DOWN EAST SINCE 1900
Raye’s was founded by the son of a sea captain here on the rocky coast of Eastport, Maine, all the way back in 1900. Four generations later, our family makes stone-ground mustard the same way in the same place. Including using a traditional process on the same 125-year-old stones as our great-great uncle to make mustard that still can’t be matched.
What started as a complement to Eastport’s sardine industry outlasted the canneries, but we kept the Maine - and Raye’s - way of doing things alive. Simple, reliable, and stubbornly old school. Only now we have enough flavors to make you want to put mustard on everything (and maybe even eat it with a spoon).
Stop by any time,
Karen and Kevin Raye
Stubbornly Old School
Raye’s award-winning small batch blends are handcrafted for the true artisanal condiment connoisseur, every taste a testament to the pride that goes into each and every jar.
Complex balance is formed by the perfect blending of old world craftsmanship and modern science. Unlike other mustard makers, the Rayes have maintained vintage Second Industrial Revolution machinery and the traditional cold grind process that preserves the volatile piquant qualities of the whole seeds, natural herbs and spices. The resulting flavor experience comes in part from the heightened awareness as the mustard stimulates the taste buds, providing distinctive aromas and tastes to tempt the most discriminating palate.
OUR MUSEUM
Raye’s Mustard Mill stands at the edge of Eastport, Maine, a working museum and the last traditional stone-ground mustard mill in North America. Built at the turn of the century to supply the region’s once-thriving sardine canneries, it remains one of the few places where this process still runs as it always has.
While the canneries are gone and the town has quieted, the mill continues—its original machinery still in use, its purpose unchanged. Visitors come from across the country and beyond to see mustard made by hand, on the same stones, in the same rooms, where it’s been done for generations. It’s not preserved behind glass. It’s still working.
