Confession: I never throw my spices out. I've been told again and again that spices have a shelf life and that I should dump them after a while, but I am willing to risk it.
If you like your spices fresh and you don't use them very often, you may consider buying single-serving organic spices from TSP Spices. They come in teaspoon sized packets that stay fresh until you open them.
Single serving spices would make a great gift for someone who doesn't cook very often, but wants to get started trying a few different flavors. I'd also love to see some of these make an appearance at restaurants and coffee shops. It would be great to be able to easily add some cinnamon and nutmeg to my hot beverage instead of just pink, blue, or white sweeteners.
Would single serving spices be useful to you? Which ones would you use the most?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-31-2008 @ 5:07PM
fuchsoid said...
These might be useful for trying out new spices you haven't used before, but I bet you can't buy the little packets singly. Apart from that, if you want fresh spices, surely it's better to just grind them fresh.
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3-31-2008 @ 6:03PM
texasannie said...
Each tin contains 12 one-teaspoon packets of spice. That's a real waste of packaging, especially if you have it shipped to your home. Most people who would want these could buy organic spices in whatever quantity they need from the bulk bins at Whole Foods or another organic/natural foods store, saving packaging and transportation costs.
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3-31-2008 @ 6:49PM
Stephen said...
way way way Over-priced, and insanely over-packaged.
Is it me or is there some conflict in them pushing hard the the organic factor when they produce so much waste in the packaging?
And US$9 for 12 teaspoons... style over substance... (mind you I guess there is a market for it, just look at the whole 'pod' coffee thing)
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3-31-2008 @ 7:15PM
Magnus Nordlander said...
I am very skeptical. First of all, shelf life, a lot of pre-ground spices have a significantly shorter shelf life than their non-ground brethren. Take nutmeg for example. A nutmeg nut lasts like a year or more, whereas pre-ground lasts a couple of months. Also, freshly ground beats pre-ground when it comes to flavor, and isn't flavor why you're using spices?
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3-31-2008 @ 7:16PM
Sara said...
I always figure that if my old spices are losing potency, I can just use more.
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3-31-2008 @ 10:56PM
jpalfood said...
And it's still cheaper if you're only going to use 1 teaspoon of some obscure spice to pay $4.99 for a little tin of it than to get a $9 plus S&H packet. Craziness. And in this economhy?
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4-02-2008 @ 2:39AM
Kitt said...
Seconding the bulk spices suggestion. Any natural foods store will have them and you can buy as little as you need for pennies and find lots of unfamiliar varieties to try.
Kitt
http://www.kittalog.com
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