Koala Bears. That is the first thing that pops into my head when I hear the word eucalyptus. The second, after a moments thought, is some terrible cough drop that trumpeted how it was made with eucalyptus. Mercifully I have forgotten the brand. Anyway, Hem offers a eucalyptus incense that is actually surprisingly good.

If you have read very many of these little reviews then it should be apparent that I love patchouli. I like the warm, earthy, sometimes oily and woody scent that a good patchouli has. So after having burned approximately half the output of the worlds patchouli incense in a quest to find just the right one, I consider myself to be very familiar with all of its myriad variations in scent.

One of the reasons that you burn incense is to relieve stress and take a short mental vacation from the world. So with a name like “Anti-Stress” Hem is aiming squarely at that target. I am happy to report they created a product that could live up to the name on the box. Now, incense won’t magically remove all of your stress and lower your blood pressure. You have to be an active participant and control your breathing and your muscles. Incense can help though and that is where this stick comes in.

I wasn’t expecting a great deal from this cedar incense stick by Hem after I experienced a pretty bad failure on their part with a cinnamon scented stick. I mean, how hard is it to get the smell of cinnamon wrong? To show you how hard that is to do, I will follow this up with a short post explaining how to take ordinary ground cinnamon and water to create your own cinnamon incense cones.

I am not sure what I expected from this stick, but the thought had crossed my mind that it would smell like cannabis sativa since the name on the package is “Cannabis” and it features the leaf we all know so well. Strangely though it smells very little like the cloud of smoke that generally hangs over the crowd at a Dead concert.

So with that aside firmly spell checked, lets talk about Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa. Is it worth the hype and number one selling incense spot? Well, yes and no. Make no mistake, it is an excellent nag champa. Perfectly representative of nag champa incense. Warm, earthy, sweet, slightly “moist” smelling and with plenty of character. However, that comes with a big “but”.

The Hem incense company puts forth a very good effort with their Hem Champa. Unfortunately it doesn’t have what it takes to be a serious contender to the current kings of the hill. Don’t get me wrong, I am not dismissing this version of nag champa with the wave of an elitist hand. It is just that what is an acceptable formulation of nag champa has such narrow margins and any scent that strays too far out of them falls by the wayside. This is by popular vote and not my personal opinion.

Vijayshree Fragrance, the makers of Golden Nag Champa deliver an excellent nag champa. It is everything that a nag champa should be. Including the slightly damp feel of the sticks when first opened. There is a reason that this nag champa consistently ranks right up there with Goloka, Satya and Shanthimalai.