What Are Your Top 10 Favorite Hot Sauces of All Time? 2016 Edition

Five years ago, I asked a huge group of chileheads – everyone from chile growers to bloggers to product makers to industry folks – to compile a list of their top 10 Favorite Hot Sauces. My original blog post highlighted many of the top tens I received. The post was a huge traffic monster, and spurred lots and lots of discussion in the comments.

Since 2011, I’ve changed blogging software that was running on my site from my own custom PHP scripting to WordPress, and sadly I wasn’t able to transfer the comments over. Because of this, I’ve always wanted to do a follow-up post and get more comments and discussion going. I’ve also wanted to hear from a few other new voices and get their choices for their favorite sauces of all time.

What qualified to be on these lists?

First, the products in these lists must be among our top ten liquid “flavor enhancers” of most any classification, purpose or usage; they can be a hot sauce, BBQ sauce, salsa, condiment, marinade, cooking sauce, wing sauce and more. It is simply what the person considers to be the creme de la creme of spicy-type sauces. A qualifying sauce needs to have been commercially available at one point, but it does not matter if it’s still in production or currently discontinued or defunct.

I’m looking for a nice, round number by having everyone pick out 10, but if were impossible to whittle their list down and someone wanted to give their top 12 or top 15 or top 22, I would allow that.

I’m not looking for anything that is not a liquid or sauce, so therefore there are no dry rubs, seasoning blends, chili mixes, dip mixes, snacks, chocolates, candies, or any other oddity or specialty food.

To further clarify, I’ve requested that everyone’s favorite products be “as is”, straight out of the bottle or jar. What I was NOT looking for were combinations of different products or different ingredients, or things that were semi-homemade, wholly homemade or modified. We foodies sometimes dabble with items in the kitchen such as, just for example, taking three parts cayenne pepper sauce, mixing it two parts BBQ sauce, and then adding a pinch or two of ghost pepper powder to make a terrific rib glaze. By eradicating these recipes it helps readers of this post better obtain the saucy suggestions instead of trying to play mad scientist in an attempt to duplicate what someone had liked.

Lastly, to make it a bit easier on everyone, I’ve given the stipulation that the sauces on any of these lists need NOT be in any particular order.

So, consider them all “tied” for first place!

Alright! Now, let’s get to the lists!

What Are Your Top 10 Favorite Hot Sauces of All Time – 2016 Edition!

Troy Primeaux

Creator of one of the one’s hottest peppers, the 7 Pot Primo, horticulturist Troy “Primo” Primeaux owns Primo’s Peppers.

• CaJohns Hydra 7 Pot Primo Hot Sauce
• El Yucateco XXXtra Hot Kutbil-ik Mayan Stye Habanero Hot Sauce
• The Farmer’s Daughter Hot Pepper Jelly Fig & Habanero Sauce
• Heartbreaking Dawns Classic Gold Habanero
• Heartbreaking Dawns The Green
• Heartbreaking Dawns Reapercussion
• Jersey Barnfire Black Garlic Hot Sauce
• Jersey Barnfire Ghost Taco Sauce
• Lingham’s Hot Sauce Extra Hot
• Marie Sharp’s Fiery Habanero Pepper Sauce
• Mikey V’s Texas Ex’s
• Pickapeppa Sauce
• Primo’s Peppers Swampadelic Sauce
• Salsa Maya Habanero Aioli
• Tabasco Family Reserve
• Try Me Tiger Sauce
• Uncle Nathan’s FML (Flaming Maple Leaf)

Scott Zalkind

Scott is the mad genius behind Lucky Dog Hot Sauce, an award-winning California company that creates insanely fresh pepper sauces.

