If you are someone who really enjoys cooking or even if you are a novice cook, a visit to Penzeys Spices in West Hartford, Connecticut is a must. You would expect your senses to be assaulted walking into a spice store and they are but not your sense of smell. Your eyes will be the ones that are overwhelmed. There are just so many wonderful jars to look at, it is almost impossible to know where to start. Just go for it, there is no wrong way to browse here.
One suggestion, grab a shopping basket; you are going to want to start filling it with all the amazing spices that you are going to see. You will be able to check out the aroma as well, there are samples of everything for you to smell. Go easy, you don’t want to overwhelm your olfactory glands. There is no wrong way here, coming in from LaSalle Road, you will be in the baking spices area. You will find cinnamon, nutmeg, cake spice, cinnamon sugar and chocolate just to name a few. The hardest part will be to limit yourself; you will want to buy everything. The good news is you really can buy everything because they sell the spices in a variety of sizes from quite small to quite large.
When it comes to savory or spicy spices, there are combinations here that you probably haven’t ever even imagined. Savory spices are arranged by nationality so if you are looking for Indian spices, they will be all in the same area. There are so many different countries and areas represented, sunny Spain, Tuscany, Bavaria, Paris, Singapore, Greece and Mexico just to name a few. There are chilies in a wide variety of heats from mild to scorching.
There are gift boxes in a wide selection of areas, a salad lover’s box, extracts gift box, grill and broil gift box and a hot chocolate gift set. These are just a few of the many gift combinations that they offer. Even better, if they don’t have exactly the combination that you want, they sell the gift box so that you can choose the individual jars yourself.
The shop is bright, super clean and well organized. The staff is knowledgeable and will offer any help you may want but they won’t hover, you can browse to your heart’s content. Prices are very reasonable especially since this is West Hartford which can tend to be a bit pricey. There is a parking lot in back of the building and plenty of on street parking with parking meters.
Penzeys is a chain, so if you don’t happen to live in Connecticut, there are other shops around. They also have a catalog and a thriving online business. A visit to the shop can be quite addictive; you will want to come back again and again. Feel free to tell everyone there that you read this article, they will be delighted to know how appreciated their shop is.
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