the original morroccan.
Sadly if you never had old school weed in the UK you won’t understand how bad it is.
Pgr weed is weed grown with plant growth regulators. Producing high yields of horrible tasting weed.