Frankincense Grades Explained: What Makes Resin Premium
Not all frankincense is created equal. Two tears harvested from the same tree, in the same week, can end up in entirely different grades once they've been sorted. Here's what actually separates a Standard Grade tear from a Royal Grade one — and why it's worth knowing before you buy.
Tear size
Larger, unbroken tears are rarer and generally indicate a cleaner tap and a slower, more careful harvest. Smaller fragments and "tears" that are really just resin dust are sorted out early and sold as Standard Grade.
Color and clarity
Color varies by species and region, but within a single harvest, paler, more translucent tears are usually a sign of purity — less bark, less oxidation, less contact with soil during drying. Darker, opaque tears aren't necessarily lower quality (myrrh, for instance, is naturally darker), but consistency of color within a grade matters.
Purity
Every batch we sell has been through at least one hand-sorting pass to remove bark, twigs, and dust. Our Super Grade and Royal Grade lines go through two and three passes respectively — sorters working by hand, tear by tear, over a sorting tray.
Oil content
This is the hardest thing to judge by eye, but it's the biggest driver of aroma strength. Puntland's climate and the specific Boswellia and Commiphora species that grow here produce resin with notably high aromatic oil content compared to frankincense grown in less arid, less specific microclimates. We're working toward publishing lab-verified oil content data per batch — for now, our grading reflects decades of harvester and buyer experience matching tear appearance to burn quality.
Why grade matters for your use case
- Burning at home — Standard or Premium Grade is often plenty; you're burning for aroma, not for extraction.
- Perfumery and tincture work — higher grades with higher oil content and fewer impurities extract more cleanly.
- Ceremonial or gifting use — Royal Grade's size and clarity carry visual weight as well as scent.
If you're not sure which grade fits your use, our Why Our Resin page breaks down the full grading system, or you can request a sample kit to compare grades side by side.