01
Pemba Island royal
The best Zanzibar lot — clove trees 30-50 years old in the Chake Chake and Wete districts of Pemba, oil content above 18 %. Sultanate-era 'royal' grade still handled exclusively by ZSTC for state-to-state export.
Pemba, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Zanzibar Cloves
warm · pungent · floral
Tanzania
Zanzibar archipelago
Pemba Island produces the finest grade
Syzygium aromaticum
botanical name
myrtle family, Myrtaceae
72–90%
eugenol content
highest of any culinary spice
15–20 years
to first full harvest
trees live and produce for 100 years
Harvest verified · October 2024
Visual atlas
Profile
Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, Syzygium aromaticum. They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or fragrance in consumer products, such as toothpaste, soaps, or cosmetics. Cloves are available throughout the year owing to different harvest seasons across various countries.
Clove — Syzygium aromaticum — is the dried unopened flower bud of an evergreen tree native to the Maluku Islands, now grown mostly on Pemba and Zanzibar off the Tanzanian coast. Buds are hand-picked while still pink, then sun-dried until they harden into the dark brown nails that gave clou de girofle its name. Eugenol — 70 to 90 percent of the essential oil — delivers the unmistakable warm-medicinal bite. Cloves were briefly the most valuable spice in the world; Zanzibar's entire colonial economy was built on them. Today cloves anchor Indian biryanis, Moroccan ras el hanout, Indonesian kretek cigarettes, British bread sauce and pumpkin pie spice.
Tasting notes
warm · pungent · floral
Intense, warm, numbing on the tongue, with notes of camphor, dried fruit, and pepper. Eugenol makes up 80-90% of the essential oil — the same compound that dentists use as a topical anaesthetic. Anchors pho broth, biryani, Worcestershire, and mulled wine.
pungentbotanicalearthysweet
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Grades & varieties
02
Zanzibar mainland (Unguja)
Cloves from the main island of Unguja around Kizimkazi and Kidichi. Younger trees, 16-17 % oil, slightly less floral than Pemba but with a sharper peppery kick. The main volume sold at ZSTC auctions.
03
Mafia Island smallholder
Minor but distinct lot from Mafia Island off the Tanzanian coast — small orchards with high humidity. Smaller bud size, intense spicy-floral oil, sold almost entirely into East African domestic masala trade.
Process
01Year 1–15
The slow wait
Syzygium aromaticum is planted from seed in Pemba's red volcanic soil. Trees must reach 15 years before yielding a commercial crop worth harvesting.
02Jun–Jul & Nov–Dec
Two harvests per year
Zanzibar cloves flower twice annually. Pickers climb 8–10 m trees barefoot, harvesting buds before they open — an open flower means 30% less eugenol.
03Harvest, immediate
Separation from stems
Buds are separated from stems by hand within hours of picking. Stems and leaves are distilled separately for eugenol oil; buds are the premium product.
043–5 days
Coral-sand drying
Buds are spread on palm mats or directly on coral-sand roads in Pemba — the island's traditional method. Daily turning until moisture drops from 90% to under 12%.
05Your kitchen
Whole or freshly ground
For sauces: add 2 whole cloves to hot oil 60 seconds before onion — remove before serving. For desserts: grind immediately before use; ground cloves oxidise in 3 months.
Inside the berry
The molecules that make it taste like Kampot — and not like anything else.
Cloves are the densest natural source of eugenol on Earth. A single dried bud is up to 18% essential oil by weight, and that oil is overwhelmingly one molecule.
16%
Essential oil
average, Pemba hand-picked
85%
Eugenol
of the essential oil
12%
β-caryophyllene
the woody-spicy partner
1907
Hurricane
wiped Zanzibar's monopoly
Volatile compound profile
- Eugenol85.2%
Warm, spicy, slightly numbing — the absolute lead, also a topical anaesthetic.
- β-caryophyllene11.6%
Woody, peppery — the only real second voice in clove oil.
- Eugenyl acetate9.4%
Softer, sweeter eugenol — adds confectionery roundness.
- α-humulene1.8%
Hops-like, herbaceous — supports the caryophyllene.
- Methyl eugenol0.9%
Sweeter, mintier eugenol facet — minor but lifted.
