Mehr Saffron, Premium All Red Saffron / 1 Oz (28 Gram)

We love this brand. Aroma is amazing and quality is top notch

I made saffron rice with this and the flavor is amazing. There are so many counterfeit products out there claiming to be saffron that have no flavor, they only provide color. I will definitely purchase this again when I run out!

Better saffron that a lot of junk I'd bought in past that was passed off as good quality but wasn't. And this is packaged like royalty: a satin-lined heavy cardboard box cradles the glass jar of saffron. The opening of the jar is wide enough to grab a good pinch. The flavor was excellent. Sometimes, you just have to plunk down for the best.Luckily, a small amount of saffron does the trick in cooking. If you didn't already know this, you make a slurry of the dry pistils of saffron in a warm liquid--one containing an oil is best because like many herbs and spices, the active essential oils are not very water soluble. I usually use few tablespoons of warm milk or cream. But if you aren't using milk, water with a touch of butter or olive oil, heated up but not boiling works very well. Then you can sprinkle this liquid over the top of your rice, or mix it into your dish and get saffron flavor well distributed.

I compared this saffron with two other alternatives sold by Amazon, Spicy World Spanish Saffron Filaments, 1-Gram Acrylic Box (Pack of 3) ($5.31/gm) and Pure Spanish Saffron Mancha Threads 1 Ounce Tin($1.93/gm). This product is currently selling for $6.49/gm.The Premium Red was the deepest red of the three and produced the yellowest, most flavorful product (my brother made garbanza bean soup and spanish rice). To achieve a color and flavor close to the Premium Red, we have to use three times as much of the less expensive Pure Spanish Saffron Mancha, making the total cost of the Mehr saffron slightly below that of the Premium Red.I'm sticking with this one.Addendum: We just finished our first order and I'm ordering two more bottles. I read that saffron loses potency over time and you shouldn't keep it for more than a year but we went through a bottle in a month. My brother (the chef) said it's the best saffron he's ever used and we have added salmon and saffron rice to our weekly menu. Price has gone up about a $1.50.Addendum 4/29/15 - Ready to order more and it's price has gone up 35% in 8 months. Currently selling for $7.16/gram. So I ordered the 10 gram bottle instead at $4.80/gram.

Product is delivered in a glass container with a cork (not the tin that is also pictured). It has a wonderful smell that hits you as soon as you open the shipping box. All of the product was a nice deep dark red. There was no yellow. Delivery was prompt, and the saffron was in excellent condition. While I purchase saffron every 3 years or so, I simply do not cook with it frequently enough to give it a 5 star rating. From look and smell alone, it is definitely above average. I will say that since I was able to smell it when I opened the amazon box, I left it in its original container and then put that container in an air tight container normally used to store teas. I figured that the smell was a sure hint that the container provided was not air tight. Store your saffron in a cool dark cupboard, and it will last several years.

Anyone that truly enjoys cooking has been in this bind. Guests are coming to dinner the next day, and you realize that you don’t have quite enough an essential ingredient. In my case it was the saffron for the arroz con pollo (chicken with saffron rice). All I had was a very small amount and I needed at least a half-teaspoon. So, I run out to the spice shop where I usually purchase it, and they are temporarily out of the Spanish “coupe” variety I usually buy. All they have available is “superior”. I’ve tried both, and “coupe” is worth the few extra bucks per gram.So I hit up Amazon Prime, and after reading the reviews, it looks like the Mehr Saffron is the closest in quality to what I usually buy. But I checked out the Mehr webpage before making my Amazon purchase. Truth be told, I should have followed my gut, and taken a hint from the grammatical and spelling errors throughout the website! But I needed delivery the following day, so I pulled the trigger.The 5 gram bottle of Mehr saffron @ $31.47 (approximately $6.20 per gram) arrived in a beautiful cardboard box lined with satin fabric. Nice presentation, but when I compared both the size of the filaments, the aroma, and the intensity of color, the Mehr product paled in comparison.Rather than be a total naysayer, I did a side-by-side taste test by soaking each of the saffron in some water. Hands down, the Spanish “coupe” was both more flavorful. I needed to increase the amount of the Mehr product by an additional 1/3 to get the same flavor and color intensity. Bottom line, the Mehr product is OK, but it’s not worth the 5 star reviews.(FYI, the Costco website is selling a 14 gram jar of Plaza de Saffrons “Coupe” variety for $79.99 ($5.71 per gram) including shipping an handling. Sounds too good to be true. Wish I could see the product, however it’s only available for purchase/delivery online. )