Spice mixtures, salts and oils from Altes Gewurzamt

Old Spice Office - Ingo Holland - Production

How do you ensure the quality of your spices?
No spice comes into our warehouse unchecked. The quality of spices is recognized internationally with certificates and analyses. If these labels are not available, we will commission the relevant analyses. Since this year we have also employed an ecotrophologist who monitors all certification of the entrances. So that you can be 100% sure that you only get the best quality from us.

What should you pay particular attention to when purchasing spices?
Spices are products for which freshness is particularly important - so they can only be stored for a certain time. Therefore, we only purchase for a consumption period of 3 to a maximum of 6 months. In the herbal sector, this is often only a few kilograms. When we receive goods, we not only check our suppliers` certificates, but also carry out our own visual and taste tests. If the spices are flawless, they are included in our range and carefully stored. In addition, we take samples of every spice we buy or make ourselves in order to be able to trace the quality and development over a period of 2 years.

How do you ensure the homogeneity of your spice blends?
In order to ensure a homogeneous mixing of the spices, we had a custom-made machine built that looks similar to a small concrete mixer. The drum was replaced with a VA4 stainless steel drum in which all mixtures are homogenized again after grinding to achieve the best possible mixing results. This gives us the certainty that no spice pockets of one type will form in the mixtures and thus change the aroma.

How do you make your ground spices?
The grinding process takes place in several stages. In the first step, we select some of our spices using a conveyor belt, where deviations are sorted out. These are, for example, fleur de sel, long pepper, grains of paradise, etc. We then grind on various mills, initially on a hammer mill, which works like a rapidly rotating mortar. The spices are sieved in different calibrations depending on their intended use. We then work with two large disc mills on which we can grind spices to different degrees of fineness.

How do you process spices into mixtures?
Our blends are ground up to around 75-80% whole spices such as coriander seeds, peppercorns, nutmegs, mace and so on. Only paprika, turmeric, ginger, garlic and galangal are added as powder, but then ground again with the whole spices. This results in the high intensity of our spice mixtures.

What needs to be paid special attention to when storing spices?
To ensure the freshness of our spices over a longer period of time, we store them in original containers and in food-safe plastic barrels and boxes at a temperature of around 19° Celsius. To protect against other environmental influences, such as pest infestation, inventory is carefully monitored and recorded.