Spicely Organic Spices

Super friendly folks that love and are really knowledgeable about spices, coffee, tea and chocolate. Large selection of spices for your next special occasion or just to top-​up your pantry. They even had a nice selection of unique teas brewed to sample. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have many specialty spices, like piment d’espelette, given the focus on spices. Definitely worth a stop-​in though.

Small spice and herb shop located right off of market street.
This is kind of the factory outlet for Spicely and as such even though it’s occupying primo retail space in downtown SF it’s usually about half the price of what you’d pay the same items in a grocery store in or outside of San Francisco.
There is just about every kind of spice ever created, but be advised that African and Caribbean spices tend to be highly regional. Depending on what specifically you’re looking for it may or may not be as authentic as you remember. I found the Cajun spices to be spot on, but for me the Caribbean seasoning was just less then I remembered. Could be just me though. Try it for yourself.
There is tea and chocolate tasting on offer and I found the staff to be very pleasant. She was especially knowledgeable about the chocolate and tea offerings.

A little pricey but they have an excellent selection of specialty chocolate and incredibly helpful staff. they are not my first choice for tea in sf but they do offer interesting flavors. As for spices I haven’t really checked those out much in the few times I’ve been here but overall I’m excited to check it out again the next time I’m in sf.

When I am there local next. I will have to go in person
Check out the store. Had a friend bring me back
Goodies. They have great products.

I was introduced to this store on a chocolate tour of SF. I really enjoyed sampling their chocolate selection. My favorite was the lavender vanilla. If you go in the store ask about their buy 4 get one free program. They also have free shipping online which is really rare. Online I saw that they sell a double tin for only $ 5 more that the single tin. Which I wish they had offered during my tour.
I did not buy any of their spices since they sell them in Whole Foods as well. They also sell loose tea as well so really a one stop shop for a foodie.
Cheers,
MJ–

Came in here the other day with a couple of friends to go gift shopping. First off the place is really cute and gives almost an apothecary feel. All the teas, spice and chocolates are organic and they have a huge selection of all 3 as well.
We went in and tried some teas. I will agree that if you like strong tea then this might not be the place for you. The flavors of these teas are gentle but they do have complexities that we were able to notice. The strongest one we tasted was the Jasmine Pearl and my favorite one was a the Honeybush Lavender.
I didn’t try any of the spices so I can’t comment.
Chocolate!!! Okay this is my favorite part of the store. They have samples for all the flavors they sell and recommend great choices. The chocolates are flavored by infusing the cocoa butter with the natural flavor. This means that oil based flavors (like lavender) are going to be more pronounced, it also means that more volatile oils (like citrus) are going to be more subtle. The current promo is buy 4 tins and get 1 free. I had no problem finding 5 tins of uniquely flavored chocolate.
Overall this place is expensive, like most other shops in Downtown SF, but for a splurge once in a while this place is great.

Stopped into this gem of a store at lunch to see what chocolate they had.
I sampled a few of the chocolates — chai, caramel, a couple others i forgot — and they were all great.
After smelling a few of the teas I ended up buying the Persian tea ($ 15 for a tin of loose leaf) for a friend. They even wrapped it up for me.
I’ll definitely be back next time I need spices.

First, the upsell got to me. I knew what I wanted — smoked paprika — and my salesperson just wouldn’t stop trying to get me to look at other things.
Second, the paprika — $ 12.99 worth — is remarkably UNflavorful. Supermarket quality. Never going here again.

I’m writing this review before I read any of the other reviews left by my fellow Unilocalers!
Came in here after wandering off BART to meet a friend for lunch. I saw the words «chocolate» and «sample» on a sign and ventured in hoping there were samples of chocolate. I didn’t even bother asking as I was too distracted by the display of chocolates. I asked one of the employees what the earl grey chocolate tasted like and she said «like bergamont oil!» in a tone that implied I should have known… WELL JEEZ, LADY. I DIDN’T KNOW. WHY DO YOU THINK I ASKED YOU?
That’s all I really have to say about that.

Cute little tea spot that I discovered on a chocolate tasting tour. I enjoy tea, but am much more a coffee lover versus tea. Fear not… Spicely offers tea infused chocolates. And I do love chocolate! Organic, gluten free chocolates… even better. We were treated to a chocolate tasting of several of their flavors such as earl grey, jasmine, chili (the heat creeps up slowly… I loved this one), and piña colada. One of my favorites was the raspberry rooibos. The chocolates come in mini boxes of small discs for $ 5. The guy who conducted the tasting (forgot his name) was very knowledgeable of the products. He can match your flavor preferences to specific chocolate flavors. They have lots of teas to sample too of course. But don’t leave without trying some chocolates!

