Link Collection

Blogs and Forums

English Blogs

• Incense In The Wind (UK)
  Steve Pereira writes mostly about Indian incense sticks and cones and has a soft spot for dipped incense sticks.
• Olfactory Rescue Service ORS (USA)
  An “institution” among the blogs. Writes primarily about Japanese and Tibetan incense sticks, but also others.
• Nathan Upchurch (USA)
  Nathan – a kind soul and, like me, a hobbyist incense maker. He writes about his own experiments, occasionally reviews incense sticks, but also writes about other topics such as open-source software and vegan cooking.
• Ratnagandh (UAE/India)
  A review blog about Indian incense sticks, newly published in 2024.
• Incense Apprentice (Hawaii) [NEW]
  The writer Sara lets us take part in her journey of exploring the art of making incense and incense appreciation.
• A Whiff of Ambrosia (India)
  My friend Silver’s blog, who writes about Indian incense. [Currently inactive]
• KyaraZen
  Japanese incense, Kyara (agarwood), Oud, and tea are these blogs topics. You can also find instructions for how to build a “Subitism Heater” or making incense sticks.
• Dr. Incense Japanese incense culture and more.
• Reddit r/Incense
  THE forum for all kinds of incense.
• Apothecary’s Garden (CA)
  Lots of interesting facts about resins, other incense materials and their further processing – not just for smoking.

German Blogs

• Bussardflug [de]
  The website of the author and ethnologist Caroline Maxelon – with a lot of knowledge about local and exotic incenses and much more.
• Celticgarden [de] offers a lot of information about local plants, not just in relation to incense.
• The Frankincense blog [de] of Georg Huber (Jeomra).

Blogs In Other Languages

• お香のある生活 or Living With Incense (Japan) [NEW]
  A Japanese incense review blog, for Japanese and Indian incense sticks.

Incense Making in General

• incensemaking.com

Random Recipes

• Incense after the manner of pills – a step-by-step guide
  A slightly different recipe for kneaded incense with resins, flowers and essential oil.

Thematic Collections

Traditional or Historical Incense Recipes

• Incense: From Papyri to Grimoires
  A Knowledge Paper on Incense
• Ketoret – קטרת
• A collection of loose incense recipes (PDF) [de]

Kyphi

• Ancient Egypt Online – Kyphi
• Michelle Belanger’s Kyphi experiments

Articles Worth Reading

• Incense Traditions Throughout the World
• Styles and Types of Incense Sticks
• The Rikkoku Gomi – the traditional Japanese way of classifying agarwood
• Sandalwood giant Quintis celebrates record harvest in Western Australia’s Ord Valley
• How the Rage for Sage Threatens Native American Traditions and Recipes
• Why We Can’t Shake Ambergris
• Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens): Keystone Species of Peru’s Tropical Dry Forest

Scientific Works

• Chemical differentiation of Boswellia sacra and Boswellia carterii essential oils by gas chromatography and chiral gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
• Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Fragrant Mexican Copal (Bursera spp.)
• Immune responses to colophony, an agent causing occupational asthma
• Volatile and bioactive compounds in opercula from Muricidae molluscs supports their use in ceremonial incense and traditional medicines
• Physical characteristics of nanoparticles emitted from incense smoke

Miscellaneous

• The Incense Burner Virtual Museum

Video and Audio

• Rauchfahne on YouTube – I have collected some videos here.

• Incense Explorer – A podcast in interview format with interesting guests. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.