This ground cardamom is made from whole pods ground into a coarse powder, which has the added benefit of thickening dishes, thanks to the cardamom pod's husk. You may need to grind it further into a finer powder texture if it's not going to go through a long cooking process (like with baked goods).

• 1.9oz (54g) glass container 
• Ingredients: ground cardamom pods
• Origin: Alta Verapaz, Guatemala
• Process: Hot-air-dried
• Tasting notes: ginger, apricots, jungle flowers
• Cooking suggestions: cook down with fruit juice for a savory and sweet sauce or jam, add to your meat or veggie rub (especially for chicken or lamb), use in cakes, muffins and other desserts, sprinkle over oatmeal or into smoothies   

Burlap & Barrel are delicious, single origin spices sourced directly from small farms around the world. Their spices are harvested by hand, dried naturally, grown organically whenever possible, and transported directly to preserve freshness. Burlap & Barrel is a Public Benefit Corporation building new international food supply chains that are equitable, transparent and traceable.

Guatemala exports 80% of the world’s cardamom, yet it remains virtually unknown in local markets as it is grown exclusively for export. Grown by indigenous farmers on small remote plots, the spice thrives in Guatemala's cool, rainy cloud forests, where high altitudes and low temperatures during the November–January harvest enhance its fragrant essential oils.

Burlap and Barrel cardamom comes from one of Guatemala’s only single-estate farms, which oversees every step from cultivation to export. Unlike conventionally graded cardamom, which prioritizes size and color over flavor,  Burlap and Barrel's is allowed to fully ripen, giving it a golden hue and a softer, fruitier, more complex taste.

Meet the Farmer

Don Amilcar is one of our longest-standing and closest. He planted his first cardamom vine at just nine years old, and today, he runs Guatemala’s only vertically integrated cardamom operation, managing his own farm, drying facility, and export business alongside his daughter Meyllin.

When Ethan of Burlap and Barrel first visited in 2016, he hauled back a duffel bag full of Don Amilcar’s vine-ripened cardamom pods—the start of a partnership that continues today. His farming is so exceptional that Saveur called him “the farmer shaking up the Guatemalan cardamom trade.”

Photos and information provided by Burlap & Barrel