Surya Sampler Darbari

 

A new company for me - Surya is an American company founded by the adventurous and attractive Sita Sharan, who heard about the guru Neem Karoli Baba in 1970, and went out to India to meet him. In 1996 she founded Surya, importing incense into America, and donating 10% of the profits to widows in the sacred city of Vrindavan, which was once the home of Krishna, and is the place many Indian women go to after their husbands die, as they feel safer there, begging from pilgrims or singing devotional songs in the temples for small payments.

As with many Western based incense companies, the Indian makers of this incense are not revealed. The West is a promising market for Indian incense makers, but it is difficult to break into without contacts or money. So, deals such as anonymously making incense for a Western company is the next best thing. And it makes clear business sense for the Western company not to reveal who their source is because other companies may approach their source. It's a shame, though, that proper contracts can't be drawn up which gives the Western company exclusive rights in certain markets, and allows  the Indian makers to be named and known, so they don't remain invisible, and can take more credit and benefit for their work. 

This is a sampler pack containing five different fragrances (a "Royal Bouquet") containing three champa scents (flowers in the plumeria family) including nag champa (the flower of magnolia champaca), one jasmine scent, and one called Maharaja, which connects to the royal theme. The description says the incenses are a "Natural blend of Ayurvedic herbs & aromatic botanical extracts". The "natural blend" is awkward English; I assume the term is intended to highlight  the masala nature of the incense, as masala incense is often termed "natural" in India to emphasise that the ingredients are largely unaltered or unprocessed, to differentiate it from perfumed or "perfumed dipped" incense, which uses perfumes derived from chemicals such as Benzyl Salicylate, Limonene, Geraniol, Linalool, Coumarin, Citronellol, Eugenol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, and Benzyl Benzoate (which are among the ingredients of Chanel No. 5). There are advantages and disadvantages to perfumed incense same as there are advantages and disadvantages to natural incense.  Some people prefer perfume scents for their modernity, flexibility, sharpness, weight, cleanness, range, etc; while others prefer natural scents for their purity, association with ancient tradition, connection with nature, etc. Me, I'm kind of in both camps. I wear essential oils (patchouli has been my favourite since my teens), but I also use modern deodorants as well as the occasional modern scent, such as Givenchy (which, of course, contains patchouli). Ideologically I favour nature and tradition, and natural/masala  scents tend to be the ones that dominate the top of my Wall of Fame, though I still enjoy perfumed scents. 

The sampler group is termed Darbari. The word "darbari" is normally used in relation to Ragi Darbari - a "royal" collection of ragas or musical moods. The royal connection coming from durbar being a Persian term for a royal court. When applied to incense the term appears to have connections with royalty or refined or best or premium, and it is likely (though not certain) that a durbar incense may be floral, likely rose as that is the royal flower. So here I think Darbari is being used as a play on royal to match the description of "Royal Bouquet", with one scent called Royal Champa, while another is called Maharaja  (great king), and also making a connection to music at the same time. It's an attractive connection of flowers, music and royalty....

 

The Jasmine is a little sharp on the stick - there is the sense of a waxy, heady jasmine scent, though it's just a little too concentrated on the stick, with enough volatility to indicate this is some form of fragrance or essential oil. It's a proper hand rolled charcoal paste on a machine-cut green-dyed bamboo splint, then coated in a woolly noorva powder. I'm still not entirely clear on the name and purpose of melnoorva or noorva powder. At this point, it appears that melnoorva powder is a wood powder used to coat damp fragrant paste on finished joss sticks to prevent them gluing together as they dry, while noorva powder is a fragrant powder used to coat an otherwise mostly non-fragrant damp paste - and the main scent comes from the noorva powder.  

It's a little woody on the burn, then gently settles into jasmine underscored with woody notes. There's the woolly warmth of halmaddi. It's a pleasing, warm, gentle, fragrant scent - quite uplifting, though in a calm, settled manner. Uplifting as in positive thoughts rather than energy. It quickly but non-aggressively informs a medium size room, and lingers pleasantly for a while afterwards. All in all this is a good incense, a decent everyday masala that I'd be very happy to burn again.  I like it. 

