Table of Contents
About Spice House
Cooking is a bigger ritual than just preparing food to chomp down on. It maintains traditions, expands horizons, and is a universal language.
Nobody understands this better than Spice House, whose powerful spices and spice blends have earned them over 58k Instagram followers and a successful business lasting over half a century.
But, is it worth stuffing your pantry with their products? Our Spice House review will answer that question by looking at what the company provides, what their customers think, and some ways that you can put their products to use.
Overview of Spice House
Bill Sr. and Ruth Penzey founded Spice House in 1957 to accommodate the fast post-war American lifestyle. Home-cooking rates shot up and people needed good ways to flavor their canned spam and tuna sandwiches.
Both founders were foodies with international interests. Their multicultural curiosity helped them cultivate spice blends drawing inspiration from across the globe.
The couples’ daughter Patty and her husband Ted Erd inherited Spice House and brought it into newfound relevancy. They built the company’s reputation as a solid spice foundation.
Moving forward, the company keeps their eyes towards maintaining cultural traditions and gastronomical inventiveness. They’ve modernized by taking their business online, developing bundles, and incorporating input from professional chefs in the form of recipes on their website.
Now then, let’s get ready for today’s corporate lesson by looking at some of Spice House’s highlights:
Highlights
- Offers a variety of inventive and traditional spice blends
- Free shipping on orders over $49
- Reliable company reputation
- Get veritable cooking inspiration with chef-generated recipes on their website
- Enthusiastic customer reviews
Spice House sells spices and blends that cover different cuisine types, regions, and food families, so let’s turn up the heat and take a look at what they have to offer.
Spice House Review
This section of our Spice House review will focus on the company’s best-selling spice brands. These are their premade herb and spice combinations, specifically. We’d also like to point out that if you choose to get these spices in the Flatpack option, shipping is always free!
Spice House Saigon Ground Cassia Cinnamon Review
The Spice House Saigon Ground Cassia Cinnamon seeks to be the sweet heat super spice. It can be hot and tasty on command, providing flavor where the meal needs it most.
Its main ingredient is Vietnamese cinnamon, which used to be as hard to source in the United States as panda bears. This cinnamon is earthy and rich, making this spice blend great for recipes where cinnamon is the starring flavor. Use it in baked goods or maple-glazed roasted veggies.
One 1.8 oz jar of the Saigon Ground Cassia Cinnamon costs $8, while an 8 oz bag is $22, and an entire ½ cup Flatpack is $8.
Spice House Back of the Yards Garlic Pepper Butcher’s Rub Review
This popular spice blend is as authentically ‘Chicago’ as deep-dish pizzas and Kanye West.
The Spice House Back of the Yards Garlic Pepper Butcher’s Rub was intended as a meat rub because of its flaky texture, but even vegetarians and vegans can find a good use for this combination for grilled vegetables.
It contains pepper, garlic, and shallots, with subtle bell peppers and parsley notes that can give your steak that extra sizzle.
You can get a half-cup (2.5 oz) jar, or an equally-sized Flatpack, for $9, or go big with an 8 oz bag for $20.
Spice House Lake Shore Drive Shallot & Herb Seasoning Review
The Spice House Lake Shore Drive Shallot & Herb Seasoning is a finishing garnish that recalls Lake Michigan with shallots, chives, and peppercorns.
Salt, pepper, and garlic round out the seasoning and transform it from a snapshot of Lake Shore Drive into an intriguing all-purpose seasoning.
It’s best used at the end of a dish rather than being cooked into it. Put it to the test by grabbing a 2.2 oz (or a half a cup) jar for $10, an 8 oz bag for $22, or an entire ½ cup Flatpack for $10 and get cooking.
Spice House Gateway to the North Maple Garlic Seasoning Review
Think of rustic, thick, traditional American dishes when you think of how to use Spice House Gateway to the North Maple Garlic Seasoning. For example, you’ll want to use this item in chilis, sweet potatoes, and pork dishes.
That’s because this blend pairs maple syrup’s sweetness with garlic’s aromatic properties. Brown sugar, kosher salt, onion, and pepper back up each main flavor to elevate any American dish into an American tradition.
A Spice House Gateway to the North Maple Garlic Seasoning half-cup jar that weighs 3.4 oz costs $10, while an 8 oz bag is $16 and a ½ cup Flatpack is $10.
Spice House Vulcan’s Fire Salt Review
This spice blend is hot and salty, which is also exactly what our Spice House review writers are looking for when we swipe through Tinder.
