How to roll a herbal cigarette

Herbal cigarettes are somewhat similar to going to a grocery store and getting organic eggs instead of regular eggs. The choice is clearly made because organic eggs are considered to be healthier options. Well, herbal cigarettes are a healthier option in comparison to cigarettes with tobacco smoke. Herbal cigarettes are nicotine-free, substituting it for other compounds found in herbs, spices and flowers to give a similar “kick” as you’d get from a tobacco cigarette.

One of the main reasons herbal cigarettes are considered to be healthier alternatives to regular cigarettes is due to the tobacco and nicotine, which can cause a variety of illnesses and diseases including cancer. Herbal cigarettes avoid tobacco, and while any smoke is injurious to health, cigarette smoking is considerably worse.

But what do you substitute tobacco with? Well, you can add up to 6-8 herbs and spices for a good smoking blend. There’s a lot you can experiment with and there is an abundance of smokable herbs with different effects and flavours that can help you customize your herbal cigarette like nothing else, like lavender, moringa, or even hyssop. Let’s take a look at what you need for a herbal cigarette and how to roll one!

Step 1: Gather your ingredients

Photo de Tobias Tullius sur Unsplash

To make your herbal cigarette, you’re going to need a primary base herb that makes up about half or 50% of the cigarette, followed by a secondary herb that makes up a third of the cigarette and the rest is taken up by aromatic or flavouring herbs. In addition to the herbs and spices, you’re also going to need some rolling paper, paper for a crutch and a lighter to roll the cigarette. Alternatively, you could also get a pre-roll and stuff your herbal smoking blend for the perfect herbal cigarette.

One ounce of dry herbs will net you about 30-40 herbal cigarettes. 

Step 2: Pick and choose your herbs and flowers

The combination of herbs should be composed of the base ingredient to a degree of roughly 50%. Choose calming and robust options like mugwort, mullein, raspberry leaf and damiana when choosing a base herb. These are excellent base herbs as they’re relatively neutral, smoke well and could potentially have some therapeutic benefits. For example, mullein reportedly helps people with asthma and breathing issues.

Any additional component that gives the mixture a distinct kick or punch can be used as the secondary ingredient. You should consider using hops, skullcap, chamomile, thyme or blue lotus among many others in your smoking herbs combination as they provide a pleasant flavour and a nice hit.

To ensure that your smoking mixture is perfect with the right amount of oomph, choose a flavouring herb or flower to enhance your smoking experience. This can be a plant like jasmine or even smokable rose petals or a herb like mint, lavender, or ginseng.

You can always experiment with the proportion of base, secondary and aromatic herbs to suit your preferences in addition to changing herbs as necessary as well!  

Step 3: Choose your paper and crutch or a filter

To roll a herbal cigarette, you’ll need rolling paper. You can use the same rolling paper that you’d use with cannabis. The process of rolling a herbal cigarette is quite similar in many ways. You can choose normal-sized or king-sized papers, with the rolls made with rice or hemp. You can also get flavoured papers if that’s something you enjoy as well!

Using a crutch at the end of your herbal cigarette could be an easier alternative to buying filters, which are used and thrown and are not really eco-friendly. Ensure that you use sustainably sourced and biodegradable filters if you do. A crutch or a filter will work, so it’s up to you.

Step 4: Mix the herbs and grind them

Collect all your herbs together and mix them in a bowl or a bag. Ensure you get the sticks and stems from the herbs and flowers out as that could both be slightly dangerous and annoying in terms of how it affects airflow and smokability. Once you’ve done that, get a grinder and put the herbs in and grind it into a fine consistency. However, you should ensure that you don’t make it too fine like kief as that’ll make it less smokable and also a lot more difficult to keep together when you’ll roll your herbal cigarette. However, if you don’t want to bother doing all those steps, you can take a look at our pre-made herbal blends. 

Step 5: Roll your herbal cigarette and smoke it!

Once you’re done grinding your herbal cigarette mix, bring out your paper and place the crutch or filter at the bottom. Ensure that the sticky bit of the paper is facing upwards and place the herbal mix in the paper. Move it around a little to make it more shapely, take the open end of the paper and tuck it inside the closed end to make a cylindrical loop. Once that’s done, start rolling it in, lick the sticky bit and stick it over your herbal cigarette! Take a small tool and stuff the open end of the cigarette to ensure that it’s snug and add more of the herbal mix if needed. Once it’s stuffed, pinch the top and light it because you’re done. Enjoy!!! 

 

*This article is not to be interpreted as a statement of any form by Spliff but merely a compendium of information compiled from other sources. These statements have not been evaluated by Health Canada, FDA or any other regulatory body. Consult your doctor before ingesting or smoking any herbal product.*

Smoking Flowers	Smoking Calamus	Smoking Ginger
Smoking Ginseng	Smoking Kratom	Smoking Wormwood
Smoking Valerian	Smoking Turmeric	Smoking Mexican Dream Herb
Smoking Kava	Smoking Hyssop	Smoking Horehound
Smoking Blue Lotus	Smoking Bergamot	Smoking Cornflower Petals
Smoking Arnica	Smoking Basil	Smoking Moringa
Smoking Uva Ursi	Smoking Thyme	Smoking Hops
Smoking Coltsfoot	Smoking Chamomile	Smoking Cloves
Smoking Tea	Smoking Oregano	Smoking Rosemary
Smoking Lavender	Smoking Wild Dagga	Smoking Calendula
Smoking Lemon Balm	Smoking Sage	Smokable Herb Guide
Smoking Marjoram	Smoking Catnip	Smoking Passionflower
Smoking Mugwort	Smoking Damiana	Smoking Butterfly Pea
Smoking Rose Petals	Smoking Skullcap	Smoking Raspberry Leaf
Smoking Mullein	Smoking Mint