seeking saffron

[caryjones]

Can someone advise me where to purchase reasonably priced saffron in San Francisco or the bay area?

[OldTimer]

This happens to be a subject I know something about. My daughter was setting up a web site to sell saffron, but abandoned the idea last year. We were buying saffron from San Francisco Herb and Spice (always the best spice prices) for $30.00 oz. Good quality Mancha premium grade. Then came the drought...priice is now $144.00 oz. Daughter decided too risky at that price. SF Herb sells the same grade for $7.90 gram. The prices have been fluctuating so much, I see saffron as a spice of the past. I have seen slightly better prices for Iranian, but for some strange reason, people don.t seem to trust Iran.

[whiner]

Another vote for Trader Joes

[poulet_roti]

Queen of Sheba Market on Sutter at Larkin - saffron imported from Iran, far superior to most you will find from Spain.

[Nancy Berry]

I'll bet that they get their saffron from Vanilla, Saffron Imports.

[xanadude]

Some costcos have it.

[Veggo]

Does anyone know how long saffron keeps, i.e. shelf life, and does it degrade?

[wolfe]

Apparently several years when stored in a tightly sealed container. Potency decreases slowly and after a while you may have to add more to get the same effect.

[escargot3]

ps- at LhasaKarnak.com you can order online. For years, I especially have loved their bulk mint tea -- super flavorful.

[escargot3]

i like shopping at the fab herb store: Lhasa Karnak. There are 2 locations in Berkeley.
Competitive prices (& possibly the cheapest), and great quality. I think they have 2 kinds of saffron -- plain and fancy.

[Nancy Berry]

Vanilla, Saffron Imports, on Valencia in SF, sells excellent Iranian saffron at very good prices. You can buy from them online. Here's the link:

http://www.saffron.com/

By the way, they also sell a number of different excellent vanilla extracts (Tahitian, Madagascar, Mexican, etc.) and vanilla beans, also at very good prices.

[mochimunchie]

Thanks for this link. I read through the info pages on saffron - very educational.

[Paul H]

Spanish Table carries several sizes of saffron. The most reasonable seems to be 4g for $30 or $210 per oz. I would also think that the quality here would be pretty good.
http://www.spanishtable.com/merchant....

[rosiella1]

I usually get mine at Trader Joe's but I've seen them at Cost Plus as well.

[Shane Greenwood]

Link

-----
Penzeys Spices
771 Santa Cruz Ave, Menlo Park, CA 94025

[Shane Greenwood]

Penzey's spice house in Menlo Park sells a few different varieties. As I recall they went up in price depending on the quality. They have a pretty detailed description of each in the store but I can't recall the exact details right now. I bought a middle tier Spanish one that was great, much stronger flavor than the stuff from Trader Joes.

[Zeldog]

Trader Joe's sells 0.7 gram for about $5. Not a great price, but no complaints about the quality.

[wolfe]

That's about $200/oz, sounds fair.

[wolfe]

What may be reasonable may not be saffron.
http://www.chow.com/ingredients/302

[mochimunchie]

I got my last tin at Vik's in Berkeley - I think it was around $40. The also have saffron at Milan's on University.

[Zeldog]

$40 for how much safron?

[mochimunchie]

1 oz....guess it's not the real thing though :(
I've used it and been happy with the results.

[wally]

If you are sure it is an ounce, it is about half what penzey's charges. I really haven't seen it for $200

[mochimunchie]

yes, it's an ounce...comes in a nice tin...from Spain...imported by Vik's.
I think it is just a lower grade as I do need to use a generous pinch to get the level of saffron flavor I want. Still, it works fine for me.

[wolfe]

The Penzey on line catalog has .25oz high grade Spanish saffron at $81.99.