Burn of the Day

[Olfactory Nomad]

Surprisingly impressed today. We bought another one of the electric censers from Mermade Magikal and it came with a sample of their (I believe) in-house-made Kyphi. It has this almost anise, black licorice undertone to it that I love. Specifically, my wife and I both thought it was reminiscent of the black marker in the set of those scented markers we’d use as kids. I assumed it’d be something I’d throw on there and not really appreciate, but it was surprisingly nice and appealed to both of us. I’ve made it a habit of going slow and I only warmed it up a little and for a short period, so I’m not sure what all it’s gonna give us, but the beginning chapters have been enjoyable!

Kyphi can be a fun and easy one to make yourself. It's one of the oldest known incense blends. There are a few base ingredients that need to be included to call it Kyphi other than that you can use all sorts of things like dried fruits macerated in red wine with spices. Add some frankincense and a few other resins and your away!

 

[AlHind Oud]

EO Mysore - 1980s

I always enjoy burning this. I wish to have kilos of this.

 

[Alamande]

DD Oud Oil DD1 - this is wood I got from their store in Muscat. Sold as Cambodi but the company is Thai.

This is good stuff and seems to work well at mid to highish heat. The opening as it heats up for the first time is green, jungly, slightly minty. Once it comes up to temperature it starts to weep resin and emit notes of sweet, smoky berries and vanilla.

Despite that smoky note, I have it cranked up pretty high at 19v now, and it isn’t putting out much actual smoke at all - barely a wisp. Would be good on charcoal, I’m sure.

 

[mobyus]

Karam Oud - Chinese CK

Vanilla, maple syrup, honey, minty, milky

 

[Oud_Dude]

Kyphi can be a fun and easy one to make yourself. It's one of the oldest known incense blends. There are a few base ingredients that need to be included to call it Kyphi other than that you can use all sorts of things like dried fruits macerated in red wine with spices. Add some frankincense and a few other resins and your away!

Yeah, I need to get into that, as well. I have been so focused on the oud and chemistry lab equipment that I’ve kinda deviated from what brought me here - incense. That said, I’ve got some of their Kyphi going again today and I love it. It’ll just be exhausted about the time my big (to me) order of Royal Green from @Habz786 is delivered. Zero percent chance anything else besides his Hojari sees the burner for the rest of the day.

 

[Oudamberlove]

Shoyeido Agarwood for Kodutu

Time for another resin hit👊

 

[oudcast]

Habz sinking Sri Lankan. Two tiiiiny chips that I've already used 3-4 times (totally forgot them on the burner once too) and were crispy and black by now. I crushed them easily between my fingers into a powder and am heating them. Somehow it is still going strong. Absolute sorcery.

 

[Mousse de Chene]

Kangiiten - White Shin Kyara.

Wow! I haven’t heated this one for a long time. Beautiful wood. Plenty of bright, bitter, medicinal, ‘kinamic’ top notes that are suspended longer than the black shin. Much less spicy than the black, more delicately floral. Heavy vanilla-benzoin-coumarin base notes, honeyed, very soft & rounded.

Considering the price & availability of Kangiiten’s CK, the product is unbelievable. 5+ years ago, having access to this type of wood was unheard of. I don’t see how anyone could hate on good quality CK, when it’s good it smells fantastic!

 

[Oud_Dude]

Some sinking Sri Lankan from @Habz786 and some Palo santo riding shotgun. Smells amazing. I’m still working my way through my thoughts on this, too!

 

[mobyus]

Agsan AlTeeb - Kalimantan Super

Rain water, smokiness, resinous, sweet.

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

Some sinking Sri Lankan from @Habz786 and some Palo santo riding shotgun. Smells amazing. I’m still working my way through my thoughts on this, too!

View attachment 52518

@Oud_Dude is learning fast.

 

[Oud_Dude]

I’ve been wanting to try this for about a week and a half, now. I used to be WAY into pipe tobacco. It’s not always easy to get rid of old pipe tobacco, but the interesting thing is that, if stored properly, it ages like wine, maturing into a product that most aficionados find sublime. I’d almost forgotten I had mine, bins full, tucked away properly for years. I’ve grabbed a tin foil tray full of an artisanal pipe tobacco blend from here in the US, a burley that has been lightly-cased, I believe, with some cocoa/coffee aromatics.

My goal is to see if I can warm it to the point where it’s giving off all of the wonderful pipe tobacco aromas without any combustion. I’d never really considered this until owning a sub, but now I think I may be able to make use of this stuff after all.

