Anybody buy spices online?

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cubbies

Tastes like butterdirt
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Seems like every other week I am coming up with some other concoction and flying through spices. All I have access to at the local grocery store is those normal sized, couple ounce, containers of spices that are really expensive. Anybody know of any good places to buy larger quantities of quality spices online?
 
www.penzeys.com

I've used them a lot, and they are great. They should satisfy your quantity needs, too.

Looks like they have a store in STL, too, at:

7338 Manchester Rd
(314) 781-7177
 
As noted, Penzys is excellent. I've also been very pleased with The Spice House, especially for exotic and hard to find spices and really fresh bulk spices.

Chad
 
If you want to buy in bulk try www.atlanticspice.com. I have been satisfied with their products. Although a lb of Bay Leaves is a lot :D

Wow Saffron has gone way up! I used to get an oz. for around 40$, now it is at $80 something.
 
+1 on Penzeys...
my brother in law got me a gift box from them, they way they pack the stuff is awesome, and the spices themselves... WOW.
Their chipotle powder and their shallot salt are now staples in my cupboard.
 
Chad said:
As noted, Penzys is excellent. I've also been very pleased with The Spice House, especially for exotic and hard to find spices and really fresh bulk spices.

Chad

+1 on The Spice House, been using them for years, they ship fast and stuff is fresh. I will have to check out Penzys now too.
 
Thanks a million. I will check out both places. the 7000 block of manchester is quite a ways from me, but not extremely terrible. Might have to make a treck this weekend.

And, I am not looking to buy in bulk exactly, just get some bigger containers.
 
cubbies said:
And, I am not looking to buy in bulk exactly, just get some bigger containers.

I figured I'd throw it out there, because sometimes it is worth it to get a few people in and split the shipping. However, they are somewhat limited in their selection but the product they do carry is good quality (like the Saffron is the same brand that Spice House carries for the 1 oz) . Not to the extent of Penzy's or Spice House by any means. But if you go through a lb. of pepper fairly quick (One lasts us about 2 to 3 months or so), etc then bulk is worth looking into. Or like the 'standard' stuff that you can use up lots in a recipe....Paprika, Garlic Granules, Onion Powder...etc. Just food for thought ;)
 
+1 on Penzeys. I've been a satisfied customer for years.
 
I second what orfy said, though. I find most of my spices in international markets around town for a fraction of the price. Penzey's can get a touch pricey.

Also, you say you're going through them quick, but always try to buy whole/unground when you can and grind at the time of cooking. I can't have chili now without fresh ground chile powder.
 
Another vote of confidence for Penzy's. I just got a Hot & Spicy pack from there for Christmas and I've already used about 5 different ones out of the 8 that are in the pack. All of 'em have been good so far, but I'll hold out for an "excellent" rating until I try their Vindaloo mix.

Matt
 
And yet another +1 for Penzey's.

There's a store 4 miles from me that I am drawn to every time I go near it. In the store (at least the one by me) they have large jars of all the spices they sell sitting next to the ones for sale. You can open them up and take a good snort, but I don't recommend that on some of the curries and one of the rubs that has horseradish powder in it. I can't remember the name, but I had a sneezing fit for 5 minutes and burning sinuses for quite a while after.
 
Did a little price comparison between the spice house and penzeys, on 1 pound of identical spices (I checked 4 different ones) the spice house was cheaper on 3 from $0.20 to $2.50 and one Penzeys was 25 cents less.
It seems like they have almost identical products, even the glassware they carry.
Strange they are both located so close to each other and in the midwest, most importers are located on the coasts.

Anyone have some favorites from either place? I love the Ancho and chipotle chilli peppers and the tellicherry peppercorns
 
SuperiorBrew said:
Anyone have some favorites from either place? I love the Ancho and chipotle chilli peppers and the tellicherry peppercorns

I think it was the Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cinnamon that I got there a while back, amazing stuff. It has a distinct sweetness that you would swear they add sugar to it.
 
PseudoChef said:
I second what orfy said, though. I find most of my spices in international markets around town for a fraction of the price. Penzey's can get a touch pricey.

Also, you say you're going through them quick, but always try to buy whole/unground when you can and grind at the time of cooking. I can't have chili now without fresh ground chile powder.

What is funny is, my friends family when they visit back to India from Boston bring tons of bulk spices because the prices are much better. That one always confused me :D. But yeah I couldn't imagine what wierd stuff I'd have in my storage if I were traveling to different places and some places you can get great prices. Price is the single reason I don't buy from Penzey's for the reason that we use a lot of spices all the time in our household. If I had a store close by I'd probably be in there often though looking for off-the-wall stuff or specials.

I also second the motion to keep spices airtight, whole, in the dark and cool. For whichever you can manage to do so. I only buy a few things ground because it is either too difficult to do so at home (ground Cinnamon is a good example) or I use tons of it at a time, like ground dry Mustard to make prepared Mustard.
 
PseudoChef said:
I can't have chili now without fresh ground chile powder.

FWIW, I make my own chili powder. That is another reason why I am looking at a spice shop. I am lucky to get anything but Anaheim Chili's in the grocery stores here. I am going to give Penzy's a shot, just because they are local here. Granted I wouldn't call them 'close' but it just so happens they are pretty close to a microbrewery here, so, kill two birds with one stone if you will :p
 
SuperiorBrew said:
Anyone have some favorites from either place? I love the Ancho and chipotle chilli peppers and the tellicherry peppercorns

I'm in total agreement on the Tellicherry peppercorns. Another of my favorites is the Aleppo pepper...kind of like a salty red pepper flake with more flavor. I also like the Chicago Steak seasoning, it's great for grilled steaks when I'm too lazy to do anything else.

zoebisch01 said:
I think it was the Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cinnamon that I got there a while back, amazing stuff. It has a distinct sweetness that you would swear they add sugar to it.

Ever since my wife found that cinnamon it's all she uses to cook with. It's some good stuff.
 
If you're looking for some 'strange' brewing herbs, I found this place as the only source for some of the more 'stranger' ones. They're real friendly and the customer service was good.

http://www.wildweeds.com/index.html


This is how I brewed my Gruit. How is it? More time...more time...


:drunk:
 
Well, I went to Penzey's over the weekend and it was great. Awesome store, with all kinds of spices and surprisingly well organized. Picked up a pound of Spanish smoked Paprika, an ounce of Guajillo chili's, another ounce of Arbol chili's, some salad dressing seasoning and a small container of mild paprika.

Very cool store and not nearly as far from me as I thought it was. Thanks to everyone who helped me out, I will be going there for my spices from now on.
 
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