Concerning Blunts.
First, I would just like to say that the vocabulary I know and use concerning blunts is strictly New York City style, and can be quite different depending on where you are. Ok, here goes.
There are two basic styles of Blunt rolling. Philly style and Dutch style.
Philly style is when you take a cheap cigar, most commonly a Philly blunt and you crack or slice it down the middle. All of the cheap tobacco inside, known as the blunt guts, should be thrown away. Never, under any circumstance, should there be any blunt guts left in the blunt. You can add rolling tobacco or the tobacco out of a cigarette if you wish to “bac” the blunt up, but many people don’t like this. I find it can make rolling the blunt easier, but makes it tastes worse, as tobacco tastes bad. A blunts worth of weed is completely arbitrary, however, I’ve found that about a gram rolls a nice sized blunt. What kind of weed should be used varies as well. I find that smoking cronz(really good weed) in a blunt kind of defeats the purpose. Good mid grade weed is best. Its relatively cheap, but still gets you fucked up. You break the weed up, making sure to remove all seeds, then you lick the blunt and pour the weed in and spread it out so it’s even. The last part is the same as rolling cigarettes or joints or anything. You just roll it up and then lick it shut. Run it over a lighter flame for a minute or so to seal it, and then set it aside till it dries better, or just smoke it right away. Both are fine. This is real easy and simple and after a couple of tries, anyone can be a pro.
Dutch style is slightly more complicated, but not really too much harder, and I find it makes much nicer blunts on a more regular basis. Phillies are the cheapest a cheap cigar can be. Dutch Masters is another brand of cigar and while they are also pretty cheap(certainly not smoke able) they have something Phillies don’t have, an outer leaf. The leaf on a philly is so thin and so shitty; trying to peel it off would be useless. Many have tried. Some have succeeded. It matters not. It’s not worth the trouble. A Dutch has a leaf that with some experience and moisture, will unroll easily off the outside of the blunt. Set it aside. Remove the cancer paper, a brown extra bit near the end and then crack the blunt down the middle and dispose of the guts just like in the instructions for the Philly style blunt above. Roll it up, same as before, only this time, when your done, re-lick the outer leaf that you set aside and then roll the blunt into that, forming a much tighter and nicer blunt. This is known as the safety leaf, and makes it much more durable and slower to burn. It also makes it much easier to repair the blunt if you fuck up.
There are many other styles, but the only one I think worth mentioning is the Gotti. A Gotti is when you don’t crack the blunt at all. You start pulling the guts out with tweezers and then slowly roll the outsides with your fingers until all guts are taken out. It’s important that ALL guts be removed. Then you start packing broken up weed into the blunt shell with a pencil. When the cigar shell is completely full, you smoke it and man do you get fucked up. A Gotti is the ultimate splurge, reserved for those moments of true excess when you really have a whole lot of weed to burn. Up to a dozen people can be in on a Gotti and still be too high to move before it even gets halfway through. While not really common, most blunt smokers have a few Gotti stories floating around.
Other appropriate cigars to use besides Dutch Masters and Phillies are...
White Owls – these can be rolled either Philly or dutch style, and are my personal choice
Swisher Sweets – they have a nifty tip on them
Black and Milds
Garcia y Vega
Practically any cigar that costs under a dollar fifty will work. Just check the inside. If the cigar is made up of lots of long actual leaves rolled up, it probably won’t work. If the cigar is filled with what looks like sawdust and mulch, then it’s good. Recently, I have noticed a lot of blunt wraps on the market. These come wrapped around a plastic tube, and as far as I can tell, are specifically for smoking weed(don’t you love America). These can be nice, but often have wretched flavors, like blueberry, or butterscotch. I say stick with what you know, but new things are fun, so give them a shot if you like.
The pros and cons of blunts
Pros.
Blunts are fun
They are fun to roll (at least for me), and fun to smoke. There is also a sense of craft that goes into rolling a blunt. Other people will admire a well rolled blunt.
Blunts burn slow
This is always good. It means the weed lasts longer, which means you save money and more people get high.
Blunts use a lot of weed
Which means a lot of people can get high, or a few people can get really high. Both of which are always nice.
Blunts are social
Very few people, at least as far as I know, smoke blunts by themselves on a regular basis. That’s not what blunts are for. Blunts are for when you’re with people. Weed should be shared. Getting high alone has its merits, but getting high with others is much nicer, at least in my opinion.
Blunts are stealthy
This is debatable. Some people claim that blunts resemble cigars, and thusly are perfect for public smoking such as stoops, parks and concerts. However, cigars are fat and round, and blunts usually tend to be more droopy and thin. A blunt can be rolled so it resembles a cigar(the above mentioned gotti), however that requires a lot of weed. Way too much for anyone, even a group of people, to be smoking in public. And regardless of how they look, blunts smell really strong. Really strong.
Cons
Blunts use a lot of weed
While this is mostly a pro as far as I’m concerned, some people don’t like smoking large amounts of weed in one sitting with others. They prefer to smoke it up in tiny hits all by themselves, wondering why they’re so lonely all the time. But the truth remains, if all you have is a small amount, a blunt is not the way to go.
