I Tried Burlap & Barrel's Spices—and My Grilling Game Just Got So Much Better

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If your spice jars don't include tasting notes, you might be doing something wrong.

Every spice has a story, from fennel to thyme to black peppercorns. If you look closely at your spice collection (no judgment!), the jars you currently use may not include a specific region of origin, information on harvesting, or tasting notes. But what if I told you that they could?

As elemental building blocks for the recipes we make daily as home cooks, it's helpful to know precisely where our spices came from, what their flavor profile is, and a bit more context on the terroir of that spice. Knowing the full story of the spices you use will not just inform you as a home cook but also inspire you to cook more adventurously.

I've recently been loving spices from Burlap & Barrel, a single-origin spice brand that is all about telling each spice's story, and my cooking has become much more intentional (and a hell of a lot more flavorful). Burlap & Barrel sources their herbs directly from small farmers who grow them sustainably using traditional techniques to highlight the unique terroir of global regions. The brand is working to end the inequality and exploitation of skilled farmers by buying directly from them, which helps keep quality up and prices down.

Beyond the brand's social impact, these spices are top-notch flavor bombs, and they're a far cry from the flavorless dried spices that used to occupy my cabinet space.

Burlap & Barrel Shark Tank Collection 4-Spice Set

Buy at Amazon.com

Buy at Shareasale.com

Burlap & Barrel sent me a sample of the Shark Tank Collection spices to try out for the first time earlier this spring. After a few months of testing, I've torn through almost every spice jar I received. These single-origin spices have blown me away with their flavor, aroma, and, yes, their unique story. Included in the Shark Tank Collection are four of the brand's most popular spices: Royal Cinnamon, Wild Mountain Cumin, Black Lime, and Zanzibar Black Peppercorns. Packaged in glass jars (the peppercorns come in a convenient grinder-top jar), each spice contains a country of origin plus a specific region within that country. For example, Royal Cinnamon is sourced from the Quang Nam Mountains in Vietnam. Each jar also includes helpful tasting notes. Royal Cinnamon includes brown butter, buckwheat honey, and orange peel.

The first thing that struck me about each spice was its intense aroma. I honestly didn't consider myself a lover of cinnamon before I took a whiff of Burlap & Barrel's intensely fragrant Royal Cinnamon and became instantly hooked. In the three months of owning this spice, I've looked for excuses to incorporate more cinnamon into my diet, sprinkling a dash into my morning smoothies and adding a teaspoon to my coffee as a natural sweetener.

The Zanzibar Peppercorns (sourced from Zanzibar, Tanzania) are just as fragrant and pungent, with notes of cacao, lemon, and something earthy, spicy, and warm. I've reached for these peppercorns daily, and I keep the grinder jar out on my dinner table. It was mind-boggling to smell this pepper for the first time. I felt like I had never actually smelled peppercorns in full before these Zanzibar pearls. Now, I find myself smelling each spice intentionally, letting the aroma linger and settle before deciding which spice to use in whatever dish I'm cooking.

I love these spices so much that I took them with me (alongside some other cooking essentials like my favorite paring knife and olive oil) on a recent camping trip upstate. I used the ground Black Lime and Wild Mountain Cumin seeds in grilled fare alongside the brand's Smoked Pimenton Paprika, Toasted Onion Powder, and Turkish Flowering Hyssop Thyme (included in the 7-Spice Shark Tank Collection Set). Needless to say, I was happy to have them on hand in a bare-bones cooking setup, as they each provided so much flavor in a small, portable format.

Black Lime has become one of my new versatile go-to spices. It's made from ground and dried Persian limes, and it's deliciously tart and savory, almost sumac-like. I've used this in place of a squeeze of fresh lime juice and have found that it enhances the depth of flavor in roasted veggies like carrots, parsnips, and potatoes. It's also wildly delicious on grilled veggie kabobs, shrimp skewers, and even sprinkled on fresh watermelon or sliced kiwi.

Wild Mountain Cumin has kicked my grilling game up to a new level of deliciousness with its bright, umami flavor. During our trip upstate, my partner added it to a fresh chimichurri sauce served with grilled sirloin steak tips, and it added a minty, herbaceous freshness to the whole meal. It also made our entire cabin smell amazing. Each spice I've used has impressed me, and I've had fun using the spices in tandem to experiment with new flavor profiles.

Don't just take my word for it. Other F&W editors have also transformed their cooking with these unique spices. If you're looking for some fresh recipe inspiration as you grill this summer, or if you're looking to upgrade your spice collection, I highly recommend you dump out that clumpy jar of onion powder you've been hoarding and upgrade to Burlap & Barrel's intensely bright, flavorful spices. You'll be doing yourself a favor, all while supporting skilled farmers around the world.

To buy: Burlap & Barrel Shark Tank Collection, $46 at burlapandbarrel.com

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