Despite the decline in daily tobacco smokers, blunts have become more popular than ever. If you’re new to the cannabis scene, you might not know what a blunt is or how it differs from a joint or spliff. The words aren’t interchangeable, and it’s easy to confuse them. Before you learn how to hit a blunt, you need to know the basics.
Simply put, a blunt consists of pure cannabis flower wrapped in a sheet of tobacco leaf. Blunts are usually medium to dark brown and about the size of a typical cigar. Some blunt wraps also feature sweet flavors like grape, blueberry, or even chocolate.
Like blunts, joints contain pure cannabis, but they’re thinner like a cigarette. They’re wrapped in white paper made from rice, hemp, or other similar material. You may also encounter transparent, gold, patterned, or flavored joint rolling papers.
More popular outside of the US, spliffs look like joints, but they include a mixture of tobacco and cannabis inside. If you ask for a pre-roll in one of Amsterdam’s coffeeshops, you’ll most likely be given a spliff.
Selecting a High-Quality Blunt
If you want to make the most of your blunt experience, you’ll need to start with a top-shelf pre-rolled blunt or roll your own with premium cannabis and a high-quality blunt wrap. If you want to avoid tobacco but still would like to enjoy a blunt, you can buy alternative blunt wraps made from banana leaves and other healthier materials.
Rolling your own allows you to customize your blunt, but you’ll need to familiarize yourself with proper blunt-rolling technique. Rolling a blunt is trickier than rolling a joint, and it takes some practice to get it right. Smoking a poorly rolled blunt can be a real buzz kill no matter how you hit it.
How to Hit a Blunt Like a Pro
- Light the blunt well. Lighting a blunt is different from lighting a joint. You’ll need to create an even “cherry” at the end of your blunt. Alternately, pass the lighter slowly over the end and gently blow on it until you get an even glow.
- Prime the blunt. After the blunt seems evenly lit, take a couple of short puffs on it without inhaling. The technique is similar to smoking a fine cigar.
- Start low and go slow. If you’re not used to the effects of tobacco, you’ll need to take it particularly slow. Smoking tobacco can give you a head rush that you usually won’t get from cannabis. You’ll also want to start with just a small puff or two if you have a lower tolerance to weed. The thicker nature of a blunt means you’ll be getting far more THC with each hit than you would from smoking a joint.
- Take breaks. There is no rule that says you need to smoke the entire blunt in one session.
- Have plenty of water and healthy food ready. You’ll have a much more pleasant blunt experience if you stay hydrated and keep pre-prepared snacks around for when the munchies hit.
