You probably have a friend in your circle who rolls the best joints. That’s almost always her job, and nobody is eager to demote her or replace her. But what do you do when she’s busy? You can smoke your weed from a pipe or a bong, but it isn’t as discrete or low maintenance as rolling it up.
Rolling your weed will undoubtedly take practice. You’ll mess up a few times before you achieve the perfect joint, so expect that to happen. All you’re wasting is paper. You can keep using the same weed to retry until you’ve mastered the art.
It all starts with grinding your weed.
Depending on what you’re rolling, you’ll need anywhere between half a gram and two grams of your preferred weed. A standard size joint is about half a gram. Most pre-rolls are a gram, and blunts can be as large as two grams.
Take your time putting a fine grind on your weed. Any lumpy pieces can puncture through the paper, which is especially frustrating when your roll was otherwise perfect. Grind your weed until it looks fine enough to sprinkle on pizza like it’s oregano. You’ll be able to get your roll dense, smooth, and even.
Rolling the perfect joint.
Joints are the easiest way to roll your weed, especially if you decide to use a few time-saving substitutions to make your life a little easier. Cones are the easiest thing in the world. They’re a gift to stoners who aren’t patient or precise. If you’re just looking to get from point A to point B, get a cone. All you need to do is scoop your weed into the cone, gently tamp it down with a cone packer or the blunt end of a chopstick, and twist the top closed when it’s full. If this sounds appealing to you, go for it. It’s exactly as easy as it sounds.
If you’re going the traditional route, you’ll need rolling papers. You might also want to add a filter to your joint to lower the harshness factor and avoid wasting any weed that will accumulate at the end of the joint when it’s too small to hold.
If you don’t have a filter, you can make something called a crutch. A crutch is a small piece of something (usually cardboard) that helps the joint hold its shape while preventing bits of partially burnt weed from getting into your mouth. Most joint papers come with crutches. All you do is roll the crutch and fold the loose end underneath and into the spiral.
Gently crease your rolling paper down the center and place your crutch or filter at the end. Evenly spread half a gram of ground cannabis in the center of the paper. Use your fingers to form the shape of the joint. Pinch the paper and rub your fingers back and forth to help pack the weed down and finalize your shape.
Now, it’s time for the hard part. You need to actually roll the joint. One side of your rolling paper will have a gluey strip. The other side will be bare. Tuck the bare side in and lick the glued side. Rotate with your fingers and roll the joint tightly toward the glued side to stick it closed. It helps to start rolling at the crutch because the crutch will help you to form a stable shape.
Your joint should be open at the end. You can use a special tool, a cotton swab, or any other small object to gently tamp the weed down firmly into the joint. You can light it up right now, or you can twist the excess paper at the end to close the joint as a little present for later. If you’re more a visual learner we also have this awesome how-to with Tony Greenhand.
Rolling the perfect blunt.
Blunt wraps used to be hard to come by. Do you remember back in the day when people used to dissect gas station cigars or cigarillos, toss out the guts, and reassemble them with weed? Back then it was “sweet”, plain, or white grape. Those were your options and you needed to make do with what you had.
Now, blunt wraps are everywhere. They come in dozens of varieties and flavors, and you don’t have to undertake the additional steps of massacring another Swisher Sweet Technically, you don’t even need to roll your own blunts anymore. Prerolled blunts barely cost more than the weed they’re filled with, and they save you tons of time.
If you want to go the DIY route, you’ll need a blunt wrap and two grams of finely ground weed, and follow the same instructions for a joint. You can use a traditional blunt wrap made of tobacco or a blunt wrap made of hemp if you prefer to keep things tobacco-free.
You’ll only need to do a couple things differently if you’re rolling a blunt instead of a joint. If your blunt wrap seems too dry to roll, you can blot it with a moistened paper towel to make it a little more pliable before you roll. You might also want to roll your own crutch
When you get to the end of the rolling process, seal your blunt the same way you’d seal a joint. Since the blunt wrap doesn’t have a glue strip at the end, you’ll need to take an additional step to keep it sealed. Make a few quick passes over the sealed edge of the blunt with your lighter. The heat will cause the moisture to evaporate, helping the blunt to stay closed and preserve its shape.
If you’re having trouble keeping your blunts sealed, there’s a tasty little hack you can try. Honey works as the perfect blunt glue. It adds a sweet flavor to your blunt, and it might even encourage it to burn slower.
Rolling the perfect spliff.
Spliffs are joints that mix weed and tobacco. The easiest way to make a perfect spliff every time is to use a cigarette. Starting at the tip of the cigarette, gently pinch and roll your fingers around the outside to loosen the tobacco. Holding the cigarette filter side up will help the tobacco easily slide out of the paper. Once the tobacco is out, you have a few options.
A spliff can be mostly weed with a touch of tobacco, tobacco with a touch of weed, an even split, or anything in between. Combine your ground cannabis with the tobacco you removed from the cigarette in your desired ratio.
Once your spliff filling is made, you’ll start putting tiny pinches back into the hollowed-out cigarette and tamping it down. You can pack your spliff full and use it immediately, or you can leave a little headroom at the top to twist it closed. If you intend to store your spliff in the same pack as normal tobacco cigarettes, make sure you have a way of telling which one has weed in it. And make sure you tell your friends it’s a spliff and not a joint. Many people who smoke cannabis prefer to avoid smoking most kinds of tobacco. Be upfront about the tobacco content before you offer someone a hit.
The takeaway
Everyone has their own method of rolling. Don’t be surprised if you roll in front of a seasoned cannabis user who has some tips or tricks to share with you. And don’t be surprised if you completely butcher your first few attempts.
People who make it look easy are people who have been rolling them regularly for years. They’ve mastered rolling, and with time, you will too.
Emjay has everything you need to roll the perfect joint or blunt. We have the rolling supplies you need, and a huge selection of cannabis flower to fill up your paper or wrap. We can deliver it to you in half an hour. The sooner you get your equipment ready, the sooner you can start the zen art of perfect joint rolling.
