I was really expecting something much better by the reviews Id read... July 2016 paid 13.50. They had no better flavor or smell than the cheap inexpensive $.50 to $1 pepper at the store. (while ground good pepper runs 3-4 for around 1.5 ounces in stores).

It was cheaply packaged with NO Expiry Date or codes.  These kinda of Important details really give a product credibility.  Otherwise, companies are just saying ... well, we don't care about the customer knowing how fresh the product is .. after all they are in the market of sell food product where freshness hinges on how old the product is and how it is stored. Wish I could say something better....

Curious about Pepper Crops and freshness I looked this up .. heres info on TelliCherry Pepper... btw .. few of these are 4.25mm or larger... Im not expert, but this is what I found.
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Tellicherry Peppercorns and "regular black pepper" both come from the exact same vine. (And for that matter, so do green and white peppercorns, but that's another subject for another blog post.) All are the species called Piper Nigrum.

At the end of the growing season, in February and March, the pepper fruit is picked from the vine. The pepper is dried over a series of days and eventually shrivels and turns into what we know as black peppercorns. All of the peppercorns are then shipped to "garbling" facilities. These are places that sort the peppercorns by size and then bag them. The sortation machines have several different large flat metal screens with thousands of identical holes in them. The machines shake the peppercorns so that the smaller peppercorns begin falling through the screens. The smallest peppercorns fall to the very bottom screen. Once sorted, the various peppercorn sizes are called different things and sold for different prices.

So a Tellicherry peppercorn is actually determined by size. When a black peppercorn is 4.25 mm pinhead or larger, it's "Tellicherry." That's all there is to it. Because Tellicherry are so much bigger than the other peppercorns, they make up a much smaller percentage of the crop. Oftentimes they represent 10% or less of any given harvest. There's less of them, so command a higher price at market.
I was really expecting something much better by the reviews Id read... July 2016 paid 13. 50. They had no better flavor or smell than the cheap inexpensive $. 50 to $1 pepper at the store. (while ground good pepper runs 3-4 for around 1. 5 ounces in stores). It was cheaply packaged with NO Expiry Date or codes. These kinda of Important details really give a product credibility. Otherwise, companies are just saying... well, we don't care about the customer knowing how fresh the product is.. after all they are in the market of sell food product where freshness hinges on how old the product is and how it is stored. Wish I could say something better.... Curious about Pepper Crops and freshness I looked this up.. heres info on TelliCherry Pepper... btw.. few of these are 4. 25mm or larger... Im not expert, but this is what I found. ===================
Tellicherry Peppercorns and "regular black pepper" both come from the exact same vine. (And for that matter, so do green and white peppercorns, but that's another subject for another blog post. ) All are the species called Piper Nigrum. At the end of the growing season, in February and March, the pepper fruit is picked from the vine. The pepper is dried over a series of days and eventually shrivels and turns into what we know as black peppercorns. All of the peppercorns are then shipped to "garbling" facilities. These are places that sort the peppercorns by size and then bag them. The sortation machines have several different large flat metal screens with thousands of identical holes in them. The machines shake the peppercorns so that the smaller peppercorns begin falling through the screens. The smallest peppercorns fall to the very bottom screen. Once sorted, the various peppercorn sizes are called different things and sold for different prices. So a Tellicherry peppercorn is actually determined by size. When a black peppercorn is 4. 25 mm pinhead or larger, it's "Tellicherry. " That's all there is to it. Because Tellicherry are so much bigger than the other peppercorns, they make up a much smaller percentage of the crop. Oftentimes they represent 10% or less of any given harvest. There's less of them, so command a higher price at market.