Herbal Cigarettes and Traditional Smoking Blends

Herbal cigarettes are rolled entirely from dried herbs like mullein, raspberry leaf, mint, and rose petals. They come from a long tradition of herbal smoking blends, and a simple homemade blend comes together in about ten minutes.

People have been burning plants for as long as there’s been fire. Native peoples across North America blended leaves and inner barks into smoking mixtures, and several of those plants still grow wild across the continent.

The herbs in a modern blend are mostly familiar ones. Mullein, red raspberry leaf, peppermint, and lavender are the same plants that go into a cup of tea or an herbal bath tea, just dried and rolled instead of steeped.

Smoking is one of dozens of herbal preparations, and it’s one of the oldest. It has plenty of history attached to it too, and some of it turns up in the journals of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

If you’d rather scent a room than roll anything, herbal smudge sticks use many of the same plants. And for simple projects that start with a cup of tea or a jar of oil, there’s a whole list of herbal remedies anyone can make at home.

What Are Herbal Cigarettes?

An herbal cigarette is a hand-rolled cigarette filled with nothing but dried herbs. Most homemade versions use a soft, mild leaf like mullein or raspberry as the base, with a smaller amount of something aromatic for flavor.

The idea is old. Kinnikinnick is an Algonquian word meaning mixture, and it named the smoking blends many Native peoples made from local plants. Members of the Lewis and Clark expedition picked up the practice, and their journals from December 1805 describe the smoke as having an agreeable flavor.

Bearberry leaves were a common base. A USDA Forest Service species review notes that smoking the leaves is the most widely mentioned human use of the plant, which is why bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) is still called kinnikinnick today.

Inner bark from red osier dogwood went into the mix too. The USDA Forest Service describes how the bark of young stems was split, scraped into threads, and toasted over a fire before it was blended.

Are Herbal Cigarettes Safe?

Herbal cigarettes aren’t a health product, and the research is clear on that. Burning any dried plant makes smoke, and that smoke carries tar and carbon monoxide whether it comes from mullein or anything else.

In 2000, the Federal Trade Commission settled charges over ads for alternative cigarettes and required this warning on herbal ones: “Herbal cigarettes are dangerous to your health. They produce tar and carbon monoxide.”

Lab testing backs that up. A 2015 study in Toxicological Research analyzed the smoke from an herbal cigarette and found more carbon monoxide and benzo(a)pyrene than in a conventional cigarette, along with a higher mutagenic potential.

A 2026 study in the Journal of Hazardous Materials compared herbal and conventional cigarettes. The herbal ones released about 20 percent more of the smallest airborne particles, and those particles had a higher oxidative potential.

Herbal cigarettes are a traditional practice, not a wellness habit. If you want the scent and flavor of these herbs without any smoke, most of them work just as well steeped into a cup of calendula tea or tied into a bundle for the bath.

Are Herbal Cigarettes Legal?

The herbs in a homemade blend are ordinary garden and kitchen plants. Mullein, raspberry leaf, mint, chamomile, and rose petals aren’t controlled plants, so drying and rolling them for yourself is legal in the US.

Selling them is another matter. Some states regulate herbal cigarettes the same way they regulate other smoking products, and New York law, for example, names herbal cigarettes in its rules on sales to minors. Local smoke-free rules can apply too, so check them before lighting up anywhere public.

Smokable Herbs

Almost every herb in a homemade blend does one of two jobs. Base herbs are soft, mild leaves that burn evenly and make up most of the mix. Flavor herbs are aromatic, and a pinch goes a long way.

Buy herbs sold for tea or herbal use, or dry your own from plants you know haven’t been sprayed. Craft potpourri and florist roses are treated for decoration, and they don’t belong in anything you breathe in.

Base Herbs

Base herbs carry the blend. They need to be light and fluffy once dried, so the cigarette packs evenly and stays lit.

The Herbal Academy suggests mullein and red raspberry leaf as base herbs, and either one works on its own or mixed with the other. Bearberry and marshmallow leaf fill the same role.

