Pursuing a Passion

As long as I can remember I've loved hot sauces. As a young child I looked for any excuse to use the trusty Louisiana Hot Sauce that my dad kept stocked in the fridge. As I got older, so did my tolerance for the heat! Any new place my family or I visited always included a unique bottle of sauce as a souvenir. It quickly became my passion as more and more bottles made their way to my home.

Back in January of 2014 some buddies of mine had the crazy idea to start a jerky company. Small batch and hand made, they helped me realize how many people also enjoy the spiciness of peppers. Through the power of kickstarter they managed to make their idea a reality. Today many of you may have heard of them; Savage Jerky (savagejerky.com).

Fast forward to August 2015 and the buds changed the game for me once more. Up until this point I had been a crazy collector, never thinking about anything but getting my hands on a new bottle of hot sauce. It was at this time that they announced they had a test batch of hot sauce that they had been secretly working on. Being both a friend and a collector I knew I had to have it. As I patiently waited for my THREE bottles to reach me I had the realization that I could make my own hot sauce. I had the knowledge about what I wanted in a hot sauce. I knew the consitencies, the tastes, the peppers. I knew what I liked and what I hated and there was no reason I shouldn't be trying to make my own.

I immediately got to work crafting what I thought would be the perfect sauce. All my confidence got tested with the first two sauces I made. Wow were those terrible! I stuck with it though and on my third attempt I found a magical combination. I shared it with my close friends and it didn't last long. That third batch became my "Project Green Machine" and I knew I wanted to keep it around! I didn't want to stop there though. As a collector I knew I wanted to do something different too. I looked around my collection and I noticed that my favorite colors of blue and purple were non-existant! So I began "Project Purple."

While "Project Purple" didn't actually turn out purple, everyone that tried it really enjoyed it flavor and it's heat. It's still got some kinks to work out, especially if I want to call it purple but it's on the right track. "Project Green Machine" has since made its way through a much larger production to put its recipe through the works. I'm very satisfied with how it has done and the larger sample base of friends and family reflect that satisfaction.

I've had many requests to make the sauces available for purchase and so I've decided to give it a try! There's plenty of work to be done before I'm to that point, but everything has a starting point. I look forward to this project and sharing it with all of you!

-Zach

#Hotsauce #SavageJerky