Gaucho Provisions
The Salt Guide

Every salt on the American shelf, one jar at a time

A record of the salts sold in US stores: what the label says, what the panel declares, what we paid, and what the crystal looks like on white. No stars, no ranking, and no tasting notes until we have a method worth publishing.

Each entry is copied from the package and the receipt. Sodium per gram and price per ounce, pound, 100 g and kilo are computed from those two documents and nothing else. 3 salts so far; we add them as we buy them.

TypeOriginProducerGoes with

Side by side

Every number here is from the panel or the receipt; sorted cheapest per weight first. Sodium per gram is the declared sodium divided by the declared serving weight; pure sodium chloride is 393.

SaltOriginTypeSodium / ¼ tspSodium / gNetPaidPer ozPer lbPer 100 gPer kg
Esprit du Sel — Island of Ré Fennel, Garlic, ParsleyFranceGrey sea salt, herb blend310 mg (1 g)310 mg250 g$13.99$1.59$25.38$5.60$55.96
Cornish Sea Salt Co. — Smoky FlakesUnited KingdomSmoked sea salt flakes470 mg (1.4 g)336 mg50 g$4.99$2.83$45.27$9.98$99.80
Simply Organic — Hatch Chile Smoked Finishing SaltUnited StatesSmoked sea salt, chile blend200 mg (0.7 g)286 mg74 g$9.99$3.83$61.23$13.50$135.00

How an entry is made

We buy the salt at retail, in a store, and keep the receipt. The jar is photographed front, back and panel; the salt is poured onto white paper and photographed from above with no styling. Name, origin, type, ingredients, net weight, serving size, sodium, importer, barcode and lot are copied from the package exactly as printed. Price, store, city and date come from the receipt.

Two numbers are computed. Sodium per gram is the declared sodium divided by the declared serving weight, and it is only as good as the label’s rounding: sodium above 140 mg is declared to the nearest 10 mg, so we show a band as well as the figure. Price per weight is what we paid, divided by the net weight, shown per ounce, per pound, per 100 g and per kilo. Neither is a judgment about the salt.

What is deliberately missing: tasting notes. The journal’s standard is that a claim should be checkable, and a tasting is the one thing here that cannot be. When we publish them it will be with a stated method — how many tasters, in what order, on what food — and until then the field stays empty. Reader reviews come after that, once the guide is large enough to be worth reviewing against.

Why a salt company is doing this

Gaucho Provisions sells Patagonian sea salt. This guide records what is on other people’s labels, at the prices we paid, with a photograph of the crystal on white. Every field is copied from the package or the receipt; nothing is scored. We paid retail for every jar, nobody sent us one, and we have no relationship with any brand listed. Our own salts will be entered with the same fields and no more.