It’s another great all-purpose flavor enhancer because salt and spiciness can improve any dish if they’re used correctly. Think of anything that could use some salt and some heat, like sauteed vegetables, breakfast scrambles, and burgers, and they’ll benefit from the Spice House Vulcan’s Fire Salt.
It’s made with a secret ingredient alongside garlic, a chile paste blend, lime juice powder, and paprika. Oh, and we can’t forget the salt.
You can acquire a ½ cup Flatpack or a half-cup (2.6 oz) jar for $9, or an 8 oz bag for $20.
Spice House Brisket of Love Barbecue Rub Review
What makes the Spice House Brisket of Love Barbecue Rub so delectable? Probably the sugar and salt combination alongside mesquite smoke powder, paprika, Worcestershire, and a bevy of other subtle inclusions.
Furthermore, beef brisket may be one of, if not the best, American staple dishes. The spice blend boils that Southern hospitality into something that you can toss on your ribs, chicken, or even in a stew.
Cook up your own lovely briskets with a half-cup (3.3 oz) jar or a ½ cup Flatpack for $9, or go bigger with a $14 8 oz bag.
Who Is Spice House For?
Spice House is for people who eat at home regularly. If you love cooking, you’ll most likely love Spice House for its expansive range of taste bud tingling rubs and spices.
What is The Spice House Flatpack?
Flatpacks are small, half a cup bags of each spice delivered right to your door free of shipping charges. That being said, the door in question has to be located in the United States.
We found that they are the best value purchase available through Spice House because you’ll save on shipping without scalping on ingredient quality.
All of the Flatpack bags are reusable, too.
Spice House Reviews: What Do Customers Think?
This section of our Spice House will examine the most frequently-used deciding factor when it comes to shopping: customer feedback.
Customers on the Spice House website pointed out one huge benefit to their products: they can be used in diets like Weight Watchers and Acid Watchers, meaning they are useful for people who want to lose weight while still eating good food.
They’ve even attracted international customers who would rather pay the additional shipping charges than subject themselves to lesser-grade grocery store products.
United States customers were especially appreciative of Spice House’s free shipping offered through their Flatpacks program.
This happy fan left a 5/5 star review on the Spice House Saigon Ground Cassia Cinnamon where they said, “Can I just say this is amazing! Just open the jar and you know good things are going to happen. Makes my Apple pie taste and smell delicious. I use it a lot.”
Most premade spice blends suffer from salt overenthusiasm. The makers save money by reducing the proportion of high-quality ingredients in their blends and overcompensate by adding too much salt. The Spice House customers were mostly aware of how the company’s products were rarely oversalted.
Continuing on that train of thought, our The Spice House review writers found many testimonials that complimented the sublime spice and salt balancing found in their mixes. Many reviews looked similar to this 5/5 star review left on the Spice House Back of the Yards Garlic Pepper Butcher’s Rub page:
“This has become another of my Spice House secret weapons. It is fabulous on not only meat but veggies, soups, stocks etc. It is not too salty like many spice blends. I like to control my salt. I totally recommend this blend. You’ll never be without it.”
That review also touches on something else customers fawned over: just how many dishes they could use the Spice House products in. Oh god, we could feel our stomachs rumbling through our eyeballs with how many customer-generated cooking tips and recipes we read over in the company’s reviews sections.
These inventive implementations expanded beyond the brand’s website. Our Spice House review crew found even more tasty testimonials on their Facebook page.
Even there the company held a high standing with their clients. How high, you ask? Does an average score of 4.8/5 stars sound high enough to you? Bear in mind that this average comes from over 835 customer reviews. Not too shabby.
Facebook fanatics flocked to the foreign spice blends, with the Spice House Singapore Citrus Salt Free Curry Blend earning considerable praise.
The positive reviews on Facebook largely highlighted how Spice House supplied hard-to-find spices and that their Flatpacks free shipping program was a gift from the gastronomical gods.
Here’s a telling Facebook review: “My spices all were very fragrant, and presentation was very nice. Very excited with this company. And, the personal note on my receipt was such a nice and welcoming gesture.”
We found a more mixed reception batch on Reddit. On the positive side, Redditors unanimously praised Spice House’s flavors. Many of the positive comments were along the lines of this customer’s insight: “I’m a fan of them. I buy from them and always found their spices to be of very good quality.”
But as is usually the case, not all were that pleased with Spice House. The more critical Redditors felt that the company over-priced their products and that it would be more affordable to buy ground spices in bulk and grind them at home.
