Making the very best hot sauce requires three things: the finest ingredients, the best processes, and an artistic, iterative approach to flavor development.

Ingredients

To make exceptional hot sauce, one must use exceptional ingredients. This means no shortcuts. We use fresh peppers, NOT pepper mash or powder. Smoked peppers in-house, NOT liquid smoke. We will never use preservatives, thickeners, or artificial coloring in our sauces. Our produce is sourced from local farms and we grow specialty peppers in our own organic garden. We flavor our sauces with the finest spirits, beer from Columbus’ best breweries, and whole spices from North Market Spices.

Processes

While exceptional ingredients are paramount to great food, our offerings are much more than the sum of their parts. Spicy Mike’s Hot Sauce is made in small batches with human hands and meticulous attention to detail. We smoke our own peppers, grind our own spices, create unique vinegar infusions in-house, and will never use co-packers. As we continue to grow, we are dedicated to maintaining tight control over our production to ensure that our full-flavored hot sauces remain the very best that money can buy.

An Artistic, Iterative Approach

Inspiration comes from everywhere. Spicy Mike is a lifelong student of the culinary arts and a natural tinkerer. Some recipes are dreamed up wholly formed on sunny afternoons, others gestate in the back of my mind for months or years before coming to fruition, and some are simply borne of necessity while clearing out the pantry. Our recipes begin life as simple explorations of curiosity before being transformed by a calculated, iterative approach. Taste, adjust, take notes, taste, adjust, start over, etc, etc until everything is just right. This scientific way of thinking ensures that each and every recipe is fully realized before making it’s way to you, our customer.

At the end of the day, our sauces speak for themselves. Pour liberally and enjoy!