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

I am Persian and my mom brings saffron back from Iran like it’s the holy Grail. And if you touch it, she will act like it was a crime. So I got my own saffron and after doing a quick search, the website for this one looked promising and I ordered it. It comes in a lovely glass vile with a cork screw top and it’s sealed in an airtight aluminum pouch which preserves its freshness. Immediately when I opened it, it was more fragrant than my mom‘s saffron. When I gave it to my mom She took one look at it, smelled it, and asked me where I got it. She was very pleased with the quality. And for $20 you get a lot that will last you for many cooking projects. I don’t know what other brands are out there that are good, but the Spanish saffron I got from grocery stores was like only 10 strands for $10 and wasn’t near as good as this.

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.

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. )

As an Iranian, cooking with Zaferon for 55 years, eating it over 60 years, this is the real deal, under 50x scope can see larger oil droplets inside each rolled leave, fresh natural red fiber liners, protecting the oil droplets. The cent is strong , the oil droplets are larger than other 4 brands have purchased, with same order. Natural color Under high power , full spectrum light , the batch is consistent color, . Color test with warm water passed, slow disipiation of color thru the warm water.. For the price the quality, freshness has been consistent since last year. This is my second purchase, use statistical mathematical model to run the stability and capability tests, use Mehr as Baseline to compare.