Pushkar Temple – Tuberose
I bought Tuberose, along with a few other bundles, second hand at the end of 2023. At that time, they were about 1 year old and thus originally purchased around the same time as I had ordered some other Pushkar Temple sticks from England.
It was a 50g pack, which must have contained around 35–40 sticks. Pilgrims Fair Trade, the English supplier, sells these for approximately £4.40, available on eBay or Etsy.
Apart from that, it’s possible to purchase these sticks directly from India via this Instagram account. There is a minimum order quantity of one kilogram. The dealer, a Kazakh named Pavel, seems very friendly and writes good English. He is not the manufacturer but assured me that he knows the manufacturer and sources directly from them.
Tuberose got reviewed on Olfactory Rescue Service.
Tuberose has a sweet, very powdery and creamy floral scent.
I find this variety to be gentler than the other scents from Pushkar Temple, most of which are too intense for me, at least for indoor use. Moreover, many of them share a pungent note, which is entirely absent in Tuberose.
The scent is soft, smooth, but still quite robust. As is often the case, the fragrance benefits from good ventilation and truly blossoms in fresh air. Then it appears even softer and more floral, whereas, if the scent is allowed to build up, it takes on a more tart undertone, feels heavier and denser, and ultimately becomes kinda stuffy.
However, if you give Tuberose enough room to unfold, you will be rewarded with a light, gentle, and friendly floral bouquet.
The score on RateBeer is 1/100. The score on BeerAdvocate is 70/100. Hard to believe we are talking about the same beer!
Because of the tendency we all have to allow the opinions of others to influence us, I prefer to look at reviews after I have done my own rather than before. I may revisit the incense if others are talking about a feature I seem to have missed or misunderstood. But I do like to have my first encounter to be as free from other opinions as possible.
I am aware, looking at your review, that you use the word pungent. I used that a lot when reviewing these Pushkar incenses. I don’t think it’s a word I have used previously. Sometimes that happens – I use a word, like it, and then use it a lot for a while. But I’m wondering if I picked up that word subconsciously when I read your review in December.
I’ve not yet unlocked your samples in the loft, but I have made my way through the bunch I got from Pilgrims Fair Trade.
I’ve finished the batch I got from Pilgrims Fair Trade, so now I’m going to read through what you, Chris, and Mike think about the sticks.
I didn’t get on with them. Though I can see why you would send me samples. They do have qualities that I normally love. But the combination of cheap ingredients, unimaginative formulations, too much agarbatti oil, and smoky burns really turned me off any potential charms.
TBH, I’m surprised but also kinda relieved. A lot people love them, including Mike, so it felt really odd that I just didn’t warm up to them.
The only ones I kept were Ruhe Oudh.
All others I swapped with Sascha for some other incenses.
Yes, it can feel cold and scary to be out on your own on a subjective opinion. But what I have noticed over the years (decades now!) of being involved in rating/reviewing is that very often the first person to speak will set the tone. And if two or three people like something a lot, then those following will see it as a glass half full, and/or think that they are missing something, and that it is their fault rather than the fault of the product, so will rate/review more positively than if there was no previous opinion.
There was a beer reviewed on RateBeer and on BeerAdvocate. Those who rated it first on RateBeer mocked it, and the following reviews tried to outdo each other on how seriously awful the beer was. While on BeerAdvocate those who rated it first were serious and positive, and the following reviews were the same.
It was Floris Chocolate.
https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/floris-chocolate/546999/
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/180/66107/
This looks too interesting to ignore. So I’ve ordered some to add to my back log. I love the rustic look of the packaging.
It’s free UK postage on Pilgrims Fair Trade – https://pilgrimsfairtrade.com/shop.
If you find the remaining samples I sent you, there are (I believe) 3 Samples of Pushkar Temple included. I thought they might be right up your alley. I bought those from Pilgrims (via Ebay).
I have an array of Pushkar Temple reviews upcoming, scheduled for Jan/Feb. Sadly, I came to find that their style is not for me, I already swapped most of them with a friend who likes them for other incense. 😉
Mike is really into them, and Chris_Burns as well. He’s the one who recommended them to me initially.