With a Penzey’s local, there is no excuse for not having fresh spices. Ditto any place with ethnic markets. With a little shopping, you can beat Penzey’s prices and still get fresh spices.
They’re not even that much more expensive, especially when you consider the quantities that people typically use spices in.
And the quality is just drastically higher.
You want expensive per ounce try saffron. It will be a little sprig you can hardly see and it will be a couple of bucks at least. IIRC I calculated it out once and it was up there with cocaine and gold on dollars per ounce.
The man who invents cheap saffron will make Bill Gates look like a homeless bum.
Back to spices…basil, rosemary, thyme, and oregano are VERY easy to grow at home and them being fresh fresh fresh does make a big difference IMO. Dill takes a bit more of a green thumb but its doable without too much effort. Probably a few others that escape me at the moment. I did have fun playing with lemon grass for a couple of years…Oh yeah mint is also easy peasy (if your not careful its a weed that will get out of control). Probably a few others that escape my mind at the moment.
I spent about $200 refilling my spices (not all at once)…Including soy sauce, vinegar, Bay Seasoning ect…
The only difference between cheap and expensive is the quantity needed for the taste effect for most of the herbs.
No difference between the other stuff…unless your really anal about your Vietnamese Cinnamon. :dubious:
If I know I’m gonna make something today, like authentic chicken tacos, I’ll buy fresh Cilantro and Limes for it.
I use the bottled stuff for general everyday cooking.
All in all Fresh is the Best. 
I’m not sure if this is the issue, but Saigon (or Vietnamese) cinnamon isn’t the same thing as regular cinnamon. That is, it’s a different plant.
Yeah, that’s why I specified common spices. As in, the things you could find at a typical grocery store-- I don’t think any store in town carries saffron.
At the grocery store, get the cheapest thing you can find. They all suck. Penzeys is worth the extra cash, but everything else is more or less the same. The one thing I can say, though, is that dried herbs aren’t really much better at Penzeys. Not that it matters, because fresh is so much better, anyway.
This is not true. Poor quality/old spices taste muted and musty and no amount can compensate. I normally toast and grind whole cumin seeds but ran out one day and bought some emergency powdered cumin. It wasn’t at all the same and I very quickly threw out the entire bag the next time I had a chance to buy good quality cumin seeds again.
Yes there is a difference among “cinnamons”, but “regular cinnamon” is ambiguous. In the United States the “cinnamon” we normally get in the supermarket is actually cassia. Cassia has that bite characteristic of red hot candies. Saigon/Vietnamese “cinnamon” is a particularly potent variety of cassia. What we normally get in the supermarket is also cassia, typically a generic grade from Indonesia.
True cinnamon, also known as Ceylon or soft stick cinnamon, has a fruity flavor with little or no bite. This is what is used in Mexico and many other parts of the world, though they may also call specifically for cassia in some recipes.
Many Americans do not like true cinnamon because it does not have the taste and fragrance we expect. When I smell Ceylon cinnamon it reminds me of the Mexican drink horchata.
I think that high quality dried oregano, sage, rosemary, and thyme are quite good. Dried basil is different and not as fragrant as fresh, but can have it’s place in certain situations. Cilantro and parsley do not have nearly as much flavor as fresh.
Even for saffron, the amount you use in a dish like paella probably costs much less than the shrimp and chorizo. My advice is to buy high quality spices in a quantity that you will use up in about a year. For the more exotic spices that you do not use often, wait to buy them until you need them.
True. Plus, their coupons for free spices are good, if you get on their mailing list.
I probably spend $100/year at Penzey’s. Not that much all in all for the quality I get.
Oh, and one more thing about Penzey’s, if you get on their mailing list their catalog offers interesting recipes and insights into each spice they sell. Makes for good reading. 
I bet there are spices in my spice rack that are between 30 and 50 yrs old. I inherited them from my mother and she died 26 yrs ago and I know some of them are much much older than that. (Don’t worry, I am not going to use them.)
I inherited gramma’s spices via my mother. Gramma gave up housekeeping in 1966.
Penzey’s has most / all of their spices available in a variety of sizes, up to large (well, a cup or so) bags. If it’s something you use a lot, get a large bag, a small empty jar, put the bag somewhere out of the light (maybe even in the freezer) and refill the jar as needed.
I disagree that Penzeys spices are more expensive than the grocery store. In general I’ve found that though the container is bigger (and costs a bit more) the unit price (price per oz/lb/quart) is much lower coming from Penzeys.
As an example, I buy a pound of mustard seeds for <$10. 2 oz at the supermarket is going to be in the $4-5 range at a minimum.
This is exactly what we do, and we’re headed down this upcoming weekend to restock our supplies. Now, if they could make jar lids that weren’t so darn fragile. It seems we’re always requesting a couple of replacement lids every time we head down to the store. A drop from the cabinet to the counter is nearly always fatal to the covers.