The Best Salts and Peppers for Your Table

One of the easiest ways to improve your cooking is to get quality peppercorns and grind them fresh at home. A similar thing goes for salt, ditching the boring cylinder of iodized salt in favor of kosher flake salt or a gourmet sea salt is a major improvement in both texture and flavor. These upgrades are most noticeable at the dinner table. If salt and pepper are the premiere condiments for almost every meal, why not use the best in the world? We’ve spent more than 60 years sourcing the finest peppercorns and specialty sea salts from around the globe. What follows is a list of the best peppercorns and finishing salts to keep at your dinner table.

Tellicherry Peppercorns

For millennia, these bold Indian peppercorns have been the gold standard for black pepper. Tellicherry peppercorns are in almost every kitchen worldwide. These extra large berries are left to ripen longer on the vine, maximizing their rich fruitiness and tellicherry peppercorn flavor. Grinding whole peppercorns delivers the freshest flavor. We also offer this pepper in several different grind sizes, which we grind fresh in small batches.

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Portuguese Saltcream

This pristinely white sea salt is hand-harvested in southern Portugal. Saltcream is a saltpan's delicate top-most layer and can only form when the conditions are perfect. The fragile salt crystals, referred to as “flor de sal,” are gently skimmed from the surface with a long wooden tool. This rare salt has a crisp taste with a subtle flavor of the ocean. We love this salt for finishing steaks and seafood.

Kampot Red Peppercorns

The southwestern province of Kampot, Cambodia lies at the foothills of the Dâmrei Mountains, where the warm, humid weather, elevation, and quartz-rich soil produce the finest peppercorns in the world—Kampot peppercorns. These peppercorns carry a strict regional designation, much like Champagne. We offer both black and red varieties. The red peppercorns are picked at peak ripeness and have more developed fruity, floral, and citrus flavors.

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Hawaiian Red Alaea Sea Salt

This finishing salt is produced with seawater collected near the Hawaiian island of Molokai. It dries on red volcanic clay, which produces the lush color. Hawaiian Red Alaea Sea Salt's crunchy texture makes it perfect for poke. Unlike most table salt, it holds a wealth of healthy minerals. This beautiful salt can make for a stunning garnish for both savory recipes and craft cocktails.

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Long Peppercorns

A close botanical relative of black pepper, long pepper is the spicier cousin. It is noticeably hotter than black pepper, but its heat brings with it complex spice overtones and a mellow, woody base flavor. You may detect hints of nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. We like to place these peppercorns into a bag and smash them into smaller pieces before feeding them into our regular peppermill.

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Truffle Salt

This is one of the most luxurious items in our collection. This exquisite salt is made from white truffles grown in Italy and grey sea salt from France. This white truffle salt is intensely aromatic. A pinch of this will turn scrambled eggs or popcorn into a gourmet recipe and can send any steak's flavor over the top. Truffle salt makes an excellent table condiment for holiday roasts and mashed potatoes.

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Peppercorns Royale

When you simply cannot choose a favorite peppercorn, choose them all! If merely one type of peppercorn was once worth its weight in gold, this mix of black, green, white, and pink peppercorns would have been suited to royalty. The varying colors, flavors, and spiciness of this blend add a rich elegance to all your savory recipes—adding great color and depth of flavor to any dish.

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