Incense in The Wind: Nag Champa

Saturday, 30 May 2015

Nag Champa

An essence from the flower of the champak tree
is a key ingredient in Nag Champa

Nag Champa is not a brand name, it is a scent which belongs to the champa group of floral Indian incense, in this instance using the scent from the flower of the magnolia champaca, or champak tree, from where it gets the "Champa" part of the name. The "Nag" part possibly comes from an Indian name for the flower. In Sanskrit, "naga" means snake or cobra, and some part of the plant is supposed to resemble a snake. Nagraj Setty of Satya claims that the "Nag" part comes from his name, as his father created the scent on the same day that Nagraj was born. It is possible. And it is certainly likely that his father created Nag Champa, as I have not come across any incense company having a Nag Champa incense which predates Satya's Nag Champa. Another theory is that the flower used is from the Nagalinga pushpa or "cannonball tree".

As well as essence of champaca, Nag Champa contains sandalwood as a base ingredient, and individual makers will then add other ingredients. In traditional masala incense, the tree resin halmaddi may be used as a fragrance fixative.

Nag Champa is associated with Satya's Nag Champa in a blue box - it is the world's best selling and most popular incense. Most incense manufacturers will have a Nag Champa as part of their range, but the quality will vary considerably, as will the actual aroma. Some incense enthusiasts feel that the halmaddi resin is an essential ingredient in Nag Champa, though this is not the case. Halmaddi is a traditional fixative in Indian incense manufacture, and will aid the aromatic qualities of the incense in which it is used, in the same way as other fixatives, such as gum Arabic, DEP, or - less commonly - vanilla (famously used by HMS). Enthusiasts may prefer Nag Champa made with halmaddi, but it is not an essential or distinctive ingredient, any more than it would be in Mogra (jasmine) or Chandan (sandalwood) fragrances.

Champa when used alone appears to refer to plumeria or frangipani, a fragrant flowering shrub, rather than the champaca of Nag Champa, which is a plant in the magnolia family, so I assume the Nag part of the name signifies that it is champaca rather than frangipani.

Frangipani (also known as Plumeria) is a waxy, fragrant flower, akin to jasmine and gardenia, with fruity notes. It is generally the scent used if an incense is called Champa. Because of the Champa name, it gets conflated with Nag Champa, though Nag Champa generally uses Magnolia champaca - however, this is a general usage, and Nag Champas may use frangipani and/or other related floral scents according to the whim of the maker.

Reviews

* = Review over five years old so may not be reliable