How to Roll the Perfect Joint

Cannabis has been smoked by cultures for thousands of years. One of the oldest and most popular ways to enjoy cannabis is by smoking a hand-rolled joint. A hand joint is marijuana that has been ground up and rolled by hand into a flammable paper or leaf. Many people consider rolling a hand joint to be a craft, worthy of extra time and effort it may take. Smoke from a joint rolls into your mouth languorously, bringing along with it the unique flavor of the strain. As the smoke travels from the tip of the joint into your mouth, it passes through the flower, effectively cooling it down and making the smoke less harsh. Smoking from a joint highlights each strain's unique flavor, from grapefruit to chocolate to an electric citrus tang.

What are Joints?

Why Hand Roll a Joint?

Why not just buy a pre-rolled joint from your neighborhood dispensary? Hand rolling a joint can be a meditative and relaxing activity. The process can provide relief from the daily hustle and bustle as you sit down and methodically prepare a hand roll for later enjoyment. Hand rolling joints also gives you the opportunity to examine and appreciate the flower you will be inhaling later. The dexterity practiced while rolling a joint can provide a welcome reprieve from daily tasks.

How Do I Roll a Joint?

Learning how to roll the perfect joint can at first seem like an intimidating task. The final product appears straightforward but can take time and patience to craft correctly. The easiest way to roll a joint starts out simply: pick your favorite strain and gather a few simple materials!

A small tray is an invaluable rolling tool, used to prepare the joint and catch any excess marijuana that falls during the rolling process. Make sure you also have rolling papers, a piece of cardstock, a marijuana grinder and lastly, make sure you have your marijuana!

With all your materials out and ready you are now ready to learn how to roll a joint step by step.

1. Put a piece of rolling paper onto your tray, gum side on top and facing you.
2. Cut or tear your card stock into a small half - 1 inch long and quarter inch wide rectangle and roll it into a spiral with your fingertips. Place this at the right or left end of the rolling paper, right side for right handed people, left for left handed. Smoke shops often sell filters that are already the right size for you to roll without cutting it yourself.
3. Grind up some marijuana. Between .5 - 1 gram of marijuana is best to roll a perfect joint. Pour the ground marijuana into the paper and use your fingers to shape it into a rough oval, skinniest at the far end of the paper from the crutch.
4. Pick the paper up with both hands and begin rolling the long edge of the paper onto the crutch of your soon-to-be perfect joint. Use your thumb and forefinger on the crutch side of the joint to pinch the paper and crutch together gently. Don't be afraid to really use your whole thumb to guide the paper onto the crutch.
5. Begin rolling the paper around the crutch and marijuana. As you do this gently pinch the joint closed with your other hand, using your first two fingers as well as your thumb.
6. Keep your crutch hand gently pinching the hand roll joint at its base as you move your other hand back and forth, pinching and rolling the rest of the joint until you have a gently cone shape. Don't be afraid to really play with the paper, they may be thin but they are surprisingly strong. If you don't make any large motions and sudden jolts with your hands they can withstand a tremendous amount of manipulation.
7. Lick the gum strip at the top of the paper from one end to the other. Roll the gum onto the paper using both hands, one at the crutch and one about three-quarters of the way up the joint.
8. Spin the joint with your hands and use your forefingers, press the gum firmly onto the joint along its length.
9. Lastly, pack the end of your hand rolled joint down. You can do this by gently tapping the crutch end of the joint on your rolling tray, this will settle the marijuana and provide a smooth, even burn. If you're planning on saving the hand joint, gently twist any excess paper on the end into a tight spiral, this will save your marijuana from falling out.

You now have in your hands a perfect hand joint! Enjoy, and as always make sure you smoke responsibly!

Different Kinds of Joints

Described above is steps on how to roll a classic cone joint but there are many different variations of this timeless smoking method. Advanced joint rollers may enjoy the challenge of rolling a tulip joint, which has a bulbous tulip shaped tip. For parties, one can stick multiple papers together and roll extra long joints. Among the myriad of choices, many believe the classic cone rises a step above in terms of versatility and simplicity. Different kinds of joints pose can pose different and interesting challenges to any enthusiastic roller and learning how to roll the different variations can be a fun and meditative process!

What is your favorite kind of joint to roll? Let us know in the comments below!