A weekend of incense-making with Kettl + Hyungi Park
I never venture out to Brooklyn for so much as a day-trip. The drives over from quiet New Jersey tend to strike a tension in my heart’s center as traffic engulfs us and similar anxieties are felt from other visitors to the borough-island.
But last Saturday was an exceptional exception.
Taking the class was quite random, but James and I have been making attempts to live like a bit more serendipitously and this was one of those times.
We’re very big fans of Kettl and their delicious teas straight from Japan. I discovered the Brooklyn tea shop after taking a trip to Japan in 2013. It was then when I realized that the quality of matcha found in regular U.S. chain supermarkets was nothing compared to what I manage to stuff in my carry-on in Japan. Ever since then, we’ve been supporting this small brand with regular restocking of our favorite top-notch houjichas, matchas, and senchas.
Base + Binder + Liquid + Aromatics
Base + Binder + Liquid + Aromatics
The incense-making course itself was chocked full of knowledge facilitated my artist and incense-maker LA extraordinaire, Hyungi Park. Sadly, I came in with expectations that we would be making incenses by hand, but there was a scheduling mix-up and we were actually in the lecture portion of the 2-part incense series. Nevertheless, we learned tons and left with an amazing amount of inspiration to apply to our own process in creating our own stock of organic incenses (stay tuned for updates in the Tree Likkle Herbs shop).
A moment that I thoroughly enjoyed was the time spent in explaining the difference between consciously produced incenses versus toxic incenses sold at higher volumes for little to nothing in cost. The lower quality products tend to be harmful to respiratory health due to low-grade ingredients, superficial additives, higher chances of heavy metals being included in certain formulations, and potential for wooden cores to be treated with chemicals or preservatives thus releasing harmful substances into the air.
Another fun moment in the session was learning about the many shapes and forms that are possible for incenses aside from the classic scent-on-a-stick form factor (also known as Masala / Joss sticks). Amongst the array of incense types, we saw clay moldings, pellets, spirals, cords, papers, wood chips / granules, cones, sachets, and even loose incenses (just like herbs!).
All-in-all, I would give the experience a 10 out of 10. So much was shared in an hour’s period and I would be remiss if did not mention the mouth-watering matcha cookies that were served during the session (not pictured above because we ate them too fast) and paired with a non-stop supply of Ryuouen houjicha.
Serendipitous moments for the win.
Photography by James Buford
