The best caviar to buy online for special occasions

Pros: Firm texture, intense flavor, comparable to Beluga caviar

Cons: Pricey

Kaluga, or river caviar, is as close as we can get to the illustrious Beluga, the king of caviar, but also the most endangered sturgeon. The United States has had a ban in place on the import of Beluga caviar in an attempt to stem overharvesting. Kaluga, however, still comes pretty darn close to the taste and texture.

Olma has been serving up caviar in New York City since 2001, and offers a direct line to the best of the best. You can even buy it on Amazon and get fast shipping of some of the best caviar straight to your door.

Pros: Single source, consistent texture, flavorful 

Cons: Lacks the salty bite of other caviars (though that may be a pro, depending on personal preference)

Osetra is a medium-grain caviar often associated with a clean but nutty taste. It's usually not as salty as other best caviars, though that depends on the brine and how long the eggs sit in it.

Marshallberg Farms is based in North Carolina, and the company guarantees that it does not mix roe from different fish to compose your tin of caviar. This might sound snooty, but the flavor and consistency of a given caviar will get a little lost if it's sourced from multiple fish, and blending roe is never preferred.

Pros: Good approximation of caviar texture, great mixed into dishes

Cons: Doesn't taste exactly like caviar (but nothing will)

There are a few takes on vegan caviar out there, and they're generally made from kelp or sea grape (caulerpa lentillifera), both of which offer the brininess and desirable snap found in the real deal.

I'm plenty happy with Cavi-art as a kelp-based alternative, especially when it's mixed into dishes that call for a dollop or two of caviar. I won't go so far as to suggest that it imparts the same richness of sturgeon roe, but combined with pasta or set atop an oyster doused in vinegar, it's debatable whether many of us could dissect the subtleties.

Frankly, and with full disclosure that I am an omnivore, I'd choose sea grapes over most legitimate caviar on the market today. Unfortunately, sea grapes are best fresh, and they're notoriously difficult to procure in their optimal state unless you have a very kind friend somewhere in the South Pacific. (You can find them dehydrated on Amazon, but they're just not the same.)

Again, Cavi-art gives you the snap that only four-figure offerings seem to deliver, which is a big reason many of us enjoy caviar in the first place. 

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Pros: Extremely flavorful, briny, clean finish, some snap

Cons: Not uniformly firm in texture

Raised in northern California and cured in salt for a month, this is single-origin roe, so there's no mixing (a ubiquitous problem in the caviar world), and thus no dilution of flavor.

There's no avoiding the steeper price of white sturgeon roe compared to other options on our list, but if you want a roller coaster ride for your palate, this is hard to beat without hitting the black market, which we don't endorse.

There's pricier, more texture-forward caviar to be found, but this is a crowd-pleaser that can be enjoyed a little more liberally. Roe's best caviar offers a unique, flavorful thrill.

Pros: Affordable, clean-tasting for paddlefish

Cons: Slightly muddy flavor

Caviar comes in all grades, but we don't find the bottom of the barrel to be worth buying, especially when tobiko, salmon, and trout are all good alternatives. Marky's wild-caught Paddlefish Caviar isn't cheap by any means, but it is the least expensive choice in our list of the best caviar, and it's the cleanest paddlefish caviar we've tried.

Paddlefish is an American sturgeon that is associated with a slightly muddy taste that puts many aficionados off. It's faintly there, but with a bit of creme fraiche, a blini, and a glass of the best champagne, we'd be fooled.

Owen Burke/Business Insider

What is caviar?

Caviar is salt-cured eggs, or roe, from the sturgeon, or more scientifically, the Acipenseridae family of fish. It can be pasteurized or unpasteurized, though many aficionados argue that pasteurization comes at the expense of flavor.

What is the highest quality caviar?

Beluga caviar is the traditional and most sought-after caviar. It has the classic delicate and buttery flavor. Due to over-farming, beluga is also now the rarest form of caviar.

How much is a serving of caviar?

30 grams (a little more than an ounce) is standard per person, but if you're serving the best caviar as a garnish, 15 grams (or about half an ounce) is safe for hors d'oeuvres.

How long does caviar last?

Unopened, pasteurized caviar can last anywhere from three to six weeks, while unpasteurized caviar is best consumed within two weeks.