I'm currently looking into Flora and Fluxo incense to understand these terms, and to see if there is any difference between when these terms are used, and if so what that difference is. As reported in my review of the Hari Om Fluxo, some Indian agabathi makers seem to regard Fluxo as another term for masala incense, though perhaps fatter and richer? Flora named incenses are normally also masala, though I've had some which were perfume-dipped, such as Moksh Swarna Sai Flora Batti. Most Flora is fat and rich, such as Balaji Red Premium Flora Sticks, though some, such as Sagon Sainath Flora Bathi, can be fairly dry and more like a standard masala. When looking back at my reviews of Flora and Fluxo incense I noticed that Supreme was also a term used for fatter and richer masala incense, such as Gokula Vrindavan Supreme, Happy Hari Meena Supreme, and Satya Supreme. On the whole I am tending to the thought that Flora, Fluxo and Supreme are terms generally used for fatter, richer masala incense, though - as is the way with a number of Indian agabathi makers, the terms are sometimes used just for marketing, as with the Moksh, so could be seen as having no more significance than the word "premium".
Some suggestions given to me by various Indian incense makers are that while there is no defined definition or classification of "flora" and "fluxo" (and other terms such as "durbar", "supreme", "absolute", etc), and that each maker will use the terms as they see fit, that a "flora" will tend be a higher quality masala, or that it will contain more halmaddi, or that it will be softer and more refined. Nobody has suggested that the term refers to floral, though I suspect that it links in with a common term in India for masala incense, and that is the term "natural" as "flora" means plants, which is what a masala or natural incense is made from. The terms "natural" or "herbal" seem to me, based partly on anecdotal evidence of the incense I have burned, partly on trawling through Indian incense company brochures and websites, and partly on the research I have done, to be much more frequently used than "masala", which is more common in the West. My observations are (with rare exceptions such as that of the revived Bangalore incense company ELIF who feel that many incense companies do not make proper "flora" incense these days, and who are attempting to recreate the sorts of quality "flora" incense that the founder of ILIF, their father who died recently, used to make) that "flora" has no more significance than "natural", and is just another description for masala incense, and is used to difference incense made from plants from incense made purely from perfume and charcoal.
I've still not quite pinned down exactly what is meant when Indian incense companies describe their sticks as Flora. There appears to be a sense that it means "premium", and that it is highly likely to be a masala style incense, another term with flexible and variable meaning. The main original sense of a masala is that it uses ground natural ingredients - flowers, plants, herbs, woods, resins, spices - for the fragrant ingredients. However, it appears to have long been acceptable to use fragrant oils to supplement the dried ingredients, and while it may originally have been pure, natural essential oils that were used, these days the fragrant oils may be mostly or entirely fragrance oils - that is the oils may be synthetic, or may be essential oils diluted with a carrier such as DEP. The fragrance in some masala style incense may be mostly or even entirely based on fragrance oils, with the stick given a dusting of wood powder to give the appearance of being a traditional masala stick. I say this without pointing any fingers, and without hard evidence - this is just my speculation based on discussions with Indian incense houses, and my experience with a variety of masala style sticks. Anyway - a Flora stick, from my experience, appears to be a stick that is influenced by Sri Sai Flora Fluxo, and will tend to be weighty and rich with oils. However, I have encountered a number of sticks which are termed Flora, which are not weighty, and which may be quite dry. Discussions with Indian incense houses tends to give me the impression that a Flora is regarded as a traditional incense of some quality, though the specifics beyond that vary, so the main sense appears to be "a premium or quality masala style stick". There are no actual scents or ingredients or production methods which appear to define Flora - it appears to be mainly a designation of quality. The preference would be that it is a hand made masala style stick rich and weighty with fragrant oil, but it is up to each incense house to decide themselves what they term a Flora, and how they make it.
I'm becoming aware that most luxury boxes contain "Flora" style incense, and that most "Flora" style incense is sold in luxury style boxes. There is a relationship. At least in India - when Flora style incense is packaged for a Western reseller such as Happy Hari, TOI, or Bhagwan, they use the same packaging as for the rest of their output.
