First Smoke of The Day

• Josh RAW: RAW Paper Empire, Rolling Secrets, Exclusive Factory Tour, Culture That Rolls

  Josh RAW: RAW Paper Empire, Rolling Secrets, Exclusive Factory Tour, Culture That RollsSometimes when you’re the owner of the biggest 🍃rolling papers and accessories company in the world, you might seem larger than life. For this episode abroad in the heart of Benimarfull, Spain, the FSOTD team heads to the factory for a once-in-a-lifetime conversation with the man behind the curtain to dispel some of the myths and learn some of the real-deal lore.Blackleaf and Co. diverted during their Spannabis trip to take a private tour of the RAW Factory and sit down for a heart-to-heart with Josh Kesselman, who many have called the “Willy Wonka of W**d,” where they discuss his (almost unbelievable) journey from Florida into Spain, securing mentorships from legends, the history of counterfeit papers, why RAW papers have the intricate imprinted designs, how thinner papers equal slower burn, the amount of fresh water needed to produce massive amounts of papers, the first time Josh heard Wiz Khalifa rap about RAW, the truth behind the common misconception that he’s always happy, and so much more.A little backstory, Josh Kesselman is the founder and CEO of RAW Rolling Papers, a brand renowned for its natural, unbleached, and vegan-friendly rolling papers. His passion for rolling papers began in childhood, inspired by his father's magic trick involving a disappearing paper, which led him to collect various types of rolling papers. In 1993, he opened a smoke shop called Knuckleheads in Gainesville, Florida, where he imported specialty papers from Europe. After facing legal challenges, he relocated to Arizona and, in 2004, invested $1 million to develop RAW Rolling Papers, which gained popularity among herb enthusiasts and mainstream hip-hop artists like Wiz, Curre$y, and more.During the pod, you’ll hear Josh talk about the old seshes being the backbone of RAW’s success. If you’ve ever wondered how to take guerrilla marketing to the utmost extreme, you can’t miss this part of the interview. Josh even speaks on giving out multiple boxes of papers to smoke shops, and as a favor, begging them to literally give out at least one full box to their regulars. Beyond the topical questions that you’ll get to hear, like what Josh’s go-to papers are, or how he celebrates big company wins on his farm with his donkeys and his family, there are countless tidbits of free game on building a business brick-by-brick jam-packed in between every iconic story.Whether you’re here for the wild stories about Josh smoking on the Jet Life Tour with Curren$y and exchanging entrepreneurial dreams and ambitions, or for the intimate understanding of his factory employees (some with 50+ year tenures), how he got the factory and why they name each machine, or how to build a globally-recognized brand that generates millions in revenue, or even the best way to handle people infringing on your copyrights—there’s something for everyone in this interview. It’s truly hard to convey the entire scope of this conversation in one description.You might even catch some sneak peeks and backstories on exclusive collaborations between RAW, such as the Phatty Elements with FSOTD, The TenCo x RAW at Zalympix, and how Cole Bennett and Josh came together to create Lyrical Lemonade papers. And, if you’re chomping at the bit by the end of this pod to see the rest of the facility, tap in with our exclusive VLOG on the channel showing you the inside of the RAW Factory on some Golden Ticket-type energy.Subscribe to our channel and the FSOTD.com site to keep up with other key players and enjoy conversations with trailblazers from the culture during our 2025 Spannabis trip you can’t find anywhere else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  2:04:30
• Active x Blue River Terps: Changing Vapor Technology, Hide Your Old Vape Pen

  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  1:46:45
• Preferred Gardens: Built Not Bought, MSO Grit, Culture Over Clout, Mixed-Light Future

