Jonathan_Taylor_Chronic

I came here apprehensive after reading all of the reviews, but felt like this was an interesting looking spot that might be closing soon, so I wanted to give it a whirl.

Sign-up/Entry: There was a first security guard who was trying to be all slow and intimidating, but whatever. Then there was a guy named Arthur at the top of the stairs who was so friendly and nice. I wish I couldn't hung out with him during the whole experience. He first showed me the smoking lounge room across from the budroom. That room was like, straight out of an anti-drug movie you'd watch in school, all hazy and covered in grafitti. I definitely didn't want to go in there, but it seemed like a great service that I wish all collectives had. When describing why this was a great community service, Arthur told me about some customer who didn't want to bring smoke into his house, so he'd go there before going home to his wife and kids. It wasn't like, the sweetest, sick-and-needs-marijuana story I'd ever heard, and it sounded possibly illegal for him to drive home high, and also felt weird to imagine this other dude going home high to his family who possibly didn't know that he was getting baked, but whatever.

Budroom: I went into the budroom and Arthur went off to make a copy of my rec. It was nice that I could hop right in line and didn't have to wait. However, the line took forever. There were only two people in front of me, and it must've taken like, 25 minutes before I was up there. The budtender lady was chatting up these boys, and then this lady after me kept asking, "now how much does this cost?" even though it was clearly posted. The budtender was pretty courteous to her though which was nice. Midway through waiting, Arthur came back and gave me my rec, and he also had made an extra color copy of my rec for me, which was really sweet of him! I liked that guy.

Then, some loud dispute happened outside, and everybody kind of got on edge like, "is someone going to come in here, all guns-a-blazing?" Even the budtender had to take a peek out the window. It was all fine, but it was kind of funny, too.

Buying Experience: When I got up to the budtender, these other people came up to get some free meds that the dispensary provides. The weed looked like the $10 shake, and the guy kind of gave the budtender a hard time saying, "I thought this was supposed to be bud..." and she did a pretty good job saying, "Sir, I'm with a customer, if you want to talk, you can get in line". It seems pretty entitled to me of that random person to be mad about his free weed, but I don't know his situation.

I wanted to ask questions and have as much time as the people before me, but the two knuckleheads behind me were riding my jock and were standing like 2 feet from me, giving me no privacy. I wish they just had a sign on the divider saying, "wait here impatient 19 year olds", just to give you a little bit of privacy. I could tell it was putting the budtender on edge, too, and I was being a sort of picky patient, so I get it, but I definitely didn't feel welcome to linger and ask questions. There was also this moment when she was filling the container with the shake I was buying, and her little scoop had a nice-looking actual bud piece, that she kept shaking out little leaves and stems and leaving that bud piece on there, until she just put the bud piece back in the main container. I'm sure it was nothing personal, but it felt like I was losing the claw game of weed. The whole tax thing is also a bit confusing b/c I think they used to not do tax and now do. A woman in line overheard the tax and was like, "say what? I thought you didn't do tax here?"

Anyhow, I think this place has potential and I'd come back. It's kind of nice to have a dispensary that isn't ridiculously well-run and has upscale prices - $15 grams were standard cap in LA in the good ol' days. I think Berkeley needs to get off its high horse and find ways to work with this collective, b/c it is a voice and business-type that is fading away in Berkeley. Now if they could make it less hot and smelly, and make the bud-buying experience more pleasant, they'd make me a keeper.

It looked like they were running out of this one, and I can see why. Delicious, beautiful buds, though they were down to popcorn-sized nugs. The high was clear and uplifting. I'd nab it if you can.

Look: Fluffy, but with a lot of trichomes and furryness

Smell: Excellent, that sativa sweet with this hint of earthiness

Taste: Not exceptional in taste, but still nice

Feel: Very clear, not draining. It made everything look that much more vibrant and food taste that much better, and just got my brain juices flowing.

FTP Deal: While it says, "FTP get a free pre-roll", currently, you also get a cookie after $25, another joint after $50, and then the budtender kept saying more free stuff up through $100. So it's worth it to do a big purchase your first time in order to get some goodies.

Atmos: Nice open area, provided some room for waiting in line or chilling at a table. It was one of the more pleasant hang out areas I've been through at a dispensary.

Staff: My budtender was friendly, and the dude at the front desk was fine, but it was kind of annoying that I had to write down some "talent/skill to share" with the community. Come on... I just want to get my dank and go! The liquor store never asks what my talent is.

Accessibility: Easy from BART, there are two parking spaces, but that's better than nothing.

Price: I feel like a $53 cap seems high, but that's Berkeley for you. The higher quality stuff looked good, and even the $40 eights were not terrible looking either. The fact that they test some of the meds too is nice.

All in all, the place had some nice touches and has stepped up their game it seems. I'd definitely come back, and the easy to understand scale of bad to great weed was something that other dispensaries have lacked but made it easy for newcomers.

I'm always nervous about a cheap product, but I'd say $20 is about right.

Look: It was a lot of leaves, but it had been cured well and there was some weed in the nugs

Smell: Not strong, but when broken apart, it had that vitamin-y smell that I like.

Taste: Nothing special, but tasted fine.

Experience: I didn't really get that high, but it was kind of like a nice cup of coffee - a little fuzzy, a little more awake, a little bit of body feeling.

Overall: I wouldn't get this again, but it's a perfectly fine weed for rolling or beefing up some stronger stuff. I tried this in a joint and in a pipe, and had similar experiences with both.