There’s a happy ending here. While looking around online to see what Bill Penzey’s problem is, I discovered that his sister Patty Erd and her husband Tom run a competing (but much smaller) spice business, called The Spice House. Bill Penzey Sr. and his wife started the business in the 1950s, and Patty inherited it. Bill Jr, her younger brother, started his own catalog company, Penzeys. I have no idea what the Erds’ politics are — far as I know, they could be commies, or they could be Trumpkins — but they don’t seem to make a habit of getting on their high horse and insulting their customers. Even better, they make a Bavarian seasoning!
I buy all of my spices at my local spice shop, but they have nothing in stock like the Bavarian blend. I have just ordered some from The Spice Shop for my Thanksgiving turkey — and if you’re looking for something different and delicious to try this year, I recommend the same to you.
This Bill Penzey reminds me of the proprietor of a neighborhood coffee shop on Court Street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, when we lived there in the late 1990s. Cobble Hill is very much a liberal place, and the kind of neighborhood where people want to support the local guy, but this shop owner was so over the top obnoxious in his left-wing politics that he drove people away. You didn’t want to go there, because the guy couldn’t stand kids, and you felt that he was constantly hovering over you judging you for failing to live up to his extremely particular standards. When Starbucks opened down the street, that was the end of him, if only because Starbucks was happy to welcome moms with strollers, and you could sit and have your cup of coffee without being judged.
UPDATE: The Spice House folks have kindly written to invite this blog’s readers to become new customers. If you’ve never ordered from The Spice House before, use the promo code NOPOLITICS to get free shipping on your first order. Isn’t that great?
Its crazy how these liberals think.
K
It’s thyme for a boycott.
I am an herbalist. I will check out The Spice House.
I buy my spices from a lot of different places, usually bulk size. I don’t have any of theirs in my cabinets. If a company puts their politics before their business like that, I just unsubscribe. I don’t see why so many companies do this, they piss off most of their customers.
Can you give me a decent Bavarian Seasoning receipe? I have the stuff but don’t enjoy it on anything -