Grüne Erde: Klare Luft, Zirbe
The pack of Zirbe [Swiss Stone Pine] incense sticks was given away on Kleinanzeigen. I also found Klare Luft [Clear Air] on there for a good price.
Grüne Erde [Green Earth] is a company based in Austria. They primarily sell furniture and furnishings of the eco-sector.
They state that their incense sticks are “hand-assembled in Germany”. I was puzzled by this peculiar wording and inquired whether the sticks are entirely manufactured in Germany, or if they only soak pre-produced, unscented incense sticks (“blanks”) with their oils here. Their friendly customer service informed me that the sticks are both rolled and soaked in Germany. (However, they look extruded to me.)
I’ve noticed that Grüne Erde uses the same description text for all fragrances. At first, I thought the text must actually belong to the Zedernholz [Cedarwood] variety, as it mentions that the sticks contain the essential oil of Virginia cedar. But in fact, the oil of Virginia cedar is used in all varieties.
From the description, you learn that the base material of all varieties is the same as well: It’s wood flour (mainly neem), which is applied to bamboo sticks using tragacanth as a binder. These unscented sticks are then soaked with the corresponding essential oils. So Zirbe contains only the essential oil of the Swiss stone pine, not the actual wood.
A package contains 12 sticks of approx. 20.5cm (8″) length and costs €6.90. That results in a price of approx. €0.58 per stick. The burning time is specified as 20 minutes, which is quite short.
Grüne Erde has gone to great lengths to present their incense sticks in unique packaging. The box in craft paper design uses almost no glue and is plastic-free. As with some chewing gum or cough drop packagings, the lid is kept closed by a cardboard lip.
Zirbe [Swiss Stone Pine]
The sticks in this package are already about 3 years old. With Japanese and Indian masala incense sticks, this usually isn’t a problem. Unfortunately, it is with dipped incense sticks, and the more natural they are, the worse the shelf life normally is.
With Zirbe, you can still recognise the typical Swiss stone pine scent on the raw sticks, but once the sticks are burning, there’s nothing left of it. I don’t know if it was any different when they were just freshly made, but the previous owner told me that she was very disappointed as well, because the sticks only smelled of wood smoke when she got them.
It’s a somewhat peculiar wood smoke smell, which is probably due to the neem wood. A bit sweetish, but not necessarily in a pleasant way. I’ve also caught a whiff of a smell that reminded me of singed horn or fingernails. This smell could come from the tragacanth. Tragacanth is the dried sap of a plant. Among the gum binders, tragacanth is my favourite because it’s very potent; but if burnt pure, it actually smells like burnt hair or horn.
Due to the age of the sticks, this review should rather be understood as an evaluation of the general shelf life of the sticks.
Klare Luft [Clear Air]
This box was purchased by the previous owner in December ’24.
With these sticks, I smell only wood smoke as well at the start. With sufficient ventilation, however, a fresh and sweet smell of mint builds up after a few minutes, which can also be found on the unlit sticks.
Now and then I think I can detect a bit of lavender too.
The scent remains relatively subtle, with the smoky smell always being present and repeatedly pushing itself into the foreground. Using my mini-fan makes it somewhat better.
Klare Luft would have a pleasant scent for me if it weren’t overshadowed by the smoky smell of the base material. Clear air shouldn’t smell of smoke, if you ask me.
Conclusion
Grüne Erde state that they only use 100% pure natural essential oils in their incense sticks and, based on the smells, I find that absolutely credible.
Their raw materials may, as stated, come purely from controlled organic cultivation or wild harvesting, but that alone doesn’t justify the price for me. If the result is OK at best, the quality of the ingredients doesn’t play a major role because what you smell is the quality of the end product, and I find that rather disappointing.