Ground Allspice

One US cup of ground allspice weighs between 96 and 116 grams, depending on how the cup is filled and which source measured it. That range is the answer; a single number would not be. Every figure behind it is below, with the method each source used.

Also called allspice, allspice powder, powdered allspice, ground pimento, Jamaica pepper ground, myrtle pepper ground, pimenta.

TL;DR: **One US cup of ground allspice weighs 96 to 116 g depending on grind fineness and retail brand — USDA's reference is 96 g/cup (6 g per tablespoon, 1.9 g per teaspoon).** King Arthur does not publish a per-cup weight for allspice, and there is no cassia-vs-Ceylon-style origin split to complicate matters: this is one species (*Pimenta dioica*) with mostly Jamaican origin. The 20% spread reflects grind particle size and jar settling, not fundamental varietal variance.

Allspice is the dried unripe berry of *Pimenta dioica*, an evergreen tree native to Jamaica, Cuba, and Central America — not a blend of other spices, despite the English-language name. English colonists who first traded it in the 1600s thought the flavour resembled a mix of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, and the name stuck. In reality it is a single berry containing its own aromatic compound profile, dominated by eugenol at 60-80% of the essential oil — the same compound that makes cloves smell like cloves. Jamaica supplies the majority of the world's commercial allspice; Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico produce smaller quantities of a variant with slightly less eugenol and more pinene, giving a subtly greener, more resinous flavour. Older synonyms include Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, and pimento (unrelated to the pimiento pepper of Spanish cuisine — a persistent grocery-store confusion).

The density data converges tightly at the USDA-anchor end and spreads on the retail-brand end. USDA FoodData Central FDC 171315 lists 6 g per tablespoon and 1.9 g per teaspoon, extrapolating to 96 g per US cup. FreeFoodTips independently reports 6.09 g per tablespoon (96.5 g/US cup) — essentially identical. Chefs-Resources' professional kitchen chart categorises allspice as a medium-density spice at 0.45 teaspoons per gram, which extrapolates to 107 g per US cup, an 11% step up from the USDA anchor reflecting settled jar density in commercial kitchens. Aqua-calc's USDA-branded entry for Roundy's ground allspice (a Kroger-affiliate house brand, UPC 011150949729) reports 122 g per metric cup (116 g per US cup), representing a specific retail brand's grind-and-fill combination at the top of the observed range. That is a 20% spread from USDA's laboratory loose-fill to Roundy's settled retail — over ExactCups' 10% milled tolerance, and honestly published as a range.

The physical density check validates cluster placement. Ground allspice is 72% carbohydrate (mostly fibre), 9% fat, 6% protein, and 9% water. Its low fat content — roughly four times less than ground nutmeg's 36% — means less oil coating on particles and less clumping, keeping density lower than the oil-dominated spices. In the ExactCups milled category, ground allspice (96-116 g/cup) sits between ground ginger (80-104 g/cup, similar composition, slightly lower fat) and ground nutmeg (112 g/cup, oil-dominated), and well below ground cinnamon's upper cassia range (154 g/cup) and ground turmeric (144 g/cup). Ground cloves — chemically the closest cousin to allspice because both are eugenol-dominated — pack noticeably denser at roughly 137 g/cup due to higher volatile oil content in the clove bud.

Whole allspice berries are worth the shelf space for bakers who care. Five berries yield approximately 1 teaspoon of freshly ground allspice; one tablespoon of whole berries yields approximately 3¼ teaspoons ground. Whole berries retain the volatile eugenol for years in an airtight jar, while pre-ground allspice loses 30-50% of its aromatic intensity within six months of milling regardless of packaging. If a recipe calls for ground and the jar smells faintly of nothing, the powder is functionally spent regardless of what it weighs on the scale.

Practical baker recommendation: use USDA's 6 g per tablespoon or 1.9 g per teaspoon for weighed baking; expect 96-107 g per cup from freshly milled loose fill and up to 116 g/cup from settled retail jars. When substituting whole berries, allow 5 berries per teaspoon of ground and grind them fresh with a microplane, mortar and pestle, or spice mill immediately before use.