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Robusta Black Peppercorns

Bold, robust, dried fruit flavor and classic black pepper heat.

Regular price
$8.99
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$8.99
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Sale price
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Why Burlap & Barrel?

  • Single origin spices sourced directly from small farms
  • Over 10,000 5-star reviews
  • Guaranteed to wow you or we'll replace

Named by Saveur as the “Best Black Peppercorn for Heat”

Our gingery, savory, workhorse-of-the kitchen Robusta Black Peppercorns come from a small organic farm in Vietnam. They're harvested when the peppercorns are ripe, and their classic, herbaceous, robust flavor captivated us at first grind! They're grown by two friends, Dūng and Thanh, using regenerative integrated agricultural techniques. Vietnam's prized Robusta coffee is intercropped with the pepper vines, which provide shade for the coffee bushes and maybe even pick up a bit of that Robusta flavor. This is your daily black pepper.

Highlights

Origin:

Ea Sar, Vietnam

Aliases:

Black peppercorns

Process:

Sun-dried

Ingredients:

Black peppercorns, organically grown (Piper nigrum v. Vĩnh Linh and Trâu Xanh)

Tasting notes:

Dark Roast • Dried Fruit • Tropical Heat

Cooking tips

  • You know what to do: grind over everything
  • Add to tomato sauces, braises, beans, soups and stocks
  • Try pairing a little ground peppercorn with fresh fruit
"Burlap & Barrel’s Robusta black pepper evokes java with a wallop of ginger."
"These vine-ripened peppercorns are grown organically and sun-dried and boast tasting notes of dried fruit."

RECIPES

SOURCING

Sourcing image

Peppercorns grow on vines in bunches like grapes. The red peppercorns are ripe, and the red fruit has a mild, sweet flavor. Allowing the peppercorns to ripen on the vine is tricky - peppercorns on the same vine ripen at different rates, and the peppercorns become a bigger target for birds and can mold as they ripen. However, when a skilled farmer can pull this off, the payoff is a warm, fiery peppercorn. These are black peppercorns, but they are fully ripened on the vine into a complete expression of their sweet, savory, fiery flavor. 

The Robusta Black Peppercorns are a combination of two heirloom pepper varieties, Vĩnh Linh (grown by Dūng) and Trâu Xanh (grown by Thanh). Together, the two types of sun-dried peppercorns hit a perfect balance of fragrance and flavor.

Meet the Farmers: Meet Dūng (left) and Thanh. We spent a couple of days on their farm, helping with the pepper harvest and learning about their biodynamic, regenerative agricultural practices. They're young (Dūng is 23 and Thanh is 30) and they started working together in 2013, with the goal of growing pepper better (and growing better pepper) than their neighbors. Pretty much every other farmer in the region uses chemical pesticides and fertilizers to maximize yields, but Dūng and Thanh believe in using organic growing practices, intercropping with coffee and chili pepper plants, grazing chickens and ducks, and using nitrogen-fixing trees to support their pepper vines.

We started Burlap & Barrel precisely to work with farmers like them, helping connect them with higher-value markets and customers who will appreciate the thoughtfulness and care with which they're growing their peppercorns.

how do we compare? Supermarket Icon Supermarket Fair Trade Icon Fair Trade
Heirloom Spices Yes No No
Fair Prices for Farmers Yes No Depends on global commodity price
Time in Storage None. We import spices at harvest Up to 10 years At least 1 year
Flavor Profile Intense & fresh Stale & bland Inconsistent
Knows Farmers Names Yes No Unlikely
Customer Service Fast responses from real people! No There might be a 1-800 number?
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