DIY Incense - Let's Learn Together

[Green Dragon]

Thanks @Mr.P that is good info to know. Do you think that a water soak for 48 hours would benefit processing these by drawing out some water soluble gums?

 

[Mr.P]

Thanks @Mr.P that is good info to know. Do you think that a water soak for 48 hours would benefit processing these by drawing out some water soluble gums?

interesting question, I have no idea!

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

Processing Quality Materials

Having been quite busy with work and life in general, I finally was able to spend some time this weekend in the garage working on a new incense blend. I have been universally disappointed with the performance of pre-ground agarwood purchased from various vendors. To address this I recently procured a variety of agarwood chips from Aromology that I intend to grind myself to make incense stick blends. I decided to start with the “Hainan Oud Super Double” chips. These are very resinous and produce a spicy, earthy scent when heated.

Being too large to fit into my spice grinder, I carefully wrapped the chips in a piece of paper, the proceeded to beat them with a five pound hammer like they owed me money. Next I poured the now small, soft, and extremely fragrant chips into the coffee grinder and pulsed carefully to not overheat the wood. This resulted in a very course, sticky mixture the texture of rough sand. I transferred this to a mortar and pestle and attempted to further reduce the particle size, without success. It was too gummy and sticky to work with. I transferred the mix back to the grinder and added an equal portion of Makko powder to try to bind up some of the resins and gum. This did help and I was able to reduce the particle size some more and the mix was less sticky. I was not, however, able to reduce it to as fine a powder as I would have liked.

The Blend: 2 parts Agarwood powder, 1 part Rosewood, 2 parts Toh Makko, ½ part charcoal. I was happy with the resulting sticks and incense trails from this blend. The smoke produced smelled very close to the scent of the raw chips when heated.

Conclusions and Lessons Learned:
1) The powdered agarwood that I have purchased so far has to have been made from either spent charge wood, inferior quality oud, and/or a large amount of white wood added. I can think of no other way they could produce non-sticky, incredibly fine powder that, frankly, does not produce much scent.
2) Adding a base powder to the grinding process to absorb excess resins etc. did help to a certain extent. I may purchase more inexpensive agarwood powder just as an additive to future grinding sessions.
3) Try freezing next. As with whole resins (frankincense, myrrh, etc.) I will assume freezing the resins in agarwood will help in the grinding process. In graduate school we used to flash-freeze plant tissues with liquid Nitrogen to aid in powdering samples. I don’t have access to liquid N2 at the moment, but the grocery store does sell dry ice, which I think is worth a try.

When buying agarwood that's already been powdered it's practically impossible to know just what you have in front of you. It could be anything as you (and I ) have discovered the hard way. Having a reputable seller is the only way around this other than powdering it yourself. I can recommend Apothecary's Garden for ground agarwood powder that is affordable.

Agarwood Powder-Grade A-SUSTAINABLE! - Apothecary's Garden

Grade A Agarwood powder with a classic, sensuous and comforting aroma. Prepared from sustainable, Grade A Plantation-grown Aquilaria Crassna Agarwood It has the signature sweet aroma that distinguishes Crassna Agarwood and burns beautifully and steadily on its own when lit. This makes it...

apothecarysgarden.com

 

[Nathan]

I have some resources for incense making on my website.

 

[Nathan]

Processing Quality Materials

Having been quite busy with work and life in general, I finally was able to spend some time this weekend in the garage working on a new incense blend. I have been universally disappointed with the performance of pre-ground agarwood purchased from various vendors. To address this I recently procured a variety of agarwood chips from Aromology that I intend to grind myself to make incense stick blends. I decided to start with the “Hainan Oud Super Double” chips. These are very resinous and produce a spicy, earthy scent when heated.