All our Spice House review comrades have to say about that is, duh. It’s also cheaper to make our own sourdough bread, but we’re adults with lives, friends, and hobbies that don’t involve wasted hours of kneading and proofing.
So while you may be paying a bit more for Spice House pre-ground spices, you’ll be saving yourself time and effort.
Here’s a list of all the aggregate scores of Spice House’s best-selling products straight from their website:
- Spice House Saigon Ground Cassia Cinnamon: 5/5 stars from over 90 ratings
- Spice House Lake Shore Drive Shallot & Herb Seasoning: 5/5 stars from over 75 ratings
- Spice House Gateway to the North Maple Garlic Seasoning: 5/5 stars from over 55 ratings
- Spice House Back of the Yards Garlic Pepper Butcher’s Rub: 5/5 stars from over 50 ratings
- Spice House Vulcan’s Fire Salt: 5/5 stars from over 30 ratings
- Spice House Brisket of Love Barbecue Rub: 5/5 stars from over 15 ratings
Now, much like a high school science teacher preaching to their classroom, let’s recap what we’ve learned today. Spice House’s shipping program is convenient, their spices are to-die-for, and they’ve helped customers elevate their cooking to the next level.
We’d say class was dismissed, but there are a few things we still want to cover in our Spice House review.
Is Spice House Worth It?
In our opinion, most home cooking suffers because people use subpar spice blends. For that reason, we believe that Spice House is worth the purchase.
The better you can make your food taste, the more likely you’ll be to eat at home, which saves you time, calories, and money, all of which can be put towards more cooking!
Spice House Promotions & Discounts
These are all the best promotions we found Spice House offers to their lovely clientele.
The company grants free shipping on orders over $49, and free shipping doesn’t stop there. Flatpacks all ship free of charge.
Also, you can bundle some products together, like the Spice House Saigon Ground Cassia Cinnamon and the Spice House Ground Ginger, to save around 5%.
Where to Buy Spice House
Our Spice House review would-be chefs believe that the best, and only place, to buy Spice House spices is through their website, thespicehouse.com.
FAQ
Who owns Spice House?
Company founders Bill. Sr. and Ruth Penzy passed corporate ownership over to their daughter and her husband Patty and Ted Erd years ago.
We should also note that Dave Grossman and Dan Yates own considerable Spice House shares as they entered business relations with the brand in 2018.
How long has Spice House been in business?
The Spice House brand has been around since before the internet. Our Spice House review detectives found that they’ve been operating since 1957.
Are Spice House spices organic?
Though they formerly felt comfortable calling their spices organic, the company now steps away from that term because they believe that their products are of a higher quality than other spices with the organic label.
Spices need to be steam treated to be certified organic. Spice House doesn’t steam their spices because they’re not demons. Steam treating can negatively impact a spice’s color and taste so the brand elects not to steam treat their items.
What is Spice House’s Shipping Policy?
Although Flatpacks and orders over $49 claim to ship for free, we located a detail you may find interesting if you’re looking into purchasing Flatpacks through the Spice House Free No-Rush Shipping program.
These orders take 3 to 8 business days to reach their customers and cannot be tracked.
Here’s a list of shipping rates for their Free No-Rush Shipping offer:
- Flatpack orders under $49 cost $6 in shipping fees
- Orders under $49 cost $8 in shipping fees
- All orders over $49 receive free shipping.
All Spice House orders are also eligible for UPS ground delivery, which are shipped within 48 hours of purchase and take 2-3 business days to arrive. The company charges $15 for shipping orders under $49 and $10 for orders over $49.
If you cannot wait to start dazzling your dinner guests with your new Smoked Paprika then you can sign up for Express Shipping, costing $25 and delivering your order in less than 2 business days.
The company also ships to Canada. Shipping to the Great North takes 6-10 business days and looks a little like this in terms of pricing:
- All orders under $50 cost $15 to ship
- Orders between $50 and $100 cost $25 to ship
- Orders over $100 receive free shipping
Our Spice House review found that while the country does ship internationally they do not offer many details on delivery times because they do not use a standardized international courier.
What is Spice House’s Return Policy?
The company offers returns for products up to 30 days after you’ve purchased an item.
How to Contact Spice House
We’ll conclude our Spice House review by giving you the best ways to contact the company if you have any lingering questions and queries:
- Email the brand at [email protected]
- Call them at (312) 676-2414. Their phone lines are open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm every day.
Use the Contact Us form on their website
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