Inside Amsterdam’s 2025 Coffeeshop Awards

The fifth Amsterdam Coffeeshop Awards introduced collectively coffeeshops, budtenders, creatives and shoppers for a weekend that celebrated historical past, neighborhood and top-shelf weed.

The 2025 Amsterdam Coffeeshop Awards introduced collectively hashish lovers from throughout the trade—together with coffeeshops, workers, model representatives and common patrons—for a weekend of tastings, meetups and store visits throughout the town. Organized by AudioKush, the three-day occasion, held November 14-16, has grown steadily since its launch in 2021 and now serves as an annual document of the place Amsterdam’s coffeeshop neighborhood stands and the way it continues to develop.

To acquire a greater understanding of the cultural significance of the Amsterdam Coffeeshop Awards, it’s useful to look at how Amsterdam’s coffeeshops originated. Within the Nineteen Seventies, the town began permitting small-scale hashish gross sales below managed circumstances. This wasn’t legalization, however it wasn’t an underground loophole both. Fairly, it was a sensible harm-reduction technique that finally formed Amsterdam’s id as one of many world’s most acknowledged hashish locations.

For a lot of worldwide guests, particularly these from nations with strict legal guidelines, coffeeshops have been the primary place they noticed hashish dealt with as a traditional a part of each day life. Prospects might sit down, learn a menu, and ask workers about completely different strains—one thing that didn’t exist wherever else on the time. Because the years handed, espresso outlets turned an integral a part of the town’s cultural panorama, influenced by music, artwork, hospitality, meals and nightlife. In addition they turned an early instance for policymakers trying to perceive what a regulated hashish atmosphere might appear to be.

The Amsterdam Espresso Store Awards draw on that historical past. Fairly than merely naming winners, they intention to acknowledge the folks and companies that proceed to form a tradition constructed over a long time.

How The Judging Course of Works

The awards are break up into two sections with distinct judging strategies. The Shopper Alternative classes are determined by public voting, giving a transparent image of what common espresso store prospects and guests worth most throughout the town. For the Trade Awards, over the course of per week, a panel of 25 trade professionals independently samples and scores the town’s finest flower, hash, pre-rolls, edibles, coffeeshops and concentrates. Every product is independently evaluated in a blind style check, with no branding or figuring out data supplied to the judges, making certain that assessments focus solely on high quality. Collectively, these two approaches replicate each the neighborhood’s preferences and the requirements acknowledged by trade professionals.

The awards gala was held on Docks 1, a smoker-friendly boat cruise and Amsterdam’s largest floating venue, which capped off a three-day stretch of meet-ups, coffeeshop visits, tastings and late-night events. In keeping with Russell D, advertising and marketing director for Amsterdam Espresso Store Awards, a complete of 200 trade professionals have been aboard the awards cruise. By the point the winners have been introduced, most individuals within the room had already shared a joint, a dialog, or no less than a handshake elsewhere within the metropolis.

Now, let’s check out this 12 months’s full listing of winners.

2025 Shopper Alternative Awards

These classes have been determined completely by public vote; the shoppers, locals and guests who give Amsterdam’s coffeeshops their character.

• Coffeeshop of the 12 months: Barney’s Coffeeshop: Barney’s secured the title for a second consecutive 12 months, changing into the primary coffeeshop to realize this accolade within the Awards’ historical past. Regulars typically level to the identical mixture: a workers that treats hospitality as a ability, a menu that evolves with out chasing fads, and genetics that proceed to draw worldwide consideration.
• Budtender of the 12 months: Lily @ Barney’s Coffeeshop: Lily explains merchandise merely and gives trusted recommendation, incomes robust assist from regulars.
• Most Educated Workers: Balou: Balou’s workers is thought for clear, informative explanations, with Riccardo praised for his simple communication.
• Content material Creator of the 12 months: Corax Dewai: Corax’s candid protection captures each day coffeeshop life, resonating with native and on-line audiences.
• Greatest Coffeeshop Menu: Barney’s Coffeeshop: Barney’s menu stays one of the vital curated within the metropolis. The choice modifications typically sufficient to remain related with out abandoning long-loved classics. The method retains the listing targeted as an alternative of overwhelming.
• Greatest Coffeeshop Artwork Exhibit: “The Grand Historical past of Hashish,” Mossy Large @ De Kade: The exhibit paired illustration with cultural references to create a visible timeline of hashish historical past. It drew constant consideration for being partaking with out feeling like a museum piece.
• Greatest Indoor Coffeeshop Lounge: Prix d’Ami: Prix d’Ami gives various lounge areas, sustaining a cohesive, welcoming environment regardless of its dimension.
• Greatest Outside Coffeeshop Lounge: Katsu: Katsu’s terrace in De Pijp stays a gradual favourite. It attracts each locals and guests, providing a secluded, relaxed spot away from the busier vacationer zones.
• Greatest Coffeeshop Outdoors Amsterdam: Hunter’s Zandvoort: Hunter’s Zandvoort brings the model’s model to a really completely different atmosphere: the coast. Its fortieth anniversary added weight to the win.
• Greatest Smoker-Pleasant Lounge: Barney’s Uptown: Barney’s Uptown feels snug and lived-in, with praised seating, drinks, and unobtrusive DJ units.
• Greatest CBD Model: Thriller Bees: Thriller Bees’ small-batch, easy method and constant, clear flavors earned excessive voter recognition.
• Greatest 420 Occasion or Expertise: Buddha Lounge Boat: The Buddha Lounge Boat gives a sluggish, scenic session on the town’s waterways. It continues to draw folks in search of a relaxed, floating various to land-based coffeeshop visits.
• Favorite Coffeeshop Pet: Mr. Pumba: Mr. Pumba is a coffeeshop fixture, well-known and continuously featured in metropolis lore and photographs.

2025 Trade Awards: Blind-Tasting Outcomes

These awards focus strictly on what’s within the jar, not the noise behind it.

Sativa

Haze

Indica

Hybrid

Conventional Hash

Static Hash

Ice Water Hash

Dwell Rosin

Edibles

CBD