How to Roll the Perfect Joint in 5 Easy Steps

Learning to roll a joint is one thing, but if you've found yourself searching for how to roll the perfect joint then you must be a smoker with an eye for aesthetics - we get that. At Green Reserve & Co. we're big believers in functional design, so our idea of the perfect joint is one that has the ideal balance of both form and function.

What follows is our guide to teach you how to consistently roll joints whose visual beauty is only matched by their impressive ability to burn slowly and smoothly from start to finish. The perfect joint, if you will.

Follow these 5 steps and, with a little practice, you will be able to roll a Green Reserve & Co. certified perfect joint every time.

1. PREPARE - MISE EN PLACE

Like anything in life, rolling the perfect joint is made much easier by setting yourself up for success. For today's lesson that means having the right tools. Gather up these key ingredients and we'll get started:

Some nugs of your favorite strain A quality grinder Your preferred brand of rolling papers A piece of thick paper to use as a filter A flat, smooth surface

2. GRIND UP YOUR FLOWER

You can almost always roll the perfect looking joint, but it's only a truly perfect joint if it smokes evenly from tip to filter. More often than not, the reason for your joints running or going out mid-smoke is because of the quality of your grind (or lack thereof).

While you can break up your flower by hand or with scissors, for a truly perfect joint you'll need the perfect grind. Keeping in mind that not all grinders are equal, we recommend holding your grinder upside down in order to prevent any of the small-but-not-small-enough pieces from falling into the catch below. This will also help you achieve a more uniform grind.

Note: It's very difficult to grind your flower too finely using a manual grinder like the one pictured, but you can absolutely go too fine if you use an electric grinder. When using an electric grinder we recommend pulsing 2-3s at a time and looking inside until the buds are the size above.

3. ROLL THE JOINT

Believe it or not, the perfect joint is actually rolled well before you lick the glue on your paper. Your joint should already be close to it's final form before the all-important flip (the next step), and this is achieved by using a filter and correctly holding the paper.

At Green Reserve & Co. our motto is High Class, and there's nothing classy about burning your fingers on a roach. Filters (sometimes referred to as tips) reduce waste by letting you safely smoke until the very end, but they're also an extremely important part of the rolling process.

The filter serves two main functions - firstly, the size of your filter will determine the size of your joint because it determines the angle of your cone. This is an important consideration when deciding how much flower to break up, and it also helps to plan for your desired cone shape. Second, as we'll see in a minute, the filter helps by playing a pivotal role in preforming the all important flip.

How you choose to roll your filter is a personal preference that you'll develop over time, but we like to make one small fold at the very end and then finish by rolling it in the opposite direction. This little flap prevents any buds from flying into your mouth when you inhale and it adds a little bit of internal support as well.

Holding the Paper & Rolling the Joint

Now that you've got your filter it will be much easier to manage the rolling process. Place your paper down with the glue side up and away from you. Next, place your filter at the end near your dominant hand (on the right for me), evenly pour your flower along the rest of the paper, and let's get started.

Note: you might notice that your filter is too small/large for the amount of flower you have - now is the time to adjust as needed.

Many people are hesitant to use a filter because their joints will often go limp where it meets the flower. This common problem is easily solved by allowing a bit of the filter to extend past the paper while you roll. At the very end we'll push this little piece in and it will create that perfectly snug fit needed for the perfect joint.

We're finally ready to roll the perfect joint! The secret here is to keep your "filter hand" in place, using the filter as a wheel of sorts to roll the paper up and down, and to allow your "joint hand" to do the forming of the joint along the length of the paper.

I do this by initially keeping my joint hand above the flower and rolling up and down from the filter towards the end. Some of your contents might fall out during this process and that's perfectly fine, we'll be adding it back in later. Once the joint has formed into the cone shape I'm looking for I'll transition my fingers down and directly onto the flower.

This step is very important because what you're actually doing is forming the basis of the joint. The trick is to apply enough pressure so that the joint will keep it's shape if you let go, but only just enough. If you squish too hard it will cause the flower to stick together and that will negatively affect air flow and make the joint hard to smoke.

4. FLIP IT AND LICK IT!

If you've ever thrown up your hands in frustration while trying to roll a joint, then it's probably been at this point. Thankfully, the flip is really where the utility of the filter shines.

Because you've followed the pervious step closely and your joint holds a shape on its own, all you're going to do is use your finger to pinch the paper on to the filter like so:

Once you've got that in place, simply take your free hand and slowly tuck the rest of the paper down to create the final shape of your joint. Don't worry if anything falls out while you're doing this, you can always pack it back in at the end:

From here it's as simple as continuing to roll up the paper and licking the glue to seal it shut. Once that's done, it's time to push that little bit of filter we left extending past the paper up into the joint to prevent any structural weakness at the base.

5. ADD THE CROWN

The final step to a Green Reserve & Co. certified perfect joint is the crown.

First, add any flower that may have fallen out back in (space permitting). Next, grab the joint by the free paper at the end and shake it like a polaroid picture! As you do this, slowly move you fingers down so that they compress the loose flower (but don't over do it). This final step ensures an even burn and smooth smoking experience.

To pre-test the quality of your work, hold the free end closed and take a drag from the joint as if it were lit. If all is well, then a small vacuum will be created and you'll be able to "puff" the joint easily.

If it feels hard to pull then that usually means your joint is too tight - try loosening things up a little by gently rolling your fingers up and down the joint. If your puffing creates particularly loud sounds from the paper smacking against itself then that means it's probably too loose. To solve this simply continue packing down the weed. This little test will help you develop a feel for how well your joint will smoke based on how easy it is to "puff" at this stage.

Once you're satisfied with how it pulls, twist the loose paper at the end to create a small "tail" and cap off the joint. From here, take your nails and slowly pinch around the end of the cone to create a crown.

As classy as the crown is, it also serves a very useful purpose. When it comes time to enjoy the fruits of your labor, gently light the edge of the crown and spin the joint around while holding it to the flame. If it doesn't fall off on it's own, grab it by the tail and pop the top. Thanks to this last step you'll have eliminated all of the paper from the tip and your first hits will be much cleaner.