Hello there,

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!

It's energizing to be able to introduce others to a new flavor or taste that they haven't experienced before, but I've also picked up on a hesitancy from some people around trying hot sauce. 

It comes from the perceived notion that all hot sauce is 'blow your mouth off' heat and vinegar, and is one size fits all.

After four years of making hot sauce, we finally have a website which we are pumped to share with you right now! Browse the website with new recipes, videos and more here! 

On top of that, we also just released the Craic Sauce Complete Collection Box pictured below.  

We've talked about rounding out your hot sauce collection with versatile every-day hot sauces, unique sauces, and hot sauces with a range of heat. The Craic Sauce Collection Box does that in four sauces, which you can have for yourself here!

You and I may be the ones that try to encourage others into tasting something new, and the trend towards flavor and uniqueness is one that craft hot sauce consumers and makers are building up. 

Whether it's trying a sample at a farmers market or a being convinced to try a craft hot sauce at a dinner gathering, people who didn't think they liked hot sauce are being shocked when they taste something so robust and unlike anything they've tasted before!

My favorite part of my job is seeing that genuine, super passionate, instant reaction of tasting something new and delicious. This month we're curating some boxes guaranteed to pack some of these moments.

So if you get a box, will ya promise me that you share it with at least one person that is a little hesitant at first?!

With the shift of the seasons, I find it funny how quickly I turn towards my favorite soup, crock pot and or shepherds pie recipes. 

With this shift of meal preferences, so shifts my hot sauce rotation. I find I dig more full bodied sauces and personally will crank up the heat a bit more by throwing in a couple super hot hot sauces.

One such brand that is right up that alley is Born to Hula. They do a great job of highlighting a wide range of peppers and having that consistent flavor across their different sauces. Check out their collection of sauces and story here. 

While we're on the topic of fall harvest hot sauces, I'm mentioning PUMPKIN! 

I don't know who's the blame for making pumpkin being such a divisive ingredient, but it's a perfect ingredient for hot sauce. It can hold in the flavors from other ingredients, can be both sweet and savory simultaneously, and can offer a deep base without being overwhelming.  

Try some different variations of it in our Pumpkin Box!

And last but not least for people wanting to turn up the heat, we have a new Super Hot Hot Sauce Box. A perfect opportunity to stock up on heat or maybe even take care of a gift for the chilihead you know. (Act now because we have a limited supply!)

None of these options really speaking to you? We have a lot more sauces to offer depending on what you're into. Chat with Peppi, our AI hot sauce sommelier in training and he'll give you some suggestions!

While I don't have any new interviews to share this month, I brushed the dust of the podcast mic and riffed on some of the growth lessons in my hot sauce business this summer. Feel free to listen on the 'Craft Hot Sauce Podcast'. 

P.S. small chance, but putting it out there to all people who may be attending the NYC Hot Sauce Expo. Let me know! We'll have a booth and would love to see ya!

Have a great day!

Brian