Saffron's aroma is often described by connoisseurs as reminiscent of metallic honey with grassy or hay-like notes, while its taste has also been noted as hay-like and sweet. Saffron also contributes a luminous yellow-orange colouring to foods.
Spain's varieties, are generally mellower in colour, flavour, and aroma; they are graded by government-imposed standards.
Italian varieties are slightly more potent than Spanish, while the most intense and expensive varieties tend to be Iranian in origin. Saffron, long the world's most expensive spice by weight saffron cultivation plummeted following the Roman Empire's fall. The spread of Islamic civilization allowed saffron's reintroduction to Spain, Italy.
