Kampot pepper is grown on vines that trail up wooden poles on farms in the low hills around the town. Both black and white pepper come from the same plant — the difference is processing. White Kampot pepper is picked ripe and the outer skin removed; black is picked early and dried whole. Red Kampot pepper, picked fully ripe, is rare and expensive. All three have a distinctly floral, complex heat that distinguishes them from commercial pepper.
Several farms around Kampot offer tours — La Plantation, about 10 kilometres from town, is the largest and most organised, with English-language guides and a retail shop. Smaller family farms can be visited by arrangement, usually through guesthouses in Kampot. Prices at the source are a fraction of what Kampot pepper costs in European specialty food shops. Buy generously.