I only had $25 in my wallet and neglected to notice that Kindman was currently only selling by the eighth, with the prices set between $40 and $65 apiece including tax, which is average-to-good for the recreational market. The budtender apologized and said that their pre-packaged grams would be available soon … not wanting to hit the ATM, I was forced to settle for the cheaper option, which was their selection of pre-rolled joints for $6 apiece (not including tax). She quickly produced a laminated list of available joints, all of which were strain-specific and included several of the strains I had been impressed with during my smell test. I settled on the Chem Valley Kush and paid a total of $7.27 (including tax), which is not terribly out of line with the medical prices I’m used to paying.
The budtender left the counter to go grab my order, which was delivered by another woman through a large cut-out window which apparently led to the back storage area. The pre-packaged joint was contained in a silver heat-sealed, opaque plastic bag and was listed at .5 grams. With my purchase completed, I asked about concentrate prices ($90 per gram for Mahatma-made wax) and also to smell one more jar, having both requests met with a smile. The service at Kindman was better than average, and I felt welcome and appreciated as I left the building, thanking Jacob for his time on the way out.
When I got back to my office, I opened up the joint package and was immediately smacked in the face with the same Chem-OG funk that the big jar of CVK had in the store. This was definitely a good sign of a quality product, as pre-rolled joints have a bad reputation of either being made from beat-up jar shake or sometimes trim, with even good-quality bud-only joints often getting overly dry and stale by the time they are purchased.
But that was certainly not the case here. Practically drooling after my obligatory “dry hit” (a puff of the unlit joint to sample the flavor), I sparked it up and was met with the same aggressive rubber + skunk + spice flavor that I was anticipating, albeit toned down slightly from the aroma. Though the cigarette-style joint wasn’t rolled with my preferred RAW papers, it burned evenly and had solid flavor down to the crutch, a rarity in my experience with most dispensary herb.
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The Chem D is known for being a real head-knocker, and the SFV is a more contemplative, relaxing OG variety — the combination was oddly uplifting for me this time, filling my body with a lightly electric energy that bordered upon anxiousness in the early going. That feeling faded away after about 15 minutes, and it settled into a potent yet smooth effect, easing the always-nagging back pain I deal with on a daily basis while leaving me lucid enough to function at a high level as I took care of after-work errands. The effect lasted for about 2 hours and didn’t come with a “crash,” as many sativa-dominant strains tend to — overall, I was very satisfied with my purchase.
Kindman is one of those spots you can’t judge by the outside appearance, nor the first room you enter. What waited inside for me was a variety of fairly unique strains which appeared to be grown with care, a friendly and knowledgeable staff and rather reasonable prices for the highly-inflated recreational market. You probably won’t be randomly driving past this location anytime soon, but it is worth going out of the way to sample what was some of the better recreational bud I’ve seen in this first six weeks of operation.
The lowdown: An out-of-the-way industrial park location hides a top-notch interior and quality product.
The must-try: The Spirit of ’76, the shop’s signature strain selling to recreational customers for $54.50 per eighth (including tax), is not currently available for medical patients.
The lasting impression: The super-friendly, patient and knowledgeable staff made it an especially pleasant visit.
