Unrefined butter moves with the weather. Here's what's normal, what isn't, and what to do about it.
Raw butter is packed in flakes and chunks, with air in the gaps. Heat softens it, it re-sets as one solid block, and the air leaves. The level drops. The weight doesn't.
This is the one we hear most, and it shows up hardest in the 50g and 100g jars — a small jar exaggerates the drop far more than a 300g or 500g one.
Your butter is weighed on a scale before it goes in. It leaves us as loose flakes and broken chunks, and there's air trapped in every gap between them. Somewhere between our shelf and yours it gets warm, softens, and re-sets as a single solid block. All that trapped air escapes, so the same weight takes up noticeably less room.
The alternative is to melt the butter and pour it in so it sets flat and full-looking. We don't, because heating raw butter a second time is exactly what shortens its life and costs it the goodness you're paying for.
If you want to be certain, weigh the jar. Or scoop it out onto a plate and look at how much is actually there.
Fats absorb whatever's around them. That's the same property that makes butter such a good carrier for your essential oils — and it means a new jar can lend a plastic note to the top layer, especially after a hot journey.
If it's still there after that, it isn't the jar — run the smell test below.
Stop using it and tell us. That's rancidity — the fat has oxidised, usually after weeks in a hot warehouse before it ever reached you.
It's a real failure and it's ours, not yours. We replace it free, we don't ask you to send the jar back, and you don't need a marketplace return window to be open.
But check the smell test first — every butter smells different, and two of ours smell strong even when they're perfect.
Rub a pea-sized amount in, wait ten seconds, then smell it. Now find your butter.
unrefined shea genuinely smells smoky and nutty. That's the roasted shea nut, and it's the smell of a butter that hasn't been stripped. Refined shea smells of nothing — because the refining took the smell and a good deal else with it.
Cocoa is one of the most stable butters there is — it very rarely turns. If yours smells wrong, something went badly wrong in storage, and we want to know.
Mango butter does not smell of mango. It's pressed from the kernel inside the stone, not the fruit. A near-neutral smell is exactly right.
Kokum is the hardest and most stable of the five — the least likely to turn. It's also brittle and crumbly by nature. Crumbling is not spoilage.
mowrah has the strongest natural smell of the five, and honestly, not a pretty one. Earthy, nutty, slightly bitter, a bit pungent. Most reports of 'this smells bad' on mowrah are simply mowrah. Judge it on whether there's a sour, sharp edge — not on how strong it is.
Two taps. We'll open a replacement on WhatsApp — no jar to return, no photos needed.
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We could make every jar look perfect. It would cost you the butter.
A smooth, level, factory-set surface means the butter was melted down and poured. That one step costs it a chunk of its vitamin content and months of its shelf life — and it's why refined butters look flawless and do less.
We'd rather send you something that behaves like a raw ingredient, and tell you honestly what that looks like. That's the whole brand, really.
Still not sure? WhatsApp 8178353356 — a human replies.