size is half the choice. the other half is what the paper's made of. most papers are one of a few plant fibres, or a blend, and the difference shows up in how they burn and how much you taste them.
- thinner paper means less paper to burn and less to taste.
- unbleached papers skip the whitening, so they stay brown.
- the watermark is there to steady the burn and stop it running.
the fibres
| fibre | what it's like | try |
|---|---|---|
| hemp | a little texture, easy to grip. often unbleached. | RAW Organic Hemp |
| rice | very thin and smooth. tastes of very little. | Elements |
| wood pulp | the classic paper. even and easy to roll. | Blazy Susan |
flax turns up too, mostly blended with hemp or rice. plenty of papers mix fibres, so the pack is the place to check.
bleached or unbleached
white papers are white because they've been whitened. unbleached papers leave that step out, which is why RAW Classic and OCB Virgin are brown. papers also carry mineral fillers, like calcium carbonate, that help set how fast they burn.
what slows a paper down
thinness
less paper, less to burn. the thinnest papers take a steadier hand.
porosity
how much air gets through. RAW says its Black papers are very low porosity, so they burn very slow.
the watermark
pressed lines in the paper that act as a brake, so the burn doesn't run down one side.
from 1 January 2027 it becomes an offence to sell rolling papers to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. the same rule covers tobacco.
the short of it
rice for almost no taste. hemp for grip and a slower burn. wood pulp for the classic roll. unbleached if you'd rather skip the whitening. then pick a size.
