Ladies and gentleman, big joint smokers, I have the honor to present to you the father of all: the legendary Sarasani! The origin, the BigBang of coffeeshops, it is here that everything started: Yes, the first coffeeshop in the world wasn’t born in Amsterdam… but in Utrecht in 1968! The creator was: Holly Hasenbos, an eccentric hippy, lover of hash, reptiles of all kind and who organized concerts
in his cave situated on 327 Oudegracht. Back in the day, the Netherlands still hadn’t decriminalized the sale of cannabis, thus making the Sarasani an illegal place to be and tracked by the police. The legend says that his stock was protected by 2 crocodiles: Sara and Sani! The hash was locked up in a coffin, and placed in the middle of reptiles, who kept a close eye on the precious hoard. Enough to deter any cop who would take himself for Captain Hook! The name of the coffeeshop comes from the eastern Germany circus “Sarrasani”, who used to put their tents down next to it in the past. But let’s go back to our reptiles and Holly Hasenbos, who wasn’t just a simple hippy dealer of hash who loved lizards but as well as a pioneer and a great artisan for the decriminalization of light drugs; which earned him more than one stay in prison. He fought for the liberty and rights to smoke, even if it meant that all refractory minds of Utrecht (mayor, police officers, judges, neighbors etc) would turn their back to him. They ended up obtaining what they wanted and in 1984 Holly Hasenbos “was killed” by the police in mysterious circumstances. After that, the Sarasani was managed by his cousin Ton Hol and his wife F***y Venier. They did all they could to keep the authenticity of this mythic place, and have done a great job! Of course the place evolved with time, such as the crocodiles and pythons were replaced by turtles and psychedelic decorations appeared. How good were we at the Sara! All the time I came down the old canal, the same excitement resurfaced! At the entrance there were always the turtles, the fish in their pond, and in the basement we would discover the bar with a huge TV screen in the back, often diffusing cartoons of Tom & Jerry or concerts of Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, and Cypress Hill etc. Most of the time the place was full, some high chairs near the bar, sofas in the lounge area but mostly on low seats close to the ground, smoking splifs, in the middle of the fluorescent lights and phosphorescent posters, while tripping on cartoons! It was really a great atmosphere to be in! For the quality of the products, simply the best in Utrecht! For the lucky ones who had the chance to know the Sarasani, remember the killer w**d “Crystal Mountain”! There were also, Mexican Haze, Brasil, Super Hawaiian, Amnesia, White Widow, Power Plant, Blueberry, Santa Maria… The hash was also excellent with its Super Polm, Nepalese, Charras… and even real Black Bombay, like in the old times, the one that would really mess with your head! Moreover, for every €10 bought €2,50 was offered; so a save up to €7,50 on €30, followed by most of the time free rolling paper. To also take in consideration coffee was free and their spacecakes phenomenal! All the above with a joyful and available staff! Basically it was a joint smokers’ paradise… until a sad day of August 2007: the police caught one of the staff members of Sarasani selling 9.7kg of w**d to a German. All this led to a search of the house of one of the owners, where they found 37.3kg of cannabis. These elements were important enough to empower the authorities and close the coffeeshop. The municipality took away the license of the Sarasani and the first coffeeshop born in 1968, closed its doors end of August 2007. The problem is that they still don’t realize that they destroyed a myth, a historical place, a symbol of liberty and the open-minded state in which the Dutch find themselves. Still today, I dream secretly that the Sarasani will reopen its doors to me! But unfortunately the hope of all that is fading away slowly… as once did the smoke of my Crystal Mountain joint… RIP Sarasani!
