For as much as some people love hot sauce, others can’t handle the heat. Sometimes I get frustrated and can’t wrap my head around how people can’t appreciate the flavor of hot sauce and how it can complement so many meals.

Forcing people to try your favorite hot sauce doesn’t work. I’ve tried it myself and you can’t change their taste buds overnight, but can you over months??

The answer is yes.

Overtime you can develop your own taste buds, and build a tolerance to spicy foods.Here are 3 methods I use to turn non-hot sauce users into Chiliheads.

1)  Educate them on different types of peppers.

Sometimes people don’t like hot sauce because they tried some “blow-your-ass-off” “death-ghost-chilli” hot sauces like Da Bomb and swore they would never try it again. Those sauces are extremely high on the heat index so you should let them know there are very mild hot sauces that also have very unique flavors. By educating them on the flavors and heat they’ll be more open to experimenting with a mild sauce.

2)  Start cooking with different types of peppers and start with mild peppers.

Jalapeño, serrano, and cayenne peppers are all popular peppers that are between 2,000 and 50,000 scoville units (considered mild). These dishes will introduce them to the flavors of the peppers and will include some heat but it won’t blow them away. You can also use some mild sauces in a marinate so that you get the flavor of the sauce without a ton of heat. 

3)  Buy them a mild and a medium hot sauce

One a mild sauce and one a medium sauce. Don’t pressure them to use it, but they might find themselves being bold sometimes and putting it on an omelet or a dinner that they cook. Once they start using it you’ve won and they are on their way to one day being a hot sauce connoisseur.

It’s a gradual process, but the lessons here and to educate them about what they’re consuming and to not pressure them. It takes time, but I’m a believer that all people can become chili heads if they are trying different peppers over 3-6 month period of time.

We curated the Box O' Sweet Heat, a collection of three flavorful hot sauce on the sweeter and more mild side, which could be that perfect box of gateway sauces for someone you're trying to get into hot sauce.