Reddit made me buy caviar and I don’t regret it

TL;DR: Saw u/Pleasant_Stick9425 ’s post about Imperia Caviar and decided to give it a try. Ordered their Starter Set, had a great experience with customer service, and got next-day delivery. Packaging was impressive, and the caviar quality was excellent—no popped roes, fresh, and flavorful. Preferred the Kaluga over the Ossetra, but both were great. Might look into their wholesale pricing for my team. If anyone’s interested, let me know.

Photos I took from iPhone then my dslr.

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First off, shoutout to u/Pleasant_Stick9425 for their post and comments about Imperia Caviar. It convinced me to finally pull the trigger and test it out.

A little background about me—I’ve worked in restaurants in California that focus on seasonal cooking and prix fixe menus, so I’ve come across high-end ingredients like caviar often. I was curious to see how this company’s quality compared to what I’m used to.

I saw someone mention their Starter Set, but it was a little tricky to find. It’s actually in the gift sets category instead of the caviar section. I think it would make more sense for them to add it there too. If anyone else is looking for it, here’s the link:

Starter Caviar Set

I placed my order at 1:30 PM PT and reached out to customer support to ask about delivery. Turns out I missed the 1 PM PT cutoff by 30 minutes, but because I contacted them, they were able to squeeze my order in for same-day fulfillment. Good to know if anyone else is trying to get next-day delivery—order before 1 PM PT or reach out to support. Also asked if they can add in another caviar of the same size to sample and they accommodated and just sent me an updated invoice to pay. Customer service was solid.

The next morning at 11:25 AM PT, my Ring camera alerted me that someone was at the door. My caviar had arrived in under 24 hours.

Opening the package, everything was exactly as I ordered, but the most interesting part was a small gel sticker that changes color if the temperature has been compromised. Never seen that before, but it’s a great touch when ordering perishable goods. They also packed enough ice packs to keep everything cold during transit.

I brought the caviar to my desk and started my next meeting. Camera off, of course—nobody wants to be the guy eating caviar on Zoom.

I tried both the Kaluga Hybrid Reserve and the Royal Ossetra. The Kaluga was my favorite—rich, buttery, and creamy with a super clean finish. The Ossetra was also great but had a more distinct ocean butter flavor with slight nuttiness and a nice brine. The Amur, also known as Schrenkii, was extremely buttery with earthy notes and larger rows. I believe Amur is good for a very seasoned caviar enthusiast or if you want to add to a pasta and mushroom dish. If someone is new to caviar, I’d recommend starting with Kaluga, but comparing the two was a good experience.

Overall, the quality was exactly what I’d expect from restaurant caviar, if not better. Sometimes in restaurants, I’ve seen tins with mushy texture and popped roes, but I didn’t see a single popped roe in this order.

I think they may have found themselves a new customer—and potentially some new wholesale clients. I’ll be reaching out for wholesale samples to share with my team and checking out their pricing. If anyone is interested in what I find, let me know and I’ll share once they get back to me.