We do get asked now and again, “What’s in the mystery packs?” We appreciate irony as much as the next guy, but it does bring up a real question, “What really is in the mystery packs?” Many of the incenses that we weigh out into packs end up with a small portion that isn’t enough to make a full pack, packs of discontinued items, and the remains of packs that we opened ourselves to sample out all begin to add up after some time. This is what ends up in mystery packs. So it’s not cast-offs, it’s all legit incense that we just don’t know what to with. The good thing about mystery packs is quantity. There’s a generous 35g in each pack. Another good thing is that it varies so much from stick to stick. The downside is that the fragrances tend to blend together, so if you find something you like and in the chance we can identify it, new sticks of the same type will be different. We use them for road trips when we want variety without carrying many packs. So go with the flow, appreciate the impulsive nature of our mystery packs.
Blog
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Hari Darshan Copal + Sandalo
One of the perks of what we do is that we get to try out all kinds of new incenses. Sometimes it’s not much of a thrill, but now and again, something comes up that wows us. Hari Darshan Copal + Sandalo Incense is one of those items that we checked out and went gaga over. Its depth, richness, and complexity is that of incenses that can easily cost three times as much. It has the qualities of some of the higher end resin based stick incenses and more. It’s not just dry resin and sandalwood. It has amber elements that sweeten the deal and really permit this incense to feature piney, clean copal and cooling, meditative sandalwood. The sweeter element provides a perfect backdrop for the resinous notes and sandalwood. We have a few others in the Hari Darshan line and we’ll eventually have them all. They’re that good.
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Tree of Life Champa
We love champa incenses. This isn’t something that we keep as a secret. We’re always looking for another one to add to our selection. When we found Tree of Life Champa, we knew it had to be part of our library of incenses. This offering is from the Tree of Life company that also produces the wonderful and powerful Mars Choice and Champaka, so we knew it would be solid before we even tried it. It’s such a wonderful classic champa incense. It’s rich, complex, satisfying, semi-sweet, full of spice and distant florals. It gets much of its fragrance from that key component called “Halmaddhi” that defines champa incenses and distinguishes them from others. Please, if you’re a champa fan, or even just an incense user, Tree of Life Champa needs to be experienced.
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Nitiraj Natural Masala Incense
Over the years, there have been many champa incenses, all of such varying quality. The classic that we all know so well, the famed blue box Shrinivas Sugandhalaya has undergone so many changes since the 90s that it is nothing similar to its original formula. It’s still a good fragrance, but it has changed so very much. A champa that we have come to love so much, Nitiraj Natural Masala Incense, thankfully hasn’t changed as long as we have known it. It’s a classic champa, meaning what? A true champa should include a key ingredient known as “halmaddhi” (the spelling of which can vary). It’s a sap from a specific tree, much like other sap incenses like frankincense or myrrh. It carries a unique fragrance that is semi-sweet, somewhat spicy, and somewhat floral. Halmaddhi defines this incense. It is right up front. It captures the scent of headshops and black light rooms and 60s pads. It’s like a time machine in a stick of incense. If you’re a champa fan, please do give this selection a go.
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Frankincense Better
Nearly all of our incense dealers offer frankincense. It varies in quality considerably from dealer to dealer. It can even differ greatly from one dealer from batch to batch. It is a natural product, so there is little way to know what one is getting from run to run. We found a a source that deals in larger quantities of varying grades of frankincense and other resin incenses nearly exclusively. The way to get the good stuff is to deal with someone that specializes in frankincense rather than a dealer that has it as an after thought. This is why we dubbed our frankincense “Frankincense Better“.
We had choices to make, naturally. Just which grade of frankincense do we go with? The disparity is considerable, even from the one source. It was an easy choice. We went with their top-of-the-line frankincense. Granted, there were choices that would have permitted us to offer more quantity for a given price, but that’s just not us. The pieces are fairly large, medium amber in color and are highly aromatic. Once on the charcoal, these pieces offer an exceptional frankincense nose, bright, lemony, resinous with a little hint of bergamot, evidence of a high quality frankincense. We used to offer several grades, but we now only carry the higher grade frankincense. It just didn’t suit us to carry anything less.
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Royal Hojari Frankincense
Frankincense can come from many places such as India, much of Northern and Western Africa, and others. Out of all of the sources of frankincense, The Emirate of Oman still is producing inarguably the best of the very best frankincense. The grading of frankincense is involved, but to cut to the chase of it, everyone wants to know what is the best and just where can it be found. The tippity top of the pyramid is Omani Royal Superior Hojari Frankincense Incense.
