Saffron buying tips?
 

I've never bought saffron before, so I googled for some guidance. I learned top quality is "Premium Super Negin" and one step below that is "Super Negin". Spain has their own rating system with "Coupe" being the top. It is harvested in Spain, the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe as far as I've read. My head is swimming especially after reading conflicting amazon reviews. Googling further, 0.5 gram is roughly equal to four pinches, so I'd be happy with buying 1 g or 2 g.

Can any of you make suggestions or personal recommendations? Favorite region, brand, and / or seller?

Last time we personally bought saffron was in Istanbul ages ago , we plan on returning next year . Our guide helped us choose as we had no idea , language issues too . Before that was likely from Marrakech , more like 20 years ago . Before that was probably in France or Spain too ..
Then our friends also / usually bought / gave us .. frightfully pricey .
Assuming the more expensive it is , the better the quality . Sorry not much help here .

I've been looking too, since we had to borrow some from my MIL recently when we tried a new recipe. This one gets pretty good reviews, but I haven't purchased it yet.

https://zaransaffron.com/products/sa...SABEgINLPD_BwE

I got my last big stash of saffron from that produced just outside of SXR in India. I liked it much better than even the Iranian saffron I have been getting in Scandinavia. The Spanish and Moroccan saffron is less to my liking for some reason than the Indian and Iranian stuff, but I can’t exactly pin down why that is.

It's been a long while, but do you remember liking one more than the other?
Oh, interesting. This company is located in Campbell, CA, an hour+ north of me. They only sell Super Negin, and the 2g tin for $16.95 + $3 shipping, despite a free shipping banner across the top of the page. They also have an amazon store and sell the same tin for $13.95 + free shipping. Reviews are mostly good there, but who knows these days with a farmed reviews industry out there. Thanks for the tip.
As far as I remember from yesterday, I don't recall coming across Indian saffron. I'll look into it. And you reminded me I have a FTer FB friend who is of Iranian ancestry, so hopefully I'll get some recommendations there too. Thanks for sharing.

The Kashmir region of India has a long history of producing saffron, and it used to be the only commercial producing region of saffron in/from India. Some pictures of such:

https://zeenews.india.com/india/kash...a-2385899.html

Kashmiri saffron usually priced as far more expensive than Iranian saffron. The Uttarakhand region of India is also joining in the action of producing Indian saffron:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/86017813.cms

Saffron has great cultural significance in India. Interestingly enough it also has some seasonal cultural significance in Sweden too, but nothing like Indian saffron has in India.

The reviews are what caught my eye as well when I was searching. I'm a total novice at it. But my thinking was that what I buy depends on what I'm using it for. This particular dish that we'd probably make again was a saffron broth, so high quality is probably better. If just a pinch is getting added to paella, with all the other flavors, I wonder if any old saffron would be just fine.

Two comments:
* If you have an Indian neighborhood nearby, go to an Indian grocery store. Great quality, low prices compared to most places.
* I had a Persian boyfriend who would bring saffron (and caviar) back for me when he'd visit Tehran -- the quantities were obscene and it was wonderful!

Sorry , from what I recall , our helper back then sort of got them all mixed up so she could not tell us .
We might have gotten some Indian ones too from “ Little India “ !
On the other hand , had a very resourceful gardener who on weekly visits to Little India would bring us spices at times , to our loss & our neighbourhood ‘ s , has since returned to India .

I am a novice too and probably couldn't tell the difference. I ordered something on amazon last night and added to my cart the $13.95 Zaran.
Where I live, like in the entire county, there are lots of Mexican markets and a few tiny Japanese and Korean shops. A FT friend has offered to bring me some from Israel when he comes 'home' in a couple weeks.
More unhelpful info, but more interesting stories. :)

Thank you for the Kashmir info. I unsuccessfully searched amazon for Indian saffron. There is one product with mostly positive reviews, but some bad. Then I visited their website where I eventually clicked their amazon button which took me to amazon India's site. Those reviews are really mixed. Maybe they're true or maybe people have been paid to bad mouth the company. I also did a general internet search which produced company websites, but I am too cautious to send my info to an unknown companies. So my solution for trying Kashmiri saffron is to find some shops in the San Jose area, though I have no plans to travel up there anytime sooner or later.

As with too many things in India, unless you source it in person and rely upon a reliable examiner/examination for the product, there is a risk of being fleeced and being provided the bad quality stuff.

I got my last big stash of saffron from that produced just outside of SXR in India, but I didn't have to rely upon online shopping or a random retail supply for that.

Sounds like it was a bad idea to sack him!

Double entendre added for spice? ;) Harder to pick up than a sack full of saffron from the fields’ flowers.

Speaking of saffron from Iran, now I’m curious if its neighbor Azerbaijan produces any too. I used to get some caviar from Azerbaijani friends but never any saffron.

I bought a 2g tin of Zaran Spanish Coupe from Amazon for $13.95. Mrs. Swede was very satisfied with it, so I bought a 5g tin.