Incense from India is a unique brand of incense, because it has hand-picked the best of the individual scents from numerous incense makers, both small and large, throughout various provinces in India to provide the widest variety of scents in many styles and categories. Some incenses have 30 or more ingredients.
Incenses from India ("agarbatties") represent literally thousands of different ingredients and compounds. Many ancient formulations have been handed down through centuries. These incenses are prepared under strict supervision.
The finest ingredients must be blended in exact proportions so that the same unique bouquet results time after time. These famous formulas are kept secret, and are often protected by family owned operations which have passed down the skills of incense making for generations.
The huge variety of hand-made incenses, all available for the same price (incenses with more expensive ingredients have fewer sticks per package) make Incense from India our most popular line of Incense.
Diverse as they are, Indian incenses fall into several distinct categories, which we list in parenthesis after each incense listed here. Detailed descriptions of each category are listed with each incense, and details all of the style categories are listed here:
MASALA is the India word for a blend of spices and/or herbs, such as those used in making curries or other food dishes. Masala incenses are made by blending a number of solid ingredients into a paste which is then rolled onto a bamboo core stick. Masalas usually do not contain liquid perfumes which can evaporate.
CHARCOAL is integral in the manufacturing of an unscented blank (non-perfumed stick) which is then dipped into a mixture of perfumes and/or oils. These blanks usually contain "spent" sandalwood powder, a binding sticky resin that hold the sticks coating together, wood charcoal and sometimes other substances. Most charcoal incenses are black or near black in color, and are distinctive because they are rich in aromatic perfumes. Indian charcoal sticks contrast from the "punks" in that they are dipped in superior perfumes, and burn smoothly without producing irritating smokey by-products.
DURBARS (and Champas) are wet-process incenses which frequently contain ingredients entirely unfamiliar in the West. They are usually very slow burning and quite sweet and spicy in bouquet. They can amalgamate solid and liquid perfumes in a gummy base which never quite dries, making the sticks themselves soft to the touch. All are rich and highly fragranced.
COMBINATION incenses are those which we have found to have the qualities of both the Masala and the Charcoal. It is possible to make a masala incense and then dip it into liquid perfumes, producing a very colorful and rich bouquet. Or, semi-liquid substances such as resinoids can be added to the masala along with essential oils or liquid aromatics. These incenses usually have a great deal of depth, and once burned, leave a lingering after fragrance.
WOODBASE incenses, including sandalwoods and some ambers, contain little more than powdered or shaved wood plus a resinous or solid perfume. They are really masalas, but since the woodiness is so distinct in most cases, we have put them into a separate category.