It was a bit of a dream to be able to offer such frankincense as it’s cost tends to be prohibitive, but we found an excellent and very kind source that offers such incense at a price good enough for us to carry it now and again. It’s not a steady item, we don’t always have it, so check with us before a road trip for Omani frankincense. If you are a frankincense fan, grab it when you can.
Once set on the charcoal, it will be obvious within seconds that this isn’t ordinary frankincense. This is some next level stuff. It’s exquisitely aromatic, full of citrus, particularly a lime-like note and bergamot (Earl Grey Tea) that only the high end Omani frankincense can boast to have. There’s nothing else like it; it’s peerless in its beauty.
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Smudging Without Sage
Sometimes one doesn’t want all of the smoke nor wants to deal with the process of smudging with sage. Thank goodness there are options. Some incenses contain sage as a key component, permitting one to purify their environment without sage bundles. One of our favorites is Sandesh White Sage. It has a lovely champa-type core with the addition of white sage. Don’t look for an over-the-top white sage burst; it’s considerably more subtle than that. Another one we have fallen in love with is the wonderful Hari Darshan Copal + White Sage. It combines a lovely semi-sweet amber core with the piney, cleansing property of copal and an earthy note of white sage. We also have these wonderful contribution of HEM White Sage Masala Incense. It’s a dry-type masala incense with notes of white sage. If you want something else exciting, we have a white sage incense with the crisp, clean addition of juniper, go with Sacred Elements Juniper & White Sage Incense. So all is not lost if you wish to smudge without having to deal with sage bundles. We have options-a-plenty.
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About Morning Star Cedarwood Incense
The Morning Star line is all about theme and variation. All of them have the same basic clean, crisp, cooling sandalwood base. Morning Star Cedarwood differs in that it has the addition of refreshing, balsamic cedarwood. It brightens up the fragrance, gives it a distinctive, subtle quality that reminds us of baking apples Morning Star Cedarwood is subtle and gentle enough to appreciate in small environments as it is not heavily perfumed. It can be enjoyed by those who are sensitive to perfumes since it is so light. Each pack comes with a little tile to set the sticks in, but we still recommend putting it on a fireproof surface.
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BLOG ALTON KELLEY
One of the icons of psychedelic art, Alton was born Jun 17, 1940 in Houlton Maine. He spent his childhood in Connecticut. Art was his passion and he honed his craft at art schools in Philadelphia and New York. His career blossomed in San Francisco where he lived in Haight-Asbury which was the nucleus of rock music and art.Alton’s collaboration with Stanley Mouse in 1966 gave both artists a chance to merge their talents. They developed distinctive images we all recognize. They worked in a unique side by side at their drawing tables with Mouse on the right side since his drafting skills were stronger with Kelley doing layout. Mouse and Kelley worked quickly producing a poster a week. They produced album covers for the Grateful Dead, Steve Miller Band, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jimi Hendrix as well as poster for the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore. The last time they collaborated for the cover art for the induction ceremony at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in March 2008
We lost Alton Kelley in June 2008. Mint condition posters are selling for thousands of dollars. It is a testimony to the fame Alton Kelley never dreamed of having.
Mom & Seth had the opportunity of meeting Alton Kelley at a rare gathering of famous Psychedelic artists in San Francisco in 1989. It was a thrilling moment in time never to be duplicated.
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STANLEY MOUSE
Photo taken by Mom 1989 at the ART benefit concert sponsored by Jerry Garcia for the psychedelic artists It has been a special treat for Mom & Seth to be involved with this sp concert that was sponsored by Jerry Garcia. It was to raise funds for the legal fees of the early psychedelic artists so that they could be fairly paid for their work and also have the ability to reproduce some of the art. Stanley Mouse was one of the big 5 that designed the art work that helped to define a special style of art that will live forever.
Leaving Detroit where he grew up he arrived in San Francisco in late 1965. He was doing a lot of airbrush work. He was painting hot rods on t shirts at fairs. He was fascinated by the weirdo hot rod art movement. In 1965 he settled in Oakland California and met Alton Kelley and this changed his life. He joined the red dog saloon gang who later changed their name to Family Dog. In 1966 Mouse & Kelley joined forces and produced poster art work for the psychedelic music scene.
Some of the very famous work that Mouse created over the years is the cover for Grateful Dead Family Album written by Jerilyn Brandelius, Scarab logo for the band Journey , and The Book of Dreams logo for The Steve Miller Band
Grateful Dead Family Album 
Journey Scarab Logo 
Book of Dreams Logo for Steve Miller Band