The Silk Road Spice Merchant

Hands down my favourite place on Whyte Ave. In an effort to be more health conscious I’ve recently begun cooking with spices rather than sauces, and Silk Road has been my saviour.
The shop is rustic, set up for exploring, and staffed with enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable staff. You are free to peruse the shelves and smell hundreds of different spices, spice mixes, and various supplies including kits to make your own liquor.
I recommend setting aside at least half an hour and smelling as many spices as you can until you find the one that makes you say «oh my god.» For me it was the greek seasoning on the first visit, and on the second visit I discovered the West African Citrus Spice. At home I like to mix my spices, add vinegars, juices, and additional herbs. I also recommend talking to the staff about the best ways to use the spices, which ones they recommend, and if you have a favourite food (whether it be sweet potato or steak) they can tell you some amazing new mixes to try.
Get in there, bud.

What a pleasant surprise it was walking into this store! I’ve never seen a shoppe like this in Edmonton and there’s just the most amazing selection of spices. I will be a long time customer of this store. It’s so unique. Much love !!

The first thing you’ll notice when you walk into The Silk Road Spice Merchant is how good it smells.
I’d seen Silk Road at a couple of Unilocal Events before, and I’ve also seen some of their products at Evoolution, but this was my first visit to their location on Whyte (their first in Edmonton).
Silk Road sells spices and herbs, from single spices/​herbs like basil, and oregano, to spice and herb blends. Wanna take a tasty journey to India or Mexico or Morocco or Argentina or New Orleans or many other places? Well Silk Road is the place to check out. They’ve got savoury blends, rubs, stewing spices, and sweet blends (like their pumpkin pie spice blend) from herbs and spices all over the world. There’s also different flavoured salts, and bitters, and cookware and cookbooks.
If you like cooking or tasty food this seems to be the place to be. I came in here for Unilocal Shops Local and picked up a couple of stocking stuffers. This is definitely the kind of place I could spend a lot of time in. The staff were friendly and the selection here is great. I’ll be back for sure.

The first time I experienced Silk Road was a trip to Calgary. I didn’t think a spice store would be that interesting but I was amazed at how cool I thought the store concept was after visiting.
Flash forward a year and I hear that they are coming to Edmonton on Whyte Ave which is close to where I live. I thought another great store to add to the vibrancy of Whyte!
They have an amazing and eclectic selection of spices to choose from. Lots of neat and unusual things to smell and experiment with in your cooking. They also have some cool kitchen and cooking gadgets, cookbooks, and other items of interest.
The staff are very knowledgeable and super-​friendly. I asked about gluten and apparently there are only 2 items that have any. I don’t recall which but the staff will let you know if you ask about it.
If you are into cooking and food then you have to visit this store!

As soon as you open their doors you are blasted by the sweet aroma of spices. So many succulent spices. mmmmmm! It’s hard to absorb if you are person who loves to cook. Everywhere you look spices and spices for everything! Meat, veggies, fish, BBQ… you’ll drive yourself crazy taking it all in alone. But have no fear! Their amazing staff is your guide for the day. All you need to do is tell them what you want to cook and let them lead the way.
I ventured in here after months of procrastinating. I ran into them at multiple Unilocal Elite events. It was time to put them to the test. I told my guide I was cooking Cedar Plank Salmon and Steaks. I needed a rub that had some heat and added an amazing flavour that would wow my guests. After a stroll across their store she picked out 4 different spices for me. I taste them all and pick the two I loved. End result-​epic salmon, amazing steaks AND I used these bad boys on other dishes.
Their flavour combinations are fantastic. Their staff, amazing and knowledgeable. THe store is well laid out and has great décor. If you are in the mood to cook some food and want a flavour punch in the face, go to Silk Road Spice Merchant. They will help you uppercut your guests right in the mouth.

Not much to add to the existing praise of the Silk Road Spice Merchant. It’s a much larger space than I would have expected for a spice store, but they sell so much more than spices, including cookbooks, some kitchen gadgets, and bitters. It’s a really beautiful store with antique dark stained wood cabinets displaying the shelves of spices (literally, the furniture is from an antique store — I inquired about the gorgeous apothecary housing the bitters). They have a fantastic website so I was able to peruse the offerings to figure out if they had what I needed ahead of time. I like that they have several different kinds of themed gift kits, like Mediterranean, or French, or Baking, or for Fish, etc. They can also customize one to your specifications. Most of the gift kits come with decorative cinnamon sticks, dried bay leaves, and whole nutmeg pods that are actually usable.
One thing I really liked was that for each spice, there are a variety of sizes and options (like shaker lid or not, glass jar or not), so if you don’t like the displayed standard size, a friendly sales associate will happily prepare you the one you want. And all the prices are clearly listed so you know what you’re getting yourself into.
There’s such an amazing variety of spices both for cooking (including the grill) and baking. Alex F. mentioned habanero powder… there is actually a whole section on chilies used in Mexican cuisine! I purchased a za’atar (haven’t opened yet) and a jerk seasoning (tasty, though not what I’m used to for jerk, and not as spicy either).
FYI It’s located right next to Knifewear. I’ll definitely be back.

