Cloud Forest Cardamom Seeds (Grinder Top)

These Cardamom Seeds are bright and aromatic, reminiscent of summer fruits, fresh herbs and cut grass. The fragrant, crunchy seeds have been removed from the pods, and they’re ready to dot pastries and jams and add depth to your favorite chicken recipe and give your coffee a Middle Eastern twist.

All you need to do is grind the seeds directly into your dishes as you cook for coarsley ground cardamom, with tons of flavor and a little crunch!

The grinder that the seeds come in is perfect for coarsely ground cardamom seeds with a wonderful crunchy texture. If you prefer your cardamom ground more finely, unscrew the top and grind the seeds in an electric grinder or mortar and pestle.

Origin: Alta Verapaz, Guatemala
Aliases: Decorticated cardamom seeds
Process: Hot-air-dried
Ingredients: 100% cardamom seeds, decorticated (Elettaria cardamomum)
Tasting notes: Ginger • Apricots • Jungle Flowers

Cooking

Grind into rice and grains
Use in a rub for chicken and lamb
Add to fruit jams, marmalades and syrups
Pairs well with: Wild Mountain Cumin, New Harvest Turmeric, Royal Cinnamon

Sourcing

Guatemala exports 80% of the world’s cardamom, but the spice is virtually unknown in local markets. It is grown exclusively for export, mostly on tiny plots by indigenous farmers in the country’s remote mountainous region.

Guatemala's cloud forests are ideal for growing cardamom, which thrives in temperate high-altitude environments with plenty of rainfall. The comparatively low temperatures in the mountains during the harvest season (November-January) ensure that the cardamom has very high levels of fragrant essential oils.

This cardamom is grown on one of the only single-estate cardamom farms in Guatemala, which is also the only farm to manage the supply chain in its entirety, from cultivation to harvesting, drying and export. Cardamom is officially graded only by its size and green color; however, those factors don’t correlate to flavor. This cardamom has a yellow tinge since it's allowed to ripen fully, resulting in softer, fruitier, and overall more complex flavor.

Meet the Farmer:

Burlap & Barrel's relationship with partner farmer Don Amilcar in Guatemala is one of their longest-standing and closest farmer partnerships. Maybe he was amused when Ethan first visited the farm in 2016 and hauled back a duffel back full of Don Amilcar's vine-ripened cardamom pods in 2016. And that was the beginning of a long partnership...

In 2020, they brought in more than 20,000 pounds of spices from him, which, among other things, helped him build a new farmhouse.

Don Amilcar planted his first cardamom vine when he was 9 years old. In the years since then, he's created the only vertically integrated cardamom operation in Guatemala with his own farm, his own drying facility and now, his own export operation run by his daughter Meyllin.

His farming operation is so impressive and produces cardamom so good that Saveur called him "the farmer shaking up the Guatemalan cardamom trade."