Nippon Kodo – Herb & Earth – Matcha

I received two sticks of Matcha with an incense exchange in August 2024.
The pack was purchased from Ongnamo, where a pack of 20 sticks costs €4.50, which comes to around €0.23 per stick.

Nippon Kodo is actually a Japanese brand. With the Herb & Earth line, they seem to be expanding their market by introducing a line of incense sticks with a bamboo core; all their other incense sticks are coreless.
According to Ongnamo, Herb & Earth are produced in China and Vietnam.

It looks like I completely forgot to scan or take photos of these sticks. My apologies!

For bamboo-core incense, these sticks are exceptionally thin; both the bamboo itself and the extruded incense coating. As a result, they burn down relatively quickly. The burn time is stated as 30 minutes, despite the sticks being a full 10″ (25.5 cm) long. They weigh only 0.75 g.
That being said, the bare bamboo portion is quite long. Had it been made 2″ (5 cm) shorter, it would still be long enough to fit safely into a holder.
Upon closer inspection, the incense paste seems to be dusted with wood powder. Underneath it, they are somewhat darker, but not charcoal-black. I assume they are dipped or at least heavily perfume-based.

The intensity is remarkable for such thin sticks, which immediately makes them feel rather artificial. Years ago, I had a fragrance oil that smelled very similar.
For the first few minutes, the scent is very fresh and grassy-green, but after a while, the intensity reaches a critical point where the fragrance becomes kinda piercing. It doesn’t become outright bad, but it does start to feel obtrusive. The scent seems to oversteer; a lower intensity would be more pleasant.

I prefer the Green Tea sticks out of the Morning Star line. (So far, those are the only ones from that range that I’ve liked.) But for people who find them too mild, Matcha might be the better choice.