  The definition of connoisseur smoke often includes “indoor cultivation,” but what if we told you many of your favorite players have bagged up a particular brand’s mixed light and sold it as indoor? You’re about to find out why this was a blessing in disguise.Blackleaf sits down in the FSOTD studio with recurring guest and certified legend, Dave of Preferred Gardens, along with his core team, Alex, Mike, Blaine, and Nikki (also Dave’s wife,) to discuss turning a legacy brand into a thriving MSO, winning the $60k Proper Doinks Z Challenge, raising kids and building a brand with your significant other, breeding in-house genetics, and the intricate and mythical nature of Preferred’s methods for Quality Control.​David Polley founded Preferred Gardens in 2015 in Sacramento, California. The company is renowned for its mixed light growing methods, and cultivating over 260 unique strains, including Sherbanger, Lazer Gun, Znackz, and more. Initially prominent in the medical market, Preferred Gardens now operates in California, Florida, Arizona, and New York, with more new states coming online in the future. They’re even dipping into international markets, as you’ll hear Dave discuss on this episode.With over two decades of experience in the game, Dave will shed light on how crucial being a cultivator and lowkey breeder has been to his success as a brand owner, allowing him to fully understand quality control, as well as set up his same facilities in different states and be able to make minor adjustments and thrive. He’ll also discuss how he and his team are the sole barrier of quality control in terms of what they’ll put out, and how to develop relationships with retailers and partners where their word is bond and that trust is maintained.Aside from Dave and his constant game-dropping, the rest of his team that’s in-studio shed tremendous light on how they’re each able to make this global operation work without ever giving into the big investors and corporate hellscape structure. Hustling is an understatement when you get to hear from Preferred’s sales and management team, Mike, Blaine, and Chris, as well as their resident mom and powerhouse accounting, programming, and back-of-house champ, Nikki.Again, bringing up quality control, Blackleaf rattles off tons of bubbling questions surrounding how they define a keeper, what Dave deems as the proper cure time, if white ash really matters and how they breed for it these days, how important unique genetics are in the legal game, how to establish trustworthy relationships with buyers, their internal voting system for picking fire cuts, how they’ve been able to keep crops A-1 with The Flowery in Florida, and if you really need to be a passionate smoker to run a top-tier flower brand.Find out more by visiting preferredgardens.com and check back on any of our previous episodes with Dave and Preferred Gardens to learn more about his journey and imminent rise to the top.Subscribe to our channel and the FSOTD.com site to keep up with other key players and enjoy conversations with trailblazers from the culture you can’t find anywhere else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  1:24:35
• Brothers Broadleaf: Luxury Blunt Craft, Whiskey Barrel Blunts, Tradition Meets Innovation

  Brothers Broadleaf: Luxury Blunt Craft, Whiskey Barrel Blunts, Tradition Meets InnovationThis is an extra special episode of FSOTD for all of the blunt smokers out there who think they are rolling up with the finest leaf. Today’s guests are going to redefine your standards for what you believe to be the best tobacco wraps for your flower.Blackleaf is joined in the studio by brothers Dawson and Paxton, founders of Brothers Broadleaf, and fourth-generation cigarmakers, to discuss the art of sourcing and packaging premium tobacco from around the world, what sets Dawson Dudz and Paxton’s Pearls apart from your average cigar, how the brothers are carrying on their family’s legacy, what it means to be running the last operating cigar factory in the US, Old World vs New World tobacco, becoming the gold-standard blunt wrap for Adam iLL and Roll BMC, and so much more.For those unaware, Brothers Broadleaf is a premium brand that began in 2019 and has quickly become known for crafting high-quality, natural tobacco leaf wraps sold direct-to-consumer. They built their reputation by offering hand-selected, unprocessed whole-leaf wraps that deliver a smooth, slow burn for an elevated smoking experience. Based in Tampa, Florida, the brothers have cultivated a strong following through strong attention to detail, consistent quality, and bold branding. With a focus on authenticity and craftsmanship, Brothers Broadleaf has become a go-to choice for smokers who value purity and flavor in their sessions.It’s truly a family affair for Dawson and Paxton of Brothers Broadleaf, which will become glaringly apparent throughout this episode. Blackleaf will ask the brothers what it was like growing up in a tobacco family, to which you’ll hear them romanticize growing up going to cigar conventions in Vegas, and traveling to destinations like Ecuador, Colombia, and Nicaragua to stay on large-scale tobacco farms. Dawson and Paxton will talk about their buyers in South America and how some of them have been sourcing premium leaf for their family for over 35 years.One of the overarching messages Blackleaf permeates in this pod is that, in his experience, if you’re a real blunt smoker these days—you know about Brothers Broadleaf. Few other companies are rolling their cigars with an extra inner leaf, which you’ll hear the back-story on how the brothers’ mom insisted on this addition, and using zero binding agents, making it seamless to break down the cigar and get the perfect leaf with the vein down the middle. With a ridiculous commitment to quality and blunt-smoker standards, Dawson and Paxton will remark in this episode that they still QC every single leaf that’s wrapped and packaged for Brothers Broadleaf. If you’ve ever smoked one of their cigars, there’s 100% chance it passed through their hands to ensure the utmost quality. If you’ve ever wondered what legal hoops and back-bending efforts it takes to work in the tobacco industry and source leaf from all over the globe, this is a great episode to get lost in. Follow @BrothersBroadleaf to get the real inside scoop on what it’s like to be a part of a generations-old family tradition of cigarmaking, but modernizing it to fit the needs and desires of connoisseur blunt smokers everywhere.Subscribe to our channel and the FSOTD.com site to keep up with other key players and enjoy conversations with trailblazers from the culture you can’t find anywhere else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  2:07:41
• Grove Bags: Mission to Protect Terpenes, Science Behind Grove, Preserving Purity with TerpLoc

