Mulling and Pickling

Mulling and Pickling

Our hand-blended mulling and pickling spices are the perfect way to add some unique flavour to a variety of drinks and food. On one hand, mulling spices are typically used to bring real warmth and flavour to drinks during the cold winter and autumn months — your hot apple ciders and mulled wines, or something even more adventurous such as Caribbean Sorrel Rum.

The exact combination of ingredients used for mulling spices varies, but some of the most common ingredients you might expect to find include cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger. Other additions such as star anise, peppercorn, or cardamom are common. It’s these spicy flavours that pair so well with the sweet, fruity flavour of mulled drinks. Depending on the drink you’re making you may even use some fruit, too — ingredients such as raisins, apples (dried) or orange rind. Take a look through our selection and find what works best for you.

Meanwhile, pickling spices are (as you may have guessed) used to pickle foods such as vegetables and eggs. Pickling can preserve and extend the shelf life of foods for months and has been used as a method to do so for thousands of years. It’s thought that originally, humans did this to preserve their food for out-of-season use, perhaps in long, cold winters when nothing grew, as well as for long, hard journeys across the sea.

The process of pickling food in vinegar or some sort of brine typically gives it a very salty, sour taste and when you pair this with some of our pickling spices, they combine perfectly to add a unique, tangy flavour. The exact combination of spices used in each pickling spice blend will vary, but common ingredients might include mustard seeds, coriander, ginger, peppercorns, dill seed, allspice, and bay leaves. You can purchase our own pre-packaged, hand-blended version, or create your own, combining the individual ingredients from our spice shop.

When you’re using pickling or mulling spices, it's important to use them in the right proportions. Too much of any one spice can overpower the other flavours in the spice blend, leading to less-than-tasty results. Remember — when you’re creating mulled drinks, it's important to simmer the spices in the liquid for a period of time to allow the flavours to really meld together. For pickling, the spices are typically added to the brine and left to infuse for several days before the vegetables are added.