Finally, new stock in! You can find our older stock on clearance at a significant discount here.

Cubeb (Piper cubeba) is one of those spices that could have been the one to sit next to salt on the dinner table, but (in part due to some uncompetitive tactics in the old days) lost the race to black pepper. It’s a key botanical in some well-known gins and is one of the family of spicy ones that can add some zing to the mix.

It has many uses in traditional and modern baking and cooking, particularly Indonesian and Moroccan, and can transform entirely once distilled. Basic flavours are typically quoted as being like a mix of allspice and black pepper, with background characters of certain other spices. As with all spices, though, these sorts of simplifications don’t do them justice as they all have a unique mark to make.

Once distilled, cubeb can manifest in many forms depending on how it is used. This can make it a bit tricky to work with, but also a source of entertainment and pride to work through its possibilities towards your own personal ultimate gin recipe. Potential distillation outcomes from cubeb include pepperiness, floral notes, earthiness, aromatic spiciness and potentially even some citrus.

Like all our botanicals, these are provided in whole form to maximise freshness and aroma. They can either be crushed alongside your other botanicals (juniper, coriander, etc.) or put through a pepper grinder on an extra-coarse grind setting.

Also available in 10 g and 1 kg+ bulk sizes.

Usage:

Typical usage is 1 – 3 grams of cubeb per litre of gin. It’s easy to go over-the-top with this one and have it dominate…which can be a good thing if a warming spice-fest is your goal.