It all started when we realized that many of our favorite seasonings were not gluten free, or preservative free. Some of them even contained beef and chemicals. With various food allergies and dietary restrictions in our family, we decided to create our own seasonings that were simple, diverse and delicious—and safe for all our diets. We started with our own fajita blend—for Taco Tuesday, of course. Then we created a daily pepper blend featuring Smoked Paprika, now appropriately named, “Daily Red”, then Italian... then, then, then… After using these seasonings for a couple of years for our own personal use, we decided to give them out as Christmas gifts. The positive response from friends and family was overwhelming. Many told us "we really should do something with these".

 

So we did. And Roaring Fork Spice Company was born.

 We are fortunate to live in the Roaring Fork Valley, situated in the Colorado Rockies. We wanted a name as vibrant and adventurous as the area we live in. There was little debate that “Roaring Fork Spice Company” was the perfect name.

 

One night, after perfecting our Wired Espresso Blend (yes, it's perfect) I sat down to watch a hockey game and enjoy a bowl of my favorite ice cream—espresso chocolate chip. Jenn suggested I sprinkle some Wired on it. If you haven't surmised yet, I'm a coffee junkee (and snob). As much as I NEED my morning triple vanilla latte, crave coffee chip ice cream... and love our new Wired Blend (on anything), I still paused. "It's going to be too savory. And I'll ruin a perfectly good bowl of ice cream," I said. I think I was actually whining. But, I tried it anyways. As I expected, it was a bit too savory. But... not bad... not bad at all. With my mouth full of melting ice cream, I suggested (half-jokingly) maybe we should make a sweet version of Wired. That was it. Our "Ah Ha!" moment. Before I could finish that bite, we jumped off the couch, practically climbing over each other to get into the kitchen and begin blending coffee, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon... anything sweet we could get our hands on. We made four Sweet Seasonings that night.

 

I couldn't tell you who won that hockey game.