Copal: The Bright Resin of Mesoamerican Incense

The word copal comes from Nahuatl copalli, simply “incense”, and in Mexico it still means exactly that. Elsewhere it has become a catch-all for hard young resins from several continents. What the copals have in common is a bright, clean, resinous smoke, and an age between fresh resin and fossil amber.

What “copal” covers

• Mexican copal from Bursera species (B. bipinnata, B. copallifera and others), family Burseraceae, the same family as frankincense. This is the ceremonial copal of Mesoamerica and the one most incense users mean.
• Amazonian copal (breu) from Protium species, also Burseraceae. Similar profile, traded locally.
• Brazilian, Colombian and African copal from Hymenaea (Fabaceae). Harder, more amber-like, used as varnish resin and incense.
• Manila copal from Agathis (Araucariaceae), a conifer resin from the Philippines and Indonesia, mostly a varnish resin.
• Semi-fossil copals dug from the ground in East Africa and Colombia, somewhere between resin and amber, hard and glassy, with only a faint smell.

For incense, the Bursera copals are the ones that matter.

Mesoamerica

Copal was burned in Maya and Aztec temples, offered to gods, used in divination and healing, and is still burned in Mexican churches, homes and markets. It is the incense of Día de Muertos, where its smoke, with marigolds, guides the dead home. Traditional copaleros and clay censers are made for it. Harvesting is by cutting the bark and collecting the resin on leaves or in containers; grades depend on how the resin was collected and how clean it is.

Grades

• Copal blanco (white): pale, translucent, clean tears collected from cuts. Best smell, least smoke.
• Copal oro (gold): darker, more amber-coloured, often from natural exudation or older resin.
• Copal negro (black): resin mixed with bark, soil and sometimes other species; harsh and smoky, used for fumigation and cleansing rites more than for pleasure.
• Copal en lágrima / en piedra: tears versus pressed blocks.

Scent

Fresh, bright, citrus and pine with a light sweetness. Copal is simpler than frankincense: less pepper, less depth, more lemon. Its virtue is cleanliness. It burns fast and hot on charcoal with a white smoke and little acridity, and it clears a room’s air the way a resinous forest does. Chemically it is dominated by monoterpenes (alpha-pinene, limonene) and a triterpene resin fraction.

Uses

Incense. Alone, for a clean, uplifting smoke; in blends, as a bright top over heavier resins. Good with frankincense, sweetgrass and cedar. In Mexican tradition it is often the only ingredient.

Perfumery. Copal is rarely used as a perfume material; its essential oil is thin and its resin is mostly used for the idea of incense rather than a specific note.

Varnish and art. Hard copals were the great varnish resins before synthetics, dissolved in oil for paintings and furniture. Semi-fossil copal is cut and polished as a cheap amber substitute, and sometimes sold dishonestly as amber.

Buying and burning

Buy Mexican copal blanco in tears if you can find it; it is inexpensive and the difference from black copal is large. Burn on charcoal or a heater in small pieces; it melts and burns quickly, so add a little at a time. See How to burn resin incense.

• copal
• bursera
• incense
• mexico