Advice on getting rolled weed to burn evenly from creative spliff icons Bruno J Roller and the Grasshoppa
For months now, I’ve been on a crusade to prevent joints from burning unevenly. Ideally, it would be fantastic if (and very lucrative for) a large cannabis seller to devise technology which makes puffing pricey prerolls more efficient. It looks like that could take longer than social consumption lounge licensing though, so in the meantime, I’m determined to help smokers one at a time.
I know how joint lovers think because I am one myself, and I appreciate that many of you are thinking there’s nothing left to say on this matter. But I have searched intensely, and most information out there on the topic is either intuitive and obvious or AI-generated nonsense.
Fortunately, I ran into the Grasshoppa of Luxe Rolls at the TeeHC Open last week (check out more pics from that event here). A creative rolling icon who has professionally twisted smokeable art since 2017, she’s a member of the elite National Joint League and also runs a cone and cannon company.
Since the Grasshoppa was on hand with her team finessing hand rolls with glass tips for the occasion, I asked for some advice to combat bad burns. “It’s practice,” she said about the art of rolling. “You just got to get to it.” As for the “smoking part,” it turns out there is more responsibility than I ever realized.
“Don’t just pull down super hard and fast,” she said. “Take your time, enjoy it.”
The Grasshoppa added, “What is super important is an even lighting. You want to make sure you light the entire crown and have a nice ember fully circled before you start it. If you don’t, that’s where you’re unevenness can come from.”
She then passed me to her colleague, Bruno J Roller, whose signature is the tucked-tip 2.5-inch x 1 gram hash roll. As the Grasshoppa described his work, it’s “cannon looking, cigar-like, beautiful, and unwrinkled—like it came out of a machine.”
“For the flower, keeping it at the right humidity is also really important,” Roller said. “If your flower is too wet, it might burn a little bit darker, and that could cause some problems.”
“If your joints are running,” he added, “make sure that they’re rolled properly and correctly packed.” He then broke down the following guidance that I now hold as gospel, since it hasn’t failed me yet since I started to implement these five simple maneuvers:
- “Make sure that the grind is fine. If you have too coarse of a grind, it may burn unevenly.”
- “The way that you light it—getting an even cherry before you take that first drag is important.”
- “If you pull really hard, the air flow might drag down one side and that’s going to cause that canoe if you don’t fix it.”
- “Waiting 10 to 15 seconds in between hits will help keep the cherry cool and not burn too hot.”
- “Keeping the ash on the joint instead of knocking it off also helps. Keeping the cherry cool with that ash is like adding a protective layer from the wind which will also cause the cherry to burn unevenly.”
Also, hold your roll vertically in between puffs. To get fancy with it, roll it in your fingers while it rests straight up and down with the cherry on top.
And finally, pass that even-burning joint to me.
