Pontianak

Pontianak 

I made this batch of Pontianak 18 months ago. After working the relatively hard bead scrap down to powder and sifting the material I made a half dozen tests to match the burning temperature to the material and settled on a recipe that I was happy with but not particularly excited about.  I sometimes use a larger extruder for final batches once I settle on a formula and I always struggle to match my tests because I get much more compaction in these final batches. It’s always a struggle but it mostly works out. 

After drying, I found that this batch which already was a very low burning temperature had enough extra compaction from extruding that it would self extinguish moments after ignition. I called this a failure and left the bundle in my cabinet until I decided to grind down these sticks and start again at the beginning. After a while I’d reach for one in curiosity and set it up in my incense tray to burn it at an angle in effort to achieve a bit hotter burn and prevent extinguishing, it would burn very slowly for a few minutes and then go out. Oh well, let’s just enjoy them ourselves and not sell sticks that don’t burn. 😅 

After a year or so now, we are always grabbing for this stick. The big roll has become a small roll and despite the challenges with this formula we have come to appreciate this batch as perhaps one of the most elegant in our current collection. It must be burned at an angle, it will self extinguish (normally fine with this as it saves some to come back for) but if it doesn’t it will burn for 45 minutes. The scent is light in intensity but up close is expressive and complex, the essence of a monkoh session, at once sweet and sour, cooling with strong florals and a clear musk note.