How is this so?
Briefly, black peppercorns are produced by picking green unripe peppercorns (stay with me) which are then placed in the sun for a week. The heat of the sun activates an enzyme in the skin of the peppercorns, turning them black and creating the volatile oil piperine, which gives black pepper its distinctive flavour.
Herbie’s Spices Super Grade Black Peppercorns are extra special, as they are heated to activate the enzyme, and then dried within several hours. As they don’t sit in the sun for a week, they are extra black and have a very strong piperine oil aroma and flavour. This is perfect for the pepper mill.
White Pepper is produced by picking ripe, pink peppercorns, soaking them in water for several days, macerating them to remove the enzyme-containing skin, and putting them out to dry. No skin with enzyme equals no piperine. White pepper is hotter than black pepper and lacks the distinct black pepper taste.
Green Peppercorns go black if the enzyme is not inhibited. For many years, green peppercorns were put in brine to keep them green. The trouble is, the brine is very salty. Then, the Indians discovered that if green peppercorns were boiled for 20 minutes, the enzyme would be deactivated, and they’d stay green. Presto, dried green peppercorns!
Pink Peppercorns cannot be dried successfully, so you will only ever see them in brine.
But what about dried so-called pink peppercorns? Patience – we get to that later, as it’s not a true pepper!