Keep It Spicy on National Hot Sauce Day

Today Chile Heads all over the country rejoice in celebrating National Hot Sauce Day. The popularity of hot sauce continues to grow and for a hard core and long time hot sauce collector like myself, I couldn’t be happier.

Hot sauce as we know it today had humble beginnings set in the Deep South. Though we did not invent hot sauce, Tabasco and its founder Edmund McIlhenny certainly put it on the world map. And as Tabasco grew and became more successful in the early days, it gave birth to new pop ups and imitators like Trappey’s, Crystal Hot Sauce and Frank’s Red Hot. It was this group who paved the way for so many companies, makers and artisans to follow. I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

Now flash forward to April 2012 when The Huffington Post published that Hot Sauce Production was the 8th fastest growing industry in the United States. Thousands of producers of varying sizes producing tens of thousands of spicy goodness all across this great country of ours, it brings a tear to my eye and I get all choked up.

Luckily for us here in the Valley of the Sun, because we all know we love our spicy food here, we have our share of incredible artisan producers right here in our backyard. From sauces you see practically every day at the grocery store to just about every gift shop you go into, from the local events to the farmers markets sprinkled across the Valley, the treasure hunt for hot

sauce can be fun. We are blessed with good sized mass producers right down to single person operations who are all putting out delicious sauce ranging from sweet to mild all the way up to melt your face and everything in between.

I put together a list of companies here in the Valley, its not all encompassing because I too am still on my treasure hunt, I’m still searching for great hot sauces not only to collect, but to quench my quest for fire. Happy hunting, happy National Hot Sauce Day and please go out and support these incredible local artisans.

Keep it Spicy on National Hot Sauce Day

Southwest Specialty Food Inc, Goodyear

Arizona Gunslinger, Mesa

Sting ‘N’ Linger Salsa Co, Tempe

Arizona Spice Company, Mesa

Homeboys Habanero, Phoenix

Heartbreaking Dawns Artisan Foods, Glendale

Anthony Spices, Chandler

Big Reds Hot Sauce, Phoenix

Precious Sauces, Mesa

Madison’s Hot Sauce, Phoenix

Saucy Lips Foods, Phoenix

The Salsa King, Phoenix

Lil’ Sassy’s Salsa, Chandler

Pepper Junkie, Mesa

Last Man Standing Hot Sauce, Chandler

Desert Sunset Food, Peoria

Ugly Coyote Hot Sauce, Avondale