12 August 2017

A bit about Turmeric...

Steenbergs Organic Fairtrade Turmeric comes from an organic and Fairtrade co-operative in the Kandy region of Sri Lanka. Turmeric originates from a root, known as the rhizome, Curcuma longa; it looks similar to ginger and galangal. To create turmeric...

24 July 2017

What's Going On With Vanilla?

Having built a decent line in Fairtrade organic vanilla, we recently have had to stop selling it to trade because of supply issues.  At the same time, we’ve been asked by many new customers for vanilla or Fairtrade vanilla.  Everyone’s scrabbling aro...

23 June 2017

Cinnamon - Can Science Show Differences In Taste Between Cassia And Cinnamon

In 2015, we did a study of the coumarin level in cinnamon, cassia and tonka beans.  Following on from that, I decided to get the “active” volatile oils analysed in a few types of cinnamon.  In the past, we have done more general tests and found cinna...

08 September 2016

Chemical Analysis of Steenbergs Organic Rose Water

We are often asked quite detailed technical questions about Steenbergs’ organic rose water.  In particular:

01 June 2016

North Yorkshire Nature Notes - May 2016

Flowering hawthorn and cow parsley on the verges by Upper Dunsforth

10 April 2016

Springtime Reaches Aldborough

Boroughbridge Road Near Marton-cum-Grafton

25 December 2015

Is there aluminium in bicarbonate of soda?

Fairly frequently, we are asked “is Steenbergs bicarbonate of soda aluminium free?”

23 November 2015

Audio Interview from CareerFarm: Building an organic spice business committed to fairtrade and the environment with Axel Steenberg

I recently did this phone interview with Jane Barrett of The Career Farm, which can be found at Jane's Blog or listen below:

13 September 2015

Autumnal Colours In North Yorkshire

I have always liked autumn.  The weather is cooler than summer, or at least in theory - this year's been a washout.

11 August 2015

A Walk Along A Country Lane In North Yorkshire

Last night whilst Sophie was playing tennis with our son, Jamie, I went for a walk along the River Ure with our daughter, Poppy.  It was a beautiful evening with swallows and sand martins out in abundance and only a few others around.  The river flow...

24 July 2015

Declining Cork Farms - The Price of Progress?

A copse of cork trees in Alentejo

19 July 2015

Cinnamongate: is cinnamon safe to eat?

We regularly get asked questions about the safety of cinnamon, e.g. “is cinnamon safe to consume?” or “how much coumarin is there in Steenbergs cinnamon?”  There's a lot of chatter about this issue in webworld and in blogs.

05 June 2015

What is Steenbergs’ carbon footprint?

We seek to offset our carbon footprint so it is pretty small.

19 May 2015

What’s the carbon footprint of your cuppa?

It depends is perhaps the best answer.

25 March 2015

How much water is needed for a mug of coffee or tea?

The simple answer is not much – about 225ml.

31 December 2011

Time Please

For those who have suffered my thoughts on time before, you will know that time is something that concerns my little brain. In fact, what exactly time is has concerned much brainer people than me. And perhaps reconciling time with the two main para...

31 December 2011

What Is Not?

22 July 2011

The Better Supermarket Beefs In The UK - More Thoughts On Burger Making

For the supermarkets, I have reviewed their offerings (see below) and made an initial selection of meats, going for beef from Booths, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose.