Ground Clove
Dried clove buds milled to powder: warm, sweet, penetrating and faintly numbing. It is measured by the pinch rather than the spoon, because it turns medicinal faster than any other spice in the winter cupboard.
Quick Facts
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Warm, sweet and penetrating, with a resinous edge and a faint tongue-numbing bite: powerful enough that a pinch reads clearly through butter, sugar and rum.
Storage & Handling
Airtight, cool and dark, away from the light and heat that strip its oils: whole cloves keep far longer than ground.
Shelf Life
Ground: best within a year. Whole cloves: two to three years.
Usage
A pinch through a Hot Buttered Rum batter alongside cinnamon and nutmeg, and into mulled and spiced drinks generally. Measure it against the whole batch rather than a single glass, since it carries far further than it looks.
A Flower Bud, Dried Hard
Clove is the dried, unopened flower bud of a tropical evergreen, native to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia and now grown across the tropics. Dried until hard, the buds are milled to the warm brown powder sold as ground clove.
The shape in the jar is the giveaway: a whole clove is recognisably a bud with a head on it, which is unusual among spices. Most of what a kitchen keeps is seed, bark or root, and this is a flower that never opened.
Very Little Goes Very Far
Little spice carries this much force. Clove is warm and sweet and penetrating, with a resinous edge and a faint numbing bite, and it turns medicinal the moment there is too much.
The numbing is real rather than imagined: clove oil has been used as a topical anaesthetic for toothache for centuries, and the same compound is present in the spice. In a Hot Buttered Rum a single pinch reads clearly through butter, sugar and rum, which is a fair measure of its reach.
Ground Against Whole
The two behave differently enough to be treated as separate ingredients. Whole cloves infuse slowly and can be fished out; ground clove goes in, stays in, and releases everything at once.
That decides which to use. For a batter or a dusting, ground is right, since there is nothing to strain. For a mulled pot you intend to strain, whole suits better and gives you the option of stopping the infusion when it is where you want it.
It Fades Fast
Ground clove fades faster than whole, because grinding frees the oils that hold its punch and exposes them to air. Buy little, keep it airtight and dark, and grind your own from whole buds when the fullest hit is wanted.
Heat and steam are the other enemies. Spooning from a jar held over a steaming pan pushes moisture into it, which clumps the powder and stales what is left, so measure away from the heat and then add.
Top Tips
- By the pinch, never the spoon: clove is among the strongest baking spices and turns medicinal fast.
- Ground clove fades quickly, so buy small and grind your own from whole buds when you can.
- It carries hard through butter, sugar and rum, so measure it against the whole batter, not a single glass.
Possible Substitutions
- Whole cloves, ground fresh, for more punch
- A pinch of mixed or pumpkin spice, which already contains clove
- Ground allspice for a milder, rounder warmth
Production Method
The unopened flower buds of the clove tree, dried until hard and brown, then ground. Whole cloves hold their oils longest, so the ground spice is milled from them and fades faster.
Common Questions
How much ground clove should I use in a drink?
Start with a pinch and taste. Clove carries further than almost anything else in the winter cupboard and it turns medicinal quickly. You can always add more and you cannot take it back out, and it should be measured against a whole batch rather than a single glass.
Can I use ground clove instead of whole cloves?
Yes, though they behave differently enough to count as separate ingredients. Whole cloves infuse slowly and can be fished out; ground goes in and stays, releasing everything at once. Ground suits a batter, whole suits a pot you mean to strain.
Is ground clove the same as mixed spice?
No. Mixed spice and pumpkin spice are blends that include clove alongside cinnamon, nutmeg and others. Ground clove is the single spice, which is exactly why it is so much stronger on its own and needs measuring by the pinch.
Why does clove numb the mouth?
Because clove oil genuinely is a mild topical anaesthetic, long used for toothache, and the same compound is present in the spice. At a pinch it reads as a faint tingle behind the warmth; beyond that it takes the drink over entirely.
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Often Used With
Guide by Jerry Can Spirits