Our founder and CEO, Hammond Potter, understands the joys and benefits of marijuana as much as anyone. A lot of people have asked us questions about his favorite strains, where he used to shop before Pot Mates, and how he likes to indulge in our collective favorite pastime. We decided it was time to help you get to know Hammond’s history with marijuana and some of his favorite things about weed.

Before legalization, weed was hard to come by and it wasn’t always easy to know what you were getting. Instead of indica, sativa, Garlissimo or The Rewrite, marijuana only came in three varieties: lows, mids, and dank. Low-grade weed was crap, usually brown and brittle, full of seeds, and not very potent. Mid-grade was a little better, sometimes green, but still had a lot of stems and seeds. As you could probably guess, Hammond preferred dank bud or “ chronic ” and always made sure he had some on hand. Even though selection was often based on whatever his dealer had that day, Hammond tried to get the best weed he could. He would always smoke less when he had better weed and that made it last longer.

While Hammond had a pipe—it’s good to have options—his preferred method of consumption has always been blunts. He loves the process—breaking down the nugs, getting a Swisher, slicing it open to empty it out, and rolling a fatty to smoke on and off throughout the day. Whenever he finished one, he would save the butt in case he ran out of weed and had to break it open to sprinkle the resinated leavings into a bowl for a potent hit.

When Oregon legalized recreational marijuana in 2014, Hammond was excited to visit his first legal dispensary. The first place he tried was Cannabis Nation. They started in Gresham as a small medical cannabis producer, but have since expanded to five locations throughout Oregon, as far out as Seaside and Sunriver.

Besides Pot Mates, Hammond’s favorite recreational dispensaries are Cannabis Nation , Nectar , and Kaleafa. Buying weed has come a long way from the days of lows, mids, and chronic, and he prefers shops with high-quality, curated collections.

Over the years, Hammond has had the opportunity to smoke some really killer weed, and it was hard to narrow down a favorite strain. The best he could come up with was a tie between Leftovers by LUVLI and MAC #1 by Deschutes. He likes the heavy potency of Leftovers while MAC #1 always helps him get in the zone and stay there.

Hammond owns a small spoon pipe, perfect for solo sessions or passing between friends. It has color-changing glass, a medium-sized bowl, and a carb on the side that ensures smooth hits. Still, Hammond is and has always been a blunt man. As long as they’re rolled or packed properly, blunts always give him a nice fat hit and never need cleaning.

Instead of Swishers, Hammond now prefers pre-made blunt cones, but he still likes to pack them himself. Machine-rolled blunts never seem to smoke right to him, always going out or starting runs down the side. He says packing it himself lets him control the consistency, which is crucial to an even burn.

It starts with killer flower which Hammond breaks up a little bit to fit into his five-part kief-catching grinder. These grinders have a little mesh screen in the lower chamber that allows tiny pollen loaded with THC to collect in the bottom compartment. He’ll let the kief accumulate for a while before busting it open to add to a blunt.

Right now, Hammond’s favorite wrap is the Cyclone Hemp Cones which come in a variety of flavors like Blueberry and Grape. These cones are already preloaded with a crutch at the end to hold the shape together, so all he has to do is pack in the ground bud and crater the cap so it doesn’t spill out if he’s not ready to smoke it just yet.

Holding the blunt cone upright with one hand, Hammond sprinkles ground weed into the tube with the other in several stages. After adding a little bit of flower, he’ll bounce the blunt vertically on a hard surface like a table or a countertop to get the weed to settle inside. Cyclones come with a little tamper tool that help him pack it down to the perfect consistency.

It takes a little while to fill the whole thing—these cones hold half a gram of weed if you pack it right—then Hammond uses alternating fingertips to fold down the wide end on itself until it’s concave, keeping the weed tight inside and ready to light up when he wants it.

Sometimes, there’s nothing better than an old-school blunt, and that’s how Hammond likes to kick it. With a good grinder, a sweet cone, and a comfortable place to smoke, it’s hard to think of anything better—but maybe you have ideas. What’s your favorite way to smoke weed? Drop us a comment to let us know how you roll and if you have any tips to share.