A year and a day ago, in last year’s December Craft Hot Sauce newsletter, we reflected on a big decade for the hot sauce industry. A year later, it feels like another decade has already passed! 

While 2020 is a year many would like to leave behind, it's worth looking back and reflecting on it because the craft hot sauce world has grown and changed a ton!

There’s nothing quite like the vibrant colors of freshly harvested peppers glistening out in the sun. A pepper harvest tradition that started with 150 habanero and ghost peppers in my parent's garden in 2014 has steadily evolved into over 900 pounds of locally harvested organic peppers in 2020. 

Hey there! Pepper harvest season is officially underway. I love seeing the combination of the vibrant colors of peppers and fresh produce that eventually blend together, creating a fresh homemade hot sauce. For many, the idea of creating their own hot sauce is planted in their mind during harvest season.

What's been your go-to hot sauce recently? It’s the height of summer cooking, so I’ve been using lots of verde and ghost pepper sauces. I put together two collections of my favorite verde and ghost pepper sauces. We share the story of a NFL veteran starting a spicy food line.

At Craft Hot Sauce, our pepper garden is thriving in the summer heat and sun, as el jefe jalapenos and golden ghost peppers begin to grow. In the meantime, we have a couple of craft hot sauce maker stories from the Mid-Atlantic to share with you.

We heard from some really cool craft hot sauce companies leading the charge on the Hot Sauce Revolution. Howler Monkey Sauces, a Jacksonville Beach company with Panama influences and Taylor's Ultimate, an artisanal hot sauce company in Miami