Rizla

Rizla Silver Slim

Rizla+ (commonly known as just Rizla) is a brand of rolling paper. There are different types of Rizla papers available in a range of thicknesses, sizes and with different burn rates. They are popularly known by the color of the cover. For example papers in the blue cover are rarely called fine weight Rizlas but are known as "Rizla Blues". They are especially prevalent in Europe, but are not nearly as common in the United States. Rizla+ is the world's number one selling brand of rolling papers and is available in over 120 nations world-wide.

Rizla history

The myth of creation

The Rizla tradition has a humble beginning that started in 1532, when a Frenchman named Pierre de Lacroix began making paper. As the legend goes, on a fateful, rainy day in the French city of Angoulême, Pierre de Lacroix was inspired to begin the production of rolling papers when he traded a rolling paper for a bottle of fine champagne and realized their potential market.

The company breaks out

In 1660, the Lacroix family began serious production of rolling papers, having found them to be most profitable. Despite the early success, it was not until nearly 76 years later in 1736 that the family acquired their own paper-mill, purchased by Francois Lacroix, who founded the Lacroix Rolling Paper company the same year.

However, it was not until the 1796 that the Lacroix brand got its first major production deal, during the Napoleonic wars, when Napoleon himself granted the company a licence to produce fine rolling papers for his soldiers, who until then, were forced to roll cigarettes from paper torn from the pages of various books.

It is said that in 1860, Pierre Lacroix finally perfected the formula for the Lacroix brand of rolling papers. However, in the year 1865, another change was made to the formula - the tissue previously used in the papers was replaced with paper made from rice. It is this change to rice paper that caused the name "Riz La" to finally emerge, by combining the French word Riz (rice) with "La", the first two letters from the Lacroix name, the Lacroix family finally developed a catchy brandname for their product in 1866.

The Riz La company was so successful, that by 1891 the Lacroix family had amassed enough wealth to construct a castle-like manor, which they dubbed Chateau Leonide Lacroix, a house so elegant in appearance that it would likely cost a large sum even by today's standards. Spurred on by their great success and newly acquired confidence, the Lacroix family brought their product to the world, sending the Riz La brand throughout Europe and the United States in the year 1900.

The Rizla brand In the 20th century and beyond

Caving in to popular demand, Riz La produced some of the first flavored papers in 1906, with the release of menthol and strawberry flavored rolling papers. Further expanding their armory of different paper varieties, the first Rizla Blue, fine-weight rolling papers were produced in 1910, boasting a thinner paper and a more tobacco-influenced flavor, they were an instant success. Deciding to take the company even further, Riz La released one of the first rolling machines to the market, enabling consumers to roll their own cigarettes with the utmost ease. The basic design of their original rolling machine is still used to this day, demonstrating the great success the product had. Riz La claims that they were the first to produce such a machine, though some have argued this statement.

In 1942, the Riz La brand revolutionized the world of rolling papers when the Lacroix brothers acquire a patent for applying gum to the edge of rolling papers. This new feature solidified Rizla's position as a leader in the rolling paper industry, placing them at the top of the market. Rizla acquired the General Paper and Box Manufacturing Company, located in South Wales in 1948, dramatically improving their production capabilities. Rizla made another brilliant move that same year with the release of the Rizla Green cut-corners, medium-weight rolling paper. The Rizla Green variety would go on years later to become the single most popular rolling paper in all of Britain, as well as many other places throughout the world.

During the year 1944, Riz La changed its name yet again to the name "Rizla+", which is still in use today. French speakers pronounce this name "Riz La Croix", as the + symbol is a form of cross (French croix).

Sometime in 1977, thirty-three years after the brand name change, Rizla released the first of their King Size rolling papers. It is widely believed that this fairly successful range was made specifically for use with cannabis; see the Rizla and cannabis section.

By purchasing dark brown paper coated on the outside with a licorice-flavored substance, the licorice-flavored paper was released in the year 1981, adding another paper to Rizla's already large selection. In 1986, Rizla began a string of rapid growth and large-scale advertising. One successful advertising campaign was a popular series of calendars and posters in 1986. The sponsoring and opening of a café franchise, which was featured at various concerts in the UK in 1996 was also extremely popular. However, 1997 was perhaps the most important year for the company in the second half of the 20th century, when they launched the official Rizla+ website, as well as the release of a limited edition, King Size Rizla+ Purple medium-weight, extra width, king size rolling papers, which were exclusively in celebration of the Phoenix music festival. In 1978 Fernand Painblanc takes controle of Rizla group International, bringing the tradition of Lacroix family ownership to an end. Later in 1997, he sells the Rizla business to Swiss banking house UBS). And was later aquired by Imperial Tobacco.

