How to Roll a Blunt, According to an Expert

There are a ton of ways to consume cannabis. You can vape it, you can eat it, you can drink it and, of course, you can smoke it. And even if smoking weed is your preferred way to get high, you’ve still got options: you can roll a joint, smoke a bowl or rip a bong. Or, of course, you can smoke a blunt. Blunts are essentially a hybrid between a giant joint and a cigar. Like cigars, blunts are wrapped with dried tobacco leaf rather than rolling papers, but the inside of a blunt is pure bud, like a joint. Since they’re larger and composed entirely of natural ingredients, blunts can be a bit more intimidating to roll than joints. So for some tips on the best way to roll a blunt — and on mistakes to avoid when doing so — we consulted with Lorenzo Hernandez, sales manager at Southern California’s Mexican American-owned cannabis brand, Humo.

“It’s the most enjoyable way for me to smoke, personally,” Hernandez says. “The tasting notes of the blunt leaf and flower together creates the ultimate experience. I prefer earthy, skunky, piney notes when selecting strains and the blunt wrap enhances those flavors.”

And while the end result of smoking a blunt is obviously what most cannabis enthusiasts look most forward to, Hernandez believes the art of the roll is where the blunt’s true value lies. “The best part of a blunt is the actual rolling experience, similar to cooking. Like cooking, it’s an art to create something out of ingredients that other people can enjoy,” he says. “Plus, it’s one of the best ways to create a social experience with cannabis and to share with others.”

Here are Hernandez’s tips for rolling the perfect blunt.

Select your wrapper

“Selecting a leaf is similar to selecting a fruit or vegetable. Leaves have a window of ripeness and it’s easy to tell the difference by sight and touch — unfortunately, most leaf products don’t have a window or provide a way to view them until you have already purchased and opened the package. A dark, soft leaf is the best leaf for rolling; soft like you would find on a tree in the spring. It will be much easier to handle, more durable when rolling/smoking and it will improve the taste (as opposed to a thin, translucent, crunchy leaf that you would find on the ground in the fall).”

Gather your tools

There are lots of tools that can assist you, but if you’ve ever seen a pro roller in the wild, you’ll often find them trimming their leaf and grinding their bud while holding their stash all in their bare hands, which is impressive. However, here are some items that can help when available: a rolling tray, rolling tip, scissors and grinder.

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When rolling for others, you can also use ‘cigar glue’ found at most smoke shops for a reasonable price, which will allow you to avoid relentlessly licking your blunt to make it stick. Remember, you’re rolling a blunt, not eating a Tootsie Roll.

Scissors come in handy when rolling with a natural leaf since leaves won’t always come in a symmetrical shape. Often stems or veins from the leaf protrude off the edge and can make for a more difficult roll, but can easily be trimmed and made into a traditional rolling paper.

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Grind up your bud — but don’t over grind

Be careful with your grind! One thing that will make your roll more difficult, especially if your weed isn’t sticky, is having buds ground down into a fine dust. This makes sealing your blunt much more difficult and doesn’t allow the weed to take the cylinder shape you need to roll tightly while still having airflow throughout.

You may use a grinder, but I prefer to use my fingers when breaking down the flower. Using your fingers will take more time but it’s important to be patient throughout the entire process. Also, lots of practice is a must — the best way to roll a great blunt is to roll a lot of not-so-great blunts and smoke them all.

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Use a crutch

There is a heavy debate on whether a tip is necessary when rolling a blunt. Especially if you plan on sharing it, I personally prefer to add a crutch or glass tip. It prevents people from burning their fingers and creates the ultimate airflow. Each person smokes a blunt differently, and the glass tip prevents the blunt wrap from changing hit after hit.

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Don’t use too much (or too little) flower

The amount of weed you use in a roll can make things more difficult than necessary. Too much flower will make the blunt impossible to seal and can cause a rip in your leaf that makes it impossible to smoke because of the pressure and lack of airflow.

Too little flower will make for a crooked, runny roll that will smoke unevenly and taste more like leaf than weed. And unless you’ve perfected the slim roll or ‘pinner,’ the average blunt will use about 1.0g – 1.8g of flower depending on your leaf. If that sounds like too much for just one smoke, don’t be afraid to cut that leaf in half for a more personal sesh!

Remember: Blunts aren’t joints

The main difference between blunts and joints for me personally is the taste. A blunt’s leaf combined with flower makes for a unique blend that typical rolling papers cannot duplicate. Also, the combination gives your high a significant boost and/or head change. I actually find rolling a joint to be more difficult, simply because of the delicacy of the paper and the smaller amount of flower that may need to be handled more carefully.

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