#incense journal

[theburntleaf]

Three Kings : incense for Epiphany, an experiment in melting and blending resins

I tried a new method to compose this incense:

I froze the frankincense and myrrh resins and then proceeded to grind them thoroughly. When they were mostly broken up, I put the powder in a small glass dish added some very high proof alcohol and melted the resins over a pot of water on the stove. After they were mostly dissolved, I added in golden sweet birch bark to get fully coated in the mixture. I let this sit on the stove for a little while longer to evaporate some of the alcohol but needed it to still be slightly wet to get everything out of the glass. I transferred it to a silicon mat and then put it in an oven vacuum chamber to render off the last of the alcohol. As the resins reconstitute they come together as one and consume the birch bark in a hard resinous coating.

If I were to critique my experiment, I would say I perhaps rushed the melting a bit. The final product still has some little chunks of clearly separate frankincense and myrrh, so I should either let it melt longer on the stove or maybe ground them finer… or the way it is might end up having some good dynamics so it could be just fine but not exactly what I intended. It also came out a bit more granulated, where I was hoping for a good solid chunk of resin to create pastilles but that is just a ratio issue so this will have to be a lovely loose blend… more resins next time!

[theburntleaf]

Our housemate asked me for an incense he can burn over his wood stove, something earthy/woody, a bit spicy, and he’s a really big fan of hive scents so I put together this little blend for him:

2 t juniper berry, 1 t cardamom, 1 rough t sage, 1/4 t balsam fir wood, 1/8 t sandal wood, 1/2 t opopanax, 1 t propolis, 1/2 t bees wax, and a touch of honey dissolved water. To better bind everything together I put this mix over the wood stove for just a moment at a time kneading between to melt the wax and some of the resin. It’s let to dry and though he’ll probably use this right away I bet some curing time would add some complexity.

But on a quick test heated over the stove it smells delicious and extremely sweet. It hits you with caramel notes from the juniper berry and opopanax, the brightness of the cardamom, the musk of sage and sandal, with undertones of bees wax and freshly uncapped honey.

[theburntleaf]

Quick blend // melted resins experiment

I wanted to give our housemate a new scent to try that was completely different from the last so I went ahead and took a floral direction for this blend meant to be warmed over the wood stove. Since the florals are delicate I thought having them completely coated in resin would serve better than a completely loose blend. To accomplish this I powdered my resins and put the bowl in a boiling water bath. When they started to melt I added the rose tincture and covered. It melted into a goopy blob.

[1.5 tsp copal oro, 1/2 tsp frankincense, 1/4 tsp propolis, 1 tbs rose tincture]

While the resins were melting I mixed up my dry blend keeping things pretty rough except for the sweet annie which I powdered with a sift.

[1 tbs rose, 1 tsp lavender flower, 1/2 tsp lavender leaf, 1 tsp lilac flower, 1.5 tsp sweet annie, some wax shavings]

I slowly added the dry flowers to the melted resin mixture quickly stirring them together until I had a big sticky ball of incense. Wearing gloves I pulled the ball apart to make little nuggets/pastilles. They were getting hard to separate because of how sticky it still was so I popped it in the freezer. It hardened nicely and I was able to break it up some more and ended up with just the right amount I was trying to make (to fill a 1oz tin). I really enjoy this method of making loose incense, a lot of complaints in my incense group is people find their stuff to be to burnt smelling, but I think preparing them with the resins fully coating the plant matter will really buffer the heat and diffuses the aroma better.

We haven’t had a fire yet it was a crazy 50f yesterday, but a cold day today. He’ll get one going and we’ll report back on the scent though I’m already betting this will be a good one.

[theburntleaf]

Experiment in formulation

The First Signs of Spring

One of the first signs that winter is ending locally is sugar season. The longer days paired with temperatures above freezing during the day and below at night triggers the sap production in the Maple tree. But the Maple is not the only tree this time of year filling its buds with sticky sap and resin, the Balsam Poplar is also a signifier of spring. Saplings flaunt their buds, distinct sharp and red against the brown and white hues of the winter landscapes, while their taller parents drop fragile branches in harsh spring winds. A powerful aromatic, it’s a signature fragrance when the buds break to leaves and wafts in the warm spring air. But before they do a few are collected, usually infused in oils to make a salve, but I’m excited to expand working with this local spring ally.