Being too large to fit into my spice grinder, I carefully wrapped the chips in a piece of paper, the proceeded to beat them with a five pound hammer like they owed me money. Next I poured the now small, soft, and extremely fragrant chips into the coffee grinder and pulsed carefully to not overheat the wood. This resulted in a very course, sticky mixture the texture of rough sand. I transferred this to a mortar and pestle and attempted to further reduce the particle size, without success. It was too gummy and sticky to work with. I transferred the mix back to the grinder and added an equal portion of Makko powder to try to bind up some of the resins and gum. This did help and I was able to reduce the particle size some more and the mix was less sticky. I was not, however, able to reduce it to as fine a powder as I would have liked.

The Blend: 2 parts Agarwood powder, 1 part Rosewood, 2 parts Toh Makko, ½ part charcoal. I was happy with the resulting sticks and incense trails from this blend. The smoke produced smelled very close to the scent of the raw chips when heated.

Conclusions and Lessons Learned:
1) The powdered agarwood that I have purchased so far has to have been made from either spent charge wood, inferior quality oud, and/or a large amount of white wood added. I can think of no other way they could produce non-sticky, incredibly fine powder that, frankly, does not produce much scent.
2) Adding a base powder to the grinding process to absorb excess resins etc. did help to a certain extent. I may purchase more inexpensive agarwood powder just as an additive to future grinding sessions.
3) Try freezing next. As with whole resins (frankincense, myrrh, etc.) I will assume freezing the resins in agarwood will help in the grinding process. In graduate school we used to flash-freeze plant tissues with liquid Nitrogen to aid in powdering samples. I don’t have access to liquid N2 at the moment, but the grocery store does sell dry ice, which I think is worth a try.

Even woods that would be decent on a heater can be rough in incense. It seems that, unlike sandalwood, the white wood in agarwood doesn't contain enough oil in order to prevent it from smelling like burnt paper when combusted, so even woods with rather a lot of resin can be rough in a stick. As an example: I think you'd be hard-pressed to say that the wood in Yi-Xin's recent batch of Brunei sticks is low quality, yet, there is that characteristic acrid note (presumably) from the white wood. And this in a stick that is resinated such that it keeps going out. I did an experiment with some skins from Crassna Khmer. While it was, in my opinion, better than their powder, it still wasn't outstanding. I think you definitely have to use agarwood more like a spice in stick incense, especially when it has a lot of white wood.

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

Even woods that would be decent on a heater can be rough in incense. It seems that, unlike sandalwood, the white wood in agarwood doesn't contain enough oil in order to prevent it from smelling like burnt paper when combusted, so even woods with rather a lot of resin can be rough in a stick. As an example: I think you'd be hard-pressed to say that the wood in Yi-Xin's recent batch of Brunei sticks is low quality, yet, there is that characteristic acrid note (presumably) from the white wood. And this in a stick that is resinated such that it keeps going out. I did an experiment with some skins from Crassna Khmer. While it was, in my opinion, better than their powder, it still wasn't outstanding. I think you definitely have to use agarwood more like a spice in stick incense, especially when it has a lot of white wood.

Good points. Or, as the OP has done, purchase clean chips and powder it yourself. At least that way you know ratio's of resinated wood to white wood. it's a shame when quite expensive sticks end up smelling acrid because of that. Recent example for myself is the Dreams of Malinau sticks from Kangiiten. Awful stick to burn. Nothing but burnt notes throught the whole stick. However, heating the stick on my sub has instead produced a stunning scent.

 

[Nathan]

as the OP has done, purchase clean chips and powder it yourself.

This is what I did in my experiment. It was an improvement. The chips also broke down very finely with little trouble in my large Chinese spice grinder.

Recent example for myself is the Dreams of Malinau sticks from Kangiiten. Awful stick to burn.

Yes, I must admit I have been quite surprised by the Kyara Zen sticks I've tried. I know neither of these are high-resin agarwood sticks, but Mystery of the Goose Pear is, to me, mostly a pretty flat low-grade agarwood note with all of the acrid notes that entails, and Rippling Orris (not an agarwood stick at all) has a very dry, Tibetan, campfire-like fragrance and I don't get much of the orris coming through at all. These are the first two of his I have tried and they're not really to my taste. I have bought a fair few sticks from Yi-Xin, however, and I really enjoy the vast majority of his work. I was also very impressed with Lijiali's Butterfly Spring Incense.

