We all know my love for all things salty- I am also fascinated by different types of spices and the like. It goes with this new found “love” I have for cooking. I mean I might not be able to figure out what we are going to have for dinner most days (oh, we are so going to a menu system lol) and I don’t like doing a whole lot of in depth cooking, but I do like to try to make new things – just recently I made biscuit bread for the first time ever!
One thing with cooking, you have to have not only variety in what you eat or you will get bored, but you also need different spices and whatnot to mix it up. Now, around my house and my parents we generally use sea salt because it packs more of a punch and you don’t have to use as much- and it is better for you than regular salt because it is a bit more healthy for you than regular salt and with David having high blood pressure and me eating salty stuff so much it is just a better for us in the long run!
Going along with my love for all things salty and the like, I was really happy to get some goodies to review from
The Spice lab! They sent me a variety of salts, and a few other goodies as well! The Spice lab has an HUGE assortment of various salts and spices- there are about 240 varieties of salts, peppers and spices from all over. What I find fascinating with my salt love is that 180 of these are salts!
They also have teas and lots of other goodies including bath salts! An awesome fact about The Spice lab in general is that it is woman owned, and it is family run, which is an awesome combination in my mind. I always like women empowering companies and family owned companies too!
I received a wide assortment of goodies to review including a set of salts from the gourmet collection, salt2go,Himalayan Salt Tequila Shooters,Candies bacon rub and some Tropical tea! As usual, when I get multiple items/flavors I just find it best to break everything down into sections so .. here we go!
Gourmet Sea Salt Collection
The Gourmet Sea Salt Collections are SO gorgeous! These collections come in sets of 4,6,11 or 12 and come in a very nice wooden base which is made out of either reclaimed Colorado Pine or sustainable Bamboo- It is very heavy and sturdy and is a perfect addition to sit with my other spice rack on the counter without even having to worry about Sam jumping up there and knocking it over (Sam is my cat , if you didn’t know). The sets are in a pyrex test tube (get it- spice LAB!- you know like when you took science class and in lab you had test tubes? 🙂 ) and have cork stoppers. It also comes with an adorable little wooden spoon as well!
The set I got was from the BBQ Smoked Collection which had tons of awesome salts including some spicy ones!
I like the idea of these salts being such a variety and then being paired up to go together at the same time- it gives you an awesome way to try different ones. I think my favorite was the Cyprus Wild Garlic Flake- but that is mostly because I love garlic, and I liked putting this on my fries when I bake them!
The salt collection comes with a little card where it tells you about the salt, as far as what it is best for and it even has a guide that tells you what it is best On (Chicken, veggies,etc).
Salt 2 Go
I ABSOLUTELY love the concept of the Salt 2 Go by the spice lab! I personally generally do actually have your run of the mill salt in my purse, along with some Dukes Mayo (because if it ain’t dukes, it ain’t for me!) Sometimes I even have soy sauce too! The Idea with the Salt 2 go is to get rid of those clumpy damp salt packets that you would generally have of regular salt and replace them with some yummy varieties of better salt!
The salt comes in several popular flavors and is even enough for 2 people to share! Oh and it also comes in a plastic film to keep it dry and ready to use for up to 3 years!
Candied Bacon Rub
O.k. I admit I am that Weird girl that doesn’t eat pork- which pretty well means I don’t eat bacon. … because I don’t like Turkey and my favorite bacon is about impossible to find- Beef! So you likely would think that Candied Bacon Rub was not my thing at all..However, I love the concept of this because you can use it on other things! It comes in 4 different flavors: Asian Sesame, Country Style Pepper, Caribbean Island Jerk, and New Orleans cajun.
The basis of the rub is brown sugar, which you all know how I am always telling you I don’t like sweet stuff all that much- especially with meat. However, paired with the various spices I think that if I did eat ham/bacon I would be o.k with it. Each bag has enough for about 4-6 lbs of bacon.. .and I think it worked perfect on the various veggies that I personally tried it on!
Himalayan Salt Tequila Shooters
The inclusion of the Himalayan Tequila Shooters made me smile when I received them! I don’t usually do a lot when it comes to shots, and I am about the only person left in the circle that I drink in that will still drink tequila because some people I know have had bad experiences!
These glasses totally threw David for a loop when I told him about them, and I had even sent him pictures. I don’t think he still really “gets” them, but I think they are neat as can be. Basically, it is a shot glass made out of food grade Himalayan Sea Salt! There is an insert inside of the glass that keeps them from dissolving- so obviously you wash them out- you don’t put them into water or the dishwasher. Because of the anti bacterial properties of the salt there is little care- you just wipe dry between uses.
The concept is simple- this way you have the perfect amount of salt with each shot of tequila- I know that I can’t rim a glass for anything – and tequila by itself in my opinion isn’t that great! This way you don’t have to make a mess too! You can keep them in the freezer as well!
Old Florida Tea Company Tropical Tea: Tangerine
I love Tea, especially with a little bit of honey or sugar in it to relax sometimes when I am blogging, and sometimes to relax in the evenings before bed! The Old Florida Tea Company Tropical tea line has tons of awesome flavors including a buttered rum that I would love to try. I was happy with the Tangerine flavor that I received because I have always like Tangerine vs an orange flavor. These teas compliment the Old Florida Spice companies lines of salt spices and seasonings. The teas come in large jars with wooden spoons as well.
Summing It Up:
I have really enjoyed starting a collection of awesome salts and other goodies thanks to The Spice Lab! I hope to be able to get more awesome goodies from them in the future, especially those awesome salt 2 go packets- they are welcome in my purse at any time! I love how much variety there is over all and the quality and presentation and attention to details are exceptional!
