How do you distinguish good quality cocaine?

[Hendog]

I'm wondering what the people of this site will have to offer in terms of quality indicators in street cocaine. I understand there will be a huge variance in terms of countries, areas, or even week-to-week batches.

There are a few indicators noticed by myself and friends. Not sure which one indicates quality, if at all. Slight yellow-ish tinge or pure white, more rocky or more powdery, soft rocks(able to crush easily with a spoon) or hard rocks needed to be filed down with a blade, Strong smell or weak.

In terms of the use, there are a few things which i wonder whether they indicate quality. Should it hurt to snort? Should it numb your face, or as ive heard is that just a result of mixers (novocaine etc). How long should a good buzz last?

I realise this covers a huge area of questions but any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

[junkittie]

I find it smooth to snort, it should be kinda sticky, but it should mostly crush all into the same consistency. Usually good blow does numb your face, even if it's just the cut, cuz it's a good cut :P

[Aberzhulan]

I've only done coke twice, but I've never heard of it hurting to snort. That is, if it is coke. Baking soda burns like hell. Like, pure baking soda. And I've also heard that if it's cut with baking soda, it burns.

Novocaine will give you a numbing feeling just like coke will. I'm not sure how to tell if it has Novocaine in it or not. I've always found a little bump (before you hand over the money) is always good. The dealer shouldn't mind as long as you don't do the whole bag and not pay them. And if the dealer does mind, taking your business elsewhere works. Then again, aside from the one bad deal where I got baking soda (from a trusted connect from a friend), I've always dealt with some really nice people. lol

As for numbing of the face...I think it did. But then again, this was almost 4 years ago. So, my information is a bit limited and outdated. And every bag I've ever seen was pure white and pretty amazing. Like, straight off the block. (Or so the mall janitor told us when he delivered.) It was good quality. The drip was reminiscent of the smell of gasoline.

[neveroddoreven]

If its good coke, you should feel stong euphoria, and a strong yet somewhat mellow rush (not mellow, but not like a hectic drone rush). But then again I rarely get good coke, and havent done for a while. I generally avoid it due to the unreliability and I prefer most other drugs. Also, be prepared to pay £80+ to dealers claiming to have strong coke, thats the case around here anyway.

As a summary, just test it and see how you feel. Numbing can be misleading, as others have mentioned there are multiple cutting agents which will have similar effects. In general, coke is a very unreliabl drug, and your in england right? Theres so much shit coke going round, but you will occasionally find some potent gear. Just test the waters a bit and buy bigger bits of the best you find.

[Heroine]

Good coke to me should not give you one of those crazy jittery highs, the weird ones where your running around talking fast with your hands shaking, no way thats no-doz cut or something similar. Good coke highs are mellow almost, your up but your up and smooth. Its almost opiate like if you know what I mean. Its an upper of course but your up is nice and smooth and you come down nice and smooth, not crash. Appereance isn't that relevant to me, it can look plenty of different ways, I personally won't pass judgement by looks alone, I need to bang some to see what it feels like. I will say that the kind that kind of sticks together or clumps together like its kind of wet tends to be better quality.

[Thanatos]

I've only ever tried coke once and that was when I first tried LSD. Weirdly, I didn't feel a single thing from like 3 lines of it. Must have been lame coke.

[Hendog]

Yeah, these seem to be what i've generally heard. Wet, almost sticky kind of thing gets best reviews. I've also heard that the whiter the better, as any colouring will be from mixers.

In terms of paying £80+ thats the same here. Most 'good' coke is £100/g. In fairness to the dealers though, it is definitely higher quality than those you can buy for £40-60.

Does anyone else gern a little on it? I gern quite alot, and i wake up with a sore jaw!

[Aberzhulan]

I've never heard of coke sticking together = good quality, but like I said I've rarely done it. Used to be able to pick up a gram for $50. But I've lost all my good connects (twice) over the years, and it's $100 a gram these days...or more. I could get a 1.5g of meth for that price, so it's kind of pointless to get coke.

On a side note, I've heard cutting coke with no-doz is quite dangerous, as snorting no-doz could stop your heart. Never done it, so I wouldn't know. (I did lace some weed with no-doz when I was younger, and sold it as higher quality bud. People kept buying it, so I didn't see anything wrong with it.)

