Even if vaping has become your go-to delivery method, having rolling papers for a joint on hand is a convenience and pleasure that will never go out of style.
Rolling the perfect joint takes a bit of practice. And many shops have pre-rolls ready for your convenience. If you don’t smoke joints regularly, this is a great way to go. Our pre-rolls come packaged in handy air-tight tubes. We love reusing them again and again for storing extra cannabis buds or our home-rolled joints.
When you have herb ready to go, the perfect rolling paper can make on-the-go smoking easy and convenient. We’ll cover all the basics, from fibers to glue, so you’ll be able to pick the perfect rolling papers for you.
Rolling Paper Fibers
Rice
Rice papers are extremely thin and delicate. And while this makes them tough to roll with, their slow burn produces a highly rewarding joint. We don’t recommend rice papers if you’re new to rolling joints. Because they are unforgiving of error, sticky herb or sweaty fingers could make for a frustrating novice rolling experience! But if you’re confident, we highly recommend our favorite rice papers, 1 1/4″ Rolling Papers by OG Tips.
Wood pulp
These are the classic wood pulp rolling papers. And the reason wood pulp papers are popular is clear. First, they are the easiest fiber to roll with, making them a good choice for novices. And second, they’re durable and sturdy.
But with ease of use come some caveats. Since wood pulp papers burn hot and fast, you wind up consuming your cannabis quite quickly and often unevenly.
Hemp
At SacredMeds, we love our hemp papers and have a carefully curated selection of the best available. Hemp papers have a delicate flavor that naturally compliments cannabis. Because the papers are quite thin, they can be harder to work with than wood pulp papers. But the effort is certainly worth it!
Flax
Flax paper is another great, natural alternative to rolling paper fiber. And they pack all the benefits of a blended fiber! The ultra-thin profile and slow-burn make for a great-tasting smoke. Because they are easy to roll, they make good beginner papers, like hemp or wood pulp.
Blends
Most people recognize the Zig-Zag brand of rolling papers. They are renowned for blending a classic wood pulp with flax or other types of plant fibers. This gives their brand a nice proprietary flare. But the real goal is to deliver the best properties of each fiber. And this makes blended fiber rolling papers easy to roll, with a slow, steady burn.
Raw, Unbleached, and Bleached Rolling Papers
Once you’ve decided on a fiber you enjoy rolling with, you can evaluate papers further based on how they are processed.
Raw Rolling Papers
Raw papers are made without harmful additives, using non-GMO fibers that are often organic. This makes for a safer smoking experience. And the bonus is that when a company cares enough to produce raw, unbleached, and unrefined plant fiber paper, they are also likely to care about ethical and sustainable farming practices. We provide a wide selection from Raw Rolling Papers and Pure Hemp that satisfy these parameters.
Unbleached vs Bleached Papers
Unbleached papers are better than bleached papers. And the reason is simple. Whatever you light up and smoke goes into your body.
Some companies add calcium carbonate or chlorine to make their papers white and slower burning. Delivering the safest, highest quality products to facilitate cannabis enjoyment means removing all unnecessary, harmful chemicals from the experience.
At SacredMeds, we are generally advocates of vaping in the first place and tend to avoid combustion as much as possible. So if you’re going to combust cannabis, do it with the most natural product possible. All of our papers are raw, natural fibers and additive-free. This means no bleach, no chalk, no dyes.
Some white rolling papers haven’t necessarily been bleached. Always read the ingredients carefully if you’re browsing a large selection of papers in a less discerning cannabis retail environment.
Rolling Paper Glue Types
Once the joint is rolled, the glue holds it all together. And since you lick this area directly before smoking it, you want to be sure it’s safe as well as effective.
Always read the ingredients list! Because adhesives often hide a lot of chemicals and shoddy production values, brands that don’t identify their glue shouldn’t be trusted.
The most common type of rolling paper glue is gum arabic, which is derived from acacia gum tree sap. It is a favorite high-quality, all-natural adhesive that creates a solid bond.
Less commonly used natural glues are sugar-based, but in general, gum arabic is the go-to.
All-Natural Rolling Papers Are the Best
The best cannabis products stay true to their roots and focus on enhancing the experience of the herb. Pre-rolls can be a great way to save time. Novelty papers with flavors can be fun and delicious: we have a couple that we love.
But as we’ve urged throughout this article: read your ingredients! When you aren’t shopping at a curated store like SacredMeds, be mindful of the absence of ingredient lists. Fancy gimmicks like cellulose papers might sell an ‘all-natural’ experience, but they contain a lot of contaminants and pesticides.
Overall, we love natural, raw hemp papers and use them for our pre-rolls. They smoke slowly, evenly, and taste great. The finest cannabis buds deserve the finest rolling papers with gum arabic glue. Make sure to browse our selection under Accessories, where you can also grab a grinder for your herb. And of course, we’ve got you covered for some beautiful British Columbian cannabis strains, too.
References
Karp, N. (2019) “The best rolling paper,” chicagotribune.com, Chicago Tribune, [online] Available from: https://www.chicagotribune.com/consumer-reviews/sns-bestreviews-cannabis-the-best-rolling-paper-20190726-story.html (Accessed 10 May 2021).
Wikipedia (2021) “Gum arabic,” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, [online] Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_arabic (Accessed 10 May 2021).
Great article, very informative. I had no idea there was such a variety of different types of papers. Thanks California Orange!