Since we don't really have an r/spices, I'll post this up here, hope you guys don't mind.
Anyways, I'm the owner of a CFO (Cottage Food Operation) here in California that specializes in hand crafting smoked paprika and other things like infused salts. I'm a relatively new business but have been doing pretty decent in terms of sales across the nation since my original reddit post blew up and got me on the front page of r/food a few months ago. Since then, I've sold like 25 jars to various reddit users in different states, so that's pretty cool!
It's a sweet variety made from paprika peppers that are left to smoke and dry in an indoor (gotta keep it CFO legal) electric smoker for up to 3 days, and then the peppers are ground up numerous times to get a nice consistency and then I smoke the powder one more time for good measure for 5 hours.
Most of my buyers have been from California and Louisiana, but I really want to try to get my stuff in the kitchens of more people across the state. I've had a lot of good reception and people have messaged me back how much they liked it and have even had one dude tell me he ordered another bottle to give to his head chef at the restaurant he works at, which I think is awesome!
The stuff will ruin you for store bought paprika and spices. Hands down. It's great to use in all varieties of cooking and I really love using it as a dry rub for ribs and other various types of barbecue.
If you're interested in checking it out for yourself, I have an online shop that currently has 4 bottles of it in stock.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/207925673/smoked-paprika?ref=shop_home_active_1
My ultimate goal is to just get this stuff into the homes and kitchens of people who are enthusiastic about artisan foods or just want something more refined and fresh than a store bought spice.
My plan for the future is to be growing all the peppers myself, which will be happening by this summer if all goes to plan.
Thanks for looking guys.
-Daniel