Our post last week with 10 practical ideas for spice storage elicited a lot of enthusiasm and fresh ideas from our readers. We're going to show you a few good solutions readers have sent us this week — starting with this one from Shakeena: Kombucha bottles as spice storage!
Yep, that's right — Shakeena takes those oh-so-pricey bottles of kombucha, and once she is done with them, she repurposes them into spice storage. She says, "I love drinking Kombucha — the bottles make really cool spice jars."
If you need large amounts of spices this is not a bad idea! Reuse, recycle — and the bottles are tall and skinny, good for small city cupboards.
What do you think? Would you use kombucha bottles for spices? Or to store anything else?
Related: 10 Practical Ideas for Better Spice Storage
(Images: Shakeena via email)
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Comments (14)
I use small jars from IKEA to store spices I buy in bulk. An inexpensive solution that looks stylish to boot!
http://citygirltocountrygirl.com/2010/11/29/i-am-in-love-with-my-spice-jars/
City Girl to Country Girl
Sorry, they look silly and are an absurd waste of space. Not only does no one need that much of any spice, but you need a ton of shelf space because the bottles can't be stacked.
Personally I save kombucha jars to use when i make my own at home!
I buy most of my spices from my local Indian and Italian grocers and they often come in 8oz and 1lb bags, so no that's not too big. I keep things in canning jars. It's an interesting re-use, but I would have trouble getting a measuring spoon in the necks of these.
as much as i love a good reuse idea, i think i have to agree with sunset on this one.
they look like they'd make great grab-able water bottles to go! i think that would be what i'd do with them. water/juice/tea to go!
Sunset is right.
Also, you have to take into account the amount of air you're letting in with your spices. It's best to have a container that's about the volume of spice you regularly keep around, because the spice will be fresher without too much exposure to the air.
Based on the number of posts I've seen on this site about spice containers, it seems there's way too much thought going into this. If you're into spices as food rather than decor, keeping an unmatched set of containers on some sort of shelving inside a dark cupboard (to keep out light, which can also turn spices stale more quickly) is fine.
It's better to use jars with wide mouths so you can get your measuring spoon inside.
They really seem to be too big.None of those bottles are even near being full. They take up to much space and I think it will be difficult to get the spices out in the desired amount. They might make good storage solutions for other things though- maybe nuts, rice or something like that.
I started to use Starbucks fruit juices' bottles for spice storage after I run out my original fancy but not practical spice jars. They have a cute shape and ideal volume.
I use my old kumbacha bottles (ok so I've only ever had 3 because I mean, really at $5 a pop I could have a sandwich instead of a weird drink) as water bottles. Since they're glass they're safe (non plastic, whatever) and dishwasher safe and it's just convenient to have a few bottles of cold water in the fridge!
But for spices? eh...not really.
These actually seem really impractical for storing spices. Agree with all the comments above: Unattractive, clumsy, inefficient use of space, difficult to access the spices, lets in too much air. Am surprised that this idea made it to the top!
Would I use these particular bottles for spices? Not likely, they're too big, but thanks for the post because it gets the creative juices flowing to think about what other items I 'could' reuse.
Accessing the spices is not a problem-I just POUR what I want to use in a 1 ounce measuring glass (measures from 1 tsp-1 oz) And to address the air concerns- if you shop in health food stores and buy spices in bulk-you'll notice the large glass jars the spices are stored in and the amount of air in those jars-I buy small quantities and use daily.
Not sure why, but those bottles make especially nice water bottles. I rinse them and use them 5 or 6 times. Better than metal or plastic and cheaper then the silicon covered bottles.