Cloud Forest Cardamom

Our cardamom is grown on a single estate in the cloud forests of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, on a biodynamic farm, using traditional organic methods. The farm emphasizes workers' rights, sustainability and fair business practices. The terroir is ideal for cardamom, which thrives in humid, high altitude environments with plenty of rainfall. The comparatively low temperatures in the mountains during the harvest season (November-January) ensure high levels of fragrant essential oils.

Our cardamom is sweet and tart, reminiscent of summer fruits, fresh herbs and cut grass. The cardamom fruit turns yellow as it ripens and has a slightly softer, sweeter flavor than standard green cardamom, but is perfect in recipes that call for green cardamom.

• Origin: Alta Verapaz, Guatemala
• Aliases: green cardamom, yellow cardamom, elaichi, hel
• Process: Hot-air-dried
• Ingredients: 100% whole cardamom pods (Elettaria cardamomum)
• Tasting notes: Ginger • Apricots • Jungle Flowers

COOKING

• Throw a few pods while baking or sautéing chicken
• Cook down with a fruit juice for a savory/sweet sauce
• Add a handful of pods to your masala chai
• In Tequila Shrimp & Chorizo Skewers (community recipe)
  
• In Yellow Cardamom Ice Cream with Candied Fennel Seeds (community recipe)
• Pairs well with: Wild Mountain Cumin, New Harvest Turmeric, Ground Cinnamon Verum  

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. A general lack of understanding of the spice’s usage, as well as the commoditization of the crop and near monopolization of the industry by a very small number of major exporters, keep small producers from cultivating higher-quality products or accessing high-value markets. They grow tiny quantities of cardamom, which they must sell to coyotes and other middlemen as quickly as possible before the quality degrades. The structures of the industry keep farmers in a weak negotiating position that de-emphasizes quality and stifles farmers’ earning potential.

Our cardamom is grown on one of the only single-estate cardamom farms in Guatemala, which is also one of the only farms to manage the supply chain in its entirety, from cultivation to harvesting, drying and export. They are constantly innovating, experimenting with cloning and other state-of-the-art techniques to produce the finest spice possible. Cardamom is officially graded only by its size and green color; however, those factors don’t correlate to flavor. Yellow cardamom, however, is allowed to ripen fully, resulting in softer, fruitier, and overall more complex flavor.

Meet the Farmer: Amilcar Pereira planted his first cardamom vine when he was 9. In the years since then, he has succeeded in creating the only vertically-integrated cardamom operation in Guatemala. His farming practices produce cardamom is so good that Saveur called him "the farmer shaking up the Guatemalan cardamom trade."