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Frequently Asked Questions


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If you have an unanswered question about our products and services, or about spices in general, please contact us.

Spices & Spice Blends

No, in the sense that stale spices will not make you sick.  However, spices lose their flavor potency over time because of heat, moisture, light and many more environmental factors.  Whole spices retain their flavor much longer compared to ground spices.   So certainly there is a best before date for every spice.

While shelf life of spices varies, as a rule of thumb when properly stored:

  • Whole spices retain most of their flavors for 3 to 4 years
  • Ground spices are the freshest within 3 months of grinding, but may retain most of their flavor for 18 months
  • Spice blends are the most flavorful within 3 months of grinding; best when made right before they are used.  But can retain flavors for a year or so.
  • Dry herbs retain most of their flavors for 1 to 3 years
Spices are inarguably at their best when they are toasted and ground right before they are used in cooking.  And the next best are our spice blends which are made to order right before they ship to you.  Freshest on the market. Period.
Moisture, light and heat degrade spices the most. So the fundamental rule is to store spices in a dry, dark and cool place.  
  • Use smaller containers for daily use and keep the larger containers in the pantry.
  • Never store spices near a cooking range or other sources of heat except maybe while cooking.
  • Do not refrigerate or freeze dry spice blends, dry spices and saffron.  However, some nut-based spice blends like our made to order Nuts & Spice Latte are recommended to be refrigerated in airtight containers.
  • Spice blends and ground spices settle.  Do shake or stir well before use.
  • Avoid using sifter attachments with spice jars.  Sifters let moisture seep into the spice jar, and also expose spices to the surroundings.  Instead use a dry teaspoon for adding spices while cooking.
  • Never hold open spice jars over the pan while cooking.
  • Do store spices in airtight containers.  Vacuum sealed containers are not recommended for long term storage.  Our standard and mini jars are good examples of an airtight container.
  • In fact, do not store spices and spice blends for the long term.  Buy smaller quantities of freshly made spice blends and dry rubs. 
We try to use organic ingredients in our spice blends when we have the first-hand knowledge about the farm from where it was sourced.  Many of the spices like Asafoetida, Messua Ferrea, Parmelia Perlata, and so on often grow in the wild and are naturally organic.  However, not all of over 100+ unique ingredients which make our spice blends can be claimed to be organic - many of these ingredients are not even available with an organic certification.

Spices are grown only in certain areas of the world, and many of those countries have not yet adopted organic farming practices that meet the requirements for organic certification.  There is also the extreme example of Sri Lanka, where reckless transition to organic farming caused the economy to collapse in the year 2022.

Across the spice supply chain, spices change hands multiple times and are cross-docked in multiple warehouses before they reach the United States.  The organic labeling often depends on the chain of certificates from the original farmer to the U.S. distributor.  The reliability of such certification in some of the countries is questionable with prevalent corruption at local government levels.

Our primary objective is to provide the freshest flavors to our customers: not fight the conventional versus organic debate.  While spice trade is ancient, the organic spice segment is a nascent phenomenon which has a long way to go.
Herbs and whole spices in our Staple Spices category do not require a Kosher certification.  Please refer to guidance on this topic issued by the Chicago Rabbinical Council.  Click here to read.
Are your spices and spice blends gluten-free ?
We do not add any gluten-containing ingredient to any of our spice blends, ghee, tahini and nut butters.  Singular spices - whole as well as ground are inherently gluten-free.   Gluten is only present in three grains: wheat, barley and rye - we do not store, handle or process either of these grains at our facility.

However, please exercise caution while consuming spice blends containing the ingredient: Asafoetida.  This is a powder made of dried gum of a root called ferula - primarily, cultivated in Afghanistan,  Iran and Türkiye.  Wheat flour is known to be used in certain facilities where Asafoetida may have been processed.  Our spice blends which contain Asafoetida are: Sambar Masala, Metkoot, Goda Masala and Chaat Masala.  While the amount of Asafoteida in these spice blends is very small, it is better to err on the side of caution.

We use organic rice hulls (ground) from RIBUS in certain dry rubs as a natural substitute for synthetic anti-caking agents (which are used by many food manufacturers).  The RIBUS organic rice hulls (ground) are certified as gluten-free by GFCO (Gluten Free Certification Organization.  The relevant specification sheet may  be downloaded by clicking here: RIBUS organic rice hulls (ground).

Our facility does store, handle and process unprocessed rice and various types of lentils - these are naturally gluten-free.

If you have concerns about potential cross-contact between spices and gluten while the spices have traveled through the global supply chain, please refer to this article by  Shelley Case, RD, who is an international celiac nutrition expert.

Shipping

Within 24 to 48 business hours after you have placed your order.  For example, orders placed on a Monday will ship on Tuesday or Wednesday.  But orders placed on a Friday or during the weekend will ship on Monday or Tuesday.

Orders will ship through either USPS Priority Mail or UPS Ground; some  orders may utilize the USPS First Class package service (nowadays called as USPS Ground Advantage).  It depends on whether a shipping address is better served in terms of speed by a shipping service at the time of shipping.

If you require expedited shipping for your order, please contact us after you have placed your order by clicking here or through the Contact Us page.  We will provide you an estimate for any increased shipping charges.  We can offer expedited shipping either using UPS Next Day Air or UPS 2nd Day Air service.  Depending on the shipping address, the shipping charges may increase significantly.

We normally ship to all states within the United States of America.  

Currently, we do not ship internationally or to any of the U.S. territories.

You will receive a shipment notification from us when your order ships with a tracking number for UPS or USPS. 

Also, you can track the status of your order by signing into your account on our website.  

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Yes.  Please provide the other address as Shipping Address during the checkout process.

Can I ship items in an order to multiple addresses?

One order can be shipped to one shipping address.  If you need order items to be shipped to multiple addresses, please create separate orders for those respective items.

You will see an estimated range of duration during the checkout under your selected shipping method.   Depending on the shipping address, this may vary.  UPS Ground takes 1 to 2 days, for example to deliver orders shipped from Hershey, PA to most areas on the Atlantic coast; however, may take 3 to 4 days to deliver to the Pacific coast.

Returns

If you are not happy with our products, please contact us and we will make it right.

Unfortunately, we do not accept returns. We will do our best to provide a refund and/or replacement for damaged or incorrect items.

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