Most recent update: 02/17/24
Apologies for the clickbaity title, but I'm trying to keep on theme here...
This is a post I've been on and off threatening for years, largely because people like lists, including me, and because I've read a lot of crappy ones, from thrillist, from epicurious, from tasteofhome, from nymag, a sodium-oriented one from eaththis, from the spruceeats, even CNN has gotten into the act. Most of these use what I consider flawed reasoning and I tend to agree with very few of them (I will not be linking any of them, so use teh Googlez, if interested). The why behind my reading them is research for this blog (and in a subsidiary sense, the FOH video series), as the chilehead community, particularly those who do written work, is fairly small. There are a lot more with video channels, but those tend not to be particularly well-suited for lists, or are at least not being used for that.
I have held off because the actual list, in my mind, where I keep it, keep constantly changing, which makes the post quickly obsolete (and I hate going back and re-editing, though I will be doing it anyway to keep this list current). The prompting for me to finally do this is a recent post by Roger Damptz of Burn Your Tongue over on his Facebook page (check it out if you want to find the link to that one) about a list he came across on a site called Wishlisted. It was not really constructed either by foodies or chileheads in mind, to wit, here is their stated criteria: "In creating this list, we took into account brands that are highly talked about, uses [sic] quality ingredients, gives back to the community [?], and most importantly makes some blazin’ hot sauce." This is then followed by a list which backs somewhat away from the last criteria. I was tempted to reprint their list, along with my reaction to each entry, but I won't do that, as I'd then have to do it for all the other, more ridiculous lists I mentioned as well. Instead, I will save a paragraph of commentary at the end. Their 2022 list (not sure if it is weighted, but this is the posted order), then:
13 Stars
The Heatonist
Elijah's Extreme
Frank's Red Hot
Torchbearer
Angry Goat
Siete
Pex
Yellowbird
Kultivar
Ok.Of these, 3 (Elijah's, Siete, Kultivar) are from companies where I've not had any of the sauces yet. I'm familiar with all of them, save Kultivar. In the case of Siete and IIRC Elijah's, it is because both heavily favor using onions. The other is on my list to get to, as is Elijah's, once I find something of theirs tolerable, but the inclusion of Frank's pretty explicitly means flavor is not really a factor in their findings, as well as killing the idea of "blazin'" that they mentioned. As to The Heatonist, stunning success story, yes, but they are more hot sauce outlet than producer, to my mind. If we're considering The Hot Ones sauces, I have reviewed a number of them and found them to be really hit and miss.
So, to my list. I suppose you could conceivably just click on my Table Of Contents page for this blog (see link at right) and count which makers appear the most, but that might not be the best indicator, exactly. Here, then, is my list (in alphabetical, not weighted, order):
Angry Goat
Hard not to agree with their inclusion, as they're one of the more interesting in what I think of as the "new wave" of makers. While not every single one of their sauces are a hit with me, I do appreciate their inventiveness and originality and I find they do a great job of balancing heat with flavor.
Blair's
As the first of the old school (old wave?) of makers, though the company has fallen into a number of challenges, the shock wave of Blair Lazar on the industry was one of the larger turning points in its history. His Pure Death (reviewed elsewhere here) is the stuff of magic and still one of my all-time favorite sauces.
CaJohn's
It's not hyperbole for me to state that more than any other single company, a hot sauce list without this company on it is a largely worthless list. This is the maker with by far the most entries in the blog (and probably on the FOH video series) and whose consistent quality is unparalleled. I once wrote that if there was such a sure thing in the industry, it is them, which still stands and has for the life of this blog (Happy Beaver, reviewed elsewhere here, was this blog's first ever SOTY (Sauce Of The Year - see link on right)). Every sauce entry from the brilliance of John Hard is potentially a SOTYcontender, which is a feat in itself, given how many sauces this company has out there, and with the apparent ease with which he is able to flip styles and make something at the top of that category.
Eddie Ojeda's Twisted
I wish there were more sauces from this company. Everything I've had from them has been a marvel, with a huge emphasis on flavor. These are possibly the best-tasting fruit sauces on the market, though heat is not necessarily left behind in service to it. Just deliciously well-crafted stuff.
Gindo's
The ultimate expression of a boutique and gourmet sensibility in hot sauce. This is like one of those hole-in-the-wall places slinging up amazing food, that secret only you know about, the gem dazzling more than all others. That this is not included on most lists of this type I see means they are criminally unregarded and still a secret, for now. Like CaJohn's, every entry from them could be a contender for SOTY, which is a decidedly rare attribute. The deliciousness Chris Ginder is able to summon is a marvel and a must, if you care at all about this type of food.
Silk City
Like Angry Goat, there is a major emphasis on experimentalism, as well as an intense focus onto farm fresh ingredients. Also, like Angry Goat, not every sauce is great, but when they're on, they're near untouchable, often creating SOTY-contending creations. Most of the sauces also sometimes come in flasks and there is a dedication to a $10 retail price point for those flasks that I find admirable, particularly with how high quality they are. To put a finer point on this, for the last couple of years (this is the 2024 update, right here), I have made it a point to make a annual pilgrimage to the Silk City website, to make a buy of whatever sauces I've missed over the year. No only do I not do this with any other sauce company, none are in consideration.
______________
At this point, I ran into a stumbling block. There are companies like Hellfire, Jersey Barnfire, Karma, and Volcanic, where there is high promise but not quite enough sauces for me to make a judgment, then a few others like High River, Irazu, Pex, Torchbearer, and Voodoo Chjle, where I really liked some of their sauces, but not quite enough to put the company on a list of this type. Should I include Dave's, if only because of the profound influence of his sauces, which I don't really love, had on the industry? If so, that makes it more of a Hall Of Fame list rather than my personal top anything. What about Puckerbutt, which I'm ashamed to admit, took me a decade to finally get to? I'm a huge fan of Smokin' Ed Currie, who has maybe single-handedly done more to revolutionize the chilehead community than anyone and who I agree with considerably as to thoughts on the respective peppers, but who also has made a sauce that I've run across yet, over which I've been smitten.
Speaking of that, if it's just love, should I include Trappey for Red Devil, one of the sauces I loved so much I've consumed that maybe more than any other single sauce (Cholula Original is probably close, though), despite not having any at all for at least the last 9 years? We have too the case of Big Red's, where I love the company itself a great deal, but only find some of the sauces favorable. There's a case for Honorable Mentions, but that list is longer than the main list itself and much more subject to change. Should I include the makers of my Sauce Of The Year winners, though some of the makers have that sauce only as entry? Even a list of my favorite sauces has some agony, unless I do it by category...
This blog is 10+ years old, well over 300 sauces (nearing 500 - 2024 update again), and I still don't have a concrete answer to any of this, other than the ones I mentioned. Lists like this are somewhat difficult to do well, when all entries have to be worthy and at least competitive with everything else on it, that list, by the way, is where most of the lists I see fall apart. The genesis of the blog was a gigantic list, respective to me, and in a lot of ways it still functions in that way, but by creating a list of this type, I'm explicitly recommending you spend your money on certain thing, at the very least, encouraging towards those companies appearing on it, which is a responsibility I do not take lightly.
To conclude, what I think I'll be doing is to keep this list perpetually updated.
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