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It’s certainly not my first rodeo using the YouCopia SpiceStack Adjustable Organizer. We had another version in our previous home. And it didn’t take long for it to become one of those must-have products for our household—much like the Clevermade Collapsible Laundry Tote, which we cover in another review.
And, just like the Clevermade hamper, I ended up buying the newer 24-bottle SpiceStack version once I discovered how much I hated life living without the old one during a recent move, having given up custody to. It was even one of the first things we ended up buying for our new home.
In this post…
In this post, we cover what there is to love about the YouCopia Adjustable Spice Rack Organizer and what we found to be lacking. We also go into who might find it useful as well as situations where it might not be.
And we provide specs, company info, our previous and long-time experience with the older version of the SpiceStack, and even a few alternative options to consider.
In a hurry? Use the Table of Contents above to skip ahead to your desired topic, and don’t forget to check out our related posts.
About YouCopia
YouCopia is a female-owned company that focuses on innovative organizing products for the home, particularly kitchen organizing. The majority of their space-saving products revolve around pantry, cabinet, drawer, refrigerator, freezer, and cleaning product organization.
Our Previous Experience with YouCopia Products
I first grew to appreciate YouCopia a few years ago after trying out one of their tea organizers and their Chef’s Edition version of the SpiceStack.
The Chef’s Edition SpiceStack was a huge lifesaver for our cramped kitchen back at my old place, which you can find details about below. I plan to do a review on the tea organizer in the near future, but you can find it on Amazon here.
Since then, I always check out their products and a few other favorite brands whenever I need a storage or organizing solution in my kitchen.
What is the YouCopia Adjustable Spice Rack Organizer?
The YouCopia SpiceStack Adjustable Spice Rack Organizer is a cleverly designed storage solution for those who are not only looking to organize their spice bottles but also want to keep them organized.
It features four pull-out drawers that also pull down, effectively lowering spices down for better visibility and access, regardless of your height, and all while maximizing vertical space that often goes unused.
The unit itself can hold up to 24 regular-sized herb or spice seasoning bottles of various shapes and sizes, including smaller bottles. It can also hold slightly larger bottles, thanks to the removable dividers that offer both support for the bottles and height customization.
YouCopia SpiceStack Features
Some of the YouCopia spice organizer features include:
- 100 removable drawer labels with spice names (2 sheets of 50; one blank and one with spice names)
- Non-slip feet
- Holds up to 24 regular-sized bottles
- Adjustable dividers
- Accommodates square and round-shaped bottles as well as other options
- No installation required and easy to set up
Key Benefits of the YouCopia SpiceStack
- Helps prevent a messy cupboard due to not having to shuffle through bottles.
- People always know where things are and where to put them back, thanks to each spice having a designated spot and labels to help them out.
- Saves on horizontal space along shelves. Maybe more so than Lazy Susans or tiered shelves, depending on the amount and average bottle size within a home.
Who Might Love the YouCopia 24-Bottle Spice Rack
Since finding the right organizing methods usually comes down to personal preference or specific situations, here are a few circumstantial examples where the SpiceStack Organizer by Youcopia might benefit people the most.
- Households that struggle to keep their spices organized or in the same location.
- Those who have vertical space in a cabinet to use or need more horizontal space.
- People who may be shorter and want to bring spices down to eye level.
- Those who want easy, quick, viewable access to their spices while they’re cooking.
- People who find that tiered racks, drawer liners, and Lazy Susans don’t work as well for their needs.
- Households that prefer less clutter, or to stow away spices instead of leaving them out in the open.
Where the YouCopia Spice Rack Organizer Might Work Best
While most kitchens could potentially benefit from a spice-organizing setup like the SpiceStack Organizer offers, not all kitchens are alike. Here are situations where we felt the SpiceStack might shine the most.
- Best suited for upper cabinets or taller pantry shelves – we love ours in an upper cabinet on the lower shelf, right next to the stove or prep area.
- Households that mostly use regular and smaller-sized spice bottles.
- Possible to use left out on a counter if need be, but may not always be the best option.
When It Might Not Be the Best Option
We also thought we’d mention areas where the SpiceStack Spice Organizer may not work as well, where other options might work better, and also where other factors may need to be considered.
- In households with a lot of jumbo-sized bottles of seasoning (i.e., Costco sized).
- In kitchens with cabinets that might be too shallow (depth is 10.9”).
- When there’s a lack of upper shelving or cabinets. It could work, though maybe not as well as a Lazy Susan.
What Can You Store In the SpiceStack?
With the exception of something like a jumbo-sized container (see pictures farther down below) that you’d find at Costco, you’re more than likely going to be able to fit various shapes and sizes inside the YouCopia SpiceStack Adjustable Organizer.
So far, we’ve been able to store:
- Small-sized containers
- Regular-sized options of various shapes (i.e., round, squared, etc.)
