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REEFERFRONT TIMES
[DISPENSARY REVIEW]
Tommy Chims Smokes Star Buds’ Weed Written by
THOMAS CHIMCHARDS
O
ver the many years I’ve spent lighting plants on fire and inhaling the chemical result of the ensuing decarboxylation, I’ve come to befriend a number of people who’ve made at least a portion of their living selling said plants. I’ve mentioned a few of them in this space before. There’s my most recent former dealer, the ever-trusty Mr. Nickname; there’s The Guy, an interior design visionary whose doorless and dilapidated trailer home practically birthed the concept of minimalist decor; and of course there’s That Guy, with whom I have very little memory outside of a terrible night spent watching Natural Born Killers in his home. There are a couple of other otherwise nameless Guys about whom I’ve shared anecdotes as well: my former dealer with a doorbell hooked to his basement window for ease of purchase, a friend and his dad who used to employ mustard to keep police dogs off their scent, and on and on. I’ve shared these stories about these colorful characters, but always in a way that was light on the details, owing to the fact that the state and federal governments have long held a less than enlightened attitude toward this particular line of commerce. But with the Missouri medical marijuana market now in full swing, we’ve finally reached a point where I can loudly announce to the world, in a paper with a circulation of many thousands, that I know some people who sell weed, and where you can go to purchase their wares. In other words, this is my roundabout way of a disclo-
26
RIVERFRONT TIMES
Star Buds is one of the first dispensaries in the St. Louis area to offer deli-style service for its flower offerings. | TOMMY CHIMS sure for this column: I have friends who are part of the ownership group for the Star Buds shops in Missouri. Star Buds is a heavy-hitter chain of dispensaries first established in Colorado in 2013, which has since branched out to include locations in South Dakota, Oklahoma, Baltimore, Missouri and even Jamaica. Its Missouri locations thus far include a spot in Festus and one in University City; I stopped by the U. City location on a recent sunny afternoon to sample their wares. For the record, I did not tell anyone I know that I was coming, and I have no reason to believe that any of the employees working at the time had any idea who I was. Upon entry, I went through the usual rigamarole of handing over my ID and med card before being buzzed inside the sales oor. Once inside, I was gobsmacked by the selection — with approximately 40 different strains on offer from multiple cultivators, Star Buds just might have the largest variety of ower I’ve seen so far in a Missouri dispensary, as well as a healthy amount of edibles, vape cartridges, concentrates and accessories. Equally exciting is the fact that this dispensary is the first I’ve visited in this state that operates deli-style, meaning that rather than the pre-packed ower you might purchase from another
DECEMBER 1-7, 2021
riverfronttimes.com
The deli-style weed presentation allows you to really see and smell what you’re getting, and to pick out strains with the help of your own senses rather than just what your budtender might have to say. shop, Star Buds’ ower is kept in large glass jars and weighed out for the customer in-store on an individual basis. This allows you to really see and smell what you’re getting, and to pick out strains with the help of your own senses rather than just what your budtender might have to say. After drooling over the many
strains on hand for a while, I decided to pick up some Sundae Driver, whose buds were enormous multicolored mutants, as well as some Strawberry Float, whose smaller buds were absolutely encrusted with a dusting of keef. Star Buds uses a model wherein prices are set based on the quality of the cannabis: onnoisseur ower is the most expensive at $25 per gram, below that is Top Shelf ($22 per gram), Staff Pick ($20 per gram), Premium ($18 per gram), Special Classic ($16 per gram) and Classic ($15 per gram). The shop also offers budget options under the label of Shake ($10 per gram) and Smalls ($13 per gram), and there are price breaks once you get at least an eighth. I got two grams of the Sundae Driver, a Top Shelf pick, for $44, and two grams of the Strawberry Float, marked as Premium, for $36. I also grabbed a package of gooey butter cake bite edibles for $37, because I’m a true St. Louisan whose blood bleeds butter. All told, I spent a total of $132 after taxes for the pleasure. I dug into the Strawberry Float first. Illicit ardens-branded and rated at 23.17 percent THC, these smaller buds looked almost as though they were hand-rolled in keef, with that powdery goodness stuck in every crevice. Imagine you went to Olive Garden and
