Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

I found a nice little gem in South End area of Charlotte. Savory Spice Shop is exactly what its name says it is, a spice shop. They have your regular spices, variations of those same spices, and your ethnic specific spices. I'm fascinated by the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences in the variations of spices and extracts. There is a small salt display that has varying types of salts and salt blends: fleur de sel, pink, black and truffle salt to name a few. The truffle salt smells divine. I plan on getting some on my next visit. This time I got Ceylon cinnamon (also known as "true" cinnamon), Tahitian vanilla, coffee and raspberry extracts, Dutch and Black Onyx cocoas. Ceylon cinnamon has a more delicate, floral, sweet smell than the traditional cinnamon you find in the grocery store. This doesn't mean that it has less flavor, but think of it having its sharp edges rounded. I have already baked with this one and I definitely prefer it over the other cinnamons. Tahitian is similar in its comparison to the other vanillas.  The Tahitian is definitely my favorite. Next in line is Madagascar vanilla followed by Mexican. They have several different kinds of cocoas, plain and Dutch cocoas as well as Mexican and Mayan blends. There is one that is called Black Onyx Cocoa, which smells like Oreo cookies and is black as midnight. I couldn't resist getting that one and I look forward to playing around with that one in the kitchen. I’m thinking homemade oreo cookies. If you have Savory Spice shop or another spice shop near where you live, you should definitely check it out.