EDIT: One of my exes sold some crushed up alka-seltzer to a crack head in the ghetto once. She got like $20. I'm sure the guy was pissed. Jus sayin...Thanatos could have been snorting something that wasn't coke.

[Anonymous]

I've heard this question so many times and there are so many answers like the appearance of fishscale, the numbing quality, color, how it dissolves, how it clumps, etc. Honestly though, there are so many variables that go into it because there are usually so many other ingredients, that none of those are entirely reliable. In my experience, those tests are only good to tell if coke is definitely bad, but you can always make bad coke appear good.

The best way to tell is by sampling it. If you're buying enough coke that it really means a lot how good it is, any reasonable dealer should let you sample a line, or at the very least let you gum it. That will give you a feel not only for how strong it is, but for how much of the stimulation is actually coke and how much is speed and caffeine. It takes getting accustomed to but you get a feel for it quick. If you run your coke through an acetone wash that will give you a good control to test against. You'll be amazed by how much better you understand coke just by doing this pseudo-purification and sampling the product.

[Smokin_Kat]

Look for the good housekeeping seal of approval.

[StinkyBambinosAndcheese]

I've only ever tried coke once and that was when I first tried LSD. Weirdly, I didn't feel a single thing from like 3 lines of it. Must have been lame coke.

Ew. How did you do coke on LSD. Once I was on an amazing trip, did a line and ruined it. I was calling my friend ralph off the balcony not long after. Never again. More power to you.

Look for the good housekeeping seal of approval.

I want some of this. Keep the blow.

[Hendog]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Not only have i been asking in here but ive been asking around my friends and talking to anyone i can without being too dodgy lol. The general consensus is that everything you mix something with has a different effect on its appearance. Sticky may mean its been wetted before pressing, yellow tint can mean its mixed with something yellow, hard rocks just means a bigger bearing press has been used to press it into rocks.
I think coke is such a widespread drug, handled by so many people that its impossible to tell quality by appearance. As someone acutely said above. 'the only way to tell is to bang some'. I think that is good advice.
If anyone finds any that has a particular trait, and was particularly strong/weak, i would still appreciate the info, if not just out of curiosity.
Thanks again for all responses.

[aj420]

SWIM has had the privilege of having some extremely pure (95%) cocaine, and the displeasure of having some extremely bad probably around 10%. Both make SWIY pretty numb, but SWIM would say anywhere above 50% purity will make SWIY equally as numb.
Also, to gauge purity by the numbness product causes, note that a more pure product will cause SWIY's throat/gums to be numb longer than a less pure product - For example cocaine that is 50% pure may cause numbness just about as intense as 90% pure product, however the duration for the 50% purity product would only last about 35 minutes, whereas the 90% purity product would last about 75 minutes. It's not an exact way to measure, but if SWIY can still taste the "cocaine" after about ten seconds of applying it to gums/tongue/doing a line, chances are it's less than 25% pure. When SWIM snorts or applies 85-95% pure cocaine, there is very little to no pain or taste involved. Rather, when SWIM snorts a bump of high purity cocaine, the pain usually associated with snorting is replaced by spreading numbness throughout SWIM's nasal cavity.

To judge cocaine by its appearance, SWIM would say that color doesn't matter as much, unless SWIM is dealing with product above 80% purity. Unless it is extremely pure (>80%), the variance in color amounts to the variance in cutting agents present. However, there are ways to judge relative purity based on appearance for product with purity levels commonly found on American/European streets.
First, and probably most obviously, SWIM tells me that the cocaine should have the same consistency and color throughout a bag- if this is true, the product is probably at least pretty pure, because it means those cutting it havent been too desperate to make money. If it has different colors and consistencies throughout a bag, beware, as SWIM has only seen this happen when the dealer (e.g. the guy who buys an ounce or two and cuts it up into grams, 8-balls, etc) has been using product and realizes he is losing money so cuts the product himself, perhaps half and half with whatever cutting agent sitting around his house.
Second, whether it is wet or dry really doesnt make that much of a difference- as cocaine is very hygroscopic(meaning it absorbs water from the air)-so if it's wet its probably just been stored in a humid environment. One thing to watch out for is that wet cocaine weighs more than dry cocaine. If SWIY really wants to test purity based on appearance and has wet product, SWIY can put product under a heat lamp for 12-24 hours or until it is completely dry. Then, of course, the water evaporating out will increase purity just a little.
Third, if product is dry (this test assumes SWIY has a rock and not just powder), SWIM would use a sharp razorblade and cleave or attempt to sliver of a side of the rock. If the cocaine simple powderizes and falls off into a neat little pile under where you cut it-well it means you will have a very easy time making up lines with very fine powder! However, the downside is that this instant powder means that there is quite a bit of cut. A product of higher purity would come off in flakes, rather than dust. (again, this procedure is assuming cocaine is dry- as wet cocaine will stick together as SWIY would slice it with razor)

