Incense sticks

Hello,

occasionally I like to burn incent sticks. I like the smell of cinnamon, amber, etc best and sometimes the nag champa stuff. Recently I bought some incense sticks that should be produced on Bali (if one can trust the label on the package...). They are pleasant-smelling until you burn them. Then they smell mostly like burned ordinary wood ;(. Any hints on how to spot the better qualities? What flavours do you like best?

Regards
Gyro

 

Usually poorer quality incense is uneven in thickness and when you burn them the supporting cores inside hang. They smell nice when you buy them, but then either don't smell or smell horrible.

 

Yeah I don't like that cheap shit either. A good way to tell if it's good quality is that it looks more ''natural'' rather than factory made. An example would be to compare Nag Champa to Walmart incense. You can often see on the end of Nag champa incense a little extra ''incent''(whatever you'd call it) from when it was being hand dipped and dried. Cheap ''Walmart'' incense are often straight and have a very fake feeling to them. Other ways to tell the quality is how much smoke is produced, the smell of the incense when it's burned/not burned, the company, how fast it burns, and the way it burns.

 

Hello,

they look very smooth and brownish, like sawdust. But I had similar looking sticks before and they were good.

Regards
Gyro

 

Do they smell differently before burning to the ones you usually buy? Sometimes you can tell how good incense will be by that - if you know how good quality ones usually smell. Also, often the cheap ones aren't very good at all, or those sold in bulk.

 

Here's something I posted about incense a while back:

When it comes to incense, there are hundreds of choices and it takes time to find the ones that will really resonate with you. As a general rule, stay away from the stuff you find in department stores and chain stores. I get my incense online, these days.

 

I like the lemmon grass one, very refreshing ; )

 

Good morning,

I can't say exactly, I need to sniff at them side by side . The bad ones smell a little bit less intensive. Maybe the Balines people like this woody odour .

Thank you for c&p the text, it's very informative. I guess the best way is to test a few other brands and then stick with one brand.

Regards
Gyro

 

sage, ceder, sweet grass, salvia, pine, tobacco, no burn stick gather and make real smudge.. some stuff you need to go to trader for.. dont really burn much indoors gives me a headache..

 

I'm not from India, but lately I've been burning this India-made incense (if the label is true) that I find at one of the local head shops.

The name on the label is:

Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa Agarbatti
Mfr: Shrinivas Sugandhalaya, in Bengaluru, India

I love its scent. And ... it is very inexpensive.

 

i usually find the incense sticks with the darker colored resin as apposed to the more beige ones are lower quality. I usually buy sandalwood though i haven't tried most of the other kinds, nag champa is the brand i go for too.

 

because no-one tagged me..i think you're still it.

i like the citrus based ones and the churchy ones,frankincense and one from the reserve that i think was called black cloud

 

I love the smell of unburned Nag Champa.

 

Hello,

the other week I sat in the commuter train and -sniff sniff- had the impression that someone is burning Nag Champa incense sticks in the train. Further investigation revealed a woman using a magnolia flavoured scent .

Regards
Gyro

 

Hehe actually, me too!

I keep a small box of it in several places just for the dry, unburned scent (like, in my computer desk hutch).

 

Mmm...Nag Champa mentioned above is one of my fave brands too.
I tend to purchase my inscense online now too, as i can find the nice stuff direct from India. One scent i have i adore, it is called 'Maharaja' and is a nice mix of woody/earthy scents. Yum...

 

nag champa is the only incense i've found that doesn't smell artificial or give me a headache, so its the only one i ever use. God its wonderful. I like the smell of an unburned stick too. i always keep an unburned stick in my car and it is just delightful.

 

Hello,

the smell sticks on everything. Once I deposited my wallet on a pack of Nag Champa sticks. Now the leather of the wallet smells like Nag Champa, too .

Regards
Gyro

 

I use the same one! I always buy it at the health food store. I just buy a bunch of boxes at once and they last a long time and they smell lovely.

 

i like the nag champa sticks as well but have just got into the hari om fluxo incense