Don’t let the name fool you… they sell much more than just spices. That’s why I never ventured in here before until a friend told me they offer tea and chocolates! Not gonna lie though… they aren’t cheap! But get the PayPal app and you can save $ 5.
The chocolate truffles are absolutely amazing, but if you’re not a big fan of sweets, you can settle for different varieties of tea. If you’re really unsure, the staff is more than willing to help and educate which ones you would like… or you can always just buy some herbs and spices. After all, that’s what the store’s named after!

A lovely little store with a wonderful selection of spices, albeit very very expensive spices. I am more into purchasing small amounts of spices in bulk, so the prices here — like $ 5.99 for a tiny tin of black peppercorns, really took me aback and I didn’t purchase anything.
Spicely is also sold in grocery stores like Farmer Joe’s, Berkeley Bowl, Rockridge Market Hall. And the prices are much cheaper in those places than in their San Francisco store. Go figure.

I’ve gone in here a few times and kept meaning to make this my main source for all things spicy. This past weekend, I finally found myself walking past *and* needing something inside, so in we went!
They carry a few of the brands you can find in regular grocery stores around the area, but also their own brand, and there’s pretty much almost every possible spice you can imagine here. This means that you can get a wide range of sizes to meet your needs without having to drop a lot of cash and run the risk of your spices going stale from having too much. I was able to find the perfect size of dried minced garlic while my friend grabbed a few small packages of chile powders to try out, as well as whole cloves of nutmeg.
There’s also a wide range of teas of all sorts of flavours. I didn’t check through them too much because I always wind up with the urge to buy tea, only to drink two or three cups and then forget about it for months.
There seemed to be a bit of a choking point while we were there. It was pretty busy at the time and it’s a very narrow store. There appeared to be at least three, if not four, people working, and because one customer was kind of holding up the cash register, we waited with our items to get checked out for a bit longer than was necessary. Eventually, one of the girls there took our stuff and cashed us out while the other customer that was originally in front of us finished putting together her purchases. I would have been a bit happier getting out of there a few minutes earlier but overall it wasn’t a terrible experience. I’ll probably just try to avoid going in when there’s too many people in the store, I get too frustrated in crowded environments.
It’s not far from my workplace so ideally I’m going to try to hit this place up instead of the standard grocery stores from now on. I like the size options they have available and the quality and range of products definitely makes this place worth going to!

Didn’t seem like there were that many tea shops in the FiDi that aren’t in Westfield mall. let alone teas that are «cooling» teas!
I was on a hunt to «qu huo» or «tui huo» for all those chinese people out there are believe in the body temperature thingy. so essentially was looking for very specific teas.
I went to the tea shop in Crocker Galleria which was super cute, but they didn’t have what i was looking for. FORTUNATELY, Spicely did! They have this pu’er + chrysanthemum blend of tea which is pretty good. At $ 13 per tin, I’d say its pretty friggin’ expensive tea, but it’s a convenience cost when you only have so much time during your lunch break.
The people here are all super nice and patient. They also give samples of different teas if you aren’t super familiar with what type you want.
They have racks and racks of different spices, which I thought was pretty friggin cool… AND they have a chocolate area in the very back with all these different types of chocolate blended with something random (free samples!).
There’s a lot happening in the store. so its pretty packed full of goodies. Definitely a default place if I’m looking for any of the above (spices or tea) for the sheer convenience. plus they offer pretty convenient hours too!

Dropped by on 5.23.14 to pick up a present for someone and the man at the register asked me if I would like to sample the teas that they had brewed for the day.
Why not?
Here are my notes:
1. Sweet Turmeric Kick (Organic Herbal Tea) — $ 17.99/tin
I’m a fan of this one! Doesn’t at all make me think of a warm and really runny chicken curry. Really. I’m not sure what else they blended with the turmeric to take the normal edge it has off of it (have you ever tasted pure turmeric? bleck!), but it works and makes it mild and perfectly drinkable.
2. Hot Ginger Root (Organic Herbal Tea) — $ 10.99/tin
It’s ok… nothing really special about this tea to me. Reminds me of the ginger tea my mom makes when I’m sick and she doesn’t have to pay $ 10.99 for a tin of tea, she just boils chunks of ginger in water. Thanks, mom!
3. Love Tea (Organic White Tea) — $ 13.99/tin
I bought this the last time I was here for my boss and another family friend based on appearance and smell. Those criteria alone don’t work when it comes to picking out a potential life partner and they sure don’t work with these teas either. Really wish I tried this one before I bought it. Didn’t taste like much of anything. Boo! :(
4. Dulce Matcha Spice (Organic Green Tea) — $ 19.99/tin
I know I’ve been whining about prices, and this one is the steepest, but I can splurge on a present. This is the one I went with because the matcha was oh-​so-​smooth and lovely.
5. Strawberry Hibiscus (Organic Pu-​erh Tea) — $ 15.99/tin
There are definitely hints of both strawberry and hibiscus in here, but nothing really «pops.» Ok, but not great.
6. Masala Chai (Organic Black Tea) — $ 17.99/tin
Run of the mill. I’ve had great chai at a bunch of different Indian restaurants and I’m sure they don’t pay $ 17.99/tin, or anything close. This is pretty average. Don’t be lazy if you want this. Go to a local ethnic grocery store.

