Ordered from Temu at £1.15 for 20gm as part of my exploration of Chinese incense. While the price of these sticks may appear to be low, that needs to be measured against the price of decent quality incense when bought direct from India, compared to the same incense when bought from Western traders where the prices are much higher. Price does not always equate to quality when it comes to incense, but from where you buy the incense. That said, while I have found the Chinese incense from Temu to be quite acceptable - well made with few to no off notes, I've not got the impression that the ingredients are of the highest quality. The impression I've got is that this is standard everyday incense. (Which, as an incense hunter, is mainly what I'm after - the common incense in a country is my first priority, to get a feel for the culture in that country. I'd rather try the street food in a country I'm visiting rather than having a posh meal in a hotel which is presenting a Westernised version of the local cuisine. The more authentic the food, and the more authentic the incense, the happier I am.)
I have kept my mind open while burning Chinese incense as I'm aware that a number of people like the delicate nature of Asian incense, while I have been a little impatient with it. So I have taken my time and tried a variety of ways to understand this fragile incense. I have varied the amount of sticks I burn, and the distance from me, and I have allowed the incense to come to me, and paid attention to the nuances, and I've ignored it, allowing it to creep up on me. On the whole, though, I have not found it to my taste. I find it too dry, too woody, too mono-toned, too boring, too quiet. There are some facets of Chinese incense which interest me, like the Goose Pear incense, where a romantic accord has been created. Most Chinese incense I've tried, however, has been mono-scent incense, with little thought given to creating a unique, beautiful, or interesting accord.
I have kept my mind open while burning Chinese incense as I'm aware that a number of people like the delicate nature of Asian incense, while I have been a little impatient with it. So I have taken my time and tried a variety of ways to understand this fragile incense. I have varied the amount of sticks I burn, and the distance from me, and I have allowed the incense to come to me, and paid attention to the nuances, and I've ignored it, allowing it to creep up on me. On the whole, though, I have not found it to my taste. I find it too dry, too woody, too mono-toned, too boring, too quiet. There are some facets of Chinese incense which interest me, like the Goose Pear incense, where a romantic accord has been created. Most Chinese incense I've tried, however, has been mono-scent incense, with little thought given to creating a unique, beautiful, or interesting accord.
Agarwood is the most revered incense scent in China (and Asia as a whole), though Sandalwood is more common because of the price. I've not yet studied agarwood - that is something I intend to do this year, along with oudh, which is agarwood based, but somewhat different. At the moment my main experience of agarwood has been via Japanese and Chinese incense sticks, plus a few Indian sticks (though most agarwood style incense from India that I've had, have been somewhat oudh influenced rather than straight agarwood). The scent on the burn of this Chen Xiang is dry, woody, somewhat savoury gourmand, with some light and delicate florals in the background. It is quite pleasant, and quite laid back. It's gently attractive, though doesn't really do much for me. There are a number of everyday things that have a pleasant scent - like opening a jar of herbs, or passing by a pot of basil. This is kind of on that level for me. It's a pleasant everyday scent with no design or intelligence to it. Yeah - acceptable.
"Most Chinese incense I've tried, however, has been mono-scent incense, with little thought given to creating a unique, beautiful, or interesting accord."
ReplyDeleteI have heard that using concentrates of any kind (tinctures, absolutes, oils) is frowned upon in China when it comes to incense. If this is true, it leaves you only with whole botanicals, with which it is very difficult to produce accords unless you are buying extremely high quality ingredients which will have adequate fragrance to do so. You just need super fragrant materials (which many whole botanicals are not) in order to produce accords with such small amounts of material, otherwise you have to sort of pick a material and make it the star of the show.
For this reason, I see Indian style incense as more of an exercise in perfumery these days than traditional incense making. For me, whole-botanical based incense and perfume based incense are two very different products with different goals. Certainly, it seems that if you approach Chinese incense looking for sweeping accords, you'll often be disappointed. Also, I think that the real pleasure in whole botanical incense is (unfortunately) largely found on the high-end. It's not that a high-end sandalwood is any less traditional or authentic than a daily stick, but that it's simply impossible to get the same volume and quality of fragrance from a cheaper sandalwood. If you are using just the wood itself, you have no choice but to drop serious money if you want to make a sandalwood stick with those buttery notes that come from the good stuff. (I have some sandalwood powder in my incense-making arsenal that costs $2 a gram!) And while sticks using oil are also nice, they smell distinctly different than those using just the wood itself.
But for some more complex Chinese style incense, I would recommend "Butterfly Spring Incense" by Lijiali. It is based on a traditional kneaded incense recipe, and is made by processing whole botanicals in traditional ways, such as by fermentation. It's very fragrant and complex - I don't even know how to begin to describe it to be honest. It isn't cheap, but as I've just explained, it really can't be.
I was saying somewhere recently (perhaps on Reddit) that I tend to follow the principle that if I like something then I will tend to like it be it cheap or expensive. I will go up the expense scale on something I like until I reach the point where I can't tell the difference, at which point I consider I have reached the limit of my appreciation, and spending any more will be a waste of money.
DeleteIf I try a variety of items at low and moderate prices, and I'm finding that regardless of the price then I'm not enjoying it much, then I am very hesitant at spending a lot more.
Cheap chocolate tastes of chocolate. You kind a get the idea. Try ten cheap and average priced chocolates, and you'll get a decent idea if chocolate is your thing. I've just looked up "Butterfly Spring Incense" by Lijiali, and I note that it's $30 for 10g. I think I'd be more tempted if I'd had a more positive experience of Chinese incense so far.
I've just lashed out over $120 on three packs of Fred Soll, but considered that a fair financial gamble as I'd been enjoying a lot of resin-on-a-stick type incenses, so I have positive indications that the Soll will be to my liking. And, anyway, it is such a legendary and influential incense I had to give it a go at some point.
So, I am torn, because I've wanted someone to come along and recommend some Chinese incense.
O dash it. I'm going for it. Nearly $40 with shipping. If it's rubbish I will haunt you Nathan. But if I love it, I will pretend it was my idea all along! Damn. I pressed pay on PayPal, and my card sent me a verification number, but on that message the payment is now nearly $60. I'm going to try again with a different card and see what happens.
Sorted. Changed card from AmEx to Visa, and it went through without a hitch.
Deletelol I didn't expect you to rush out and buy it; I hope you like it! But yea, unfortunately, with whole botanicals you often do have to spend the money. For instance, cheap agarwood can smell like burning paper and marmite, but the (extremely expensive) highly resinated material used in something like Yi-Xin's In The Agar Woods is so different it might as well be a different plant altogether. With sandalwood, the lower grades have significantly less fragrance than the higher grade stuff, which gets expensive quick, and it's still relatively quiet in the burn.
DeleteI don't know when this will be, but the next time I put in an order with Yi-Xin I can send a few sticks your way if you like. Just shoot me an email with your details.
Also, on chocolate, a number of years ago when I worked for a cafe chain I was sent to Aotearoa New Zealand for a few weeks, where I was able to go to the high-end chocolatier that produced the cocoa the company used in its drinks. I got to try some really fancy single-origin chocolate bars with all kinds of fruit notes. To be honest, I think I prefer the cheap stuff haha
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