• CaJohns Caracara Hot Sauce
• Race City Sauce Works Carolina Cayenne
• Race City Sauce Works Deadwood Taco Sauce
• High River Sauces Tears of the Sun
• Bigfat’s Sea of Green
• Bigfat’s 5o8 Chipotle Hot Sauce
• Bigfat’s 6o8 Pineapple Habanero Hot Sauce
• Bigfat’s 7o8 7 Pot Citrus Hot Sauce
• Bigfat’s Vega Mojo
• Lucky Dog Hot Sauce – Black Label
• Lucky Dog Hot Sauce – Year of the Dog
• Volcanic Peppers – Reaper Ranch
• Volcanic Peppers – Curry Sauce
• Redhawk Premium Peppers – Grounds for Divorce XXX
• Texas Creek Products – Chipotle BBQ Sauce
• Crazy Good Hot Sauce – Chaos Theory
• Crazy Good Hot Sauce – Fruits of Fire

Dave DeWitt

Hot Sauce Hall of Famer Dave DeWitt founded and continues to produce the National Fiery Foods and BBQ Show, has authored dozens of books, and is one of the foremost authorities in the world on chile peppers, spices, and spicy foods, thus earning him the nickname, “The Pope of Peppers”.

• Panama Red Hot Sauce
• Montezuma Smoky Chipotle Sauce
• Trinidad Habanero Pepper Sauce
• Trader’s Joe’s Sriracha Sauce
• Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce
• Garden Fresh Jack’s Special Salsa
• Cervantes Hot Red Chile Sauce
• Melinda’s Habanero Sauce
• Freshies Fresh Q Colorado Style Gourmet BBQ Sauce
• El Pinto Green Chile Sauce

Mike Hultquist

Mike has written numerous cookbooks about chile peppers and runs the excellent Chili Pepper Madness site.

• Born to Hula Reaper of Sorrow
• High River Sauces Tears of the Sun
• Lucky Dog Hot Sauce – Dia del Perro
• Hellfire Hot Sauce Fear This
• Bigfat’s 6o8 Pineapple Habanero
• TABASCO Original Pepper Sauce
• Valentina Hot Salsa Picante
• Huy Fong Foods Sriracha Sauce
• 3 Dragons Chili Oil

Steve “The Machine” Smallwood

“The Machine” is a multiple food-eating contest champion, has one of the biggest tolerances for capsaicin out of anyone in the chilehead community.

• CaJohns Oaxacan Ghost
• CaJohns Holy Jolokia
• Heartbreaking Dawns 1498 Trinidad Scorpion Sauce
• Hellfire Hot Sauce Evil Bastard
• Race City Sauce Works 98 Octane
• Spicy Rooster Ghost of Nalini
• Melinda’s Red Savina Sauce
• High River Sauces Tears of the Sun
• Born to Hula Guajillo Habanero
• Bigfat’s Vega Mojo

Steve Seabury

Steve, founder of High River Sauces, is also the producer of many fiery food festivals, including the NYC Hot Sauce Expo, the California Hot Sauce Expo, the Portland Hot Sauce Expo, and the Arizona Hot Sauce Expo.

• Heartbreaking Dawns 1498 Trinidad Scorpion Sauce
• NW Elixers Verde Hott
• Dragons Blood Elixir Smoky Maple Garlic Bacon
• CaJohns Firehouse Hot Sauce
• Tapatio Hot Sauce
• Hellfire Blueberry Hell Hot Sauce
• Frank’s RedHot Sauce
• Blair’s Pure Death Hot Sauce
• Dave’s Ultimate Insanity
• Marie Sharp’s Mild Pepper Sauce

Jeremy Walsh

Chicago-based Jeremy, along with his wife Kat, own Bigfat’s Hot Sauce.

• Red Hawk Premium Peppers Tame the Reaper
• Born to Hula Cayenne
• Fat Cat Chairman Meow’s Revenge
• Bigfat’s 7o8 7 Pot Citrus Hot Sauce
• Race City Sauce Works Le Visage De La Mort Seven Pepper Sambal
• Blaze Gourmet Hot Jamaican Curry
• Heartbreaking Dawns/Bad Brains Fire Burn Babylon
• Volcanic Peppers LAVA Death by Douglah Hot Sauce
• CaJohns Rougaroux Hot Sauce
• Jak Jeckel Green Sauce

Annika A. (Zin the Phoenix)

Annika, who goes by the nickname of Zin the Phoenix, is a YouTube reviewer of hot sauces.

