{"id":5370,"date":"2021-12-27T18:02:35","date_gmt":"2021-12-28T02:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/housefragrance.com\/?p=5370"},"modified":"2022-01-28T18:36:05","modified_gmt":"2022-01-29T02:36:05","slug":"incense-sticks-vs-cones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housefragrance.com\/incense-sticks-vs-cones\/","title":{"rendered":"Incense Sticks vs Cones: Which Is Better? (Explained for Beginners)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With so many different types of incense that exist, you might struggle to figure out which one is most beneficial. You should consider how you plan to use the incense in order to choose the best one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll outline the differences between two of the most common types of incense in this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Incense<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Incense Sticks vs Incense Cones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Generally speaking, incense sticks and cones serve the same purpose: to release aromatic fragrance into the air. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are slight differences between the two that influence how each incense type carries out this purpose and varies their usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Are Incense Sticks Made?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are two main ways that incense sticks are made. They either have a support base, usually made of bamboo wood, or they are pressed out into stick form without the wooden core.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More specifically, barks, herbs, resins, and more plant matter are all ground into powder form. Essential oils and sometimes fragrance oils are added. A binder (usually natural botanical gum) moistens this powder, creating a paste. The paste is then pressed around the bamboo core, usually by hand, leaving a portion of the wood at the end to help with burning the incense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second form of stick incense uses a similar process, except instead of pressing the paste around wood, the ingredients are extruded out of a machine that looks similar to a pasta maker. Once the sticks are formed, they are left to dry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since there isn\u2019t a wooden core with the second method, these sticks are more delicate and can break more easily. This can be beneficial, though. I like breaking my extruded sticks in half when I want to shorten their burn time. I can\u2019t do this with incense that has a wooden core. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to reduce the burn time for incense with a support base, you would have to dip it into water or place it under running water to extinguish it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Are Incense Cones Made?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Similar to the method above, incense cones are compressed botanical matter with added essential or fragrance oils. They are molded into cones instead of sticks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually their fragrance is more concentrated and can linger in the room for a longer period of time because they\u2019re so densely packed and so much fragrance is burned at once.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Long Do Incense Sticks Burn vs Incense Cones?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Typically incense sticks burn longer than incense cones.<\/strong> For example, shorter incense sticks can burn for the same amount of time as an incense cone.  But this can vary widely between and within brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wild Berry incense<\/a> is the best illustration of this. <\/strong>They offer sticks in various lengths, and they sell both regular and backflow incense cones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wild Berry Incense Sticks Burn Time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Type<\/strong><\/td>Length<\/strong><\/td>Burn Time<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Shorties<\/td>4-inches<\/td>30 mins <\/td><\/tr>
Traditionals<\/td>11-inches<\/td>60 mins<\/td><\/tr>
Biggies<\/td>19-inches<\/td>180 mins<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wild Berry Incense Cones Burn Time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Type<\/strong><\/td>Height<\/strong><\/td>Burn Time<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Traditional<\/td>1-inch<\/td>30 mins <\/td><\/tr>
Backflow<\/td>2-inches<\/td>30 mins<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As you can see, Wild Berry Shorties are three inches longer than their traditional incense cones and two inches longer than their backflow incense cones, but all three have the same burn time of half an hour. <\/strong>Essentially, even short incense sticks burn longer than the cones because at twice as long, they finish burning at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoyeido incense cones<\/a> <\/strong>(more than 1 inch tall) burn for 10 minutes, but the burn time for their sticks varies because some are longer than others. Some are as short as 2.75 inches<\/a> and burn for 15 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in this case, their shortest stick is not much longer than their cones, but it still burns a full five minutes longer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My favorite Shoyeido<\/a> fragrance, Moss Garden, comes in a box of 35 sticks<\/a>, each one 8.75 inches long. They burn for 50 minutes.  But this is an example of variance within brand and even within fragrance because the same scent is offered in a set of 500 sticks<\/a>. Each stick is only 5.25 inches long and burn for 30 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moss Garden isn\u2019t offered in cone form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do Incense Sticks and Cones Offer The Same Fragrances? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I have found that incense cones are not typically offered in as many scents as incense sticks. Of course, this also varies by brand. But the most incense brands tend to offer a limited fragrance selection for their incense cones.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One exception is HEM<\/a>. I think they might offer an incense cone fragrance for all of their scent offerings, which is an extensive list, but typical of their brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More traditional companies offer significantly fewer scents in cone form. For example, Shoyeido only sells incense cones for their Floral World collection, which is only four fragrances: pine, lavender, rose, and jasmine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparatively, Nippon Kodo offers 17 incense cone options in fifteen scents. But they have 164 regular 5-inch stick incense fragrances, 60 short stick options; and 25 long stick scent options. Pretty wide differentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On their website<\/a>, Gonesh incense cones are available in only six of their more popular scents:<\/p>\n\n\n\n