The Freshness Factor in Pre-Rolls

Nobody likes a dry pre-roll. They’re flavorless, less potent and burn like flash paper – hot and fast.

Not only that, but no one ever buys a second pre-roll from a brand that delivered a terrible smoke the first time, no matter how low the price or how good the branding.

So let’s talk about pre-roll freshness. Because in the highly competitive pre-roll space, making sure your pre-roll is worth smoking is key to repeat customers.

Does Pre-Roll Freshness Matter?

In a word: Yes.

Pre-Rolls are one of the most innovative and competitive categories in the entire industry, with more than 3,250 brands all vying for shelf space and market share in 2025, according to cannabis analytics firm Headset, second only to flower.

And every one of those brands is looking for a way to set itself apart from the rest, whether it is through the use of unique rolling papers, premium filter tips, infusions, branding or just good old-fashioned potency and flavor.

In fact, potency is the number one thing consumers look for when purchasing a pre-roll, and potency is directly affected when your pre-rolls are all dried up. That’s because, as you know, the cannabinoids that give cannabis its psychoactive properties, as well as the terpenes that enhance its effects and give it its flavor, develop in the oily trichomes that grow on your plants.

And when exposed to the wrong conditions, those trichomes can break and the molecules inside – those cannabinoids and terpenes – can dry out or evaporate, leaving your pre-rolls flavorless and boring.

In fact, even oxygen can change the entire structure of the molecules. When oxidized, THC converts to CBN, affecting the high – the potency – created by your pre-rolls.

Aside from that, dry pre-rolls burn hot and fast, which means they are a terrible, harsh experience for smokers. And that is never good for your brand.

What’s the Science on Moisture in Pre-Rolls?

Custom Cones USA and DaySavers recently partnered with the Cannabis Research Coalition and The Network of Applied Pharmacognosy (NAP) for the Science of Smokeabilty, a one-of-a-kind study designed to assess how various cultivation and production techniques affect the smokeability of a pre-roll. The first phase of this multi-year study looked specifically at water activity and moisture content and combined laboratory results with feedback from actual pre-roll smokers sent high-quality hemp pre-rolls.

Using digital hygrometers, high quality hemp pre-rolls were stabilized at three different water activity levels: 0.45 aW, 0.65 aW and 0.85 aW. All three were analyzed using the laboratory’s smoking machine, a Combustion Smoke Analyzer SCS and all but the 0.85aW pre-roll (a moisture level that could allow microbials to develop and is unsafe to smoke) were sent to smokers.

Water activity and humidity are directly related. For simplicity’s sake, a water activity of 0.45 aW is about 45% relative humidity, 0.65 aW is 65% and so on.

Using the smoking machines, the smoke from each of the differently dried pre-rolls was analyzed for cannabinoid content. Because the flower used for this study was a strain of high-quality hemp, the main cannabinoid was CBD. Other cannabinoids present in the flower and smoke were CBG, CBC and THC.

So what were the results?

According to the results, pre-rolls with a water activity of 0.65 aW produced the highest cannabinoid concentration in the smoke, followed closely by the 0.45 aW pre-rolls. The 0.85 aW pre-rolls, on the other hand, had cannabinoid contents of only 30% of those in the 0.65 category.

Testing for terpenes generated similar results, with the 0.65 aW pre-rolls delivering the highest terpene content, with the scientists noting that it suggests “stronger water activity-dependent effects for terpene transfer” in the lower range, though the 0.85 aW pre-rolls again delivered lower terpene amounts overall.

As for results of the survey, there was no statistical difference between aromatic and flavor profiles of the 0.45 and 0.65 aW pre-rolls, however the 0.45 aW pre-rolls produced “a more irritating experience” for smokers, presumably a harsher smoke due to drier weed.

Interestingly, the study also delves into what moisture content and water activity can mean for the bottom line between flower with a water activity of 0.45 aW vs 0.65 aW, which corresponds to a moisture content of about 5% and 9%, respectively. According to the scientists, that difference comes out to about 18.14 grams per pound of flower.

How Can I Preserve Freshness in Pre-Rolls?

In our 2026 Industry Survey, we learned that it takes the majority of pre-roll producers less than a week to get their fresh pre-rolls from production to store shelves.

The key to keeping your pre-rolls fresh is maintaining the proper humidity for your flower prior to production, and in your pre-rolls post-production, but pre-distribution. There are also some packaging choices that can help preserve the shelf life of your pre-rolls.

But during production, the most important thing you can do to preserve your pre-roll freshness is humidity control. Without proper humidity control early, there is no way to preserve your cannabinoids and pre-rolls later.

The easiest way to keep your flower fresh prior to production is to keep it in a humidor to stabilize its moisture content.

A humidor is essentially a moisture control box or room that maintains a certain moisture level in order to prevent what’s inside from drying out. Humidors are critical to the cigar industry in order to maintain the freshness of cigars, particularly high-end cigars, so it makes sense to use them for high-end pre-rolls as well.

Putting your flower in a humidor prior to packing will not only keep it from drying out, but also stabilize the moisture to a consistent level for a better, more flavorful and more potent pack inside your pre-rolled cones.

Once your pre-rolls are packed, storing them in a humidor before you package them for store shelves will also help preserve terpenes and cannbinoids and extend the shelf life of your products.

Post-Packaging Pre-Roll Freshness

The final step to the pre-roll production process prior to distribution is packaging, and there are a few choices here that will also directly affect your freshness.

First, for companies that want to guarantee pre-roll freshness, there are humidity packs from companies like Boveda. Made with a specific mixture of salts that keep relative humidity at a certain level, these packs were originally designed for cigars, but the company has moved into the cannabis space with humidity levels designed for cannabis flower instead of tobacco.

Pre-roll producers can simply drop one of these packs into their packaging with their pre-rolls and the pack will establish and maintain a constant humidity inside the packaging. It’s easy, it works and it delivers fresh, high-quality pre-rolls every time.

Additionally, brands concerned with freshness should consider using glass pre-roll packaging instead of plastic. While plastic packaging, like the classic doob tube, does a decent job of trapping in moisture, glass is simply a less porous material that does a better job at preventing oxygen from sneaking through and drying out your pre-rolls.

Additionally, glass pre-roll tubes signify in customers’ minds a more premium product and experience.

Final Thoughts on Pre-Roll Freshness

Freshness directly relates to flavor and smokeability. And preventing your pre-rolls from drying out is one of the best ways to ensure that customers are tasting the best product you have to offer, so they will continue to buy your brand.

Maintaining proper humidity levels in your facility and storing both your flower and your packed pre-rolls in a humidor is the easiest way to ensure freshness in your prerolls. Choosing the right pre-roll packaging and adding a humidity pack can also help extend the shelf life of your pre-rolls as well.

Contact the Pre-Roll Experts today to discuss how you can upgrade your production facility and packaging to ensure that your pre-rolls get to your customers as fresh as the day you packed them!