Balsam Poplar and Sugar Maple

blend #1 : I wanted to start this exploration with something extremely simple but this also captures quintessential spring here in northern Vermont. I was inspired by a day collecting balsam poplar buds coming home to stoke the fire with a pot of maple sap boiling above.

Test recipe: 1 3/4 tsp sugar maple wood powder, 1/4 tsp balsam poplar buds, 1/16 tsp guar gum, 1/4 tsp maple syrup, 2 tsp water

yield: 5 sticks ≈ 4 inches long, 4 mm thick

I’ve been apprehensive to work with the balsam poplar buds because how sticky they are but after being dried and frozen they were easier to work with than I thought. I was able to grind the buds and return them to the freezer still in the mortar and then process them some more repeating until I had a nice powder to work with. Mixed with the maple woods, binder, and water/syrup the dough was nice and sticky and wet, easy to work with and run through the extruder to make a few skinny sticks.

Now I’ve admitted before that I’m not the biggest fan of the smell of balsam poplar but I’m not letting that deter me from trying it in a new way. I’m interested in formulating more complex blends but I wanted to use this simple recipe as a learning experience and foundation to build off of.

Test burn: the stick burnt with no issues, I was unsure how it would react with the amount of maple syrup used but it was perfect, not too fast and no needing to relight. The smoke was steady and pleasant not over bearing but still generous. The aroma was true to the warm and moist temperament of the balsam poplar. It has saccharine, cinnamon brown sugar top note with a hint of syrupy burnt wood that is enveloped by the scent of kneeling at church pew, resinous, balsamic and woody, frankincense and propolis, pungent, a bit musky with traces of sour wine. There is a mustard like tang (notes a friend), and the smell of dried saliva on skin. The wood base carried the aromatics of this blend exceptionally, whether it be from how they complimented each other or the sure will power of the balsam poplar to shine through but I was glad the fragrance wasn’t lost under a charred wood smell. I also am happy (and pleasantly surprised) with the ratio of poplar buds, it was enough to still be potent but not so much that I actually was able to enjoy its scent quite a lot and if anything I would add a touch more in the next batch. The incense had character giving off different notes as is burnt down the stick but I’m excited to expand on this recipe. I wouldn’t say there was a distinct maple aroma (like boiling sap), but the sweetness is notable and I think a helpful balance complimenting the poplar.

burn time ≈ 20 mins

For future crafting my first thought for companions were: cinnamon, honey, tobacco, benzoin, propolis

I asked the group of incense crafters for recommended companions so I also might try blending with some of these (their suggestions): lungwort, pine (&conifer) needles, rosemary, clove, vanilla, allspice, cardamom, frankincense, blackberry leaf, mullein

I’m also interested in making a tincture of poplar buds for perfume... perhaps even an absolute. I’ve been told that even after tincturing, the buds are potent enough to use again for incense so why not do both?! (posts on all of that to come!)

[theburntleaf]

Formula: Smoke of the Lych-Gate* // The blossoms of tobacco comprise the foundational substance for a Greater Fumigant of the Mighty Dead, rendering the Angel in exalted form, and giving rise to a sacrament of high esteem. Let it be made by such as who entreat the plant, sparing neither effort nor patience in its making. Take a quantity of fresh flowers and put them into a small stone jar, as many as it will hold, and cover them while with strongest Spirits of Cane. Let this preparations steep undisturbed, for the length of one Moon, in darkness. at the same time, dry a great quantity of these flowers together with a small amount of green leaves, by way of patience, warmth, and the benefits of good air. When the floral tincture has ripen’d, filter and discard the mortua. Take all dried flowers and leaves, and shred them fine, moistening them in a bowl with the Extract of Tobacco-Blossom. This mixture is then allowed to dry and fortified once again. Do this as many times as you will, for potency’s sake. The fortified flowers and leaves are burned loose upon hot coal, or ground into powder, pressed into cakes. As a powder, it forms the First Matter of many hallow’d preparations of Art. - from Viridarium Umbris by Daniel Schulke

This excerpt has inspired an experiment on working with tobacco flower for incense.

