Archive for the ‘My Spice Sage’ Category

This is a review of an online spice store called My Spice Sage. You can find it on the ShopOnline2Give shopping pages in the Food & Beverage section.

When Sandy and I moved to Norwalk five years ago, some of our new friends helped us with the move and the unpacking of our household goods. There was a team of folks who helped unpack and organize our kitchen for us. When they came to my box(es) of spices, they couldn’t believe it. They had never seen someone with so many spices.

What can I say? I like to eat, I like a lot of ethnic foods, and I like to try new things.

My problem is that now that I live in a rural community, I have no local source for exotic spices. Sure, the grocery store has a big section of spices, but how long have they been sitting on the shelf? Any good spice-er worth his salt (forgive me, please) knows that high quality spices have a relatively short shelf life. If it’s been sitting around for a year, it’s getting stale. After two years, just pitch it. Plus, where in Norwalk, Ohio am I going to find a source for Himalayan Pink Salt or Bhut Jolokia Pepper Powder?

That’s where My Spice Sage comes in. This is a wonderful online specialty store that will entertain you and educate you about more spices than you’ve ever heard of. Having purchased from them myself, I can tell you that they are a great company to buy from.

When you click on the link from ShopOnline to go to My Spice Sage, you will be impressed by how good their site looks and how easy it is to navigate. Get comfortable, because this is a site that you will enjoy spending some time at. You can learn about spices in their section devoted to spice education and their spice blog. Research recipes on their recipe link. (If you submit a recipe to them that uses their spices, you get a 10% discount on your order.) You can even search for spices based on the type of cuisine (such as Mediter­ranean or Cajun, etc.) or by the type of food that you want to cook.

Each individual spice’s entry has infor­mation on its charac­ter­istics, the types of food that you would typically use it for, other names that the spice is known by, and more. Every spice is available in quantities of 1 oz. up to 50 lbs., with some of them available in a variety of containers. Buying an ounce of any spice lets you sample it without making a huge commitment to it.

My Spice Sage always has some kind of free giveaway going. At the time of this writing, you get a free 16 oz. bag of turkey brine seasoning with every order. Plus, with every order you get to choose a free 1 oz. sample of the spice of your choice. You can always shop with complete confi­dence because My Spice Sage offers a risk-free, no questions asked, money-back guarantee on every­thing that they sell. Shipping is free on orders of $40 or more and just $4 on smaller orders.

Here’s what I bought from My Spice Sage:

• Chipotle Pepper, Granu­lated: I’m a chipotle junkie. I love it’s spicy kick and smoky goodness. I use this stuff on every­thing except oatmeal. I bought a 4 oz. bottle with my first order. I’ll opt for a bigger quantity on my next order.
• Hickory Smoke Powder: In the past when I’ve wanted to add hickory smoke flavoring to a dish I’ve reached for “liquid smoke.” I’ve found something even better with this product from My Spice Sage. It is delicious, potent, and more versatile than liquid smoke. Makes a great addition to dry rubs. I will always have a supply of this on hand from now on.
• Pork Chop Seasoning: I confess. I haven’t actually tried this yet because I don’t eat a lot of red meat, but I’m looking forward to trying it. (This was the free 1 oz. sample that I selected at check-out time.)
• Bhut Jolokia Pepper Powder: This was My Spice Sage’s free giveaway offer when I placed my order. It’s something that I probably never would have tried unless they gave it to me. They market it as the world’s hottest chili powder. For you chili pepper experts out there, this bad boy is rated at 1 million Scoville units of heat. To give you some comparison, jalepeno peppers are rated at 5,000; Dave’s Insanity Sauce get a score of 180,000. A tiny sprinkle of this will make your eyes light up and your tongue say “howdy!” I’m consid­ering my 1 oz. sample to be a lifetime supply. It’s intense, but I like it!
• Quinoa: My Spice Sage doesn’t just sell spices and seasonings. They also sell other hard-to-find ingre­dients. I’ve been wanting to try quinoa (a nutty and tasty grain product that’s high in protein) for some time, but even though it’s available in local stores, how much of it are they selling and how long has it been sitting on their shelf? Honesty check: I still haven’t tried it — but I will, soon.

I’ve been very happy with every product that I’ve tried from My Spice Sage and will most certainly use them as my regular vendor for spices and other exotic ingre­dients. Their quality, selection, and prices are hard to beat. My only complaint about them was their slow shipping time. It took almost two weeks to receive my order. I don’t know if this is normal for them based on one order, but when you buy from them plan in advance.  While freshness and variety are their strong points, speedy shipping isn’t.