Blunts involve tobacco
This is a con that I fully understand. Some people don’t like smoking tobacco, for lots of reasons. And blunts certainly do involve a decent amount of tobacco. Not enough for it to be an issue for me, but enough that you do lose the flavor of the weed, which is bad if you have really nice weed. Really good weed shouldn’t be used in blunts anyway though.
Blunts are gross
There’s a lot of saliva that goes into rolling a blunt. Experienced rollers minimize this because blunts taste nasty, and no one likes a soggy blunt. However, soggy blunts can occur, and are quite annoying. Many a smoker has had a bad experience with a drippy, nasty blunt, and I don’t blame them for being turned off. Regardless, I maintain that anyone who dislikes blunts, for whatever reason, can be converted.
Blunts cost too much
Blunts do cost anywhere from fifty cents, to a dollar twenty-five, depending on where you are. While this isn’t that much, it can add up.
Blunts are wasteful
This is debatable. A well rolled blunt will burn pretty slow, much slower than a joint, but they do have some of the same problems. If you don’t want to be spending a lot on weed, then blunts are not always the way to go either.
Blunts are not stealthy at all
Blunts make a lot of very thick chalky smoke. and it stinks. A lot. And theres a lot of it. Did i say a lot. Make that a hell of a lot. Thats why your smoking it. But dont expect to sneek a blunt past anyone. Blunts are for carefree environments.
Most of the cons to smoking blunts can be addressed by following a few rules. These rules make up blunt etiquette
Blunt Etiquette is as follows
Blunts are smoked in circles. Or approximate circles. A circle of people smoking a blunt(or weed in general) is referred to as a cipher, or a ciph, for short. The ciph always goes to the left. It can go to the right, but its not customary. (pass the dutchie on the left hand side).
(note) If you change your physical spot in the circle, you should still take your hit in the right order. Sometimes keeping track of the order can get complicated, so its best not to move too much while the actual blunt smoking is taking place.
Never sleep on the blunt.
Sleeping on the blunt means your not smoking it or passing it. This is indeed wasteful and should be strongly discouraged.
Humor has no place in the ciph.
This means if you make a joke and I start hacking and wheezing, the wastefulness is your fault. Humor should be reserved for when someone is not in the act of taking a hit.
Chips.
If someone is going to roll a blunt and you intend on smoking it, its customary to either chip some weed in, or if you have no weed, to chip in a buck or two to the person who did.
Not everyone has chips all the time, and most often you won’t get paid back for all the weed other people smoke, but its ok. The circle of life will take care of you. Weed karma is supreme, and you should always smoke out as many people as you can. I don’t know how many people I have let smoke my blunt at concerts; however, I also don’t know how many random people have let me smoke there’s.
Puff puff pass.
The number of hits someone should take before passing the blunt along should be clearly stated before hand, and no one should take more hits then that. 2 is normal, but 3 is not too uncommon. One hit pass is usually for parties or places where there are a lot of people hitting the blunt.
Some curious and/or useful information about blunts.
The packaging for Phillies blunts says that it is El Producto, meaning “the product” in Spanish. This has lead to blunts being referred to as "el"’s quite often.
Blunts are also called phillies or dutches, depending on the cigar used.
Another common term for a blunt is any slurred, mangled word vaguely resembling blunt in any way, such as blaaan, Blehhh, blizzle, blezkcc, or basicly any word starting with a “Bl” and used in reference to blunts.
The packaging for Phillies blunts also says, “mostly tobacco product, with non tobacco products added in”, which I find hilarious to no end.
Sometimes a Dutch will have 2 leaves on the outside instead of one. This is known as a lucky leaf, and shouldn’t be used unless needed, but should still be appreciated. Often times, a lucky leaf has come in very handy at the last minute.
Once rolled, a blunt can be put in the microwave for about 10 seconds. This will dry it out and make it hard and durable and ready for smoking.
Conversely a blunt can be put in the freezer for about a half an hour before smoking it. This will make it taste smoother, at least at first, and burn slower. Don’t freeze it too long though, or else you will have to thaw it out.
You can spread a tiny amount of honey on the inside of a blunt before you roll it which gives it a nice flavor and makes for a smoother smoke. However, be warned that if you dont dry it properly, or if you put too much, rivers of molten, disgusting honey will start oozing out of the blunt, and this is not acceptable.
If your down to the roach of a blunt, and you want to keep smoking it, you can put it into the
carb of a
glass bowl and then plug the actual bowl with your finger and use it like a carb. This is a very effective and useful tip. A good roach can often go around for another complete ciph this way.
Washington DC police have noted a direct corrolation between sales of HavaTampa co fancy cigars(the company that makes Phillies and Dutch Masters) and marijuana possession offenses. Meaning where there’s weed there’s blunts. I’ve heard rumors of people smoking blunts without weed in them, but I don’t believe them. I mean, blunts are filled with blunt guts, and I cant imagine anyone ever wanting to smoke that. I really can’t stress this enough. The only time you could ever want to smoke blunt guts as far as I can tell is if your girlfriend has just broken up with you and you want something more painful to take your mind away. Aside from that, the garbage bin is the place for the nasty buggers.