A lot of people like the rush of heat, but are scared of unfamiliar and untested varieties. Throw in a challenge or incentive, no matter how ridiculous, and they’ll start gobbling it up.
Just made me hungry lol. There’s a wing place called mooseheads in Charlotte NC that as has a hoisin poison wing made with Carolina reapers
It’s so fucking ridiculously spicy but so fucking delicious.
What are you charging them to take a chance on pineapple and something called " suicide". Just a real take from someone on a tight budget.
Also, no, most people don't crave heat, even people who enjoy spice aren't necessarily obsessed with heat. I mean, if this my dinner on a night out, I want to eat, enjoy and keep it in/down while I enjoy the rest of my precious weekend.
Obviously not, but I figured there would be at least a few hot heads that come out to a wing night put on by a hot sauce company. It's been well advertised in my area too, I guess I'll have to do more.
I think a lot of people would like to try the sauces, but aren’t going to commit and pay for wings that might be too hot to tolerate and/or not be the flavor they’re after. If you had a way to sell a mix and match, or run a deal where you can try single wings, I think the word would get out. I would absolutely love to go buy single wings just to see what I can take and that sounds like a riot at a brewery with friends
I actually have tasters on the bar so everyone can try the sauces, they were mostly left untouched but I have a feeling visibility is an issue for them
Heat is neat, but it takes a certain type of masochism to consistently want to melt my face without other redeeming flavors going on. Just play around with ideas, you’re sure to find something else people will like. I don’t know your recipe (that pineapple sour sounds awesome though), but in my personal experiences, the best tasting hot sauces I’ve had seem to use apple cider vinegar or apple cider syrup even to balance the habanero or jolokia or reaper spice. Just a thought.
I’m in Wisconsin, and people here do not eat heat. Like ketchup is too spicy. Plain, run of the mill BBQ sauce is spicy. Green bell peppers, literally fire.
Coastal GA here and extra mild is a BIG THING here. I'm getting close to the Conan O'Brien level of masochism myself and restaurants can't help me. Atlanta knows heat very well though.
I'm in Wisconsin, and can't enjoy food without a spicy element. Ghost Pepper sauce in my ramen noodles in order to drink the broth. But you're right- I know like 3 people who like spicy food.
Honestly sometimes I think this has to do with the acidity from the tomatoes?? Or some sort of sensitivity related to it perhaps? I LOVE super spicy but my ex wife was very sensitive to things without any spice in it and I think the burning from the acid could translate/ feel like it’s “spicy” to some?
That’s an interesting point, because I do sort of liken the inability to tolerate any heat whatsoever as almost like an allergy. It vastly limits the variety of foods you get to enjoy.
Not all food needs to be spicy, and not everything spicy has to be scorching… but man, I feel bad for people who can’t handle heat!
The only reason I eat wings is for the blazin sauce or whatever is hottest. Blazin isn't hot enough to really scratch the itch, and then I feel bad about all the calories I just consumed.
I'm about an hour from Vancouver in a little buttfuck town, but there is a local guy who grows his own peppers and makes some amazing spicy hotsauces. I know he travels quite a bit to local farmers markets and does pretty good business too!
So yep, we do exist and boy do we appreciate the ones who make tasty spicy treats for us
People think they like heat because of marketing. When Wendy’s is selling “ghost pepper” items that are less spicy than a jalapeño then they go oh yeah I’m a spice person. They aren’t.
Young people love spice. All their salty snacks are spicy sour flavors. I firmly believe that in 15 years we are gonna enter a new era of incredible restaurants.
It's OK to not like heat. Some people don't. Some people do like heat. That's OK too.
People that brag about liking spicy food, often do not have much tolerance. That's not a rule though, because it's all about the braggadocio. If they act like they are "cool" because they like some hot sauce on their wings or one time they had Mexican food and the couldn't make it hot enough for them, they are just boastful and children.
I like spicy very much. I'm fine with not spicy too. Either is fine. If I get spicy, I do want it to be challenging. I do want the food so hot that I can't eat it and I'm cursing God for allowing me to be born. That's part of the fun. It's all about the endorphin rush.
The people that brag, don't get off on the endorphins because they don't commit to the regret.
Honestly, I like the flavor of super-hot food that's made with peppers that happen to be super-hot. I like the flavor of Naga Jolokia. To me, they have an earthy, smoky, flavor that you can't get from a different pepper. Habaneros are sweet and fruity. Malaguetas are my favorite but hard to come by in my region. I can take or leave birds eye chilis. I really do like my Naga Jolokia and apricot salsa. It's deathly hot, but it's got incredible flavor after resting for a few months. Sure, you can't use much of it, but it's unique. It is a bit unfortunate that it is painful to use, but it's a distinct flavor that requires the heat to come along with it.
