HEM Cannabis: green herbal incense from India
HEM has been making incense in India since 1983, and the hexagonal pack of twenty sticks is the shape most people recognise. Cannabis is one of the scents in that range. It is built from aromatic woods, natural resins and oils, and it leans towards the green, slightly grassy side of hemp rather than anything sweet or floral. The first minutes are the most herbal; after that a warmer, resinous note comes through.
Worth saying clearly: the scent comes entirely from plant material and oils. There is no cannabis in these sticks, so there is no THC either. You burn them the way you would burn any other incense, as a room scent while you read, cook or meditate. A pack holds twenty hand rolled sticks weighing around 20 grams together, and each stick burns for about 30 minutes with the scent lingering well after that.
Lighting a stick
Light the tip, let the flame catch for a few seconds, then blow it out. The stick keeps glowing and gives off a thin thread of smoke. Put it in an incense holder or a small pot of sand, on a surface that can take falling ash. Leave a window slightly open, because one stick fills a small room faster than you would think. Never leave burning incense unattended and keep it away from curtains and paper.
About HEM
HEM Corporation is one of India's larger incense makers and has kept the same approach for over forty years: sticks rolled by hand, twenty to a hexagonal pack. That size makes it easy to try a scent before committing to it, or to keep several around for different moods. At Avalon Magic Plants you will also find the hand rolled Satya scents such as Jasmine, Palo Santo and Sandalwood, along with smudge rolls and an abalone smudge set if you prefer loose material.
