Intro:
Hello! My name is Dave and I currently reside in Chicago, IL USA with my wife and two small children. We started a business in late 2022 selling incense after some encouragement from friends and family. My wife and I were unemployed during the pandemic and she took up incense making as one of her at-home pandemic hobbies. I was amazed at how she could form incense out of ingredients from the spice/herbs section of our grocery store or from what we already had in the spice cabinet. We made some for family and friends who loved it and encouraged us to sell it.
When did you first get into incense?
In high school I hung out with the pot smokers who burned incense. That's when I knew I was into it.
What do you hope to get out of this forum?
I want to share my knowledge and take in other people's knowledge. I find most incense books are terrible regarding more "technical" knowledge. The internet seems to lack a centralized source for incense making in high detail.
How long have you been making incense?
Gosh, I think I bought incense ingredients around 2011 or so and maybe made some cones if I recall. Then I put all the stuff in a box and forgot about it. 2021 was when I first made it with my wife.
Favorite incense variety
I love the Japanese stuff. But my first true love is from an Etsy incense maker who no longer sells incense. Little Hippy Momma was amazing incense. I miss it!
Top incense making tip
I'll go with beginner tips:
WEIGH your ingredients. Using measuring spoons is too inaccurate and when you get into tiny/small amounts of ingredients (like for testing) the spoons will just fail compared to a nice $10 scale that goes down to 0.01g.
Experiment. Get a burning apparatus or some charcoal. Get lots of small 1oz or less samples of ingredients. Play with them. Make incense and understand you WILL make nasty smelling incense. But you will learn and explore. This is a hands-on hobby.
Take notes. Over time you will make many different incense and experiment with many ingredients. Taking notes in a notepad or on your PC is critical as you may forget that something smelled great / awful and will not have it all memorized.
What other interests or hobbies do you have?
I know it's cliche but I love being with my wife and kids and doing family stuff. It's so fulfilling. I love to go to the zoo, but when I bring my kids I get to re-experience the wonderment and awe of the first time seeing those animals. Reliving my childhood through them. Aside from that... I am a PC gamer.. music listening enthusiast and am into political philosophy.