Leafly Buzz: 14 Hot California Pre-Rolls of the Summer
Summer plans are in full swing and that means ready-to-use, pre-rolled joints for pit stops, dog walks, raft rides – you name it.
But getting a good pre-roll is just as risky as getting a good hot dog. There's a lot of low-quality stuff out there, and most people have a hard time making better choices when everything is wrapped up in a pretty package.
Fear not, Leafly Nation. Your editor shot 60 pre-rolled joints this month as a judge for the 2024 Emerald Cup Awards ceremony—for science and the good of humanity. The results are in for August's Emerald Cup Awards show in Oakland. Tickets are $65, but you won't have to wait to push through the line of cheap joints and share a hit of something good.
Almost everyone has asked me this month: How do you rate all these pre-rolled joints anyway? They've learned a lot about how they too can smoke at a higher level.
Now it's your turn to up your pre-roll buying game and win the summer session. Here are seven essential scoring tips with their accompanying recommendations.
Passing on old bread
A joint with a packaging date from a year ago might have some value – but the odds are slim. Weed is a plant that loses potency and flavor over time. Maybe that year-old joint tube was kept in cryo-stasis like a Space Marine. But if it's been sitting on the shelf at room temperature for months, that's a Dead Sea Roll. Musty and dusty.
One group that needs to produce cheap rolls on a regular basis is Sunset Connect here in San Francisco – famous for their “fivers” that cost just $5. Sunset Connect is one of the largest sellers of pre-rolls in California, and that speed means freshness. And what's fresher still: They're starting to grow their own.
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Check the seal
The best part of weed is the aromatic, volatile essential oils called terpenes that evaporate at room temperature. A surprising number of pre-rolled containers are not completely sealed—that is, the pack leaks its terpenes all over the store. A fresh pack that leaks may still taste good, but the clock is ticking for any weed product that is exposed to oxygen and thus begins to degrade.
Solful's homemade joints, for example, are so fresh that you don't have to worry about a bit of leakage. (See date note above.) But many of the unsealed joints we got tasted like hay when smoked. So frustrating. All you need is a classic doob tube with a plastic seal to better preserve freshness. Get the Alef Labs brand pre-rolls for an admirable seal to get and smoke the terpenes you paid for.
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Sniff the opened jar
OK, so you have a fresh, sealed joint. How does it smell? Open the top and take a good sniff – it should smell inviting.
The CAM Cherry Marker Hash Hole smelled like cherry.
The Lemon Royale from Talking Trees Farms smelled of lemons.
Most Wanted brand Hogwash Farms Whitethorn Rose has that delicate rosewater note. If the terpenes are in the weed, they'll be in the jar when you open it. If it smells stale or musty, you've made the wrong choice.
Take a dry pull
Take the joint out and take a few hits at the end without lighting it. This is called a dry hit and is a good way to gauge the amount of flavor to expect. The Stoney Point Glitter Bomb by Weedlove had this great dry hit of grape candy. If the dry hit is stale or smells like hay, you're going to have a bad time. See also: Heritage Hash Co. Honey Bananas x Zerealz Infused Preroll Pack.
Take a minute to examine the role
Mass production of weed is still pretty medieval. Many hands have to touch the plant and the paper to bring each and every one of those huge quantities of joints to market.
Squeeze the connection together and check the packing density.
Wiggle the crutch to check the strength of the backpack at the top.
Does the joint look battered or like a sleek marvel?
We were completely amazed by the craftsmanship of the Rosin Tech Labs line of Hash Holes. We just don't know how they create these works of art.
Also look for “angel kisses” – spots on the paper that are a different color because the oil content of the flower has soaked into the paper a little. Oil content is a great thing. You know, like when pizza leaves an oil stain on a paper plate – angel kisses are a little like that, only desirable.
Smoke that thing
Enough of the preamble – put the joint to the fire test. Light it with a piece of hemp wick (if you're a purist) and get a good hot cherry burning at the end. Take a five-second hit, roll the joint, then another, and another. The twist will prevent the joint from running. The short hits will prevent the cherry from overheating. Hold the joint cherry down for optimal burn, say Proper Doinks connoisseurs.
Of course, it should taste like it smelled in the glass and on the dry hit, only better. A great joint is simply delicious and here I would like to give praise to the growers Moon Valley Cannabis and their in-house product line of pre-rolls.
Research award-winning growers who make their own pre-rolled joints – as opposed to no-grow brands that buy trimmings from someone else. Moon Valley cannabis brands Hashburger and Grape Gas offer precise, deep strain flavor in a pre-rolled package. When the terpenes are present, you get high in a whole different way.
Watch it burn
Does it go out and need to be relit? Does it withstand a light breeze? Is the ash white? Is there a “ring of resin” above the cherry?
The burn can tell you more about how the joint was stuffed. Ash color can provide information about what was burned. Many people swear by white ash, but that's just a signal. A resin ring provides information about terpene content. All of these data points can increase or decrease the rating of a pre-rolled joint.
Hash Holes brand Dunkz has some cool collaborations with rosin brands like Kalya. We love everything about the way they burn.
Check in with yourself
How do you feel after you smoke the joint? That's probably the most important part. We smoked some very synthetic, solvent-infused rolls with artificial flavors and solvent hash and we just felt dysphoric. That's a clinical word for “bad.”
In contrast, the tiny Selfies 12-packs of Black Jack didn't stand out at first glance. But we smoked the whole pack over the course of a week while walking around New York City. The high from the sativa hybrid Black Jack gives everything a nice glow, and we can honestly say we were lifted up in a nice way by the super-tiny, hilariously tiny dog owners. Likewise, we liked the feel of the Humble Greens Passion Orange Guava, and we loved the Humo Churritos 7-pack of 0.5g infused pre-rolls.
See also: De La Bo brand joints.
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All 2023 Cannabis Cup winners and where to buy them
The review of the Emerald Cup pre-rolls showed just how much of a difference there is in the quality of pre-rolls, so the quality can really vary. With so many brands, it's confusing to find one that you like and that is consistently good.
Here's a shortcut: Look for the brands in the winner's circle at the Emerald Cup Awards in August. The industry's expert panel of judges has scrutinized the entrants and put them through incredible scrutiny. The winners are sure to be pushing hard enough to make it to the end.
We hope to see you out there smoking something good in the hot summer sun.
About Leafly Buzz
So good they steal it – Leafly Buzz, the popular monthly strain review, is back in its third year. We independently cover the cannabis conversation among connoisseurs, focusing on strains and branded flower from the Western United States. Coverage includes:
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