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I have some bad news for you: You probably have at least one jar in your spice cabinet that’s completely lost potency. Seriously, though, when did you buy that big jar of cayenne pepper? Or even that small jar of ground cumin?
Once spices have been ground into a powder from their solid seed or pod form, they begin to lose their vibrancy pretty quickly; most are no longer considered good after six months, though some say a year. And that’s from when they’re ground, not even when you eventually buy them at the store.
Either way, if you can’t remember when you bought that cardamom—or if everything on your spice rack has been there long enough to develop a thin layer of sticky, dusty kitchen grime—it’s time to let it go. It may be painful to throw out a nearly full jar of anything that isn’t going to make you ill, but your food will taste better when you cook with freshly ground spices.
So how do you keep from tossing a bunch of seemingly fine spices once or twice a year? The best—but also most time-consuming—solution is to buy all of your spices in their whole pod or seed forms, then grind them as you go. A less labor-intensive option would be buying just a little bit of everything, but it’s much easier to find small packages of blends than it is to find small packages of single spices.
But there’s another way, and it’s definitely the most fun: Throw a spice-sharing party.
Fall is the perfect time to get together with friends or neighbors and divvy up freshly ground spices into adorable little jars with handwritten labels. To keep with the theme, you can even make a big pot of chili or serve your guests chai. Maybe part of the fun is making a few seasonal spice blends too. Call it a pumpkin spice party if you must—just be sure to have all of the actual pumpkin pie spices available if you do.
Seasonal spice-sharing party supplies
In addition to high-quality spices, which you can order online from some of our favorite spice purveyors like Burlap & Barrel, Diaspora Co., and Spicewalla, you’ll need a few supplies for sorting and storing spices.