  Grove Bags: Mission to Protect Terpenes, Science Behind Grove, Preserving Purity with TerpLocFor this special episode of FSOTD, we want you to forget everything you think you know about packaging and storing the plant post-harvest, including your current perception of a “mylar bag.”Blackleaf is joined in the studio by Jack of Grove Bags, to do the ultimate scientific deep dive into what needs to happen to the plant after it’s been harvested, cured, and trimmed, the exact water activity levels of the ideal nug, what defines quality bud beyond smell and appearance, what “gradual slope” means, and most importantly, how to create the most advanced and effective Passive Modified Atmospheric Packaging.Founded in Cleveland in 2016, Grove Bags is a company that specializes in 🍃 packaging solutions designed to preserve freshness, potency, and terpenes. They developed TerpLoc, a proprietary packaging technology that creates the ideal microclimate to maintain optimal humidity, oxygen levels, and terpene retention. By utilizing multiple layers of high-barrier films, TerpLoc bags prevent degradation, mold growth, and terpene loss, ensuring long-term storage quality for herb on an individual consumer or large-scale commercial level.If you think all plastic bags are the same—you couldn’t be more wrong. Jack dispels a number of urban legends surrounding packaging in this pod, such as how the quality of the material the bag is made from plays a monumental difference in how the bud is preserved. He gives Blackleaf the breakdown on different types of “films” used to make bags for storage and talks about the problematic nature of some food-grade bags like metallic mylars that may actually add static charge to your bud and degrade trichomes.Jack and his team’s passion for showcasing the plant at its optimal expression has led them to work with over 4,000 different companies worldwide, with their bags even meeting rigorous European and Asian standards. Their Grove Bags and TerpLoc technology have become the gold standard for California legends like Alien Labs, Connected, Sherbinski, and Preferred Gardens, as well as for all of the flower entries at this year’s culture-defining Zalympix competition in LA. At one point, Jack even whips out the microscope and crazy water activity level measuring tools to show Blackleaf some of the Zalympix entries and discuss what makes them fire. We go so deep into the science of what makes flower high quality before you even smell, taste, or smoke it in this episode that it will seriously blow your mind. You’ll also get to hear first-hand the evolution of Jack’s journey growing up in Ohio with an older brother who suffers from Cerebral Palsy, to finding the healing power of herb and dedicating his life to it. With legalization spreading across the nation and public perception turning more towards recreational use, we often forget these humbling stories of the plant inspiring people through its medicinal power.The minds behind Grove Bags are not only passionate innovators and literal brainiacs in the packaging space, but also lifelong consumers and true connoisseurs of the most premium grown flower, and it shows in not only their technology but also the people and brands that use it. Subscribe to our channel and the FSOTD.com site to keep up with other key players and enjoy conversations with trailblazers from the culture you can’t find anywhere else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  1:49:30

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