How to roll the perfect cigarette with hand rolling tobacco

We all know that seasoned smoker with the enviable ability to roll a perfectly formed cigarette in the blink of an eye. But if your tobacco creations are less than a work of art, take a look at our guide to turning hand rolling tobacco into the kind of cigarette that dreams are made of.

Step 1 Choose the amount of hand rolling tobacco that you want to use, depending on how large you want the diameter of the cigarette to be. Lay it out on a smooth, clean surface roughly in the shape of the intended product.

Top tip: If your fingers are very dry, they’re likely to slip around move over the paper. Too moist, and they’ll dampen it, leaving those moisture stains that are all too familiar on a poorly rolled cigarette.

Step 2 Remove the rolling paper from the packet and rest it on the table, folding it slightly in the middle so that it’s the right shape to hold the tobacco without it falling about everywhere. Pick up the paper with one hand and take the tobacco between your forefinger and thumb with the other. Sprinkle in in the middle of the paper, starting from the end that you’re holding it with.

Top tip: Once you’ve put all the tobacco into the fold of the paper, use your fingers to even it out so that the shape of the finished product is consistent all over. Leave enough space on one side for your filter, and a little space on the other side so you can pinch the end off later – it stops the end from becoming too narrow.

Step 3 Place the filter at the end of the paper, making sure it isn’t hanging over the edge or overlapping with the tobacco.

Step 4 Slip both thumbs under the lower edge of the paper and fold it upwards so that the tobacco is nicely cradled by both sides of the paper. Start to roll the tobacco by moving your thumbs back and forth, until the tobacco forms an even cylindrical shape.

Top tip: Don’t roll it too tightly or too lightly. Very tightly rolled tobacco is usually the reason why a cigarette is hard to light while loosely rolled tobacco burns too quickly, often with the paper burning much faster than the tobacco.

Step 5 Use your left forefinger to press down on the top of the paper so that the two edges meet. Here comes the fiddly bit…

Step 6 The tricky part. The top edge of the paper needs to be tucked underneath the tobacco. To do this, hold the upper and lower edges of the paper firmly together with the forefingers and middle fingers while you use both thumbs to fold the top side of the paper underneath the cylinder of tobacco.

Step 7 Lightly dampen the glue on the paper with your tongue, then carry on rolling the cigarette between your fingers firmly, until the glue meets the other side of the paper and sticks to it.

And there you have it, one hand rolled cigarette ready for smoking. Still not confident? The easiest way to roll a perfect cigarette without having to master hand rolling is with a rolling tubing machine. You can buy yours online from our website or in store at our shop on 10 Higher Church Street, Blackburn, BB2 1JG.

Happy rolling everybody!

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