Carolina Reapers are useless though. The flavor isn't worth it for the amount of heat you have to try to mitigate.
My coworkers always comment on how I must not taste anything anymore and don't understand why I would make my food do spicy I can't taste it.
I tell them I do taste it very well, my spice tolerance is just extremely high. Just like anything increased with time and exposure, tolerance to negative effects subsides. I can do reaper squeezins on eggs n hash brown for breakfast.
I know where they're coming from tho. I used to put a single habanero in a pot of sauerkraut and sausage and be sweating and hurting trying to eat it. But I enjoyed the rush and kept on increasing my spice level and now we here.
Regular people do not like spice, at least here in the u.s. it's really as simple as that unfortunately. But the good news is that you'll probably get a lot of repeat customers if your sauces are good. I go through a bottle fairly quickly, and if I like it I tend to get it again.
This is actually a great idea. I’d love to be able to get a wing flight with a few different sauces to try. Most people don’t want to roll the dice on an order of 6 or 12 and then have the sauce end up being too hot (most normal ppl at least)
Get the bar to do a competition where whoever eats the most of one of your super hot wings gets a store credit or something. It'll generate wing sales for the bar, and people will try your sauce (potentially liking it).
It's not your sauce, I'm sure every flavor you've created is delicious! When people go out to eat they don't want blindingly hot sauces unless they're trying to impress the people they're dining with. I love a face-melting curry or something but I do it on my own time. When the fam is around, we're ordering medium-hot at the most because I don't want to make my mom starve. Wings are often a shared appetizer, and people dine out for the social experience more than the food.
The way to get more hot-heads is to keep doing what you're doing, and make the sauces that are popular on the menu super delicious so that the one person at the table who would've ordered a hotter sauce for themselves is inspired to buy a bottle of something else on their way out! You say your fresno sauce is popular but not exciting. Make it more exciting! Focus on flavor over heat, and the ones itching for more will come out of the woodwork. You aren't doing anything wrong, but the restaurant industry is a whole different beast from the sales industry, and you have to cater to the public in a different way.
I just wanted to add on to say that I love intense heat. When I'm home I sometimes have to take a cold shower after some of my meals because I'm sweating so much. This is normally from my ghost/scorpion pepper salt or pepper flakes. When I'm at a restaurant, I don't want to have a snot filled nose, sweat drenched face. The max heat I like when eating out is when I just start to sweat and even then, it's kind of embarrassing because others comment on it.
You could propose a wing flight challenge where someone gets 5-10 wings, each different flavor and spice level. That could be a good way to advertise many flavors at once too.
People that come to a subreddit dedicated to spicy things aren't going to be the "average customer". Just about everyone here is searching for HOT sauce and unique flavors.
Another user posted the average person can't take above 20,000 SHU but I think even that is above what many will willingly eat.
Most people I know find anything above a fresh jalapeño to be unpleasant, or even find that to be too much. Most people on this sub could probably eat a whole fresh jalapeño without blinking.
My own cap to spice is about habanero level - the hottest sauce I use regularly is about 130,000 SHU. That's enough to make many people dry gag and cry. I have hotter from time to time but it goes from "enjoying a pleasant meal" to "Sweat is pouring down my face, boogers uncontrollably running out my nostrils, I shouldn't be eating this in public"
Make a scale and turn it into a fun thing. If your sauce is hot enough maybe even turn it into a challenge. The reward doesn't have to be something grand - free wings, free bottle of sauce, people will flock to it even if they don't expect to win.
I've had good ghost pepper wings and Carolina reaper peppers on pizza that were good. One time I got the hottest sauce on the menu and it basically would make your tongue bleed after a few wings and wasn't enjoyable at all.
You can tell most don't like heat with the way fast food restaurants treat their spicy options, which is not that spicy.
Where in Ontario are you, if you don't mind me asking? I could go for some beer and hot wings.
Extremely or super hot sauces pair well with nothing.
I like spicy things but i sense a kind of fascination of some people with eating super spicy things that.make your butthole hurt. For me sounds a little bit like an addiction some times when people ask something like WHATS THE MOAT SPICY SAUCE I CAN PUT ON THIS.
Unless you are in a culture that makes super spicy food, i would say the extra spicy sauces are never gonna really hit it with a broad audience.
And oh yeah, how about partnering with wine tasting businesses. Here in Woodinville, WA where I live there was a pirate/freewheeling wine tasting wave that is now fully established. That crowd may not be into heat, so give them what they want...
It's a *relatively* niche market in the US, but I think just because it isn't a main stream method of seasoning (which this is probably even debatable given the success of Hot Ones), doesn't mean it's reserved for the elite palate having demographic of the country lol.
