Goloka – ORGANICA – Frangipani
There are a few confusing circumstances surrounding this line: It’s actually called ORGANICA, but in Germany (but probably in the EU in general) there are mostly packs in circulation that have “NATURAL” printed on. I can only assume that there are legal reasons for this, since “organic” would be “bio” in German and that is a protected term. [Does not apply to incense sticks. No idea why they have two names.]
The problem is that Goloka also has a “Natural Fragrance” line, which is much more likely to be found under the search term “natural”. And then there is the “Nature’s …” line. For the sake of clarity, I will stick with the original name “ORGANICA” when referring to the Goloka incense sticks in the kraft cardboard box with embossed mandala print.
[Longer, personal anecdote – if you are disinterested, feel free to scroll down to the fragrance description.]
2–3 years ago, I discovered (via a body lotion) that I like frangipani – although at the time I was still convinced that I didn’t like floral scents. “They all smell way too sweet and, above all, like cheap perfume,” I thought.
At some point during the first Corona peak phase, when wearing masks were still mandatory in all shops, I was in my favourite Asian shop and on a whim (because I hadn’t started being interested in incense sticks again yet) I “blindly” picked up a pack of Frangipani.
When I was finally able to sniff the package at home, I was terribly disappointed; If I had had the chance to smell it in the store, I would’ve never bought it. For me, it has a very unpleasant, pungent and strangely tart, very dry and soapy smell. 🙁
But since I had already bought it, I wanted to at least try it once.
First impression: “Where are the frangipani flowers?! It smells like mediocre Nag Champa to me.”
Second attempt: “There are the frangipani flowers!” – I left a stick burning with the living room door open and went to take a shower meanwhile. In the hallway, where the smell had mixed with the damp air from the bathroom, the scent had blossomed and almost knocked me out of my shoes as I left the bathroom, it was that good. From then on, I was absolutely hooked.
Back then, I didn’t know that frangipani was one of the classic Nag Champa fragrance components. I was only familiar with the good, old Satya Nag Champa in the blue box and remembered these “other” Nag Champa in the yellow box, which I had never tried because I found the raw smell terrible.
While chatting with some people on Reddit r/Incense, I was assured that these yellow Nag Champa (which are also made by Goloka) likewise contain frangipani and, like the ones I bought, smell entirely different when lit.
At the next opportunity I bought a small pack of Goloka – Nagchampa and convinced myself that it was true.
Basically, Goloka – Frangipani are one of the main culprits why I started using incense sticks again and why I’m now writing this blog.
Goloka – ORGANICA – Frangipani have a rich frangipani scent and therefore live up to their name. If you’re not familiar with Frangipani: It is a sweet, bright, floral scent, exotic and beguiling, but can also have a fruity or tart component. These sticks can easily be put in the Nag Champa genre, they smell really similar to the Nagchampa of the same brand. In direct comparison, Frangipani smell even more floral, but less creamy-sweet; their sweetness seems to come entirely from the scent of flowers. They seem a bit darker and slightly more tart. If their smell is allowed to build up too much, it can easily reach an unpleasant level. The more diluted the smell, the brighter and sweeter it appears. High humidity is extremely beneficial for the scent – a fact that I have also noticed with other, predominantly floral incense sticks – then the floral scent comes into its own particularly well.
Rating: 3.6
By the way: Some people may wonder why I keep switching between two spellings: “Nag Champa” and “Nagchampa”. Basically, I use “Nag Champa” as an umbrella term when talking about the genre, but I follow the individual spelling on the package when I talk about specific Nag Champa. There isn’t really a correct spelling. It is a made-up word, and there is more than one theory about its origin and meaning.