Austin: Spice Shop Grand Opening (by the numbers)

For the longest time, I didn’t really get the spice thing. I’m slow to the cooking game, and I never understood why people went nuts for Penzey’s in Dallas … I didn’t even know Central Market had bulk spices (awesome!) until this year. But people, spices are awesome. They make boring things amazing and amazing things out-of-this-world.

And now Austin has cemented its reputation as a foodie town with the opening of  Savory Spice Shop on West Sixth. Friday, Nov. 12 will feature a fresh rosemary ribbon cutting at 10am with free spice samples all day.

• 400 herbs, spices, seasonings, blends, extracts and salts from around the world
• More than 30 different chiles, from Korean Red Pepper Chile Threads to Miniature Thai Chilies
• Nearly 40 organic herbs, spices and extracts including Organic Madagascar “Bourbon” Vanilla Beans and Organic Imported European Basil
• 19 different ways to choose pepper from Tasmanian Pepper Berries to Reunion Island Pink Peppercorns
• specialty salts including Italian Black Truffle Salt and Alder Wood Smoked Sea Salt
• more than 140 fresh seasoning blends including curries, cheese blends, salt-free seasonings and barbecue spice combinations.

Ground fresh every week, the shop will feature familiar seasonings as well as extraordinary aromatics such as Ethiopian Berbere, Cambodian Lemongrass, Peruvian Chili Lime and Thai Green Curry blends. Hello, yum? These are just spices!

Shoppers will not only be able to sample these blends with ‘tasters’ throughout the store, but also buy them in quantities as small or large as they want – from half-ounce measure to several pounds. After sampling a spice, customers are invited to toss the remaining spice sample on the floor to add to the mesmerizing blend of aromas that waft throughout the store.

See you there. I’ll be the one drooling.

1201B West Sixth Street, just west of the intersection of Blanco and West Sixth. Monday – Saturday, 10 am – 7 pm and Sunday, 11 am – 6 pm. http://www.savoryspiceshop.com/aboutus/austin6th.html / 512.524.1093 / @savryspiceon6th