Also, PURE cocaine HCl has no smell whatsoever- the smell comes from whatever it is cut with, so the more the smell, the more the cut. The more variation of smells within a bag, the more different types of cut.

Also, in a gram of high quality cocaine (~50% purity), SWIM thinks that about 15 lines should come out, each one giving SWIY a good rush and 45 minutes of enjoyable euphoria following.

SWIM would also like to add that if you feel as if a line about .3cm wide and 3-5 cm long doesn't do much for SWIY, the product is very low quality. Doing more lines in a quick time period is often a copious waste of good product, as smaller bumps, spread out over time allow more product to be absorbed through the mucous membranes in the nose. When doing large lines, in quick succession, the SWIM's nose becomes clogged and it seems as if SWIM's tolerance has risen tenfold in the course of the night- however SWIM now realizes that this was because all of SWIM's mucous membranes were blocked, causing all of SWIM's product to drip down the back of SWIM's throat.

With cocaine, less is more, and the less jittery the better. Hope this helps.

Also when dealing with higher purity cocaine, SWIY should look for a more shimmery, or opalescent quality. Flat coke that appears to have the texture of flour means more cut.

[NodSome]

I think if you do a lot of coke and you do some that messes you up, and it lasts, it's good. The duration is the major factor for me i think if i get coke that i feel for an hour then it's good. Everyone has different indicators though.

[dankstarR]

From what I've noticed in California (SF bay area to be exact) that when it comes rocky and not powder it's ALWAYS better. I've never had powder that was good, only when it's rock (and when I say rock I don't mean crack, I just mean rock form, not chopped up and cut down). Also, I remember reading that if it numbs your mouth right away that it's heavily cut with something like Lidocaine, because pure cocaine takes a couple minutes to start numbing your mouth and lips and all that good stuff.

Also, I notice significantly on better cocaine that it has a very strong odor, I forget exactly what it smells like and correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's smells like Acetone? Anyway, good luck and hopefully you don't get ripped. If you're trying to get a large amount ( half-oz or +) then I'm sure the guy wouldn't have a problem giving you a little .1 line or something.

[Crazy Matt]

Also, I notice significantly on better cocaine that it has a very strong odor, I forget exactly what it smells like and correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's smells like Acetone?

reminds me of plastic for some reason, the smell of plastic, but the best, no smell, and you know in 5 seconds after a round. Best stuff has the most brutal crash, start drinking about 45 min. in to avoid.

"and it's $100 a gram these days...or more."
are you serious? It's been 3 years or so since I bought (at the time was spending 600. a week or so @ 50. a gram). That's nuts. At that price it better be fishscales brought to you in solitary in prison by a CO, with a tooter made of gold thrown in. IDK. Coke, you know, whatever the cost, you gotta have it, that feeling is good as sex. Only thing I ever craved, besides since becoming a drunk and needing a drink or not being able to live without nicotine. I see it on a movie and think, I'd do or give anything for some right now.

[sdm89]

my mate knocks out the gear, the best is always on the rock, sticky, as in when you cut it it will stick to your bank card etc, it will numb not only your nose after snorting it will numb your face too, you should feel the hit in about a minute, one line should at least last about 20mins, the coke in belfast varies greatly in but mostly its shit quality, but i only get of my mate coz its good stuff, once you find some1 who gives you good gear stick with them and only them for a while until you find better, always be wary of buying for example an 8th (about 3.5grams) that is only in powder form as most likely its cut with all sorts of shite, half decent stuff as i said will tend to be a bit sticky i.e stay on the surface it touches and be on the rock i.e you wont be able to crush it with your fingers but will need a tool,
hopes this helps sdm`