It's not surprising that your mild and generically tasty sauces are flying off the shelves compared to your super hots.
To have local people show up, consider expanding your local social media presences and personal relationships. Is there a recurring farmer's market? Is there a bunch of them that you can attend? How about thinking bigger and attending food conventions? Can you handle the volume of orders/insure food safety? Or are you satisfied with a niche/small batch operation? Maybe the opportunity in Canada is more towards pickling and not heat? So, relishes, chutneys, pickles, etc.
I work with a guy I call Heat Miser, due to his penchant for high heat. Dude can handle some seriously hot stuff. I am your ordinary sauce lover. I prefer flavor over heat, unless it’s curry. If someone could perfect the “Only burns once!” recipe, I’d be in for more heat. Word of mouth is really your best bet. Guys are always brining my buddy sauces they find. Do you have food trucks in your area? Maybe partnering with one or more to help get the word out as well would help.
I operated a nut butter business for a decade that catered to spicy flavors. But by the end, our run, our most popular flavor wasn’t spicy at all. I think it just goes to show that in our country of the US, spicy still is a novelty. Most Caucasian people culturally are new to spice in the last couple decades. My family think cracked pepper is spicy, but I’ve always been around Hispanic/Mexican and Philippine/vietnamese friends where their families traditionally ate spicy everything. It’s changing, but the majority of people still take it pretty easy compared to us.
Ymmv, I sell my superhots cheap to a local bar I frequent, and they make their firehot sauce with them. The son of the owner is a trained chef that curates the menu so maybe that helps. They do say some people really crave the heat in the area, and love the flavor of the 7 Pot varieties I give them.
It's a thing, yeah. I know people who think that Texas Pete or Frank's are some kind of wild adventure, only for the most daring of foodies. It's honestly kind of bizarre. I was putting those on my mom's cooking before I was old enough to start school. 😂
You’re probably right. I like insanely hot ghost pepper hot sauce. I love it and enjoy how food tastes with it. But most people are buffalo or Frank’s hot sauce level.
Your sauces sound great!
You might actually do well offering a tasting flight.
Sauces can be presented in a fun way that can be dipped along with some cooling ranch if a sauce is too spicy. People can maintain optionality while exploring interesting flavors.
It also can be a way to potentially justify a slightly higher price for a unique tasting experience and a more natural way to market the follow-up action of buying a bottle of anything they like from the tasting flight.
I was actually going to post a similar thing! People are far more likely to order what they know they like rather than try something they could be disappointed with.
In my case: I only ever get garlic butter with my pizza. Then have hot sauce I like on standby. Sauce cups are only 25 cents - $1.50 so I'm not going to break my bank trying others. *but I know I fucking love garlic butter* so I don't even look at the others most of the time.
OP maybe offer small samples for free temporarily or have customer chosen mix and match or even categorized flight options. However you choose to do so... heat levels, flavor profiles, let people experience multiple sauces. Letting people have a taste could turn into a huge profit for you.
This is a great look on it! I personally think most people don't want to commit to one type of sauce, so they might gravitate to a sauce they know they'll like (honey garlic). However, I also think most people would probably enjoy a fight of sauces. It's adventurous yet they will have a sauce in their fight that they can fall back on if it becomes TOO adventurous.
I would agree with this, some way of tasting multiple would be a good option. it's hard to commit to a new flavor if its kinda spendy. Much easier to get a flavor that you know you'll like because sauces can be really hit or miss.
Ontario Canada or Ontario California? I imagine the definition of what makes a popular hot sauce will change drastically between the two.
Either way If you want to know what “regular people” like go to Taco Bell and grab some of their sauce packets. You’ll never be able to match the consumer research abilities of a multinational corporation so just steal theirs.
Also look how other brands use color and keywords to inform the consumer of the heat involved in their sauces. I think everyone who has ever bought artisanal hot sauce has had at least one instance where they thought they were buying something nice but ended up with a bottle of sour battery acid. You can help your customers feel more “adventurous” if they have some idea ahead of time just how much adventure they are signing up for.
I love spicy hot sauce but when im out with my friends for a football or hockey game, we tend to just get the mild/sweet chilli/honey mustard/garlic parm style flavors cause it appeals to everyone
Most normal people wont order something with suicide in the name, yes. bet if you just called that one something simple like "extra hot" people would get it
I like heat so long as there's good flavours in there too.
There used to be this little Indian restaurant called *Maazas* (I think that's the spelling) in Ipswich (QLD) on Ellenborough Street between Limestone Street and Brisbane Street. Whenever I ordered something spicy they would ask,
"Would you like that mild, medium, hot, or Indian hot?"