Here’s the backstory — I stumbled into Spicely on a leisure and curious trek through San Francisco. Spicely is located on the corner of Market and 2^nd Street in the heart of the Financial District, basically business and tourist central. To be honest, my first impression was why the chandeliers were so dimly lit and flickering. The space is reminiscent of a quaint attic, but one with all the spices and teas imaginable rather than cobwebs collecting dust. I spent a lot more time than anticipated in this little spice and tea shop, but it was time well spent. Thank you Avery for providing me excellent and attentive customer service, as well as entertaining and pleasant conversation!
First, I learned that everything they offer is organic. Second, I enjoyed sampling the variety of teas and chocolates. What I found most unique was the turmeric and cinnamon powder tea, and actually all of the chocolates which all incorporated some sort of spice. They carry mostly loose leaf tea, but do have a handful of tea bags. Each tin of tea is individually priced, ranging at about $ 10 – 20. Though I wish I could have purchased every single tin, I ended up purchasing the Jasmine Cacao tea and the Honey Lavender tea. Both were, in my opinion, unique combinations of my favorite teas. That is, unique enough to warrant my purchase. On top of the tea itself, the icing on the cake is that the artwork on each of the tins is drawn by kids at a homeless shelter, of which a portion of the proceeds go to. Definitely a fan of local small businesses that support local nonprofits!

Homey little tea/​spice shop in downtown San Francisco. The store is well organized and stocked; all without feeling cluttered. There are always unique chocolate samples available, (and I guarantee there will be a chocolate fusion that you’ve never tried before) as well as at least 5 different teas ready to try!
The staff is very friendly and helpful, so feel free to sample and you will fall in love with something.
I recommend asking about their «powder teas»; Especially for the low maintenance type that just want their tea right away without the hassle of meticulous brewing or wasting piles of tea bags.
Bottom line: Unique chocolate and tea.

I noticed this shop while walking by and decided to stop in because I thought they might have some of the Indian spices I had been looking for and couldn’t find in the grocery store. I expected, from an entire shop dedicated to spices and tea, that they’d have some harder to find items but I was wrong. They only had what I’d find in the spice isle in the grocery store and this was disappointing.
I didn’t enjoy my experience inside this store. Talk about hard selling the merchandise… the sales person kept literally putting jars of tea in my face to smell. I felt like he was inside my personal bubble. If he wanted me to smell things he should have told me to feel free to smell them instead of forcing me to. I felt pushed out the door and I won’t return.

Variety abounds at this Market Street, Financial District spice and herb boutique.
My wife is an avid cooker and enjoys the small batches of very fresh spices. The small batches ensure very fresh product opposed to large batch products that may be compromised the moment the «seal is broken.» The service is very good here. The slightly higher prices can be tempered buying one a few «sampler boxes.»
Bottom line is we are what we eat. My wife and I have made quality over quantity a part of our daily lives so this business is a welcome addition to our shopping regiment. Since we cook for our guests quite a bit, we enjoy presenting the most flavorful and unique dishes with seasonal fruits, vegetables and so on in our dishes.

The store itself is quite quaint. But, I wasn’t amazed by anything here… possibly because I don’t know how amazed I can get at spices in general. But, I will say that I love having it here, as it’s just down the street and super convenient to pick up anything on the way home.
The people inside are really nice and knowledgeable. They know what the spices are good for, even in terms of your health! They also have a lot of extracts, but I haven’t really delved into that world, so I wouldn’t know much.
But, if you realized that you forgot to pick up some bay leaves for that soup you were cooking later this week, this is definitely the place to swing by!
On another note: Did you know that turmeric is good for arthritis?