Siam Benzoin Resin.

Even sealed in its jar, benzoin gives off a soft sweetness of vanilla and almond that clings to your fingers long after the lid goes back on. Drop a few pieces on a glowing charcoal and the room fills slowly with warm, rounded smoke.

Old apothecaries called it gum benjamin and stirred it into nearly everything: tinctures, incense blends, and the fixative that made lighter perfumes last the evening. Church incense across Europe leaned on it for centuries to round out sharper frankincense and myrrh, and by old custom it was burned to sweeten a room after illness or argument.

This is true Siam-grade benzoin, tapped from Styrax tonkinensis trees. The bark is wounded and the sap left to bleed and oxidize slowly over several months before harvest, which gives Siam benzoin its paler color and rounder, less medicinal scent. Some pieces are fused into small plates that need the back of a spoon to break apart; graders sort the finest, most fragrant portion into tears.

How to use

Drop a few pieces on a lit charcoal disc and let the smoke rise slowly; it makes a soft base note under brighter resins such as copal, or with sandalwood. For a gentler, flameless scent through the house, let it soften in a pan of warm water on the stove. Never leave burning charcoal or a warming pan unattended.

A sweet, old smoke for the end of a hard day.