- α-copaene0.4%
Woody, mossy — deep base trace.
Versus other peppers
| Pepper | Piperine | Oil |
|---|---|---|
★ Zanzibar (Pemba) Tanzania · hand-picked, the historical reference | 85% | 16% |
Madagascar Sambava · the world's largest exporter today | 82% | 15% |
Indonesian (Maluku) Most goes to kretek cigarettes, not food | 78% | 13% |
Sri Lankan Matale · prized for size and oil | 80% | 14% |
Brazilian (Bahia) Atlantic Forest · plumper, milder | 75% | 12% |
Producers
Zanzibar, Pemba Island (Chake Chake, Wete, Mkoani)
ZSTC — Pemba Royal Line
Zanzibar, Pemba Island (Chake Chake, Wete, Mkoani) · est. 1962
“The Pemba Royal sub-line of ZSTC, reserved for selected lots from old trees in the Chake Chake, Wete and Mkoani districts and historically sent as state gift to Oman and India.”
MethodsOnly buds from trees older than 50 years, sun-dried strictly on raised bamboo mats (not concrete) to keep moisture lower, hand-graded twice at the Chake Chake plant, double-packed in jute plus HDPE liner, cold-room rest 30 days before shipment. Essential-oil quality certified at the State Laboratory in Dar-es-Salaam.
Cuisines
How the world cooks with it.
3 signature dishes
Pemba and Unguja built their wealth on this bud — and built their kitchens around it.
- Pilau ya nyamagrade: hand-picked
Zanzibari spiced rice with beef — cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and cumin bloomed in ghee before the rice.
- Biryani ya Zanzibargrade: hand-picked
The Swahili coast's biryani — heavier on cloves than its Indian cousins, layered with caramelised onion.
- Mkate wa kumiminagrade: hand-picked
Coconut rice cake — clove and cardamom in the batter perfume the whole loaf.
Around the world
What it's called, from Phnom Penh to Palermo.
🇸🇦 Arabicar
قرنفل
Qaranful
🇧🇩 Bengalibn
লবঙ্গ
Labanga
🇨🇳 Chinesezh
丁香
Dīngxiāng
🇳🇱 Dutchnl
Kruidnagel
🇬🇧 Englishen
Cloves
🇫🇷 Frenchfr
Clous de girofle
🇩🇪 Germande
Gewürznelken
🇮🇱 Hebrewhe
ציפורן
Tsiporen
🇮🇳 Hindihi
लौंग
Laung
🇮🇩 Indonesianid
Cengkeh
🇮🇹 Italianit
Chiodi di garofano
🇯🇵 Japaneseja
クローブ
Kurōbu
🇰🇷 Koreanko
정향
Jeonghyang
🇲🇾 Malayms
Cengkih
MLml
ഗ്രാമ്പൂ
Grambu
🇮🇷 Persianfa
میخک
Mikhak
🇵🇱 Polishpl
Goździki
🇵🇹 Portuguesept
Cravo-da-índia
🇷🇺 Russianru
Гвоздика
Gvozdika
SIsi
කරාබු නැටි
Karabu neti
🇪🇸 Spanishes
Clavo de olor
SWsw
Karafuu
🇸🇪 Swedishsv
Kryddnejlika
🇮🇳 Tamilta
கிராம்பு
Kirambu
🇹🇭 Thaith
กานพลู
Kan phlu
🇹🇷 Turkishtr
Karanfil
🇵🇰 Urduur
لونگ
Laung
🇻🇳 Vietnamesevi
Đinh hương
Pairings
Protein
- Slow-braised lamb
- Tuna
Sweet
- Dark chocolate
- Poached pears
- Rice pudding
Drink
- Mulled wine
Substitutes
- Allspice68% match· soon
- Mace42% match· soon
- Star Anise35% match· soon
Cultivated in 1 country
🇹🇿
TanzaniaPrimary terroirFrequent questions
Pemba cloves (PDO-equivalent: 'Zanzibar cloves') consistently test at 80–90% eugenol — versus 72–78% for Indonesian cloves from Maluku or Sulawesi. The island's red volcanic soil, high rainfall, and sea-air humidity create conditions that concentrate essential oil in the bud. Pemba produces roughly 9,000 tonnes annually on just 984 km².
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