Saffron from Kashmir

Sujat Mantoo

Saffron flower

How to recognize genuine Kashmiri saffron

If you have never seen Kashmiri saffron threads before and you are planning to buy genuine Kashmiri saffron elsewhere this information should help you to recognize a genuine product.

Kashmiri saffron threads have two unique characteristic that no other saffron in the world has. First is the physical shape of the thread itself. Kashmiri saffron threads are flat and thin like a paper and slightly wider especially toward the tip of the thread than saffron threads from other regions of the world. Second, is that it feels very smooth and sort of silky to the touch and no other saffron in the world has this characteristic. For these reasons it is not a very wise strategy for the packagers to mix Kashmiri saffron threads with non-Kashmiri saffron threads. There are roamers out there saying that low quality Kashmiri saffron is being mixed with good quality Iranian saffron and is being exported and sold as high quality Kashmiri saffron (since Kashmiri saffron is more expensive than Iranian saffron). This simply is not true because when you mix non-Kashmiri saffron threads with Kashmiri saffron threads the differences will be obvious to the eye and you do not need to be a saffron expert to realize that there are two different saffron threads in the package. The only way this would be possible is if the entire batch consists of non-kashmiri saffron and the buyer has no idea of what Kashmiri saffron should look like.

1 gram of pure saffrom from Kashmir costs around 7 (seven) US dollars

10 grams costs 60 (sixty) US dollars

25 grams costs 100 (one hundred) US dollars

 Kashmiri man measures saffron

Bunch made of saffron

To buy Kashmiri saffron or for Tour Packages to Kashmir kindly contact me Sujat Amin Mantoo by Email at: mossesmantoo@yahoo.co.in or via cellular/mobile phone: +91-9560275073 

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