• Born to Hula Reaper of Sorrow Hot Sauce
• Crazy Bastard Sauce Habanero & Tomatillo
• High River Sauces Grapes of Wrath
• Voodoo Chile Sauces V’Racha Sriracha-style Hot Sauce
• No.7 Hot Sauce Original Habanero Hot Sauce
• Made d’Orleans Eggplant Thai Hot Sauce
• Hella Hot Hot Sauce Boobzilla Hot Sauce
• Layna Sa Pika Este Donne Dinanche Pepper Paste
• Paulman Acre Ziggy’s Charred Dust Hot Sauce
• Paulman Acre Piñalava Sunshine Smoked Pepper Sauce
• Lucky Dog Hot Sauce – Black Label
• Fat Cat Foods Siamese Sriracha
• Fat Cat Foods Bacon Flavored Sriracha
• PuckerButt Pepper Company Smokin’ Ed’s Pineapple Ginger Hot Sauce
• Sweet Heat Gourmet Roasted Jalapeno Hot Sauce

Jim Campbell

Jim, an Indianapolis-area firefighter, is the former owner of the Mild to Wild Pepper & Herb Company, as well as being a past chile pepper grower & expert, plus the organizer & host of the famous Open Fields chilehead event. He currently oversees Step Up For Charity, a charitable organization that aids a variety of worthy causes.

• Huy Fong Foods Sriracha Sauce
• TABASCO Chipotle Pepper Sauce
• CaJohn’s Lil Kick
• Mild to Wild False Alarm
• Blair’s American Hot Sauce (discontinued)
• Mild to Wild Smokin’ Chipotle
• Mild to Wild Original Finishing Sauce
• Religious Experience’s ‘beta sauce’ (never released)
• Smokin’ J’s Applewood Smoked Chipotle Sauce

Thomas Toth

Thom is the founder of Voodoo Chile Sauces & Salsa and Ætérnus Sauceworks.

• Voodoo Chile Sauces Porcus Infernum
• Voodoo Chile Sauces Fever Dream
• Voodoo Chile Sauces Black As Your Soul
• Voodoo Chile Sauces Winter Angel
• CaJohns Quetzelcoatl
• High River Sauces Rogue Moruga Blood Orange Scorpion Pepper Sauce
• Heartbreaking Dawns Mango Habanero
• Volcanic Peppers Ghost Pepper Ponzu
• Jersey Barnfire Black Garlic
• Born to Hula Ghost Of Ancho

Art “Xero” Weingaertner

Xero runs the fiery foods company Xerarchs.com, makers of fine sauces and salsas.

• Xerarchs Red Scourge
• Xerarchs Very Verde Green Sauce
• CaJohns Caracara Hot Sauce
• Xtinction Sauce with Ghost Pepper
• Frog-Bone Bone Reaper
• Lucky Dog Hot Sauce – Black Label
• Blair’s Sweet Death Sauce
• Honey Blaze Hot Wing Sauce
• Voodoo Chile Sauces Winter Angel
• Addiction Sauces Habanero

Scotty & Suzi Owens

The Owens hail from the great state of Michigan and create spicy products under the Scotty O’ Hotty Hot Sauce name.  Below is a combined list from both of them.

• Bliss Pepper Sauce
• Scotty O’Hotty Premium Habanero Sauce
• Famous Dave’s Georgia Mustard Sauce
• Original Zip Sauce
• Scotty O’Hotty Beer Bacon Chipotle
• Culley’s No.1 Hot Sauce
• Try Me Dragon Sauce
• CaJohns Calavera Sauce
• Garden Fresh Salsa Jack’s Special
• Scotty O’Hotty Reaper de Muerte Sauce
• El Yucateco Green Habanero Sauce
• ARBY’s Sauce (original)
• TABASCO Original Pepper Sauce
• Marie Sharp’s Hot Habanero Pepper Sauce
• TABASCO Habanero Pepper Sauce
• Srodek’s Horseradish Sauce

