What does amphetamine look like?

Amphetamine is the one substance in this series where appearance genuinely tracks something, though not purity. It ranges from a wet grey paste to a dry off-white powder, and that difference is mostly about how recently it was made and how well it was dried, not about how strong it is.

The forms it comes in

The table below lists the shapes amphetamine turns up in and what each one actually indicates, which is usually something about processing rather than about quality.

Forms of amphetamine, and what each one does and does not indicate

Form	What it looks like	What it tells you
Paste	Damp, grey to beige, clumps together	Poorly dried, holds solvent and water
Damp powder	Slightly moist, cakes in the bag	Common, and heavier than it looks
Dry powder	Free running, white to pink	Better dried, not necessarily stronger

Colour

Speed runs from white through grey and beige to pink. Pink usually comes from a dye or from the synthesis route, not from a cut, and grey usually means moisture. None of it ranks strength. Caffeine, the most common cut by a wide margin, is white.

Texture and shine

Damp material weighs more, so paste is the format where weight flatters the seller most. It also smells: a strong ammonia or solvent smell is common and tells you about drying rather than about content. Dry, fluffy powder with no smell is easier to handle and just as likely to be mostly caffeine.

What looks the same

Caffeine is the dominant cut and is white and odourless at these amounts. Creatine and sugars are also used. None of them are visible once mixed, and the resulting blend looks like ordinary speed.

What the look does tell you

The damp versus dry difference is real information about handling. It is also the reason weight is a poor guide, since a damp gram is partly water. That is worth knowing before you judge anything by the look of it.

Where looking stops

Nothing above identifies a substance. Appearance cannot tell you which molecule you have, it cannot tell you how much of it is there, and it cannot see the cuts, because the things added to amphetamine are chosen partly for looking like it. Two samples that look identical can be different substances at different strengths.

That is not a reason to give up on knowing. It is the reason chemistry exists, and the steps are quick. A reagent answers what the substance is. A testing card separates the sample and shows what else is in there along with a rough percentage. A laboratory analysis gives you an exact figure when the answer has to be exact.

For identity and cuts on your own sample, the first link below. The second puts a number on it. The third is the full laboratory analysis for when an estimate is not enough.

Amphetamine harm reduction guide · Which test do you need? · What a testing card does

Questions?

Is pink speed stronger?

No. Pink usually comes from dye or the synthesis route. It is not a strength scale.

Does paste mean fresh?

It usually means poorly dried, which also means you are paying for water.

Does the smell tell me anything?

It tells you about solvent and drying. It does not tell you how much amphetamine is present.

Why does mine look like caffeine?

Because caffeine is the most common cut, it is white, and once mixed it is invisible.