• Mullein: Soft, woolly leaves with a light, mild smoke, and most homemade blends start with it. Mullein isn’t native to North America; a USDA Forest Service review notes that early settlers brought the seeds over, and it now grows along roadsides almost everywhere. The same leaves make mullein tea.
• Red raspberry leaf: Fluffy and neutral, with an even burn. It blends easily with any of the flavor herbs below.
• Bearberry (uva ursi): The traditional kinnikinnick base. The leaves are small and leathery, so they need a good grind before they’ll roll.
• Marshmallow leaf: A soft leaf with a slightly sweet smoke. It can stand in for mullein as a base.

Flavor Herbs

Flavor herbs give a blend its character. Most are strongly aromatic when they burn, so they make up only a small share of the mix.

Start small with any of these. It’s easy to add another pinch to the next batch, and hard to take it back out of this one.

• Peppermint and spearmint: Cool and minty, with a menthol taste that lingers.
• Lavender: Strongly floral, so a small pinch is plenty.
• Rose petals: Sweet and floral, and gentler than lavender. Dried rose petals and buds are easy to find already dried.
• Chamomile: Mild, with a soft, apple-like scent.

A few kitchen herbs work as flavor herbs too. They’re stronger than the floral ones, so use even less.

• Calendula: Clean and slightly citrusy.
• Thyme: Sweet and woody, and a pinch is enough.
• Rosemary: Very pronounced. Add it sparingly, or it takes over the whole blend.

Herbal Smoking Blends

Most blends follow a simple three-part pattern from the Herbal Academy: a base, a supporting herb, and a flavor herb. By volume, that’s 2 tablespoons of base herbs, 1 tablespoon of a supporting herb, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of flavor herbs.

The supporting herb can be a second base herb for a milder mix, or a second flavor herb for a stronger one. Once you’ve tried one blend, it’s easy to adjust the proportions to suit you.

How to Make Herbal Cigarettes

Start with herbs that are fully dry. Damp plant material can grow mold, and mold isn’t something you want to breathe in. If you dry your own, an herb drying rack or any of these ways to preserve herbs will do the job, and there’s more detail on drying herbs at home.

Dry doesn’t mean crispy, though. Herbs that crumble to dust are usually an old batch, and powder burns hot and fast and leaves a harsh taste. The leaves should still bend a little before they break.

If your herbs are too dry, spread the amount you plan to roll on a clean tea towel, mist them lightly with water, and let them air dry for a couple of hours. Only do this with what you’ll use right away, since dampened herbs can mold in storage.

Next, grind the herbs to an even, coarse texture. I use a mortar and pestle, and kitchen shears or even your fingers work too. Pick out any stems or seeds as you go.

Mix the base, supporting, and flavor herbs in a small bowl until the color looks even.

For papers, I’d go with unbleached, certified organic ones. The difference in cost is small, and they skip the bleach and other additives.

To roll, lay a thin line of the blend along one paper. Fold the paper into a loose U, roll it back and forth between your fingers to shape the herbs into a cylinder, then tuck the near edge under and roll upward. Moisten the gum strip, seal it, and twist the end closed.

Pack it fairly firmly. A loose roll burns unevenly and goes out, and a firm one burns slowly and evenly.

Storing Herbal Smoking Blends

Store the mixed blend in a small glass jar with a tight lid, somewhere cool and dark. Light and air fade the color and scent of dried herbs over time.

Dried herbs hold their peak quality for about 6 months to a year, so it’s worth mixing small batches. Label the jar with the blend and the date, and if a blend ever smells musty, toss it and mix a fresh one.

Other Ways to Use Herbal Smoke

Smoking isn’t the only way to burn herbs. Dried herbs bundled together and burned slowly will scent a room, and herbal smudge sticks made from mugwort and lavender are a traditional way to do it.

Some people burn bundles of mint, sage, and lavender outside on summer evenings, or toss a few onto a campfire for the scent. The same herbs that go into a blend work well here, and they don’t need grinding.

Herbal Cigarettes FAQs

These are the questions that come up most about herbal cigarettes and how to make them.

More Herbal Projects

These use many of the same herbs in other ways.

• Herbal Smudge Sticks
• Herbal Coffee with Dandelion and Chicory
• Ways to Preserve Herbs
• Mullein Tea