Scott Roberts

Yep, here are my humble contributions…

• Captain Thom’s Thai Monkey Hot Sauce
• DEFCON’s Defense Condition #2 Wing Sauce
• Mike & Diane’s Ring of Fire Xtra Hot Habanero Hot Sauce
• Race City Sauce Works Deadwood Taco Sauce
• Georgia Peach & Vidalia Onion Hot Sauce
• Heartbreaking Dawns 1498 Trinidad Scorpion Sauce
• Benito’s Naranja Organic Hot Sauce
• Marie Sharp’s Hot Habanero Pepper Sauce
• CaJohns Bourbon Infused Chipotle Habanero Hot Sauce
• Dragon’s Blood Elixir Original Hot Sauce
• Mild to Wild Fiery Hot Habanero BBQ Sauce
• Owem G. Williker’s Salted Caramel & White Chocolate Chile Elixir (discontinued?)
• JACs Tailgaters Pineapple Orange Habanero Finishing Sauce (discontinued)

By the way, if you want to see my “top 50” favorites, go to my Spicy Foods Reviews and ratings page, and click on the “Rating” header to sort them by ratings. All of the orange 5-star ratings are my all-time favorite products.

Top Sauces By the Numbers

It was fascinating to see the sauces repeated in these lists. I’m sure that if I asked an alternate group of twenty chileheads, the results would be very different. But still, once you see a product repeated two or more times, chances are you’ve got a people-pleasing sauce on your hands. Here are the top individual sauce mentions:

Bigfat’s 7o8 7 Pot Citrus Hot Sauce – 5
High River Sauces Tears of the Sun – 5
CaJohns Bourbon Infused Chipotle Habanero Hot Sauce – 4
Lucky Dog Hot Sauce – Black Label – 4
Born to Hula Reaper of Sorrow – 3
CaJohns Caracara Hot Sauce – 3
Captain Thom’s Thai Monkey Hot Sauce – 3
Georgia Peach & Vidalia Onion Hot Sauce – 3
High River Sauces Grapes of Wrath – 3
Huy Fong Foods Sriracha Sauce – 3
Heartbreaking Dawns 1498 Trinidad Scorpion Sauce – 3
Marie Sharp’s Hot Habanero Pepper Sauce – 3
TABASCO Pepper Sauce – 3
Bigfat’s 6o8 Pineapple Habanero Hot Sauce – 2
Bigfat’s Double Dark – Black Cherry & Sage Hot Sauce – 2
CaJohns Firehouse Hot Sauce – 2
CaJohns Holy Jolokia Hot Sauce – 2
CaJohns Oaxacan Ghost – 2
Crazy Bastard Sauce Habanero & Tomatillo – 2
Culley’s No.1 Hot Sauce – 2
DEFCON Sauces Defense Condition #1 Wing Sauce – 2
Lucky Dog Hot Sauce – Year of the Dog – 2
Heartbreaking Dawns Classic Gold Habanero – 2
Heartbreaking Dawns The Green – 2
Primo’s Peppers Swampadelic Sauce – 2
Race City Sauce Works Deadwood Taco Sauce – 2
Scotty O’Hotty Beer Bacon Chipotle – 2
Tapatio Hot Sauce – 2
Volcanic Peppers Ghost Pepper Ponzu – 2
Volcanic Peppers LAVA Death by Douglah Hot Sauce – 2
Voodoo Chile Sauces Winter Angel – 2

Below are the overall mentions of companies, ranging from 22 to 4. There were several sauce makers that had gotten three mentions.

CaJohns Fiery Foods – 22
Bigfat’s Hot Sauce – 13
Born to Hula Hot Sauce – 11
High River Sauces – 11
Heartbreaking Dawns – 13
Voodoo Chile Sauces – 9
Volcanic Peppers – 8
Race City Sauce Works – 7
Lucky Dog Hot Sauce – 7
Hellfire Hot Sauce – 5
Marie Sharp’s – 5
McIlhenny Company (TABASCO) – 5
Mild to Wild Pepper & Herb Co. – 5
Scotty O’Hotty Hot Sauce – 5
Culley’s Hot Sauce – 4

What is on YOUR list?

What do you think of the choices? Surprised to see anything listed? Shocked to see your favorite hot sauce not represented? Feel free to comment or post your own top 10 list below!