TL;DR | What you need | How to roll a blunt
Joints may be the go-to way to smoke for many people who enjoy weed, but if you want something a little different, blunts are a great option.
Blunts are basically identical to joints, in that they’re filled with weed and smoked in the same way, but the crucial difference is that blunts use a tobacco leaf as a wrap. This gives them the feel and form of a cigar, with a slower burn than the average joint and the distinctive flavor that comes from the tobacco leaf wrap.
If you’ve never rolled a blunt before, you’ll be happy to know that the process is very similar to rolling a joint and pretty easy once you’ve got the basics down.
TL;DR
- Get a blunt wrap, cigarillo or cigar, weed, a lighter, a grinder (optional but highly recommended), a rolling tray (optional), a razor blade (optional) and flexible card stock (if you’re using a filter when you roll)
- Grind your weed. 1 to 2 grams is recommended for blunts.
- Open up your cigar/cigarillo and empty out the tobacco. The razorblade helps you get a clean split.
- Moisten the wrap. You can lick it or use a slightly wet brush.
- Fill the wrap with weed, giving a consistently thick layer across its length.
- Roll the weed into a cylinder by moving the front and back of the paper up and down with your thumbs.
- Tuck the front edge of the wrap between the weed and the back section of the paper.
- Lick the back of the paper and seal it down. Gently run a lighter over the seal to stick everything down.
- Light it up.
What You Need
Before you start rolling a blunt, you’ll need to make sure you have everything you need. Here’s a list of the necessary and optional (but useful) things to get together:
- Blunt wraps or cigar: The key component of a blunt is the wrap. You can buy blunt wraps, but the more “traditional” approach is to get a cigar or cigarillo and open it up. As long as the cigar/cigarillo isn’t too dry you can basically use whatever.
- Cannabis: Of course you need some bud. Generally 1 to 2 grams is recommended for a blunt.
- Lighter: Obviously you need this to smoke anyway, but it’s an important part of blunt rolling because it helps you seal everything up.
- Grinder: This is technically optional but highly recommended. You can break apart cannabis buds with other things (your fingers or scissors, for instance), but it’s harder and less effective.
- Rolling tray: This is optional but a big help for blunt rolling because it can make a lot of mess.
- Razor blade: This is optional but highly recommended if you’re using a cigar or cigarillo as your wrap. It makes breaking it apart a much smoother and reliable process.
- Card stock for filter: This is optional and kind of controversial. Generally speaking, people don’t use filters/crutches/roaches for blunts, but if you don’t want to waste the last little bit of weed and want more structure to your roll, it’s worth considering. The card should be thin enough to easily roll into a tube.
How to Roll a Blunt (7 Steps)
Time needed: 10 minutes
- Grind Your Weed
Before you roll, you need your weed to be ground up into small enough pieces to roll with. The best (and simplest) way to do this is with a purpose-made grinder: you simply put the buds in the main section of the grinder (with the teeth), close it up and twist the halves back and forth until it’s all broken down. You can achieve the same thing with your fingers or something like a pair of scissors, it just takes longer and the result isn’t likely to be as good.
Some sources suggest that using your fingers is a better, more traditional approach for blunts to slow the burn of the finished product. However, I would still opt for a grinder for pure convenience – the blunt wrap burns slower than a usual paper anyway.
- Get the Blunt Wrap Ready
If you’re using a cigarillo or cigar, you need to prepare the wrap. The best way to do this is to split it down the center lengthways using a razor blade. You should be careful to keep the wrap intact, but with a blade this is very easy. If you don’t have a razor blade, you can do this with your hands, you just need to take extra care. Once it’s split you just discard the tobacco (or save it for another time if you like the occasional spliff).
- Moisten the Wrap
If you’re using a cigarillo or cigar wrapper, they can be a little brittle and difficult to work with if you don’t prep them a little beforehand. The usual way to do this is to moisten them slightly, either by giving them a lick, dipping your fingers in water and running them across it or by using a wet brush. You don’t want them to be soaking, just a little bit wet to make them more pliable and easier to work with. If it seems too wet, just give them a quick pat down with some tissue paper. If you have a pre-made wrap, you probably don’t need to do this unless it doesn’t seem very flexible.
- Fill Your Wrap
The next stage is simply filling up the blunt wrap with the cannabis you’ve ground up. Try to aim for a consistent coverage across the length of the wrap. If you end up needing a little more weed, you can grind more and add to fill it out. If you’re opting to use a filter/crutch, you should add this to one end before adding the cannabis. We’ve covered making a crutch in our guide to rolling a joint, or there are specific guides available too.
- Roll it Up
With your weed in place, now you have to roll the paper to form the cannabis into a little tube. This is really easy: hold the paper between your index fingers and thumbs, and then simply rock the paper up and down to shape the contents. You’ll be evening out the weed as you do this, compressing it together to form a cylinder with roughly-consistent size. It doesn’t matter too much if it isn’t perfect, but you can’t really over-do this part: just keep going until you’re satisfied.
If you’re having trouble working with the paper, it might be that it’s either too dry or too moist. If it’s cracking or breaking, you might need to empty it out and moisten the paper again. You can also dry it if it seems too moist. - Tuck and Seal
The most challenging part of rolling is going from this part to having a completed, sealed blunt. The hard part is getting the paper to completely surround the cannabis. Pull the front edge of the wrap down so it’s just above the level of the weed, and then tuck the front edge around behind the bud. You can use your thumbnails to get it right.
This is hard to do at first, so don’t get discouraged if something goes wrong – you can easily take another try before you seal it up.
When you’re happy, and the blunt wrap is completely enclosing the cannabis, you’re ready to seal it. Simply lick the top section of the blunt wrap on the inside and press it down onto the rest to seal. The moisture sticks the tobacco leaf down onto itself, but you should give it a little push to make sure it stays in place. - Dry it Out
Get your lighter and quickly run the flame up and down the length of the seal. This dries the saliva you’ve put on there and keeps everything together while you smoke. It doesn’t take much, so just give it a brief bit of heat until everything seems sealed.
Smoke
Now you’re done and it’s ready to smoke. Put one end in your mouth (the filter side, if you’ve used one) and light up the other.
Conclusion – Practice Makes Perfect
If everything has gone well and your blunt smokes nicely, give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back.
Learning to roll a blunt is one of those skills that’s challenging at first but quickly becomes second-nature. However, at the start it can feel like a continual learning process, especially if you’re a perfectionist. Keep in mind, though, if you can smoke it, you’ve succeeded.
Your blunts will get better, and after a few attempts these steps will basically be second-nature to you. So enjoy the fruits of your labor.