I wanted your first note of the year to come from the hot sauce part of your life. Happy New Year! I hope you’re in good health and I’m counting on 2022 being a great year ahead.

I’m here to share a recent conversation I had, which is now on the Craft Hot Sauce Podcast. Sometimes when I write this newsletter or market a hot sauce, it’s not my most natural channel of communication. The podcast has grown to be my favorite way of connecting with the wider craft hot sauce community and sharing those experiences with you. 

Hope you’re enjoying your week as we ease into the winter months. In the past couple of newsletters I’ve described the hustle and bustle of the chili pepper harvest season. I feel like the mania that built up during summer peaked a couple weeks ago at the NYC Hot Sauce Expo.

The event was everything we hoped for with lots of engagement with hot sauce enthusiasts and makers. We gave out more samples of Craic Sauce over a two day period than ever before, receiving lots of positive feedback, especially with our Brian Boru’s Curry sauce.  

We’re kicking the October Craft Hot Sauce newsletter off with some sounds, images, and the hum of harvest season!

Check out what has been a pretty accurate representation of a day in the life for me and the craic crew this harvest season.

It's been a physical and mental grind of late, but we're learning every hour, making quality hot sauce, and feeling fortunate to be around peppers, farms and people excited for flavor and hot sauce!

Tim Myers of Hot Heads, is self-described as a go-doer. We talk through early lessons growing peppers, how to scale a farm and hot sauce operation simultaneously, and the breakdown of some unique hot sauces like their chocolate reaper mole sauce.

First up, I'm excited to share an amazing conversation I had with Debra Sandler, founder of Bazodee. Debra has an inspiring story - born in Venezuela and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, she came to the US for college and found a passion for business and marketing. Now her focus is on sharing the flavors of Trinidadian kitchens by launching Bazodee.

Our newsletter this month brings together a diverse set of interests and unique journeys, that all connect with a passion for local food and hot sauce.

We start at Kitchen Garden Farm, in Western Mass. If you're interested in learning more about farming, going down the path that people say is impossible, and learning about building community and a crew, tune in to this episode of the Craft Hot Sauce Podcast!

Earlier this morning, I dove into some spreadsheets planning out my first pepper plot. A couple weeks ago at my winter farmers market, I met Max, a recently retired individual who has been gardening for 30 years and started farming small plots in the town over from me.

This month I wanted to share a little bit about confidence and even take a crack at explaining where my electric buzz of passion comes from. I thought it was an appropriate time to share, as many of us are searching for inspiration as we come into the winter months.

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.

After having these recent conversations I came away with a few reflections:

• If you’re thinking about creating or starting something new - just do it and start! The rest of the questions and the path ahead will present themselves as you move.
• You carry a unique collection of experiences, influenced by your family, travel, work, and the people around you. Embrace those experiences and relationships to help find passion in what you do.

Hey! Over the past couple of weeks, you have probably seen a lot of decade-in-review articles. I tried to avoid being repetitive, but upon reflection, it was a huge decade for craft hot sauce, and I’m too grateful for your involvement to not say something. Some of you were our first dozen followers back in 2014...

Hi there, Happy Day of the Dead and All Saints’ Day! I’m writing this from a festive New Orleans where I've been partaking in the Halloween celebrations this week. I actually can't believe I got this email out on time! Did you have a chance to listen to our latest Craft Hot Sauce podcast with Mikey Vee?