(I also tinctured one of my favorite blends yesterday, too!)

 

[oudcast]

I got a mini soldering station that I can control the temp on and some mica sheets, finally feel like I can unlock the full potential of my Habz sinking Sri Lankan. At 60C idk if it was phantom smells or it was starting to give off a scent (I keep getting confused with the warm sensation instead of smell). At 110C it gives off a very strong scent. I am hoping to finetune towards the lowest end of the temp spectrum. Anyone have an inking about the ideal starting temp for this wood or wood in general? How long should I wait for it to heat up adequately if I use 2x small 1cmx0.5cm flat chips, maybe 2-3mm thick?

 

[Oud_Dude]

I got a mini soldering station that I can control the temp on and some mica sheets, finally feel like I can unlock the full potential of my Habz sinking Sri Lankan. At 60C idk if it was phantom smells or it was starting to give off a scent (I keep getting confused with the warm sensation instead of smell). At 110C it gives off a very strong scent. I am hoping to finetune towards the lowest end of the temp spectrum. Anyone have an inking about the ideal starting temp for this wood or wood in general? How long should I wait for it to heat up adequately if I use 2x small 1cmx0.5cm flat chips, maybe 2-3mm thick?

I’ve got all of about a week’s worth of experience more than you, so take all of this with a grain of salt. It seems like each wood, perhaps even each chip, is going to respond to the heat a little differently. My method, so far, has been to start on the absolute lowest setting and let it sit there for about thirty minutes to “open up.” After that, I’ll start bumping the temp up about 0.5V at a time - mine doesn’t have a corresponding temp gauge, so I’m increasing it by maybe 2%-4% of its (the sub) total range. When I bump it up some, I’ll let it sit for at least 10 minutes before messing with it again, unless there’s a change pretty quickly. If I enjoy the smell I’m getting at a certain temp, I’ll park it there until I don’t smell it anymore. I made the mistake of thinking that meant the wood may be exhausted at that temp, but I’m starting to think it may have more to do with my olfactory nerves getting desensitized to that specific smell, being bombarded over time. I feel this way because when I bring out the same chip and heat it again, I’m met with the same trip through the temperatures, so I don’t think I’ve really exhausted much.

I’ll keep bumping it by 0.5V until I start to smell it scorch a bit, or start seeing thin wisps of smoke. Those thin wisps of smoke seem to be the ticket if you’re looking for more of a room filling aroma. I haven’t figured much out, yet, but this process seems to let me get through a session without feeling like I’ve messed anything up, and I can definitely pick out all sorts of aromas as the experience transforms. So far, it could take an hour to get from point A to point B, or a day. I have already had three, nearly day-long sessions with the same little chip of that sinking Sri Lankan from @Habz786 and I’d say it probably pencils out to a bit smaller than you’ve proposed, FWIW.

Suffice to say, I don’t think you’re hurting yourself, at all, by going slowly. And don’t throw your chips away unless they’re toast.

And I think the size you mentioned is perfect.

 

[oudcast]

I’ve got all of about a week’s worth of experience more than you, so take all of this with a grain of salt. It seems like each wood, perhaps even each chip, is going to respond to the heat a little differently. My method, so far, has been to start on the absolute lowest setting and let it sit there for about thirty minutes to “open up.” After that, I’ll start bumping the temp up about 0.5V at a time - mine doesn’t have a corresponding temp gauge, so I’m increasing it by maybe 2%-4% of its (the sub) total range. When I bump it up some, I’ll let it sit for at least 10 minutes before messing with it again, unless there’s a change pretty quickly. If I enjoy the smell I’m getting at a certain temp, I’ll park it there until I don’t smell it anymore. I made the mistake of thinking that meant the wood may be exhausted at that temp, but I’m starting to think it may have more to do with my olfactory nerves getting desensitized to that specific smell, being bombarded over time. I feel this way because when I bring out the same chip and heat it again, I’m met with the same trip through the temperatures, so I don’t think I’ve really exhausted much.

I’ll keep bumping it by 0.5V until I start to smell it scorch a bit, or start seeing thin wisps of smoke. Those thin wisps of smoke seem to be the ticket if you’re looking for more of a room filling aroma. I haven’t figured much out, yet, but this process seems to let me get through a session without feeling like I’ve messed anything up, and I can definitely pick out all sorts of aromas as the experience transforms.