The selection is amazing. Staff are very knowledgeable and helpful. Prices are fairly reasonable considering you are getting high quality spices from the other side of the planet. They even had the ghost peppers I have e been searching for. I went on a shopping spree for my birthday, and it was one of the best birthdays ever.

The Silk Road Spice Merchant carries the largest selection of fresh spices and spice blends that I have ever seen. They also carry other things like bitters and candied ginger.
I love spicy food. And they have habanero powder. HABANERO POWDER! And so many other delicious things.

I finally made it into The Silk Road Spice Merchant! I am a fan of their Maple Smoked Salmon Rub, which I’ve purchased from Evoolution many, many times, so I’ve been wanting to come here pretty much since it opened.
When I went inside, I became a kid in a candy store. No joke. They have testers for everything, so you can smell the deliciousness. I picked the Cajun Blackening Spice, Sharpless Ranch Smoky Barbecue Rub (seriously it smells like a smokehouse in a jar), Saltwater Chili-​Lime Seasoning (the lady working here said she loves this on popcorn), and the Spanish Sweet Smoked Paprika (which will also be delicious on popcorn).
Some items that stood out… I heard the lady mention they have ghost peppers here. You’ll never catch me buying them, but it that’s your thing, you just have to ask for them as they keep them hidden. They have a selection of asian spices, lots of different cinnamon mixes, several kinds of paprika (I like paprika), and they even have bitters! And I think it’s a very large collection of bitters for cocktails. When the holiday season comes around, I might have to come back so I can make some festive beverages.
They also have a selection of cookbooks, and kitchen tools. I bought a citrus zester.
The staff are seriously wonderful. I was greeted and asked if I had any questions, and the girl working there spent time pointing out some of the popular selections, and answered any questions I had.
All in all, what a great store… I highly recommend going here for any of your Spice needs!

This place is freaking phenomenal.
It’s not that they have every spice (they probably do) but they have multiple varieties for almost all of them!
There are notes on each spice, and use suggestions for many.
They also make blends in-​house — their mulling spice mixture is awesome!

Calling all cocktail connoisseurs, calling all bakers, calling all master chefs and anyone else that dreams at night of making food sing! My absolutely fave Calgary culinary boutique has finally come to Edmonton!
This quaint shop, filled with passionate, helpful staff, is single handedly the most amazing collection of spices, herbs, rubs, salts, honeys and oils collected in once place. Such a fragrant store little makes my heart skip a beat then flutter like I am falling in love. Even if you are not looking to buy, just enter this store to get a whiff of what I am talking about … But be warned though, you will want to buy!
The selection of bitters is incredible; there are 3 or 4 different companies with a menagerie of different flavours. I recently grabbed the ginger bitters (hello hot toddys!) I also have bought vanilla bean sugar (perfect for rimming martini glasses), white truffle oil, truffle infused organic honey, teapot bitters (try adding them to shortbread), grapefruit bitters and rosewater for baking baklava! Oh and I also always leave with one more thing — a smile that lasts all day long!
This shop will instantly renew or spark a passion for your kitchen. Get ready, dinner’s about to be kicked up a notch!

What you want, what you need Baby, they’ve got it! And while you may be singing along at this point, I’m not talking specifically about R-​E-​S– P-​E-​C-​T (although they the Silk Road has that too!) This store seriously has everything under the sun and my oh my is it gooooood!
Over the summer we purchased some of their blends for fish (Saltwater Chili Lime Seasoning) and chicken (Ras El Hanout) and were immediately hooked! We’ve also stopped in for brown mustard seed and we most recently picked up mulling spices, vanilla extract (made with bourbon) and tonka beans — (YUM!)
In short, if you’re looking for recipe ingredients that are a step above (or altogether not on the shelves of your local grocery store), save yourself some time and enjoy the experience by making the Silk Road your first trip!

Spice heaven if it exists has a location here in Edmonton! I am a spice junkie, I love variety in my pantry and since moving here have not found many stores selling the unique varieties I used to be able to pick up. Then this lovely ‘Yelp shops local’ event happened and well… Wow! This will be my go to place for flavours! They have a rainbow of bitters (an acquired taste I’m told) on top of huge options of herbs, spices and blends. PLUS they have gift packs pre-​made or custom options to suit any foodie’s tastes in your life. The staff are so helpful, and they have sample jars of most everything available and well the cool factor of the décor adds to the roll back in time feel that fits perfectly in old Strathcona. This is a must stop store for anyone who cooks. I mean I kinda want. No, NEED to buy one of everything in this shop!

What a treat to now have our very own Silk Road Spice Merchant in Edmonton in Old Strathcona located on Whyte Avenue!
Previously, one would have to travel to Calgary to be spoiled by all of their amazing spices!
Today, I sampled their fabulous mulled apple cider! Mmm… You just cannot beat that smell! It is the absolute perfect blend of spices to have simmering on your stove with apple juice as your guests arrive for Christmas supper!
The staff were super friendly and knowledgeable! And did I mention the cuteness factor? I just loved the old world feel and layout of the store!
I foresee many, many more trips here in the near future!