1998, Rizla continued their string of expansion and large-scale advertising, going so far as to release their own line of clothing, sold at their fairly popular string of cafés. In 2002, Rizla closes a deal with Suzuki and becomes one of their top motor-bike racing sponsors, forming the Rizla-Suzuki racing team. The Caterham Superlight R500 sports is available with Rizla markings following its launch in collaboration with Rizla-Suzuki.

Rounding out their latest expansions, Rizla added a new paper to its line up in 2003, with the introduction of the Rizla Silver, Ultra-Thin, King Size rolling paper. However, in 2003 the Advertising Standards Agency upheld a complaint that Rizla had alluded to their products' association with cannabis in a print advertisement that bore the caption "twist and burn". The association being that 'twist' is a slang term for a joint, and 'burn' the process of smoking one.

In 2004, two more types or Rizla papers were released, one, the Rizla Red, Medium Weight, Slim papers, which much to the dismay of many Rizla enthusiasts throughout the world (especially the French ones), is exclusive to the United Kingdom. The other variety released in 2004 was the very popular Rizla Silver (regular size) Ultra-Thin rolling papers.

As of 2006, Rizla also sponsor the Suzuki GSV-R MotoGP bike, ridden by John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen.

Rizla types

Rizla+ rolling papers come in a variety of sizes, colors and types, all of which can have a very significant effect on the flavor, texture and burning of the cigarettes and/or joints that are rolled with them. In fact, over the past century, they've manufactured over 300 different varieties of rolling papers ^[1], each with their own unique flavor, texture, thickness and size. Here is a list and description of the varieties currently offered by Rizla in the UK.

Regular size papers

Regular size papers are 70 mm long and has the most variety out of all the sizes under the Rizla name.

Green Regular

According to Rizla, this is the most popular rolling paper in the UK, Green Regular is a medium weight, cut-cornered paper. It burns at a moderate rate, is considered the easiest of all Rizla papers to roll and has a harsh impact on the flavor of the tobacco. Because of the paper's ability to absorb moisture without becoming saturated or breaking apart, it is also favoured by players of woodwind instruments (oboe's, clarinets etc.) as a means of removing moisture from beneath the key plates.

Red Regular

Red Regular is a medium weight paper, its corners are not cut. It burns at a moderate rate, is considered one of the easier to roll Rizla papers and has a harsh impact on the flavor of the tobacco. It is the exact same as Green Regular in most respects, the only major difference being that while Green has its corners cut, Red does not.

Blue Regular

Blue Regular is a fine-weight paper, its corners are not cut. Because it is thinner, it burns a bit more mildly than its medium-weight cousins and has a very mild impact on the flavor of the tobacco.

Silver Regular

Silver Regular is an Ultra Fine-Weight Paper and is extremely thin. According to Rizla, the Silver Regular paper is 12.5 GSM weight. A normal thick paper is 16-21 GSM weight. Because of its extremely thin composition, Silver Regular is thought to offer a more "pure" flavor. It is also somewhat more difficult to roll than the Blue Regular papers, but is surprisingly tough and resilient for its thickness. A consumer new to this paper will want to keep a watchful eye for stems or large chunks of tobacco, which might easily poke a hole through the delicate paper.

Orange Regular (Liquorice)

Orange Regular is a liquorice flavored paper. It has a coating of some sort of liquorice like substance on the outside of what appears to be a medium-weight paper. The coat is quite thick, making the paper itself rather thick as well. Prospective hand rollers should be careful to keep their fingers from being too moist, as the liquorice coating can be somewhat sticky when it comes into contact with moisture, which can make rolling much more difficult. Because of the nature of the paper, it burns at a fairly mild rate, leaves a significant amount of ash (likely due to the dyes and weight of the paper) and has an extremely significant impact on the flavor of the tobacco, giving it a slightly sweet flavor, as well as leaving a sweet taste on your lips after taking a drag.

White Regular

White Regular is a heavier weight paper, perhaps 25gsm, but is also perforated, allowing a greater degree of air flow. White Regular, surprisingly, is quite difficult to roll and burns rather strongly. It has an interesting effect on the cigarette's flavor, giving it a lighter, more mellow taste.

