The incense was a central part of the Temple service. In its memory, the Talmudic passage describing the recipes as it was reported by eyewitnesses is recited in Orthodox services to this day. It is one of the major sources of our knowledge.
Here it is in Philip Birnbaum's translation.
The incense was compounded of balm, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense, seventy minas' weight of each; myrrh, cassia, spikenard, and saffron, sixteen minas' weight of each; twelve minas of costus; three minas of an aromatic bark; nine minas of cinnamon; nine kabs of Karsina lye; three seahs and three kabs of Cyprus wine-- if Cyprus wine could not be obtained, strong white wine might be substituted for it-- a fourth of a kab of Sodom salt, and a minute quantity of ma'aleh ashan [a smoke producing ingredient]. Rabbi Nathan says : A minute quantity of Jordan amber was also required. If one added honey to the mixture, he rendered the incense unfit for sacred use; and if he left out one of its required ingredients, he was subject to the penalty of death.
Rabbi Simeon ben Gamliel says: The balm required for the incense is a resin exuding from the balsam trees. The Karsina lye was rubbed over the onycha to refine it; the Cyprus wine was used to steep the onycha in it so as to male it more pungent. Though mei raglayim might have been good for that purpose, it was not decent to bring it into the Temple.
Explanations of italicized terms :
mina : An Italian measure of weight of about a
pound (400 gr.)
kab : A basic unit of liquid measure, 1/60 seah, about
2.2 liters
Seah: A large unit of liquid measure, 60 kab, about
13.3 liters
Maaleh ashan : an unspecified chemical used
to help produce smoke
Mei raglayim: I have seen 2 translations
of this phrase. 1) Water from washing feet; 2) urine. Either way, one
did not bring such an ingredient into the Temple!
Notes relevant to this article will go here.