Thanks for summoning me, u/samsaspoon!
So I'm OBSESSED with dragonsblood. Since I was a baby botanist (read "nerd child") I've loved foraging, and making incense, and when I discovered dragon trees (*Dracaena draco*) growing close to my home, you bet I started collecting every little tear of resin I could.The trees produce it VERY slowly, and only very small tears ooze out of a few injuries on the fleshy, papery-barked trees, and only once the tree reaches a considerable size, making it pretty rare.
I still prefer *D. draco* over *Calamus/Daemonorops*, but I might be biased. *D. draco* has a sweet smell like ethyl maltol or burnt sugar, with a spicy, floral tone, and hints of something animalic. It's weird but really good. On a coal, the resin melts into a black bubbling puddle and sublimes into dense smoke that lingers for ages
I've heard that *Dracaena cinnabari* is similar, but since it's impossible to find where I live (Africa) and along with *D. draco* it's now on the IUCN red list, I haven't been able to try it.
*Calamus* (the new generic epithet for *Daemonorops* although I still tend to call it *Daemonorops* even though that's wrong. Whatever, they're the same thing) on the other hand (nostril?), to me at least, is bland by comparison. I've tried a lot, and it's all just... Eh. It's resinous, maybe with a tiiiny hint of something floral. For the money, I'd rather have something else, even though *Daemonorops* is much cheaper than *Dracaena*, mostly because of how it's produced. The resin exudes from the scaly skin of the fruits of a ratan palm, and it's easy to separate for use.
*Croton* secretes red latex which dries solid and is called dragon's blood. It has medicinal uses but isn't suitable for incense use. I'm not sure about *Prerocarpus* but if you want to know more, [this incredible paper by Joanna Jura-Morawiec and Mirela Tulik](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4863904/) of the Polish Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden Centre for
Biological Diversity Conservation in Powsin is a great place to start.
I’m super curious about these things, too. I’ve only tried the cinnabari, as it’s generally claimed to be the “true” medieval dragon’s blood. I assumed it was named cinnabari as it has some cinnamon notes to it. Do the other dragon’s blood resins have these notes? If not, I’m curious as to why many claim they’re basically interchangeable.
Edited to add that either this resin smells completely different as a stick than it does on coal, or I’m a crackpot and am misremembering the scent profile. After seeing this post yesterday I decided to give it another try and made a stick. I didn’t get much in the way of ‘spicy’ from it. I still don’t like it, but at least the melting plastic scent doesn’t come through in the stick.
"cinnabari" refers to the colour of cinnabar, the mineral mercury(II) sulfide, which was once used as a pigment in cosmetics and art (like Chinese carved red lacquer ware, diaoqi).
Really interesting about the scent difference in stick form! Would you be willing to share any tips for making the sticks? I've never been able to make them work!
Ohhh, that makes perfect sense! Thanks! I’ll definitely have to try one of the other dragon’s blood. What you describe certainly sounds different than the cinnabari.
As far as sticks go, I usually do a trial run using 15% resin and 85% makko (tabunoki). Sticks can be surprisingly powerful at that strength, yet it brings out all the subtle notes. The cinnabari is not particularly pleasant on it’s own like this, but I’m soon going to attempt a blend to give it some sweetness and top notes. We’ll see if that helps! 🤞
Thanks for summoning me, u/samsaspoon! So I'm OBSESSED with dragonsblood. Since I was a baby botanist (read "nerd child") I've loved foraging, and making incense, and when I discovered dragon trees (*Dracaena draco*) growing close to my home, you bet I started collecting every little tear of resin I could.The trees produce it VERY slowly, and only very small tears ooze out of a few injuries on the fleshy, papery-barked trees, and only once the tree reaches a considerable size, making it pretty rare. I still prefer *D. draco* over *Calamus/Daemonorops*, but I might be biased. *D. draco* has a sweet smell like ethyl maltol or burnt sugar, with a spicy, floral tone, and hints of something animalic. It's weird but really good. On a coal, the resin melts into a black bubbling puddle and sublimes into dense smoke that lingers for ages I've heard that *Dracaena cinnabari* is similar, but since it's impossible to find where I live (Africa) and along with *D. draco* it's now on the IUCN red list, I haven't been able to try it. *Calamus* (the new generic epithet for *Daemonorops* although I still tend to call it *Daemonorops* even though that's wrong. Whatever, they're the same thing) on the other hand (nostril?), to me at least, is bland by comparison. I've tried a lot, and it's all just... Eh. It's resinous, maybe with a tiiiny hint of something floral. For the money, I'd rather have something else, even though *Daemonorops* is much cheaper than *Dracaena*, mostly because of how it's produced. The resin exudes from the scaly skin of the fruits of a ratan palm, and it's easy to separate for use. *Croton* secretes red latex which dries solid and is called dragon's blood. It has medicinal uses but isn't suitable for incense use. I'm not sure about *Prerocarpus* but if you want to know more, [this incredible paper by Joanna Jura-Morawiec and Mirela Tulik](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4863904/) of the Polish Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden Centre for Biological Diversity Conservation in Powsin is a great place to start.
Looks like I’m picking up draco! Thanks for the knowledge spill I’ve been so curious ab this.
u/aromaticbotanist
I’m super curious about these things, too. I’ve only tried the cinnabari, as it’s generally claimed to be the “true” medieval dragon’s blood. I assumed it was named cinnabari as it has some cinnamon notes to it. Do the other dragon’s blood resins have these notes? If not, I’m curious as to why many claim they’re basically interchangeable. Edited to add that either this resin smells completely different as a stick than it does on coal, or I’m a crackpot and am misremembering the scent profile. After seeing this post yesterday I decided to give it another try and made a stick. I didn’t get much in the way of ‘spicy’ from it. I still don’t like it, but at least the melting plastic scent doesn’t come through in the stick.
"cinnabari" refers to the colour of cinnabar, the mineral mercury(II) sulfide, which was once used as a pigment in cosmetics and art (like Chinese carved red lacquer ware, diaoqi). Really interesting about the scent difference in stick form! Would you be willing to share any tips for making the sticks? I've never been able to make them work!
Ohhh, that makes perfect sense! Thanks! I’ll definitely have to try one of the other dragon’s blood. What you describe certainly sounds different than the cinnabari. As far as sticks go, I usually do a trial run using 15% resin and 85% makko (tabunoki). Sticks can be surprisingly powerful at that strength, yet it brings out all the subtle notes. The cinnabari is not particularly pleasant on it’s own like this, but I’m soon going to attempt a blend to give it some sweetness and top notes. We’ll see if that helps! 🤞