Where can I get dried spices?

August 31, 2012 1:35 PM

Where can I get tasty bulk spices at awesome prices online? I'm particularly looking for dried whole ancho chiles (which seem to cost upwards of $10/lb online)

I am happy to pay for quality...but the most recent batch I got online were not good (one was clearly rotting). So, I'm looking for a seller who markets high quality spices at reasonable prices.

posted by arnicae to Shopping (13 answers total)

Penzey's has them, and while I haven't had any chiles from them, they are in general excellent.
posted by brainmouse at 1:38 PM on August 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

I can recommend Atlantic Spice Company....they don't have everything that Penzey's does (and so I'm not sure about your chiles), what they do carry is generally cheaper.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 1:47 PM on August 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Totally seconding the Atlantic Spice Company! Bonus: if you're in New England or visiting, you can stop by their location on the Cape. Ahhh-mazing!
posted by floweredfish at 1:49 PM on August 31, 2012

I've had good luck on Amazon with these guys. You can generally get about a pound of any particular spice for what would get you one of those little spice jars in the supermarket. It's pretty ridiculous.

I don't know whether they have ancho chilies or not, but it's a place to start.
posted by valkyryn at 1:50 PM on August 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Frontier Co-Op is who supplies our grocery stores with their bulk herbs and spices. I think if you join as a business, you might get cheaper prices. I belonged to them once, for bulk sea salt when making homemade soap and beauty products. I had a reseller number from my state, however. But check them out, lots of cool products.

The other one I used a lot was San Franscisco Herb. Think they had a minimum order of $30 at the time. I checked and they appear to only have ground dried anchos. But they did have good quality products.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 1:52 PM on August 31, 2012

I was going to recommend Penzeys as well, but The Spice House has better prices (and is pretty well reviewed on Yelp, too). I have not personally tried them, but am also in the market for dried chilis.
posted by O9scar at 2:21 PM on August 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

+penzeys
posted by colin_l at 2:54 PM on August 31, 2012

I can vouch for The Spice House. They're owned by the same family (different members) as Penzeys.
posted by me3dia at 3:39 PM on August 31, 2012

Penzey's quality is always going to be good to excellent, their prices are reasonable, and I do buy many of my dried herbs and spices there. However, ancho isn't something I'd buy online just because it's super cheap at any Mexican market. As one of the main ingredients of mole poblano, it's a staple. They last pretty much forever, being smoked and dried.

Also, there's no such thing as a dried ancho, poblano is the name for the fresh pepper.
posted by wnissen at 5:07 PM on August 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

I have got some from Starwest Botanicals and Bulk Herb Store.
posted by zaxour at 5:27 AM on September 1, 2012

I've had good results from My Spice Sage -- nice quality, with quick shipping. And they'll frequently include free samples of things.
posted by themissy at 6:39 AM on September 1, 2012

I would also suggest, as wnissen did, to check for a local mexican grocery. We bought a HUGE bag of Anchos for $4.

As a bonus, ethnic groceries are EXCELLENT places to get expensive spices for next to nothing. Get your cumin, coriander, and curry powder at Indian groceries for a FRACTION of what you'd spend at the grocery.
posted by ThaBombShelterSmith at 11:44 AM on September 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Very very inexpensive, organic spices and everything is: www.azurestandard.com

everything has been great I've ever gotten there!
posted by msleann at 8:39 PM on September 1, 2012