There’s a spice blend you think you identified from your recent travels or from that recipe you pinned to your “Recipes To Try!” board, and ever since you’ve been catching yourself in a reverie about how life will change when you have the exotic spice in your possession. You track it down and pay an unholy amount for an entire jar of something you’ve never cooked with, yet you reassure yourself it’s okay because of all the exotic recipes you’ll make once that spice blend is in your possession. Although there it still sits in your pantry, not yet opened, languishing until the day when our work schedule and your kid’s soccer practice and your stars align. In the meantime, each time you glimpse the jar in your pantry, that giddy anticipation you first felt fades into guilt that you haven’t yet allowed the spice to change your life even as it grows staler by the moment. You no longer find yourself researching other recipes that may someday make a dent in the amount of spice in that jar. You had the best of intentions. It’s just that life sorta got in the way.
Raw Spice Bar ends the tyranny of overpriced and oversized jars of spices that tend to be stale before they even make it to your pantry. Here’s how it works. You sign up for a mystery spice kit that contains three packets, each containing a surprise spice blend from the same geographic region. Your small batch spices contain just enough to see you through one or two recipes found on the accompanying recipe cards or the Raw Spice Bar site. The amount of spice in any kit is arguably scant—the combined weight of all three spice packets ranges from 1 to 2 ounces—and that’s the point. No intimidating amount of unfamiliar spice to figure out what to do with before it goes stale. Instead there’s just an incredibly efficient amount of something novel to try.
Sometimes the spice blends are regional classics, such as The Punjabi Kit which boasts Mango Toasted Chaat, Punjabi Garam Masala and Kashmir Chiles Tandoori. Other times they’re a little less expected, such as the Limited Edition Baking Flavors kit containing German Gingerbread, Unpumpkin Pie Spice and Peppercorn Cha. The spice blends are often the creations of chefs. All spices are roasted and ground within days of shipping and, when possible, they’re fair-trade and organic.
You can opt for a single month subscription for just $8 if you’re the cautious sort. Or sign up for a 6- or 12-month subscription to The Monthly Spice Box starting at $7 a month. Shipping is free within the United States. To receive a $5 discount off a 6- or 12-month subscription, use the code FLAVOR6 when checking out. Consider it a box of good intentions you can actually make good on.
Written by Renee Schettler
