The spice catalogue.

Intensity 4/5 · Heat 2/5

Bright citrus and resinous pine arrive first, then warm wood and a heat that builds slowly rather than stinging.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 2/5

Perfumed and almost floral, with a mineral edge and warm spice underneath. Lighter and more elegant than Tellicherry.

Intensity 4/5 · Heat 3/5

Sweeter and rounder than black pepper, with a slow-building heat. It looks like a tiny cone and grates beautifully over a braise.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 3/5

Straightforward, fresh and clean — the jar that lives next to the hob. Also available ground for the pepper pot.

Intensity 5/5 · Heat 1/5

Loud, sweet and hot — the cinnamon of childhood baking, with far more oil than supermarket cassia.

Intensity 4/5

Grate it and the room changes. Nothing pre-ground comes close — buy whole and take ten seconds.

Intensity 5/5

Oily, dark and powerful. Two or three do the work of a spoonful of anything else.

Intensity 5/5

Dried over open fires, so it arrives smoky and resinous. Nothing like green cardamom despite the name — this one belongs in savoury pots.

Intensity 4/5

Perfect eight-point stars, sweet and liquorice-deep. One star flavours an entire pot of broth.

Intensity 3/5

Crush one and it is unmistakably gin — pine resin, citrus and cold forest air.

Intensity 3/5

Slow-dried so the leaf stays whole and the oil stays in. Woody, floral and immediately familiar.

Intensity 4/5

Pine and camphor, sharp enough to carry through a whole tray of roast potatoes.

Intensity 5/5

Two supple, oily pods in a sealed tube. Split one and the seeds smell of cream, wood and dried flowers.

Intensity 5/5 · Heat 3/5

A rotating slot: whichever exceptional wild or single-lot pepper we can genuinely source that season. When a lot ends, the next one is different by design.

Intensity 5/5 · Heat 4/5

The hotter sibling of Ember: black pepper, chipotle smoke and real chilli heat.