Medical marijuana dispensary review: Greenhouse in Denver selling quality on the cheap

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Greenhouse is neither green nor a house. This may seem like a total "duh" statement, but it seems important to note in a town that has dozens of dispensaries in actual houses painted green.

Greenhouse

2403 Champa Street
Denver, CO 80205
720-328-0412
www.greenhousehemp.com

Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Online menu: Yes.
Other types of medicine: Hash, BHO, edibles.
Handicap accessible? No.

Greenhouse resides in a 1930s-era, blue-gray Golden Bell Press building that's across the street from a row of residential condos and tiny, turn-of-the-century houses on Champa Street. I've been to several shops in somewhat residential areas, but Greenhouse stands out simply because of the sheer size of the building it occupies. There's parking out front, although I got a "we know what you're up to" look from someone on a front porch across the street.

Still, there's not much actually signifying that this is a dispensary until you've made your way in though the glass doors and up the echoing steps to the shop's secured entrance. The walls are bare and slightly scuffed; aside from a slightly skunky weed odor, the place smelled old and musty.

The receptionist area was inside the hallway at the top of the stairs, with a small bullet-proof glass window separating patients from the employees. I handed over my card and ID to be copied and was buzzed through the door to the dispensary itself, where I handled the two pages of paperwork this place still makes patients fill out. (The majority of shops I visit these days do not make me sign pages of legal waivers.)

In contrast to the cold, industrial factory-like entryway and lobby, the inner rooms of the Greenhouse feel much more comfortable. The owners have done a good job of making the small space seem cozy and stylish, with dark green paint on the walls and bright, focused lights shining down on the bud counter. My budtender told me that the Greenhouse considers itself a connoisseur-grade specialty shop, and that the décor as well as the herb are all a part of that.

My budtender also said there are only four employees, and that everyone helps out in the grow room -- which adds up to more than 25 years of growing experience. Everything in-house is grown in an organic coco mix in small batches, as opposed to having football fields of plants under lights.

The budtender was friendly and clearly proud of what is going on in this shop, talking up everything from the so-called exclusive genetics to the line of cheap glass bubblers, pipes and hash oil smoking devices by local blowers and artists. The shop also carries the Omicron vaporizer, which uses regular hash oil or BHO instead of glycerin-based tinctures. (A heads up: We recently received an Omicron to test here at Mile Highs and Lows, and will have a review up in a few weeks.)

Prices are displayed on a big flatscreen hung above one of the glass counters that make up the bud bar. Herb is capped at a perfect $35 an eighth, though many of the strains were selling for even less the day I was in. The shop is looking to get more patients, and signing them up will get you a free ounce every six months as well as $5 off each eighth and gram of wax you buy.

Buds like the Pineapple Kush, Golden Goat and Sour Diesel on the shelves were all well done for the $25 to $30 price tag, with good bud development and mostly potent smells. The top-shelf cuts, like the White Slipper and Willies Wonder, all had unique and strain-specific smells, though some more time curing and a better job of trimming wouldn't hurt. Some strains, like the Rocklock and Juliet, smelled slightly fresh, and most everything looked like it had been run through a trim machine or shaved down by hand with scissors. For the bulk buyers, Greenhouse sells two ounces of mixed shakey buds for $300; it was good-enough quality that I have been considering going back and loading up on filler herb for hash spliffs.

The shop also had nearly a dozen strain-specific waxes and oils, all broken down into one-gram jars. The budtender told me that everything is done in-house, and that this is quickly becoming the more popular product among customers. He also said that some patients come in and buy an ounce or more of the wax every week or so (and I thought I got stoned).

After going through the strains and talking about the potency and efficacy of each one, the two of us decided on some of the Greenhouse's in-house indica-strong strains for the herb, and one of the more head-rocking sativa waxes.

As far as "discount" shops go, Greenhouse is up there among the better ones. While some shops that grow bulk-quality weed to match their bulk pricing just seem to be going through the motions, the guys at Greenhouse take pride in their work -- even if it's selling for some of the lowest prices on the market.

Page down for strain reviews and photos.