I've always been a huge fan of incense but have found it difficult to identify the smells I prefer and then find sources that aren't just plain nasty when burnt. I like subtler incenses that don't smack you in the nose like you just walked into a mall candle store.
To that end, I have a pretty good selection of various herbs that have traditionally been used to create incense. Some recipes I have selected from books (Happy Hearth, for instance) while others I have created myself (Calming, Consecration) based on the magickal properties of the herbs and their scent profile.
The herbs are measured out into a stone mortar and pestle and ground down to a fine powder (or as far as I can grind them). This permits the incense to be used as an incense trail on top of white ash.....dribble the powder on top of the ash in a straight line or something artistic, and then light one end. Or, you can size and time the release of scents by tossing the powder onto lit charcoal.
Don't use hookah or instant light charcoal. That stuff has nasty chemicals in it to help it ignite, and it will ruin the smell of the incense. We recommend (and can sell you) pure bamboo charcoal from Japan that has no scent at all and is designed specifically for this use.
If you choose to go with an incense stick, we mix up the incense as above and then add in makko, a scentless herb used in Japanese incense for its sticky properties when wet, and moon water. The makko acts as a binding agent and the powdered incense now forms an extrudable clay which is extruded like spaghetti noodles and air-dried. Once dried you can gently put the stick in an incense holder (the sticks are a little fragile) and light the tip.
We treasure our cats and so we do not add any accelerants, chemicals, essential oils, weird smelly shit in jugs, or questionable wood skewers in our incense. It's ground herbs and moonwater, period.
The powder form will have a more intense scent profile than the sticks, as the sticks require makko added which means less of the herb is burning at a given time....plus, the burn profile of a stick is significantly smaller than the burn profile of an incense trail. Also keep in mind that while the powder can be mixed up quickly the drying of sticks takes about a week to complete. If you need incense for a specific Sabbat or other date, please factor that into your timeline (and yes, I have a line of incense for use on specific Sabbats).