There are different kinds of of saffron and different grades. But the flavor should be pretty discernible. It’s kind of floral/slightly medicinal. In what weight was your saffron sold in, and how much did you pay for it? What you describe sounds just like false saffron, aka safflower.
Yeah, the best stuff is just threads: no twigs or other crap.
It was a little vial of threads. The threads are a reddish color and I paid about six or seven dollars for it.
Sounds like probably lower quality saffron, then. At any rate here’s a picture of both. False saffron (safflower) on left, saffron on right.
Could you please send me the recipe?
I can see how someone could be easily fooled. Red Spanish saffronlooks a lot like the stuff on the left. Here is the stuff I bought, only in the 1oz size.
I use Digby’s recipe. Here’s a good redaction.