All of our spices are either home grown or sourced from trusted suppliers. Freshness, quality, and knowing the origin of our spices are the keys to ensuring our blends have the best flavour.
I toast them in small batches before I grind them for the best aroma possible. The blends are made weekly, so that what you get is fresh, pure, and packed with flavour - ready to use the minute you receive it.
About 90% of our spices are organic, and freeze dried at the source to retain the best flavour. We've partnered with many different suppliers in the local regions to make this happen. There are also certain spices where origin is extremely important — we source allspice (or pimentos) directly from Jamaica, our garlic from California, our cumin from Morocco, and our Zaa'tar from Palestine, giving you the best varieties possible.
Chillies
Our chilies are mostly home grown - in our urban gardens in Toronto and also on the beautiful sunshine coast in Powell River, BC. We grow many unique varieties and some familiar ones for our Smokehouse Blend:
- Lemon drop peppers: Native to Peru, these are a fragrant small spicy yellow pepper that is quite hot. My personal favourite because in addition to the heat, it has a beautiful floral aroma.
- Mt. Etna peppers: An heirloom variety from Sicily, these little peppers have a thick flesh and and medium spice level. but add great sweetness to the blend.
- Scotch bonnet peppers: Native to the Caribbean, a little of these will go a long way! Known mostly for their intense spice level, their distinctly sweet but earthy flavour profile is also unmatched.
- Cayenne pepper: While a commonly available pepper, this one is the most balanced and really rounds out the blend.
And... sometimes we'll play around with other peppers too! Like the Korean chilies used in gochujang, that give kimchi that perfect balance. Or habaneros for a extra kick.