Berbere Spice

This berbere blend has a wonderful, complex aroma that holds up well in the kitchen. I use it regularly for Ethiopian dishes, and it's particularly excellent in Chicken Berbere — the depth of flavor it brings is hard to replicate with individual spices. A solid pantry staple if you enjoy East African cuisine.

I absolutely love Ethiopian food and this is the spice that is star of the show in much of the recipes I've made. Berbere is a blend of many spices, ground together and blended for a spicy, umami flavor in stews and grilled dishes. I've tried many brands trying to replicate the flavor of my first time trying an authentic doro-wat, and this brand is perfect. It's not to heavy on any one spice in the mix, and has a nice spicy, smoky finish. The spice is ground fairly fine as well, which makes for a nice mouth feel in your finished dishes. This spice has made many a delicious bbq and stew in my kitchen, and I think it will in your kitchen too! While the price might seem a bit high, it's really not bad at all, at a little over a dollar an ounce. You pay that much for per ounce for less spices in a local grocery store. It's worth buying it in this bulk size if you are serious about making African dishes or just like spicy foods and want a well rounded spice blend. I feel this brand is a good addition to anyone's spice cabinet. You can fill up your own container, or just use the spice straight out of the bag as it is resealable. Super convenient!

I can take some heat, (think Indian at about a 5 or 6 on a 10 point scale) but this one is very hot. The flavor is great, but use less than a 1/4 of what any given recipe calls for, because I can't handle the heat level. The flavor is fantastic, which is why I keep reaching for it instead of making my own with a milder profile.

This is my first experience with berbere spice. I bought it because I was curious after seeing a contestant use it on a cooking show, he won and the judges couldn't stop talking about his use of berbere spice shop, I bought some. I was looking for something imported straight from Ethiopia but choose this brand for the economical factor. It's manufactured in Texas. As far as I know, it is pretty darn good. It's smoky with a medium hot spiciness and a touch of curry/cumin type of flavor. Eventually, I will get some authentic, imported from the source but, until then this will work. I will be using it on chicken first but think any type of meat would work. Even veggies like kale or on tofu or lentils. Anything really.

I bought this seasoning because I wanted to expand my culinary culture. I normally cook American, Italian and Asian foods. This was the best deal for the price. So far I've used this spice to make Doro Wat and Sega Wat. Both times I've used I ended up with massive headache over consuming this. I'm not sure if it's the product or I'm not used to the seasoning. Next recipes I'll try to decrease the amount (most recipes call for half a cup of this)

Previously purchased Frontier Herbs Berbere spice mix to make lentils with. These are also very good quality spices, but this one is hotter than Frontier's so be careful how much you use-- it might be spicier than expected!

I bought this berbere spice to make Ethiopian Chicken Stew, as I wanted to make it as authentic as possible. The ingredients in this are all great, but there are only 14 of them, when the actual homemade spice blend has 16. One of the two, which was said to be important was a bird pepper, which is actually a Thai Chili Pepper, which has been dried and crushed. So I used the recommended amount of Berbere, which for this recipe of 2 pounds of Chicken and 2 pounds of Onion; was 1/2 cup of the spice. I also put in 1/4 teaspoon of the Thai Chili Pepper. WARNING _ DANGER- WARNING... I love Spicy hot food. I even make my own hot sauces. I have a collection of over 300 hot sauces, so I am not a simpleton, when it comes to hot food. But this was INSANE!!! Perhaps because of the combination of the Berbere and the Thai Chili; or perhaps both of those in addition to the 2 pounds of onions ( which was actually 2 1/2 lbs, as was the chicken) or the 11 cloves of garlic. IN ANY CASE... The spice is GREAT, but it is REALLY POTENT!!, Yes, I would buy it again for a real authentic taste.

Now, berbere is a mix of many spices and the exact taste differs by company, country, city, and probably home to home, too. However, there is a familiar background scent and taste that's signature of all berbere and this one is just...it's missing *something.* The other reviewers are also right that it's too spicy, more than other berbere mixes I've cooked with, but that's a far secondary issue in my opinion. I don't cook or consume berbere dishes often enough to intelligently figure out what exactly is missing, but it just doesn't have that signature flavor profile that a dish like doro wat from a restaurant has! Even the uncooked spice mix itself smells...not completely there. It's part of the way there, so I don't mind too much having bought it - especially because it still makes a tasty dish. But if you're really craving the signature taste of berbere, this may leave you a little disappointed.