Intensity 4/5 · Heat 3/5
Sweeter and rounder than black pepper, with a slow-building heat. It looks like a tiny cone and grates beautifully over a braise.
Velora House
TELLICHERRY
Black Pepper · whole
Kerala style, India · Prototype provenance, unverified
Bright citrus and resinous pine arrive first, then warm wood and a heat that builds slowly rather than stinging.
Aroma
Citrus • Pine • Warm Wood
Flavour
Deep • Floral • Lingering
Intensity
Heat
75g
£16
1
Best with
SteakTomatoesEggsCream sauces
Format
whole
Category
Pepper
Cuisine
Indian, European, American
Create with this ingredient
Use Tellicherry as a starting ingredient in Velora Atelier.
Open in AtelierWhat makes this style distinctive
Tellicherry is a grade, not a species. It describes the largest berries of a late-picked Malabar-style harvest — the same vine as ordinary black pepper, simply left longer on the plant. Extra ripening time builds aromatic oil, and larger berries hold more of it.
How the aroma differs from ordinary pepper
Commodity pepper is picked early and dried fast; what survives is heat. A late-picked, slow-dried berry keeps its top notes, so you get grapefruit peel and pine before the pepper bite, and a resinous finish that lasts.
Why we recommend whole
Most of pepper's aroma sits in volatile oils that begin escaping within minutes of grinding. Pre-ground pepper is mostly heat and dust. Whole berries hold their aroma for months and release it the moment you crack them.
How to grind it
Coarse for finishing steak, tomatoes or eggs so you get bursts of aroma. Medium for sauces. Crack in a mortar rather than a mill when you want irregular shards that catch on the surface of the food.
Compare pepper
Side by side.
| Spice | Aroma | Intensity | Size | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tellicherry | Citrus • Pine • Warm Wood | 4/5 | 75g | £16 |
| Kampot | Floral • Mineral • Warm Spice | 3/5 | 70g | £19 |
| Sarawak | Earth • Fermentation • Gentle Heat | 3/5 | 65g | £17 |
| Timut | Grapefruit • Citrus • Floral | 4/5 | 45g | £18 |
Origin · India
The home of extraordinary pepper.
Pepper vines climb shade trees in the Western Ghats and ripen slowly in monsoon humidity. Late picking and slow sun-drying are what give a Tellicherry-style grade its size, its citrus lift and its long resinous finish.
Explore originsCook with it