 

[Green Dragon]

@Nathan thank you for the link. I discovered (and devoured) your websites last month! Unfortunately I’d already ordered most of my supplies before then. Although there was some overlap (AG, SOE, and TID). Also from this and other recent experiments I agree that agarwood seems to demand treatment as a spice in combustion blends. Also, I think that the more resinous pieces tend to have that more acrid bite to them versus samples that are more oily in nature. I recently tried some pricy shoyeido agarwood sticks that were truly awful.

This is supported by some experiments I ran this weekend with some Loblolly Pine. The bark was smooth and warm smelling, the regular wood soft and light, but the fat wood was very unpleasant, bitter and acrid. I want to try soaking some of the powdered fat wood to remove water soluble gum components and see if that helps. I suspect it will as cheaper powered agarwood and sandalwood leftover from distillations do not seem to have that bitter quality.

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

This is what I did in my experiment. It was an improvement. The chips also broke down very finely with little trouble in my large Chinese spice grinder.

Yes, I must admit I have been quite surprised by the Kyara Zen sticks I've tried. I know neither of these are high-resin agarwood sticks, but Mystery of the Goose Pear is, to me, mostly a pretty flat low-grade agarwood note with all of the acrid notes that entails, and Rippling Orris (not an agarwood stick at all) has a very dry, Tibetan, campfire-like fragrance and I don't get much of the orris coming through at all. These are the first two of his I have tried and they're not really to my taste. I have bought a fair few sticks from Yi-Xin, however, and I really enjoy the vast majority of his work. I was also very impressed with Lijiali's Butterfly Spring Incense.

Mystery of the Goose Pear is one I had been looking at to maybe purchase so thankyou for stopping me spending my money on that one. 😉 I also own Rippiling Orris and agree with you 100%. Not a nice stick. Don't let those put you off Kangiiten sticks however. I have many more from KZ that are just sublime. Give Dreams of Merauke a go. You won't be disappointed in those, I promise.
@Green Dragon, can I ask which of the Shoyeido sticks you wern't happy with? That is a surprise.

 

[Nathan]

the fat wood was very unpleasant, bitter and acrid. I want to try soaking some of the powdered fat wood to remove water soluble gum components

This is interesting; I don't think I've encountered this pine before. I was under the impression that pine resins didn't have a gum component, but I may be wrong about that. As you might have seen on my site, washing sure does help with some types of frankincense though.

It could be that the material was too fresh also. I hear that there can be a volatile turpentine component that lessens over time with pine.

 

[Nathan]

Give Dreams of Merauke a go.

Didn't you say above that this was a rough stick? Or do you mean on the heater?

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

Didn't you say above that this was a rough stick? Or do you mean on the heater?

No, that was Dreams of Malinau. Kangiiten has a whole "Dreams" series.

 

[Green Dragon]

@Olfactory Nomad it was the Gentle Smile Misho. Very harsh - I had to put it out after a minute. To be fair it was a sample vial, so it’s possible it wasn’t the genuine article. Also, sorry for the delayed reply - just spent 3 hrs and an obscene amount of money at the emergency vet.

 

[Green Dragon]

This is interesting; I don't think I've encountered this pine before. I was under the impression that pine resins didn't have a gum component, but I may be wrong about that. As you might have seen on my site, washing sure does help with some types of frankincense though.

It could be that the material was too fresh also. I hear that there can be a volatile turpentine component that lessens over time with pine.

Yes, your post on washing frankincense is what gave me the idea to try washing the pine.

Loblolly is the predominate pine tree planted in the south east due to its fast growth rate. They are clearing a lot near me for new houses so I took the opportunity to procure some samples. Fat wood is what we call the wood at the base of the tree that is full of resin that protects the tree and roots from rot. It’s also the main part they use to distill to make pine tar and turpentine. My goal is to make a series of sticks using our native trees starting with the pine. I ground cones, limbs, bark, and fat wood separately and have been experimenting with different ratios. My first batch smelled great until I added too much fat wood and it turned bitter and soapy smelling. Will try again this weekend.