Score:  30 

 

The Maharaja has been quickly and crudely hand rolled onto a machine-cut green-dyed bamboo splint. The charcoal paste is soft and slightly moist. The scent on the stick is fruity (dark fruits, cherry sweet, blackberry sharp) and mildly volatile with warm sandalwood undertones. It's warm, attractive, and slightly sexy. 

It is a woody burn, slightly smoky, though it gently informs the room with a soothing and pleasant warmth. It does burn a little hot and fast now and again - perhaps the blend needs adjusting; and that heat and speed may indicate why it is a little more smoky and basic woody without the fruity qualities on the stick: the combustible material is burning the fragrant ingredients too quickly, not allowing them to reveal themselves. Another batch may burn differently. This is pleasant, but on the whole is modest everyday masala, and is unlikely, in this formulation, to be something I would buy again.  

Maharaja is an occasional name that makers use for their incense, though it is not very common, and combined with the green tips, I wondered if I could track down who makes these sticks. I found Incense Sampler and  Moondance branded examples (other Maharaja named incense didn't have green tips), which look similar, and suggests that the company behind these sticks are a private label, such as Fair Trade. 

Score:  26 

 

The Nag Champa is another that has been crudely rolled - the charcoal paste is soft, though more dry than moist, and crumbles to fine powder under the fingers. I'm thinking that the fragrances on these sticks are OK - nothing particularly special, but quite decent; however, the formulations are not quite right, and are not allowing the fragrances to fully display themselves. The scent on the stick is floral and fruity with some sharp elements which flutter around, sometimes cat pee, sometimes kumquat. The whole is underscored and surrounded by creamy sandalwood, with tobacco elements similar to St Julien Empire Blend which I found in The Mother's Sattva and Koya's Nirvana. It's perhaps more interesting than delightful, and will be something that could divide opinion. I like it. It's kind of an interesting variation on the Nag Champa scent - less floral, and more fruity, though with the typical creamy sandalwood at the base. 
As with the Maharaja, the burn is a little quick, not allowing much of the floral and fruit qualities to come through. It's not too smoky, though there's little of interest or delight going on. It's a fairly flat and mediocre scent. Rather disappointing after the somewhat interesting scent on the stick. 

Score:  20 

The Forest Champa is more neatly and firmly rolled than the others - it is also the thinnest. The paste is dryer, though still soft and crumbly. With the name Forest, I was expecting a more woody, perhaps pine, quality, and it does have that. Sandalwood is prominent. A sort of everyday sandalwood. And there are pine elements, though that could be suggestion. Certainly something a little sharp and volatile. It's clear that the prime influencer on the fragrance in all these sticks is a fragrant or essential oil (or blend). 

Another hot burn. There is a distinct similarity in all these sticks which indicate poor formulation along with not particularly special ingredients. Not quite budget masala, perhaps, but certainly in that area. I'm not convinced that Sita Sharan is that knowledgeable about incense, nor has much of an input into the formulation and manufacture of these sticks. The scent on the burn is pleasant - it is warm, modest, attractive, friendly, though a little woody, occasionally sharp, somewhat thin, and doesn't take me anywhere. This is fairly average or just under average masala. 

Score: 23 

The Royal Champa is another crude stick with crumbly charcoal paste. The scent on the stick is floral, with notes of chocolate, black tea, sandalwood, and soft orange. Quite pleasant, though also a little muddled. The scents not quite working together, but just appearing now and again. 
The scent on the burn is one of the better one from this sampler. The burn is slower, and allows some of the more delicate fragrances to make themselves known, and it reasonably approximates what is on the stick. There is some of the Julien Empire Blend which I found on the Nag Champa, and a general pleasantness. It's an acceptable modest everyday masala. 

Score: 27 

Conclusion: The summary is that these are modest everyday masala incenses with poor formulations, and ingredients which are not top quality, which don't display the scents at their best. The scents are acceptable, with the Jasmine being the one I personally found most appealing, though your mileage may vary. I'm classing these as perfumed masala as I feel the bulk of the work is being done by a fragrance oil rather than pure dry ingredients or pure essential oil.
Working through this sampler I feel that I have got to know the Surya range, and it's not something I'm interested in exploring further. I like that Surya donate 10% of their profits to widows, but I'd prefer that the company threw open the curtain on who makes the incense.  

Date: Jan 2023   Overall score:  26

*** 

Nag Champa

 What's The Best Incense In The World?

Jasmine v Jasmine (a burn off)