How to Roll a Weed Cigar

Learning to roll a great cigar takes practice and patience. But once you know what you’re doing, you’ll soon be rolling cigars like the most practiced torcedor.

A blunt is to a joint what a cigar is to a cigarette. Or more simply, it is a cigar that has been emptied of its loose-leaf tobacco and filled with cannabis. While not quite as iconic as the standard joint, the cultural significance of the blunt cannot be ignored.

Many prefer the added buzz created by the mix of cannabis and its tobacco wrap, while others appreciate the variety of flavors available in a lot of cigarillos and blunt wraps.

Rolling a blunt has its own issues, as opposed to rolling a joint, so to help you roll up your own, we’ve prepared a simple guide to blunt rolling.

Advantages of smoking a blunt

People tend to either love or hate blunts. The main complaint against them is they have tobacco and can make for a harsh smoke.

Some reasons people prefer blunts are:

• Heightened effects: the tobacco adds a buzziness and energy to your high
• Flavor and aroma: some people love the smell of a burning blunt, especially if you use a nice cigar or a flavored blunt wrap
• Portable: like joints, you can take a blunt anywhere
• Slow burn: Blunts burn slower than joints, so they last a lot longer in your smoking circle

Start by gathering the necessary supplies:

Cannabis strain of choice

Cigar, cigarillo, or blunt wrap

Weed grinder and razor blade are optional, but may be helpful for those new to rolling

Any cigar or cigarillo will do, but we recommend one that isn’t completely dried out, as it’ll break easier and be harder to roll. These days you can usually find blunt wraps at any corner store, which are like one giant rolling paper made out of tobacco.

Common cigarillos you can find at most corner stores are:

Swisher Sweets

Black & Mild

Phillies

Dutch Masters

White Owl

Moisten your tobacco leaves. Before they can be rolled, your leaves must be moistened or “cased.” You can use a fine mist of water or a humidifier to moisten the leaves. Placing the leaves in a large plastic bag with a bit of water will also do the trick.

• The amount of water you need, and the length of time your leaves should be moistened, depends on the type of leaf you are working with. Very dry leaves will need to be exposed to more moisture than less dry leaves. Experiment with different volumes of water and periods of absorption to find out how you can get the most pliable leaf.

• Select your wrappers. Wrappers are thinner, larger, and more malleable than the other leaves used in the cigar. They will be used to hold the other leaves together and form the outer “skin” of the cigar.

Cut the central vein out of the wrapper leaves.This vein is identified by tracing the stem up through the leaf to its tip. By cutting the leaf vertically along each side of this central vein, you will ensure the wrapper will be as smooth as possible.

• If you wish, you can make your wrapper even smoother by pressing it briefly with a warm iron or a rolling pin. 
• The most intact and aesthetically pleasing leaves should be used as wrappers.

Select your binder. The binder will hold the filler leaves before being covered by the wrapper. Midgrade leaves — those which are intact enough to contain filler leaves but not acceptable as wrappers — make good binders.

• Like the wrapper, the binder will need to be deveined. Cut the leaf along either side of the stem so that you end up with two roughly symmetrical halves.

Select your filler. Fillers are placed in the innermost core of the cigar, and are surrounded by the binder leaf. You can shred your filler into smaller, finer pieces if you wish.

• Choose the most aesthetically problematic leaves for filler. Leaves with holes or uneven coloring are the best options for filler leaves.
• Keep your filler leaves a bit drier than the binder or wrapper leaves, but ensure they remain flexible.
• Since filler comprises the bulk of the cigar, flavor is an important factor when choosing filler leaves as well. Sample different varieties of tobacco to find one you like.

How to roll a blunt

Break down your cannabis into shake using a grinder or your hands. Using a grinder will help maintain an even burn, while using your hands is the more traditional method and is often preferred to help the blunt burn a little slower.

To roll your blunt you’ll need a tobacco wrap. Traditionally, connoisseurs will empty a cigarillo (like Swisher Sweets, Phillies, or Backwoods), but these days you can find empty wraps at the corner store.

Use a blade to cut the blunt lengthwise, or if you’ve got the right touch you can “crack” the blunt using your fingers.

Once you’ve split the blunt, empty the tobacco from the middle and discard (or if you like to smoke spliffs, save it for later).

Using just a little bit of moisture will make your blunt wrap easier to work with, shape, and help seal up any small tears that might occur while you’re emptying its tobacco innards. This is easily done with some saliva, but if you’re rolling this blunt for someone else, you might consider using the tip of your finger and some tap water.

Fill the empty tobacco wrapping with ground cannabis. For a standard size cigarillo one to two grams is plenty, though if you’re sharing your blunt, are an experienced roller, or are using a blunt wrap, you should be able to fit a fair amount more.

Roll the cannabis between your fingers to pack the blunt evenly. Be careful: if you didn’t moisten the wrap enough, it may crack.

Once you’ve packed and shaped your blunt, tuck the wrap under itself and wet the inside of the exposed edge from end to end. Use your fingers to smooth out any wrinkles.

Now that your blunt is rolled, you’ll want to “bake” or dry it to help seal it together and encourage an even burn. Bake your blunt by running a lighter lengthwise under the seam and around the outside. Be careful not to hold the lighter too close—you only want the heat, not the flame.