If it doesn't smell good to you then don't use it. Personally, I don't find the smell of white pepper to be offensive (not like cumin, now THAT stinks!) but everyone has individual preferences.

Alexa

To me, white pepper smells peppery. Not offensive at all. I'd toss it.

Lori

The pepper vine produces a one-seeded fruit (called a drupe) that is either dried whole, or soaked to remove the fruit layer, leaving the seed before drying. Black pepper is the result of the first process, white the result of the second.

White pepper, in my experience, has a milder pepper aroma than black, but it still smells like pepper.

If your white pepper actually stinks, there is something wrong with it.

Asian food markets often carry whole white peppercorns, and the quality tends to be better than that sold in regular grocery stores as the product moves quite a bit faster in the Asian community.

Well, I threw it out along with six packaged gift bags:(. I usually buy my spices in bulk but really wanted to get it done so I bought the no name spices at the grocery store. Guess I am back to buying bulk.

Wow, I'm glad I've read this post...I have in the past bought (at two totally separate times) a brand of white pepper in it's own grinder called Alessi Tip and Grind whole white pepper.

I use it, but I don't like the way it smells, now that you mention it. I just checked the expiration date, and it is good until 2014....but I have to agree, it is not pleasant.

So why am I using it???? (Smacking forehead with palm of hand). I don't know.

I have both of Penzey's white peppercorns. The Sarawak White has a distinct pepper smell. The Muntok peppercorns have a scent I would not call peppery. Smells more like an earth spice. It could be minerals from the water they were washed with? I could be they are simply different varietys.

So I experimented just a bit by putting a single peppercorn from each into a mortar and crushing it for a taste test. I tasted just the fresh crushed pepper without any food in the way to influence the flavor. The Muntok did not come on as fast but had a much stronger pepper heat then the Sarawak. The Sarawak struck me as a milder but quicker pepper flavor.

It may well be that the Muntok is more suited to cooking where the flavor has time to come out and the Sarawak more suited as a top dressing.

I bought sample sized jars of all the peppercorns. Found it interesting how many flavors come from pepper. I like the smaller Malabar black peppercorns but the newer Tellicherry Bold is also very fine. While I like to know the different flavors involved much of the time I crush a few of each variety. I'm using my big whopping 20lb granite mortar and crushing up a weeks supply for the sprinkle jar so it is easy to to do some of each.

I'm miles from town and even further from a city so much of my spice shopping has to be done online. Not out to blow Penzey's horn but they have been very good business people... prompt and well done.

You could have bad pepper? I'd taste a tiny bit to see what flavor is coming out of it. I trust my nose most of the time to warn me if I really should not eat something.

: )
lyra

Wow, there is a lot of talk about Penzey's. I am in Canada so I don't have one here. I may have to look online to order some spices. I will take suggestions. I heard cinnamon is really good, I may also look for some good cocoa. I will strike off the white pepper as I think I am put off it for good now (yes the smell was that bad) and stick with black.

I think white pepper has a horsey smell to it - musty, I guess I would call it. Not at all like black pepper. When we were living in Holland, the pepper shakers in most restaurants had white pepper in them and I never appreciated that. White pepper on an omelette - yuk. I do have recipes where white pepper is an essential spice and I do appreciate it, but usually not.

seagrass