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| Absolute Bliss Bengali Jungle Fluxo Durbar (M) Score: 46 |
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| Balaji Red Premium Flora Sticks (M) Oct 2023 - Score: 46↑ |
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| Milo's Temple Maha Milo (M) Feb 2024 - Score: 45 |
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| Hari Darshan Sandalwood (M) Feb 2024 - Score: 44 |
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| Happy Hari Meena Supreme (M) Score: 44 |
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| Gokula Goloka Supreme (M) Feb 2024 - Score: 45↑ |
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| Happy Hari/Cultures of Eden Darshan Flora (M) Score: 42 |
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| Anand Mayur Flora Fluxo Bathi (M) Nov 2023 - Score: 42↓↓ |
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| ELIF Sunflora (M) Score: 40 |
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| Gokula Gopala Darshan Flora (M) Score: 40 |
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| ELIF Capture Luxury Flora Incense (M) Score: 39 |
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| Rathnams Tanjore Flexo Sticks (M) Score: 39 |
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| Padma Antique Flora Bathi (M) Aug 2023 - Score:38 |
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| Om Brand Sweet Musk Incense Flora Sticks (M) Feb 2024 - Score: 38 |
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| Balaji Om Shree Sai Natural Incense Sticks Score: 35 |
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| Sri Sai Flora Fluxo Incense (M) Score: 36 |
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| Satya Supreme (M) Score: 35 |
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| Hari Om Vishwa Sai (Fluxo Incense) (M) Score: 35 |
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| Moksh Swarna Sai Flora Batti (P) Score: 35 |
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| Gokula Ananda Flora Fluxo (M) Feb 2024 - Score: 34 |
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| Hari Om Fluxo Incense (M) Score: 34 |
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| SAC (Sandesh) Atma Darshan Flora (M) Score: 34 |
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| Goluka Gaura Absolute Cedarwood / Primo Cedarwood (M) Score: 33 |
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| Gokula Vrindavan Supreme (M) Score: 33 |
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| Ganesh Flora by Aargee (M) Score: 32 |
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Feb 2024 - Score: 31 |
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| Hari Om 12/- Mangala Jyothi 3 in 1 Flora Sticks (M) Score: 31 |
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| Gokula Gaura Rose Supreme (M) Score: 30 |
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| Sagun Radhe Shyam Flora Bathi (M) Score: 30 |
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| Sagon Sainath Flora Bathi (M) Score: 28 |
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| Hari Darshan Gold Premium Flora Batti (PM) Nov 2023 - Score: 24 |
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| Sagun Shiv Flora Bathi (M) Score: 21 |
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| Sree Vani Sri Akhand Jaap Flexo Bathi (M) Score: 20 |
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| Different Scents |
For myself, I will define Floras as having a rich, powerful base of halmaddi, vanilla/sandal, and being bigger than Champas. They are not as scent oriented but ambience oriented, filling a room with rich, luxurious, and sweet Champa-like fragrance. Some companies like Padma put out floras with distinctive front loaded scents, but it is Elif that one can look to for a standard of how Floras present. They are more horizontal than vertically scented. This comes from a careful mixing of the base with top notes. I don’t know of any maker of Floras better than Elif. If there are, I’d like to know about them.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, Ho Go, your view of Elif is not widely shared by some of the distributors I have spoken to. I like Elif - not as much as you, but I like the incense, and I certainly like it more than one particular distributor who was rather scathing about the overall quality. I do think, though, that while the incense is decent, the price is not. I like the general ambiance around the brand - I like the packaging, and I like the human story of the family recreating an historic incense that their father used to make. I like that direct link. Though it gets a bit smudgy when it comes to the manufacturing side, as I recall that they don't make the incense themselves.
DeleteAroma is a subjective experience - it is going to be different for each individual, though there will be qualities that are culturally shared, and some of these can possibly be universal. However, it is not going to be possible to create an aroma that everyone will be excited by. It is possible to have an aroma that most people will find pleasant or acceptable; though it will be somewhat bland. Vanilla, magnolia and beige are popular flavours, colours and aromas, though these tend to lack excitement.
Incense makers put together ingredients that they feel will work, and the end result may lack excitement or character, but may be pleasant enough that many people like it. Other times the ingredients may work together for an individual or group of individuals such that they become very excited. This may be incidental (some makers may only have one or two recipes that provoke such a response) or a maker may be sophisticated enough to be aware of a market niche and be able to respond to it, making a number of recipes around the same premise, and with the ability to develop that across a number of ranges. Given that Elif have as yet made very few recipes, and there isn't a wide acceptance of those recipes, it is a little early to say they are the standard for anything. What we can say is that they appear to be earnest and serious about their incense making, and are dedicated to making a success out of what they are doing, and that some people, such as you and me, like them. And even you and I differ in our appreciation of what they do!