How to Burn Resin Incense: Charcoal, Heaters and Getting It Right
Resins do not burn like sticks. How to use charcoal discs, sand, mica plates and electric heaters, how much to use, how to avoid acrid smoke, and how each major resin behaves on heat.
Burning resins well
Incense
Charcoal, burners, traditions from Armenia to Japan, and blends you can make at home.
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Charcoal vs Electric Incense Burners: Which Is Better for Resins?
Charcoal gives drama and smoke; electric heaters give control and a truer scent. A practical comparison of censers, self-igniting discs, mica plates, electric heaters and tealight warmers for burning resins.
Benzoin in Incense Traditions: Church, Bakhoor, Japan and Beyond
How benzoin is burned around the world: in Catholic and Orthodox censers, Arabian bakhoor, Japanese ansokukō, Southeast Asian ritual, Armenian paper and European fumigation. The role it plays in each.
Papier d'Arménie: The Benzoin Paper That Scents French Homes
The little booklet of benzoin-soaked paper strips sold in France since 1885. Where it came from, how it is made, how to use it, and what it says about benzoin as a domestic scent.
DIY Resin Incense Blends: Five Recipes and How to Make Your Own
How to grind, blend and age loose resin incense at home, with five tested recipes from a simple church-style blend to a sweet benzoin-rose mixture, and the rules for balancing resins.
Kyphi: The Ancient Egyptian Compound Incense
Kyphi was the great temple incense of Egypt, a kneaded mixture of resins, wine, honey, raisins and aromatic herbs. What the ancient recipes say, what was in it, and how it is reconstructed today.