Suffice to say, I don’t think you’re hurting yourself, at all, by going slowly. And don’t throw your chips away unless they’re toast.

And I think the size you mentioned is perfect.

wowza, I feel like a fiend. I'd blast my chips and inhale em up close for a couple mins, then turn it off lol. I see this is a much more timely endeavour. How far is the burner from your nose for you to be enjoying it while you chill?

 

[Oud_Dude]

wowza, I feel like a fiend. I'd blast my chips and inhale em up close for a couple mins, then turn it off lol. I see this is a much more timely endeavour. How far is the burner from your nose for you to be enjoying it while you chill?

Depends on the temp. At the lower end, I can get in there pretty close and really have some fun, but I can also smell it 70-80cm above? I’ve considered getting a very small, low-powered desk fan to mount above/behind them to help move the aroma around. There’s a high degree of correlation between sub temperature and the aroma’s projection in my experience. Right now there is some pipe tobacco in it and it’s been on a medium-low heat for about an hour, I’m about 2m away from it and it’s one of the most intoxicatingly divine aromas I’ve ever experienced.

We probably need some folks with more experience to chime in, too. I might be about to get run off for spreading outlandish advice!

@Olfactory Nomad


Edited to add: I think the distance at which you detect the scent is probably also a factor of how long it’s been allowed to rest at that temp and dissipate. For example, if you’ve got it hot enough to glow, chances are you may smell it on the other side of the house in a matter of minutes, whereas if you’ve got it on low, it may take 30-45 minutes to volatilize enough material to have a measurable impact in your space. This is PURELY conjecture!

 

[oudcast]

Depends on the temp. At the lower end, I can get in there pretty close and really have some fun, but I can also smell it 70-80cm above? I’ve considered getting a very small, low-powered desk fan to mount above/behind them to help move the aroma around. There’s a high degree of correlation between sub temperature and the aroma’s projection in my experience. Right now there is some pipe tobacco in it and it’s been on a medium-low heat for about an hour, I’m about 2m away from it and it’s one of the most intoxicatingly divine aromas I’ve ever experienced.

We probably need some folks with more experience to chime in, too. I might be about to get run off for spreading outlandish advice!

@Olfactory Nomad

aah makes sense. It is warm inside but there is thick frost on the inside of my windows and the walls are cold. Touching -50C here this weekend apparently.

 

[Oud_Dude]

aah makes sense. It is warm inside but there is thick frost on the inside of my windows and the walls are cold. Touching -50C here this weekend apparently.

Mine is right beside a drafty garage door at -30C. Give her some time.

 

[Oud_Dude]

I’ve been wanting to try this for about a week and a half, now. I used to be WAY into pipe tobacco. It’s not always easy to get rid of old pipe tobacco, but the interesting thing is that, if stored properly, it ages like wine, maturing into a product that most aficionados find sublime. I’d almost forgotten I had mine, bins full, tucked away properly for years. I’ve grabbed a tin foil tray full of an artisanal pipe tobacco blend from here in the US, a burley that has been lightly-cased, I believe, with some cocoa/coffee aromatics.

My goal is to see if I can warm it to the point where it’s giving off all of the wonderful pipe tobacco aromas without any combustion. I’d never really considered this until owning a sub, but now I think I may be able to make use of this stuff after all.

(I also tinctured one of my favorite blends yesterday, too!)

View attachment 52531

This is 100% worth doing if anyone has pipe tobacco lying around. Added to the rotation & incense materials list.

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

Depends on the temp. At the lower end, I can get in there pretty close and really have some fun, but I can also smell it 70-80cm above? I’ve considered getting a very small, low-powered desk fan to mount above/behind them to help move the aroma around. There’s a high degree of correlation between sub temperature and the aroma’s projection in my experience. Right now there is some pipe tobacco in it and it’s been on a medium-low heat for about an hour, I’m about 2m away from it and it’s one of the most intoxicatingly divine aromas I’ve ever experienced.

We probably need some folks with more experience to chime in, too. I might be about to get run off for spreading outlandish advice!

@Olfactory Nomad


Edited to add: I think the distance at which you detect the scent is probably also a factor of how long it’s been allowed to rest at that temp and dissipate. For example, if you’ve got it hot enough to glow, chances are you may smell it on the other side of the house in a matter of minutes, whereas if you’ve got it on low, it may take 30-45 minutes to volatilize enough material to have a measurable impact in your space. This is PURELY conjecture!

Nailed it Padawan. This can also be an exercise in mindfulness and staying in the present.