Herbal Smoking Blends

The base is the body of the blend, 40 to 60 %. Our favourites for blending: damiana, raspberry leaf, mullein, rose.

• Ready to roll: Herbal Mix, a sweet, flowery blend of marshmallow, raspberry leaf, red clover, sweet clover, peppermint and calendula. Smoke it on its own, or mixed with tobacco to replace part of it.
• Herbal and neutral: mullein, with a smooth texture, a base often rolled in place of tobacco. Moerman records 18 smoking uses of mullein among 9 peoples of North America.
• Herbal and neutral too: raspberry leaf, one of our favourites for blending.
• Bitter and herbal: garden sage, fine-cut for smoking: it carries the flavour of the blend.
• Earthy and soft: damiana, teacher of sacred play and sensual delight. Its leaves are smoked alone, or mixed with other herbs for a smoother smoke.
• A pipe herb: mugwort, base or complement, with a lightly peppery, woody scent and floral notes; some find it close to cedar incense.

To keep the gesture with no tobacco and no nicotine, step by step: replacing tobacco. All our plants for changing a habit, from coffee to tobacco: everyday alternatives.

The flavour flowers give their scent to the smoke, 10 to 20 % of the blend. Petals and stamens are crushed in the hand, then sprinkled over the base.

• Floral, soft and delicate: white lotus, the true lotus, Nelumbo nucifera, from Sri Lanka.
• Floral, with the scent of rose: rose, the flower of divine love, its petals crushed in the hand.
• A last pinch: pink lotus stamens, the flower of the Buddha.
• Floral and soft: noble chamomile, gently crumbled, for a round, fruity smoke.
• Intensely floral: lavender, organic, with a light hand.

Every herb has its own smoked taste. The neutral herbal ones, mullein and raspberry leaf, carry the blend. Damiana is earthy and soft, garden sage bitter and herbal, lemon balm lemony and fresh, corn silk sweet and soft, marshmallow root lightly sweet, bramble woody and slightly sweet. The mints bring freshness, spearmint gently, peppermint with intensity. Lavender is intensely floral; calendula, cornflower and Roman chamomile, softly floral.

Among the complements, Yauhtli is a sweet anise delight, Calea brings freshness and a soft bitterness, blue lotus a rich, sweet floral delight, wild dagga a floral note.

For dreams, Calea is by far the first, the queen of dreams; then Yauhtli. The Chontal of Oaxaca drink Calea as a tea, smoke its leaves and slip it under the pillow to receive the messages of dreams.

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  Calea Calea ternifolia

  Chontal · Oaxaca

  Thle-pela-kano, the leaf of God, the queen of dreams. Crumbled, Calea is delicious and brings memorable, vivid, spectacular dreams; smoked, she brings clarity of mind and relaxation, and refines the senses and intuition. Freshness and a soft bitterness, 10 to 20 % of the blend.

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  Yauhtli, Mexican tarragon Tagetes lucida

  Huichol · Mexico

  Yauhtli is a true delight to smoke: a tiny amount is enough to give a sweet taste, very lightly of anise. It is luminous and positive, it brings joy and clarity, and it amplifies the effect of the other herbs smoked with it. The Huichol smoked it alone or in equal parts with a wild tobacco.

Then mugwort and blue lotus, superb dream plants too: you will find them in the dream blend, further down.

Every dream plant, to drink or to slip under the pillow: dream herbs.

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  Blue lotus Nymphaea nouchali

  Ancient Egypt · Sri Lanka

  The flower of sensual awakening of the Egyptian priestesses, a rich, sweet floral delight, for relaxation. Petals and stamens are smoked pure or as a base, or crushed in the hand over a blend. Smoking it is a modern use.

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  Wild dagga Leonotis nepetifolia

  South Africa

  Delicious floral petals of absolute softness, much loved as a smoking complement: Dagga is a symbol of femininity, elevation, sensitivity and creativity. Smoked, its dried flowers have a soft, calming effect. The Khoikhoi smoked its cousin, Leonotis leonurus.

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  Kanna Sceletium tortuosum

  South Africa

  The kougoed of South Africa, chewed, drunk, snuffed or smoked. A small share of fermented leaves, crumbled over the blend.

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  Wild poppy Papaver rhoeas

  Europe

  Its silky petals make a very interesting smoking complement: a small share, finely crushed, added to the blend.

Authentic blue lotus, for connoisseurs.

The complement herbs come from shamanic traditions, from the Chontal of Oaxaca to the Zulu of South Africa. They join the base, or are smoked just as they are.

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  Imphepho Helichrysum odoratissimum

  Zulu · Xhosa · South Africa

  For the Sangoma healers, bathing in its smoke opens to the spirit world. A small share in a blend.

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  Entada Entada rheedii

  South Africa

  In South Africa, a pipe was carved from its seed. A little powder of the inner bean, sprinkled over the blend: too much, and it no longer smokes.

Many people roll their CBD flower without tobacco. Our herbs join it as they join any base: a neutral base, mullein or Herbal Mix, keeps the taste of your flower; a flavour flower, rose or white lotus, adds its own; a complement, Calea or Yauhtli, is measured as in any blend.

Four recipes, in parts:

• The evening blend: mullein 2, damiana 1, lavender ½.
• The dream blend: mugwort 2, blue lotus 1, raspberry leaf 1.
• The blend for two: damiana 3, rose 1, blue lotus 1.
• The ceremony blend: blue lotus 2, wild dagga 1, mullein 1.

Preparing, rolling, storing, and more recipes: our guide to herbs to smoke instead of tobacco.

Plant resins are added as a complement, 5 to 10 % of the blend. Pure resin is too oily to crumble: knead it with a powder or a very finely cut herb, into a sandy paste that breaks up easily.

• Blue lotus, white lotus, wild dagga and Entada also come as resin, on their product pages.
• Baybean, marihuanilla (Leonurus sibiricus) and maconha brava: sold as resin only.