Burlap & Barrel Zanzibar Black Peppercorns

Category: Salts and Seasonings

*Winner of the Gold medal for quality by Monde Selection*

Our award-winning, vine-ripened whole Zanzibar Black Peppercorns are carefully hand-picked and sun-dried for a bright, fruity and spicy peppercorn.

Black pepper grows in bunches like grapes, on a climbing vine. Most black peppercorns are harvested while still green, and the drying process gives them their distinctive dark skin. These are rich, chocolate-colored peppercorns with dense wrinkles and a bright, fruity spiciness.

Burlap & Barrel is the exclusive importer of Zanzibar black pepper into the United States. Our pepper, like all of our spices from Zanzibar, are grown organically.

Origin:

Zanzibar, Tanzania

Process:

Sun-dried

Ingredients:

Whole black peppercorns (Piper nigrum)

Tasting notes:

Cacao • Lemon • Tropical Heat

SOURCING

We source our Zanzibar black pepper from a cooperative of smallholder artisan farmers on the Zanzibar islands off of the eastern coast of Tanzania, many of whose families have been growing pepper and other spices (including our Cinnamon Verum, Pemba Cloves and Stone Nutmeg) for generations. Black peppercorns grow in bunches, like grapes, on a climbing vine and are mostly harvested while still green. Ours are allowed to ripen a little longer, where the pepper turns more orange, before it is hand-picked and sun-dried into a rich chocolate-colored peppercorn berry. It is optimal to store and keep the peppercorns whole, as ground peppercorn loses its flavor and aroma very rapidly.

Like all of the spices from our partner cooperative in Zanzibar, our black pepper is grown on an EU-certified organic farm.

Meet the Farmer: Bwana Bakari (pictured with his child) is the chair of the farmers' cooperative, where we source our peppercorns in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Each year, he leads the cooperative in harvesting these spicy, citrusy peppercorns by hand, which are then hand sorted to check for quality.

$8.99

2.00 ounces

PRODUCER

Burlap & Barrel

Burlap & Barrel is a Public Benefit Corporation building new international food supply chains that are equitable, transparent and traceable.

A single origin spice company, Burlap & Barrel buys spices from farmers around the globe, who they call partners. They’ve eliminated the intermediaries who have traditionally bought and sold spices multiple times before any jar of spice lands in a U.S. customer’s kitchen cabinet. This means their spices are fresher than what you can find from the big spice companies. Spices so potent that they suggest new customers use just half a serving at first, as they sometimes get feedback from customers that the spices are too strong. It's not that the spices are too strong, but rather we are just accustomed to cooking with old spices! Did you know that supermarket spices sometimes have been in transit for three years?!?!?

Another benefit to eliminating spice brokers is that Burlap & Barrel can pay the farmers more for their crops while offering quality spices to the public at affordable prices.

SUPPORTING SMALLHOLDER FARMERS

Burlap & Barrel is working towards ending inequality and exploitation in food systems that disenfranchise skilled farmers.

They do this by:

Connecting smallholder farmers to high-value markets
Educating consumers about the impact of product traceability on human rights
Sourcing unique foods with terroir that are grown biodynamically and organically using traditional techniques

REDEFINING SUSTAINABILITY

Mainstream conversations around food sustainability rarely consider the people involved in growing, harvesting, transporting, processing and cooking food. Sustainability is discussed in terms of environmental impact, or the comfort of livestock providing meat, dairy or eggs.

The folks at Burlap & Barrel believe that the standard measures of sustainability must evolve to consider the conditions in which the farmers who drive global food supply chains earn their livelihoods. Single origin ingredients draw attention to the unique environments in which incredible ingredients grow and to the farmers with the expertise and commitment to grow them well.