Mehr Saffron, Premium All Red Saffron/0.18 Oz (5 Gram)

Ahhhhh yes! It is perfection! It took about 3 weeks to receive it but when I got it my taste buds got happy! It has such great aroma, I can smell it through the box. The flavor of this saffron is delicious and color beautiful…

Costco is well known for providing authentic, high quality foods like saffron and olive oil so I wanted to compare their brand to what I usually buy, which is Mehr and see how different they are. First the visuals: Mehr looks like it has been broken and abused or simply milled to be shorter or are from flowers that don't produce very long stamens. Kirkland has long intact stamens that are beautiful and clearly have been gently handled at all stages. Cold water: Mehr instantly releases color when in contact with cold water. Kirkland doesn't produce much color at all. Hot water: After 5 minutes in water from boiling temperature the water is beautifully colored. Kirkland, has released its color with hot water, looks nearly identical to Mehr. Cooked in rice: Mehr saffron is slightly darker than Kirkland. Both come out beautifully. Flavor: both are distinctly saffron, but have slightly different flavors. Neither is better than the other. Conclusion: I'll buy whichever is readily available. Mehr is the real deal, and that is what I wanted to figure out from this process.

The picture is of a tea blend I made with saffron after 4 infusion. I picked out of the saffron from the bag and placed it in the bowl so you can see that even after several infusion the saffron has not lost its colour. Disclosure: I did receive this product for a discounted price for my honest review. Pros -Arrived on time -Packaged beautifully -Most importantly this is high quality saffron! Although I am not a connoisseur of saffron you can tell that this product is exceptionally good because it’s the right colour, dry, brittle, and it has that amazing saffron smell. I used this saffron to make a white tea blend with chamomile, lemongrass and saffron, and not only did this saffron make delicious tea I was able to make many more tasty infusions. I also plan on freezing the tea bags and using them on my eyes since saffron is really good for the skin. Cons -none for me at least

This saffron is very high quality and lasts really long as the quantity is 14 grams. For those of us that use saffron regularly, this is definitely worth a buy. I was worried if the flavor would recede after months of using it, but it stays really good till today after more than 6 months of purchase. I would give a 5 star but the cork is too small and breaks into small pieces if not handled very softly. Sometimes, I have to check if a small piece of cork has fallen into the saffron glass bottle.

I must admit that I'm probably not enough of a gourmet cook to accurately judge premium saffron. I'll give my observations, which is the best I can do. First of all, the packaging is premium and gives the feeling that you've acquired the very best. Always a plus when you pay this much for such a small amount. These days good saffron is pricier than gold or silver. The fine golden box, the heavy, thick glass of the bottle, and the massive precisely cut cork (which resembles a vault door more than a stopper) all whisper quality. The aroma is strong, which points to freshness. The strands are long and while, not broken and powdery. And of course, just a pinch transforms any dish that you add it to. Exquisite. Worth every dollar. The only downside? The beautiful golden box came with an ugly inventory sticker plastered on with industrial strength glue! Too bad. It's a nice little box.

Mehr saffron has bittersweet aroma. I observed the stamen; they where crushed due to packaging. I would suggest a bigger jar. Mehr saffron has a bitter, earthy taste with a sweet hint.

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. )

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.