- Large-sized bottles (see below)
- Some odd-shaped containers, such as Old Bay Seasoning and Black Pepper.
However, unless you cook a ton or use a lot of a particular spice, smaller is usually better since dried spices and herbs only stay fresh for 1-4 years, depending on the type and whether it’s whole or been crushed.
Info on average spice and herb seasoning shelf life, according to McCormick:
Generally speaking, dried seasonings, herbs and spices in jars last about 1-2 years. But there are exceptions worth noting. Read on for our comprehensive guide to understanding where your spices stand:
The Shelf Life of Spices
Here’s a rough guideline on the life of those seasonings in your kitchen:
• Indefinite: Vanilla extract, salt, and that’s about it. (Other extracts will fade in 2-3 years).
• Whole spices (unground, such as peppercorns, whole allspice, caraway seeds, and more): 3-4 years
• Ground spices (such as cumin, ginger, paprika and chili powder): 2-4 years
• Ground and whole leafy herbs such as basil, oregano, rosemary and most seasoning blends: 1-3 years
YouCopia Chef’s Edition, Discontinued (Comparison)
As mentioned earlier, I used to own the 30-bottle Chef’s Edition of the YouCopia SpiceStack (discontinued).
Even though it wasn’t as sturdy on the shelves as I would’ve liked, I never once had a problem with it. I grew to love it and got used to the shelves, eventually being able to pull them out with confidence.
I wound up liking the product so much that I wound up missing it while staying and my mother’s place while staying with her and later wanting another at the new home. Unfortunately, they no longer seem to manufacture the YouCopia Chef’s Edition SpiceStack, much less any of their other ones that varied in sizes and bottle count.
I loved being able to pick how many bottles I wanted to accommodate using the older versions. I also liked the Chef’s Edition squared look more than the newer ones’ rounded appearance (including the spice name labels). So I’m kind of hoping they bring it back eventually.
Still, I find the more recent 24-bottle spice rack version just as nice to use while cooking and storing items. The newer 24-bottle YouCopia Spice Rack version also stands out against the older model when it comes to its moveable dividers, allowing for more customizing.
I love having the dividers since I’m now starting to use smaller bottles for seasonings that I use less often. It’s also helpful if you have bottles that aren’t jumbo but still taller than average. I do, however, wish that the dividers were a little more intuitive when putting them into place. Sometimes I’m not always sure I’ve got them in right.
Conclusion
Here are some key takeaways that might help you determine if the YouCopia Spice Organizer would be the right choice for you.
What We Love
- Works really well for organizing.
- Helps keep things where they belong so there’s no fixing it all later.
- Easy to clean.
- No install other than the 3 dividers, stickers (optional), and putting in the spices.
- Really helps you use the most cabinet shelf space possible without taking up more space horizontally, or width-wise, saving on the overall shelf space.
- Seems to work better than most tiered rack options when you have space for it and depending on how many bottles you need to store. We also find it easier to use than a Lazy Susan since you don’t have to remove items or reach over things to get to something else.
- Even as someone who is almost 5’11”, I found that being able to pull the shelves down and out was super-convenient for seeing things.
- It can help you and other members of your household memorize what items go where over time since they’re labeled. This can also make the effort of grabbing things faster and more efficient.
What Could Use Improvement
- The shelves could be a little sturdier.
- Not fond of the rounded corners at the top, but not a deal-breaker.
- More options as far as sizing like the used to offer.
- More color options.
- Would love it to steer closer to the Chef’s Edition in design.
- Dividers are a little finicky and don’t snap into place very well or easily. I
- The stickers aren’t as nice looking as the Chef’s Edition and can be ripped if not careful. But we might use a Cricket or label maker eventually.
- Would love more size options, like before.
Final Thoughts
The YouCopia SpiceStack 24-Bottle Spice Rack is an excellent addition to any kitchen needing easier access and better organization. It’s also great for households that tend to mess up or lose their spice bottles, or who even are in the habit of not putting things back where they belong.
While there are certainly several options available on the market to consider, I loved our first version enough that I missed having it around when I moved. So much that I immediately purchased one before the rest of the house was even unpacked and put away.
And even though it’s not quite the same as the Chef’s Edition, I still felt great having at least my spice bottles organized and loved it, even more, when I was able to quickly find what I needed during our first few nights of cooking in our new kitchen.
Would we recommend it? Definitely, but there are, fortunately, plenty of other options to consider these days, too. But if you’re looking for something that’s straightforward and easy to use, doesn’t require any assembling, and keeps things looking neat and tidy, then we feel the YouCopia Adjustable Spice Organizer might work well for you.
Neat-ish Rating
Other favorite kitchen-organizing and food prepping brands:
Know of any good kitchen organizing brands, or have a favorite product to share? Let us know in the comments down below!
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