July 2015 RawSpiceBar Spice Subscription Review & Coupon

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rawspicebar july 2015 envelope

RawSpiceBar is a monthly spice blend subscription. Every month for $6 you’ll receive small batch, freshly ground spice blends by top chefs for home cooks, plus recipes to create authentic cuisine with the spices. They are launching the shop soon to buy more of your favorite spices!  I really look forward to seeing their inventory — the subscription picks have been great, and I want to see their whole catalogue of blends. Raw Spice Bar completely refreshed the look of the subscription this month!

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The spices came tucked inside the new full color recipe sheet, along with a welcome card.  I like the warmer feel of the new look.  The previous layout was a little sterile, and the pictures make me want to get cookin’.

rawspicebar july 2015 review

You’ll get 3 kitchen-tested recipe cards, plus additional recipes online, along with the spices.  July’s theme was “The Memphis Spice Box”

Barbeque is king on the Memphis food scene. In this BBQ town, sugary sauces are omitted from the barbeque menu. Instead, Memphians prefer so called dry rubs—freshly ground spice blends of paprika, black pepper, and cayenne, with just a touch of brown sugar for sweetness. This month, we’re replicating the dry rub ribs that have put Memphis on the BBQ map. In this rub, Greek influences such as oregano and garlic meet traditional Cajun spices like paprika and chili powder. For our side dish, applewood smoked salt is the star of our creamy potato salad full of melt-in-your-mouth bacon and green onion.

rawspicebar july 2015 spices

The packaging describes the component spices, as well as giving some typical applications should you want to experiment with your own recipes. The spices this month are Triple Ice Cream Spices, Memphis Dry Rib Rub, and Applewood Smoked Salt.  The Dry Rub is well-balanced, and not too spicy.  The Applewood Smoked Salt has a real clean applewood taste — very flavorful and sweet.   The Triple Ice Cream Spice is original and very alluring — the green cardamon is the star.

rawspicebar july 2015 spice review

July’s Memphis BBQ theme recipes included: Memphis Dry Rub RibsApplewood Smoked Salt Potato Salad, and Triple Spice Strawberry Ice Cream.  You provide the fresh ingredients and staple items for the included recipes.  Each spice pack is usually sized to make one batch of the suggested recipe, but the smoked salt was obviously provided in much greater quantity than required for the recipe, and the ice cream spice also seemed very plentiful.

rawspicebar july 2015 recipes 1

The intro to the box plus the rib recipe.  I prepared my ribs using their spice to brown sugar and salt ratio, but I’m stubborn and used my preferred rib method.

rawspicebar july 2015 recipes 2

Side recipe plus dessert. Although you can look at the photos online – this is obviously a step up to send a full color glossy photo with each recipe. You can always visit the blog for additional recipes and vegetarian recipes now too!

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rawspicebar july 2015 ribs martha stewart

We didn’t follow the technique on the recipe because we already use one that gives perfect ribs every time – with a perfectly crusted coating of spice – Martha Stewart’s parchment technique of course!  I totally skipped the saucing process, though.  The dry rub made such a great, flavorful crust, and the parchment technique keeps the ribs so moist (without basting) that I didn’t even bother with the sauce!

rawspicebar july 2015 finished ribs

The photo hardly does them justice — you need to smell them to know how good they are gonna taste.

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The Potato Salad was great!  I am definitely a fan of the cook-the-potato-whole-then-cut technique, as it keeps the taters from getting waterlogged (leftover baked potatoes also make an awesome salad potato, BTW).  The Applewood Smoked Salt really accentuated the bacon flavor and brought the dressing to life.

We skipped the ice cream for now, but it looks great. RawSpiceBar collaborated with Lindsay Clendaniel, the author of the ice cream recipe blog Scoop Adventures on that – she uses the cornstarch technique popularized by Jeni’s Splendid (and it does make the best home ice cream!). We’re excited to try it!

rawspicebar july 2015 finished dinner

You can see the finished products at RawSpiceBar too. Yum! We added a side dish from our Hello Fresh Veggie Box this week too.

You’ll get a head’s up of the theme shortly before you receive it – and you’ll be able to visit their site to get a shopping list for that month’s recipes.  You can always improvise with your own ingredients too, and at six bucks, its worth it even if you are just auditioning some new seasonings for your burgers, chicken, hushpuppies, whatever!

Visit RawSpiceBar to subscribe or find out more, or check out all our RawSpiceBar reviews!  Get one extra box free when you sign up for a 6+-month subscription using coupon code ilovespices. Find other food & cooking subscriptions in the directory and spice subscriptions too.

The Subscription: RawSpiceBar
The Description: Fresh, Authentic Spice Blends. Created by Top Chefs For Globally Inspired Home Meals.
The Price: $6

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  • Sarah
    07.24.15

    This is my first month with RawSpiceBar, and I’m so excited to try out the recipes. Thanks for the heads up about Scoop Adventures; I’m always looking for new ice cream recipes.