Spices are ground to order, packed in resealable pouches and dispatched from our Johannesburg warehouse. This page covers the steps between checkout and delivery, what we can and cannot promise on timing, and how to handle a batch that arrives short of what you expected.
A few points come up often enough that they are worth stating plainly. These are the working definitions we use when packing, grinding and dispatching orders, and they apply to every delivery we send out.
Berbere and mitmita are milled after checkout. If you order 100g and 500g in the same basket, both are ground to the coarseness you selected, so the two pouches will match. Changing the grind later means a new batch, not a repack.
Batch notes list the harvest month and drying method for the lot your pouch came from. Two orders placed a few weeks apart can carry different months, especially for korarima and besobela, where the growing window around Gondar and the Rift Valley shifts with rainfall.
The heat you pick applies to blends where chili is the base. Shiro powder, korarima, besobela, tikur azmud and koseret are not heat-rated, so selecting a level on those items has no effect on what is packed.
Cards for doro wat, misir wot and kitfo are included with the starter bundle and with most single-spice orders. If you are restocking a blend you already cook with, tell us at checkout and we will leave them out rather than send duplicates.
The cart handles mixed blends, repeat orders and gift sets in one checkout. Gift sets are packed as a single box with the pouches sealed separately, so nothing is opened before it reaches the recipient.
Dispatch timing starts once grinding is done, not when the order is placed. Addresses in Johannesburg and Cape Town are served on the standard schedule; outlying areas may need an extra day, and we will say so before the order leaves the mill.
If something about your order does not fit these terms, write to us at info@ethiospices.com or call +27(24)2599624 before the batch goes to the mill. After that, the grind is fixed.
Every pouch is milled after you check out, not before. Here is the sequence we follow, from the moment a basket is filled to the day a parcel reaches a doorstep in Johannesburg, Cape Town or further out.
Step 01
Basket and heat level
You pick blends, pouch sizes and a heat level in the cart. Mixed baskets are normal: a 250g berbere next to a 100g mitmita, or a starter bundle with an extra bag of shiro powder. The cart keeps gift sets separate so the packing note stays clean.
Step 02
Grind to order
Whole korarima, besobela and tikur azmud are milled in small runs once the order is confirmed. Coarse or fine depends on what you chose, and the batch note on the pouch records harvest month, drying method and grind so you can match it next time.
Step 03
Packing and recipe cards
Pouches are sealed and labelled, then packed with recipe cards for doro wat, misir wot and kitfo. Most orders ship with cards; if you already have them, say so in the order note and we leave them out to keep the parcel lighter.
Step 04
Dispatch and transit
Parcels leave the mill within a few working days. Main centres usually see delivery inside a week; outlying towns and farm addresses take longer, and we will tell you before dispatch if the route adds time. Tracking goes out by email once the courier scans the parcel.
Step 05
Repeat orders and gift sets
Reorder the same grind from your order history, or send a gift set to a different address with a short note. If a blend is between harvests and stock is thin, we flag it in the cart rather than substituting quietly.
Questions about a specific route or a bulk basket? Reach us at info@ethiospices.com or call +27(24)2599624.