Green Cardamom
Elettaria cardamomum
“Green gold — the third most expensive spice on earth, and worth it.”
The humid shade of the Western Ghats, southern India
The Monograph
Cardamom traveled the old spice routes tucked next to pepper, and it has been quietly overachieving ever since — in Scandinavian buns, in chai, in Turkish coffee. It is the rare spice that works cold and hot, sweet and savory, and never seems to show off about it. Crack a pod and smell it: that cool, eucalyptus-floral hit is the whole argument.
Cool, resinous, faintly minty, with a citrus-floral middle. In drinks it behaves like a bridge — it connects fruit to spice and makes both taste more expensive. Always buy pods and crush them yourself; pre-ground cardamom is a photograph of cardamom.
Counter Notes
How to Pour It
Pods over powder
The seeds inside the pod hold the oils. Crush pods with the flat of a knife right before use.
Green cardamom podsSyrup is the move
Six crushed pods in a cup of simple syrup gives you two weeks of instant sophistication.
Swing-top bottlesPair it with pear and bergamot
Cardamom's favorite drinking companions — try it in the Pear Shrub and the Earl Grey Spritz.
The Weekly Pour