Penzey’s Spices

While baking one weekend, my large bottle of vanilla extract jumped from the upper cupboard to the floor and the cap shattered into pieces while vanilla extract sprayed everywhere. I was quick to come to the rescue of my beloved vanilla extract and was successful in saving the last half of the bottle, but the cap was too broken to salvage and I was left with a life or death scenario; how will I save the remaining vanilla extract?
My bottle of extract came from Savory Spice but Penzey’s is in the neighborhood and while shopping the next day I stopped in to see if I could get a replacement cap. With only one question from the nice lady working, «what size», she went to the back and retrieved a cap for me and said «no charge, happy to help». Once home, I put the cap on my extract and found it to be a perfect fit. My vanilla extract was saved and safely stored in my pantry awaiting its next use thanks to Penzey’s.
Along with saving the day and my vanilla extract, Penzey’s is a wonderful spice shop with everything a cook or baker may need. You can find an abundance of curry seasoning, all the dried herbs you can imagine, a variety of peppers (ground and whole peppercorns), and much more. If there is a spice you can’t find, I’m sure you could find it here along with superb customer service. Come in and pick up a new spice, a recipe card and enjoy an evening cooking at home, I highly recommend it.

The employees here are very friendly and the spices are amazing, way better than what you are going to find in your average grocery store. Much better variety, too! Try the roasted garlic seasoning — I put it on everything but ice cream!

Granted, I have only ever been in two spice shops in my entire life, but I really loved this one! A close friend of mine just recently got married and is learning to cook and is extremely lacking in the spice knowledge department, so I decided to go into Penzey’s and make her a custom spice box with a variety of different things. Not only did one of the associates at the store know exactly what I wanted, but she also walked around the store with me for over hour helping me pick things out. She also gave me certain recipes that go with the different spices and she had great recommendations! Overall, it was a great experience and I would absolutely go back!

First time visitor to this spice chain. I was expecting to find crazy high prices considering this store is located in Cherry Creek North. Was surprised to find decent prices and for some particular spices they were cheaper at Penzeys than my local Whole Foods/​Sprouts. Wished they had more selection of spices for baking instead of just selling a bunch of vanilla extract, almond extract and cinnamon, but otherwise the seasoning spice selection was impressive. I have definitely become a fan of this store!

As I mentioned in my review of these guys’ main competitor in town, I must not have a discerning enough herb/​spice palate, because I have a tough time telling the difference between the two. They have great gift packs that are one of my go-​to items when I need a last minute idea for so-​and-​so, want to be seem like I’m more thoughtful than to get a gift card, and have run out of ideas. It’s the perfect way to say, «happy birthday… and by the way, I’m classy.»
The service is friendly here and they have a wide variety of offerings, many (if not most) of them unique to Penzey’s. But remember folks, spices are not worth going into debt for years over, which is why it’s a good strategy to only bring cash in here — otherwise my logic kind of goes like this, «Of course, i only use that smoker once a year, but that kansas city rub just smells so good that it’s only logical to get six pounds of it… after all, you never know when you’ll be in a pinch and need six pounds of hungarian paprika.»

Love that they have canisters with the spices to smell beside the for sale items. Not as large of a selection as expected… Staff was very helpful.

So, several times of the last year I have found myself sitting in Phat Thai, enjoying a drink or meal, and gazing across the street. The two most prominent storefronts to the North of Phat Thai are the Starbucks and Penzey’s Spices. Although I have been to that ‘Bux many times, I had never been to the Penzey’s Spices. The other day, with time to kill before my dinner reservation at Phat Thai (which was fantastic), I decided to check out Penzey’s.
The selection was good, and the salesladies were really nice. However, I thought the prices, compared to Savory Spice Shop, were somewhat high. I am glad this is here, and the location is definitely convenient if you are in Cherry Creek. But, the prices will probably limit my purchases here in the future. Of course, if I actually lived in Cherry Creek, I might not be quite so frugal. ..

*** FIVE STAR REVIEW **
«He who controls the spice controls the universe»
Penzey’s has everything you need to flavour up that _​_​_​_​_​well whatever you are cooking.
Helpful staff.
Great prices.
Open layout.
Easy to find right on 2^nd Ave in Cherry Creek

This place has everything… and kindly salespeople… and free crack offered when you sign up on their mailing list… I mean, cinnamon sugar… O_o.yeah, *that’s* what I meant (smirk ;))…They have 5 kinds of cinnamon here…(yep, cinnamon junkie) …Vietnamese smells spicier and has more oil in than Chinese, which smells sweeter and is supposedly great on pancakes and in beverages… Penzey’s seems to have every spice imaginable, some cute displays, and even large jars of things that seem completely made up… I can’t recall the specific example I saw, but it was something along the lines of «Essence of Body»…something just like that, completely baffling. I could have inquired more, but I think by the time I found that, they’d had enough of Terry L’s and my interrogation of them, their store, specific spices, and more… hahaha. Nevertheless, very friendly and welcoming place. Check it out if you’re in the Creek area and/​or have a hankering for more upscale spices than King Soopers or Whole Foods might carry.