Jasmine scented tobacco, nicotiana alta, has an intoxicating, sweet, indolic, flower shop aroma. I chose this species to work with because it’s my one of my favorites and it offers an long flush of heavily scented blooms even with our short growing season. The flowers synchronize the effusion of their aroma with the emergence of their symbiotic partners, moths and other nighttime pollinators; meaning, they are best harvested in the evening (and on some cloudy days). I’ve also noticed the flowers take their time to fully emit their scent, so each is carefully chosen before being picked. The plants are offered mugwort smoke and left with plenty of flowers for the critters (and to make seeds for next year!).

(flower of nicotiana alta)

I have made the assumption “Spirits of Cane” to be alcohol made from cane sugar, aka… Rum (or possibly Cachaça). Though I would have preferred to get 151, being the ”strongest”, the local store didn’t have any. But because I’m using this as a perfume, I was thinking the higher proof alcohol content would lend to a better extraction. I debated spiking the rum with a 95% abv grain spirit, but decided against the adulteration. Hopefully the lesser rum will be as sufficient (I’m not dissolving any heavy resins so it should be ok).

My plan deviates a bit from excerpt’s prescription and will include multiple charges for an indulgent saturated extraction. The first soak was started right after the new moon, so that will be a good time marker. They will sit in the alcohol until the moon is full, when they will be evaluated to assess whether the flowers sit for two weeks longer or if they should be refreshed with new blossoms. Then I’ll repeat the process for the rest of the blooming season which should take me into September, allowing for 2-4 charges.

(who has a stone jar… not me)

For the leaves I’ll be harvesting smoking tobacco, nicotiana tabacum. And since I haven’t attempted tobacco fermentation quite yet, dried and cured leaves will make do. The leaves (of smoking tobacco) and flowers (of both plants) will be dried and then soaked with the extract. But I’ll have to add on to this post later in the season.

(big cluster of n. tabacum, two small n. alta in the back)

I could see the saturated tobacco being used to improve this blend for the death season, and to accompany burial rites/offerings. And I’m sure it will find its way into other experiments and formula. I might try using the flower extract to impregnate other materials with the fragrance to avoid burning tobacco leaf. Perhaps I’ll try blending a liquid perfume. If the alcohol content was higher (using 151 or a rum/grain blend) I could try making incense papers or ropes in the future. But the experiments to follow will be noted!

* Lych-gate: “A covered gate, usually at the entrance to a churchyard. The term lych evolved from the Saxon word for corpse, and the lych gate was traditionally a place where corpse bearers caried the body of a deceased person and laid it on a communal bier. The priest would then carry out the first part of a burial ceremony under the shelter of the lych gate roof. Lych gates are usually of wood, and thus subject to decay. For that reason many are fairly modern reconstructions of much older timber covered gateways. They are traditionally roofed with wooden or clay tiles, or thatch.”[from Britain express]

[theburntleaf]

A one off blend I’m making as a gift for a friend… They are a fan of florals and vanilla (I wish I had some benzoin :() so I am taking inspiration from an already formulated loose incense blend (not my own) and translating it for stick incense and adding some personalized tweaks. I probably won’t make this exact blend again but perhaps something similar.

2 tbs cherry wood was soaked with 1 tbs tobacco flower rum and let to sit while I ground and sifted together: 1 1/4 tsp rose, 1/8 tsp frankincense, 1/4 tsp copal oro, 1/2 tsp lavender, 1/4 tsp cardamom, 1/8 tsp sage, 1/8 white sandal and when I tested the blend I thought it could use more rose so I included an additional 3/4 tsp bringing the total to 2. Satisfied I mixed this in to the wood powder and sifted into that 1 tsp marshmallow root and 1/16 guar for binding. 1 tbs water, 1 tsp elderberry mead, 1/4 tsp organic vanilla extract was used to wet the blend and I also wet my hands before kneading the dough. I left it to rest in the fridge for a few hours before attempting extrusion.