 

[Olfactory Nomad]

@Olfactory Nomad it was the Gentle Smile Misho. Very harsh - I had to put it out after a minute. To be fair it was a sample vial, so it’s possible it wasn’t the genuine article. Also, sorry for the delayed reply - just spent 3 hrs and an obscene amount of money at the emergency vet.

Wow! Super surprised. I love Gentle Smile. Misho sits in the middle forward of the premium range.

 

[Shiningrobes]

I have some resources for incense making on my website.

Omg an actual blog! Bookmarked!!

 

[Nathan]

No, that was Dreams of Malinau. Kangiiten has a whole "Dreams" series.

Right enough, I mustn't be seeing straight today haha. I'll give it a go!

 

[Nathan]

Yes, your post on washing frankincense is what gave me the idea to try washing the pine.

Loblolly is the predominate pine tree planted in the south east due to its fast growth rate. They are clearing a lot near me for new houses so I took the opportunity to procure some samples. Fat wood is what we call the wood at the base of the tree that is full of resin that protects the tree and roots from rot. It’s also the main part they use to distill to make pine tar and turpentine. My goal is to make a series of sticks using our native trees starting with the pine. I ground cones, limbs, bark, and fat wood separately and have been experimenting with different ratios. My first batch smelled great until I added too much fat wood and it turned bitter and soapy smelling. Will try again this weekend.

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I love it! Super cool to use native aromatics—I hope you'll continue to keep us updated! It's something I'd like to get more into as well. Speaking of, The World Makes Scents has started processing wild-harvested resins in house (although it seems like they are sold out just now): spruce and ponderosa pine. Dave gave me a sample of the spruce; I finally got around to putting some on the heater not too long ago and I was really impressed with the fragrance. It's not super hard though, so it seems tricky to use in incense if you're only making small batches: I know he just throws a chunk into his big powerful grinders with all of the other ingredients when he needs to use it in a batch of sticks.

But yes, I've actually had some wild-harvested fatwood sitting in a drawer for years now; I haven't touched it because I didn't have the equipment to grind it for a long time. I should throw some into my Chinese spice grinder and play with it a bit.

 

[Green Dragon]

It will split vertically fairly easily if there are no knots in it. I processed mine down into sticks slightly smaller in diameter to a pencil by just tapping gently with a hatchet, then used some wire cutters to process it into chips about the size of a pencil eraser. It made an unholy gummy mess in the spice grinder, so I added some pine bark to "dry" it up, and that helped a lot.

Also, here is the recipe that inspired me to try to make an all native pine stick.

 

[Mr.P]

I love it! Super cool to use native aromatics—I hope you'll continue to keep us updated! It's something I'd like to get more into as well. Speaking of, The World Makes Scents has started processing wild-harvested resins in house (although it seems like they are sold out just now): spruce and ponderosa pine. Dave gave me a sample of the spruce; I finally got around to putting some on the heater not too long ago and I was really impressed with the fragrance. It's not super hard though, so it seems tricky to use in incense if you're only making small batches: I know he just throws a chunk into his big powerful grinders with all of the other ingredients when he needs to use it in a batch of sticks.

But yes, I've actually had some wild-harvested fatwood sitting in a drawer for years now; I haven't touched it because I didn't have the equipment to grind it for a long time. I should throw some into my Chinese spice grinder and play with it a bit.

I thought the aroma of Douglas fir fat wood was just amazing and I saved a couple of sticks of it. I used to burn that in an outdoor fire pit because it was very inexpensive and I loved splitting that wood and finding the fragrant oily pockets. The wood was resin and oil soaked, consistency a bit like kinam - glutinous, pliable and very sweet in aroma. Of course the scent was more along the lines of a very pleasant version of pine, pine oil based cleaning products but somehow without the harsh/industrial facet. Kind of thing I just love to bury my nose in. I tried making a tincture, the result did not have a great balance between stickiness and aroma and I never really gave it much use. The combusted aroma was pleasant but it didn't really deliver the aspect that I liked the most in the fresh wood.