MELLOW SANDALWOOD
WARM SANDALWOOD · SOFT MILKY SWEETNESS
If the sandalwood you know feels dry or sharp, this one goes in a softer direction.
The first impression is clear, concentrated sandalwood. As it burns, a faint milky sweetness appears and the wood becomes softer, rounder and more enveloping. The scent stays warm and woody without becoming heavy or sugary.
Before grinding, the sandalwood undergoes paozhi (炮制): it is chopped, soaked in a green-tea infusion for 24 hours, drained, then gently roasted until it reaches a faint purplish tone.
The tea is used as a processing medium, not as a fragrance note. The purpose of the process is to soften the raw, sharp edge of the material and let the sandalwood’s warmer, sweeter character come through more clearly.
Core aromatic materials: Sandalwood · Nanmu binder
Net weight: 8 g
Stick count: Approx. 29 (typically 26–32)
Stick length: 21 cm
Diameter: 1.8 mm
Burn time: Approx. 50 minutes per stick
Approx. total burn time: 22–27 hours
Each tube is hand-filled by net weight. As the sticks are handmade, their thickness and density vary slightly, so the exact count and total burn time may differ from tube to tube.
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Made in Qingyuan, Guangdong, China
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How Green Tea Processing Softens Sandalwood Incense
Before this sandalwood is ground into powder, it is soaked in brewed green tea, then gently heated until the wood takes on a faint purplish tone.
The purpose is not to make sandalwood smell like tea. It is to soften the raw, dry and sharper edges of the wood before it ever reaches the flame.
Only then is the sandalwood ground and made into incense. With less harshness in the way, its warmer character comes forward more clearly — full sandalwood, a gentle creamy sweetness, and a softer, rounder feel in the room.
For YINN, good materials are not simply used as they are. They are understood, then treated according to what they need.
Read more about what sandalwood smells like, or explore WARM HERBAL WOODS for a drier, more herbal expression of warm woods.
More than scent: Wei & Qi
Wei (味) is what the nose perceives. Qi (气) is the character of an aromatic material as it moves through the air and meets the person living with it.
In Chinese incense culture, aromatic materials have long been understood not only by scent, but also by qualities such as warm or cool, rising or settling, opening or gathering. These ideas come from the same tradition of materia medica that looks at how plants interact with the body and a person’s state.
This is also close to the Chinese idea of yang (养) — to support and nourish over time. The aim is not a dramatic immediate effect, but to choose aromas whose qualities feel in harmony with the person, so they can be lived with comfortably and beneficially over the long term.
In He Xiang, materials are therefore blended for both Wei and Qi. A scent may smell woody and bittersweet, yet feel warm and gently opening; another may smell floral, yet feel quiet and settling.
YINN chooses and recommends incense by both what you smell and how you want to feel.
Natural materials. Handmade form
YINN incense is made from natural aromatic materials and shaped by hand.
- Natural woods, herbs, resins and flowers
- Fine, slender incense sticks
- A relatively light incense body, allowing the aromatic materials to express themselves as they burn
- Handmade — slight curves and small variations are natural
- Natural colour varies with each formula
- Many materials can still be smelled before the incense is lit
- Made for scent and burn quality, not visual uniformity
How One Stick Is Made
Traditional He Xiang is made through a sequence of distinct stages. Drying is not the end — the incense still needs time to settle before it is ready.
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Sorting & Cleaning
Woods, herbs, resins and flowers are selected, cleaned and prepared before they enter the formula.
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Pao Zhi (炮制)
Different materials are treated differently. Depending on the material, this may include soaking, steaming, boiling, roasting or drying to prepare it for blending.
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Grinding & Sieving
Each prepared material is ground separately and sieved to the fineness required by the formula.
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Blending & Kneading
The powders are weighed according to the maker’s formula, blended with water and natural plant binder, then repeatedly kneaded and allowed to rest.
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Shaping & Shade-Drying
The rested incense dough is formed into fine sticks and slowly dried in a shaded, ventilated environment.
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Resting & Cellar Ageing
Drying is not the final step. The finished incense is rested and cellar-aged — traditionally described as qu xing (去性) and jiao cang (窖藏) — until the newly made incense has settled further.
How to Use the Box
The packaging box converts into an incense holder, so no separate holder is required. It stores and protects the sticks before use, supports the incense while it burns, and helps contain fallen ash. Place it on a stable, heat-resistant surface, keep the room ventilated, and never leave burning incense unattended. Keep away from children, pets and flammable materials.
Set the holder
Open the box and place the fixing piece into its position inside the box.
Insert and light
Insert one stick into the metal holder. Light the tip, then gently blow out the flame and allow the glowing ember to burn.
Let it finish naturally
The ash falls directly into the box. When the burning incense reaches the metal head, it extinguishes naturally. Allow the ash and holder to cool completely before emptying the box.
Learn why we designed the incense box to become the holder →