I could already tell by the constancy that skinny sticks were most likely out of the picture so I didn’t even attempt it. Instead I tried the thick nozzle attachment for my extruder to give it a try…but my attempt was unsuccessful. My wood powder is just too course to form a fine enough dough for extrusion. But I’m not afraid of hand rolling, and after some more thought cones might be easier for my friend to use, so I made more of those and just a couple sticks.

A test cone confirmed a steady and complete burn. (success) In all honesty I’m struggling a bit to describe the fragrance (which is bringing back the need to really start a fragrance journal)… but it’s really nice at least. The cherry wood definitely takes dominance, frankincense shines through, and the more bodacious base notes from the rose but not bright and rosey as the other cherry and rose based incense previously made… will report back if the gift recipient has anything to remark about it’s scent or if I am inspired anymore mulling it over.

[theburntleaf]

Aromatic exploration

A part of the incense class I am taking focuses on aesthetic formulation using fragrance notes and a homework assignment is to burn 5-10 aromatics individually to analysis their scents and determine the notes and dominance. I decided to pick three (of each) herbs, resins, and woods to work with.

*(the end note is my post experiment research on what note/fragrance is generally assigned to each material)*

Part 1: Herbs

Mugwort: dried (but not burnt) the aroma is very fresh akin to green tea, herbaceous and somewhat sweet. On charcoal the smoke has a similar qualities starting very green. It quickly becomes carbonous almost harsh; however, it is still light enough to be generally pleasant. It leaves a typical smoky scent that lingers. I would feel the smoke would categorize as a top note perhaps adding some to the middle. Though lacking in a strong distinct aroma, it defiently has strong body: producing thick beautiful smoke and even self burns (like a cone incense) when lit with just a lighter so I think it would add incredible benefits to certain blends. (Mugwort is classified as a middle note in perfumery)

Yarrow flower: burned on the charcoal the flower quickly releases as fleeting floral sweet aroma, a subtle representation of its fresh scent. The herbaceous smoky scent takes over, compared to mugwort it doesn’t have quite as much of a bite and is a softer smoke. The distinct scent of this herb comes out in the top note, but over all in a blend I feel it would be a suitable middle note. I would like to revisit this experiment with yarrow by using a heating method rather than combustion and maybe using leaf material too. (Stay tuned.) (Yarrow is classified as a mid-base note; however the essential oil smells much different than the smoke.)

Juniper berries: not technically a herb but for the sake of the experiment it’s where the material best fits. The smoke from the ground berries on charcoal was very complex and stimulating. It has a prominent pine like top note which dissolves into a middle note with woody qualities. The burn concludes with a caramel aroma, sweet and heavy, a good base note. The smoke is very smooth and pleasant. I think the addition of the berries in a blend would add lots of interesting points but would dominate in the middle note. (Juniper berry is typically a top note)

[theburntleaf]

Processing Woods for Making Incense

Branches are collected (ritually on Tuesdays) from recently felled or windswept trees, as they are mostlikely to be partialy dry but not yet rotten. Green wood is sometimes collected but it has to be dried.

Branches are split with a hatchet which makes breaking down the peices with hand clippers much easier than going at the whole round branch. The small chips are then ground in a coffee grinder. (Green wood can be broken down but has to dry before going to the ginder)

The resulting powdered wood is sifted and returned to the grinder. After a few times sifting and grinding two grades of wood powder are left. A more granulated wood for use in loose incense blends and a more fine powder hopefully suitable for cones and sticks.

I am hoping to upgrade my coffee grinder and see if I can improve the final product, getting more fine powder without having to stress the machine. But pleasantly surprised with what I have. Wanting to use the most local ingredients that I can in the incense I create, means having to process most of the wood I will use this way. It’s a tedious process but I feel worth the investment. In browsing suppliers it looks like I can purchase some powdered black birch, betula lenta, and black cherry, prunus serotonia but there is not much commercially available for local materials. I’m sure some sustainably sourced aloes or sandal might find their way into a few of my blends but I’m really looking forward to creating with the local woods.

pictured: white pine