King Size papers

Rizla King Size papers are 100 mm in length and significantly wider than the regular size. There is a common belief that King Size papers are especially made for use with cannabis, although Rizla and its parent company, Imperial Tobacco, strongly deny this claim. (See the Rizla and cannabis section)

King Size papers come in two varieties, King Size and King Size Slim, which aren't as wide as the normal King Size papers, but are actually slightly longer than the standard King Size papers. King Size papers tend to be much more difficult to roll than the regular size 70 mm papers.

Green King Size

Green King Size is a medium weight, cut-cornered paper. It burns at a moderate rate, is considered the easiest of all Rizla King Size papers to roll and has a moderate impact on the flavor of the tobacco and/or cannabis in cigarettes/joints rolled with this paper.

Red King Size

Red King Size papers are slightly more narrow than Blue King Size and Silver King Size and are a medium weight paper. It burns at a moderate rate, is considered one of the easier to roll King Size Slim Rizla papers and has a moderate impact on the flavor of the tobacco. There is also a Red King Size Slim, which is available only in the UK.

Blue King Size

Blue King Size is a fine-weight paper, its corners are not cut. Because it is thinner, it burns a bit more mildly than its medium-weight cousins and has less of an impact on the flavor of the tobacco. It is significantly more difficult to roll a fine-weight paper than it is to roll a medium-weight, but not to the point that someone capable of rolling a decent cigarette with a medium-weight would have any significant difficulty rolling one with a fine-weight. Blue King Size also comes in a slim variety, which is the exact same, only not nearly as wide and slightly longer.

Silver King Size

Silver King Size is an Ultra Fine-Weight Paper and is extremely thin. According to Rizla, the Silver Regular paper is 20 micrometres thin as opposed to the thickness of a human hair, which is 50-100 micrometres thick. Because of its extremely thin composition, Silver Regular offers an extremely "pure" flavor, as it has nearly no impact on the flavor of the tobacco rolled inside the cigarette. It is also somewhat more difficult to roll than the Blue King Size papers, but is surprisingly tough and resilient for its thickness. A hand-roller new to this paper will want to keep a watchful eye for stems or large chunks of tobacco, which might poke a hole through the delicate paper. Silver King Size also comes in a slim version.

Other rolling related products

Rizla also provides filter tubes in a variety of sizes, rolling machines and even rolling boxes.

Rizla and cannabis

Note that this section is highly disputed and is only a theory. It may or may not have any factual evidence to support it. However, it has had a significant impact on the company and deserves to be mentioned.

One of the biggest sources of the belief that Rizla supports cannabis use is the release of their King Size papers, which are ideal for rolling a large joint (it also happens to be that many people enjoy smoking king size papers with tobacco so that you can actually fit a normal filter in the end of the cigarette). It is thicker, longer and drastically more powerful, offering a more extreme marijuana smoking experience, than what is provided by a standard sized paper. Many feel there is little conceivable reason to roll a tobacco cigarette that thick, as cigarette tobacco is certainly not an acceptable substitute for cigar tobacco.

In 2003 the Advertising Standards Agency upheld a complaint that Rizla had alluded to their products' association with cannabis in a print advertisement that bore the caption "twist and burn". The association being that 'twist' is a slang term for a joint, and 'burn' the process of smoking one.

It is believed by some that the 2004 release of the "slim" King Size, medium-weight paper was to serve specifically as a counter-point to the 2003 accusation, as the slimming of the paper removes one of the main qualities that made it so effective for cannabis use, creating a paper whose purpose was essentially, to roll really long cigarettes. The slim, king size, medium-weight paper is not available outside the UK, adding more to the belief that the product exists solely to debunk the accusation of cannabis support. This is supported by the fact that the "slim" King Size, Rizla Silver paper was released 2003, shortly after the complaint was upheld. Despite the suspicious circumstances however, there is little to no hard evidence to support this belief (note that in reality the King Size Slim market was first pursued by other brands and in Holland even Cannabis smokers prefer Slim cigarettes so that they won't need to use as much paper and thus have a cleaner smoking experience).

It is also a well known practice in the cannabis-smoking community to use the long strip of green card at the back of a Rizla packet to make roaches, which are a used instead of a filter in a joint.

Another factor supporting the theory that Rizla supports the use of cannabis is the fact that its parent company, Imperial Tobacco, registered the brand "EZ Wider", which is a possible word-play on the 1969 movie, Easy Rider, which is features a large amount of drug use and related subjects.

External links

• http://www.rizla.co.uk/
• http://www.rizla.com/
• http://www.ash.org.uk/html/press/031121.html
• http://www.rizla-suzuki.co.uk/
• http://www.rollingpapers.net/RizlaBlue/Rizblue.htm Collector's site for Rizla Rolling papers