Song of India – Organic Goodness – Frankincense
I received a sample of these frankincense sticks with my order from Rymer. A stroke of luck, as I had been curious about this variety for a while. At Rymer, a pack costs €4.13, but I have seen the brand offered for even more expensive prices. They cost only €2.35 at Ephra World, and I consider €2-3 to be the appropriate price range. A box contains 15g. The sticks look like a run-of-the-mill masala: 8″/20cm long, yellow bamboo, camel-brown powder coating.
Frankincense smells very pleasant. I can detect the “frankincense” in the scent, although compared to actual frankincense incense sticks, it doesn’t seem truly authentic. I smell a frankincense-like freshness; resinous (without really smelling like resin) and slightly fruity-citrusy. As the scent becomes more intense, it turns into a slight soapy note.
This aspect is accompanied by a pleasant, soft sweetness, somewhere between honey and vanilla. There’s also a certain woody tone present.
Frankincense have a pleasant, unobtrusive (albeit not weak) scent that is close enough to the namesake not to disappoint. For those looking for incense sticks that smell truly authentic and only like frankincense, there are clearly better options (which also come with a higher price tag). Nevertheless, I find Organic Goodness to be absolutely enjoyable.
Here‘s Steve’s review of Organic Goodness – Frankincense on Incense in The Wind.
Note about Rymer:
Although the ordering process was somewhat complicated, I really wanted to order from Rymer because I’m really impressed with their range. Not only when it comes to incense sticks but also loose incense.
The shop’s system only allows orders within the Czech Republic and Slovakia, so I asked if they would also ship to other EU countries, which they were happy to do upon request.
Michael Rymer, the owner, was very helpful and responsive throughout the process (in English). I was told to enter my real address in the note field at checkout and select the Czech Republic and 54401 as the postal code to complete the order.
Payment options include bank transfer and a few others – no PayPal.
A while after receiving the automated invoice, I was sent a second invoice with the actual shipping costs. Originally, shipping was supposed to cost €20 – which I found quite high but accepted nonetheless. Later, Mr. Rymer sent me another email informing me that it had cost less than expected and offered me a €6 refund. So, the actual shipping costs were €14, which was roughly what I had expected.
He could have just said nothing and kept the money, but he didn’t, and I think that’s very decent.