Benzoin Resin from Siam
 
Styrax tonkinensis from Laos (or Thailand) is one of the favourite resins for purification sessions. It should be added to other resins, such as frankincense, in small quantities, because when burnt alone on charcoal it gives off a very strong but pleasant smoke, with notes reminiscent of vanilla.
 
Unlike Indonesian benzoin, which contains cinnamic acid, Siamese benzoin contains benzoic acid and some vanillin.
 
The benzoin offered here is available either in pieces, averaging about 1 cm in size, or as a mixture of powder and small fragments.
The chunks are easy to break up for reduction and the powder can be further refined in a mortar, depending on the different uses you wish to make of it: making incense or cones, producing incense mixtures for burning, etc.
 
In both cases, the quality is identical, both in terms of virtues and scent.
 
For the record, at the end of the 19th century, a French tourist by the name of Auguste Ponsot, a chemist by trade, noticed during a trip to Armenia that the inhabitants were in the habit of burning a resin, Benzoin of Siam, which had come from Asia, to disinfect their houses or clothes.
On his return to France, he looked for a trick to enable everyone to do the same easily. He had the idea of dissolving the resin and impregnating blotting paper with it... The Armenian Paper was born...
 
Type of resin: Styrax tonkinensis
Country of origin: Laos
Sales units: 30 or 40g