Believe it or not, long pepper was once the king of spices in Europe, more popular than the round black stuff. It commanded a king’s ransom, too, at three times the price. Due to cost, though, it quickly fell out of favor.

Today, it’s hard to find anybody who has even heard of the stuff. Yes, it’s still pricey, but it sure is good.

After many years of sampling underwhelming long pepper from around the globe, I was blown away by a beautiful variety from Kampot, Cambodia. (Long pepper is native to Java, Indonesia, and the Cambodians brought the vines over.)

Our fresh dried long pepper is hotter and more complex than regular black pepper. Our variety is also a bit different from other long peppers. It’s not picked from the vines until the pepper fruit is completely ripe and red.

When freshly ground, our long pepper releases big, beautiful notes of gingerbread and a complex earthy, woodsy aroma.

We highly recommend buying our special Microplane Spice Mill for grinding this spice. Then you can keep your long pepper at the dinner table so you can grind your long pepper fresh on the spot. Regular pepper mills won't do the job. And a mortar and pestle sort of works, but leaves a lot of waste.

Our long pepper packs a punch, too. It’s got more heat than the regular black stuff.

We encourage you to try long pepper wherever you use regular pepper. I’ve been totally loving it on steaks and meats. It now has a regular place in our kitchen. I even mix it with our Tellicherry Peppercorns sometimes. 

That was a long explanation of long pepper. The short answer is yes!