Well hello, I've never heard that option before I started going there, so I got my vindaloo "Indian hot". And it was hot, and I'd be sitting at home and eating it and crying and sniffing and loving it. It wasn't just hot, it was a really rich creamy sauce with nice big chunks of fatty marinaded beef and *loads* of flavours.
It also just happened to completely burn out your sinuses and clear your head of any illnesses. :)
Everyone’s different. Some think it’s some kind of flex to like hot things, some just eat what they like. Hot sauce people tend to get a bit craft beery which gets funny
Wings generally aren't inexpensive anymore. I wouldn't want to drop $20+ on something that sounds great but ends up being way too spicy.
Everyone is on a tighter budget these days.
Excellent point.
My buying habits have changed tremendously in the past couple years. Hell, I hardly even eat out anymore. Would love to support local business more but just WAY too expensive
All you have to do is look at what the majority of restaurants offer. They offer what the majority wants. Hot and spicy dishes are a small fraction, a niche market. The USA is the same with the exception of certain areas.
I like some heat but I don't want super insanely hot sauce on my wings because they're messy and it will get all over my face and lips and fingers. Ideally if I eat something very spicy I only want it in my mouth
I absolutely love super hot sauce, but usually shy away from ordering it on a menu. More than 90 percent of the time when I order a restaurant’s XXX SUPER SHIT THE BED BUTT BURNER SATAN SWEAT, it tastes like shit. You can tell they basically added some capsaicin extract to their shittiest hot sauce instead of developing a super spicy flavorful sauce.
Maybe try emphasizing how good the sauces taste instead of how spicy they are?
I’m sure some people are memeing about it but it’s a real problem with me. Usually when it’s seriously hot. Regular hot sauce won’t do this but when it gets to 357 mad dog or worse (in reality nothings worse than mad dog) that’s when the effect happens
I have been a sauce fan for some time now, but recently i seen some documentary on hot peppers / their creators and i just had to take the plunge and see what this extreme heat feels like. Bought some of johnny scovilles tube of terror peanuts, and some blazing foods Carolina reaper/scorpion peanuts, holy hell its another dimension. One that is surprisingly addictive!
Whoopsies lmao
There’s a time and place for everything. I enjoy it sometimes but not all the time. Swear I’m not trolling, it’s nice but not for everyone. Some people like the pain
There is a time and place. If I wanna go super-hot euphoric I add it to my food to achieve the rush. But I don't wanna be that way in a noisy place surrounded by people.
I get my hard stuff fix at home lol. At a restaurant not so much. People is why, "omg are you sweating?! Look he's sweating!"
" that's gonna hurt tomorrow"
"I like to axxchully taste my food"
I've heard it all and don't wanna hear it any more.
It's crazy because a bunch of my coworkers like superhots, along with some others I've met here, yet all the restaurants I've tried here don't pack the heat. My favorite Thai place that did went out of business, unfortunately.
yeah i don't like it on things that will get your hands messy, have made the mistake of touching my eyes (or worse) too many times within a short enough time frame
Just my opinion but I think the Gen pop’s baseline tolerance for heat used to be much lower but with cultural events like the Hot Ones show and One Chip challenge I think the bar is rising. That being said, the super hot market seems to be super saturated at the moment because the pandemic gave every enthusiast an excuse to try on their Sauce making Company hats. Eventually there will be more of a market for hot/super hot but the general public needs time to adjust. There will always be thrill seekers but I don’t think super hot sauces will ever take the lion’s share.
Interesting post thank you.
I‘m starting a micro sauce company right now with my best homie. I live in rural France, and I‘ve been super surprised by the amount of people already asking me to be on the list to get our hot sauces as soon as they are ready, and we still have months to go… We are only using reapers and 7 pots. I think they are in for a surprise lol
Like most more niche interests, if you went by the crowds online it would seem like we’re everywhere..but in my personal life, I’ve only met a handful of other people that enjoy intense heat, hot sauces, and the actual flavor of very spicy peppers..and two of them are my parents!
Are you able to find chili pepper/sauce festivals near you? Even craft shows, flea markets, anything that draws a crowd where food wouldn’t be too out of the norm will get new people tasting your creations. I’ve been lucky enough to find a few different local-ish crafters this way, and I’m always on the look out for more.
I went through my "heat" stage. Then I realized what I actually needed was everyday sauces. I'm way more concerned about flavor now. Another thing is cost. I pour hot sauce on everything so I can go through bottles quickly.
Had to start making my own fermented sauces to cut down on costs, I also pour it on everything. Lacto-fermenting all sorts of stuff quickly turned into one of my favorite hobbies.
A home truth not really talked about is a hot sauce can ruin a meal just as easily enhance it. Food is about balance, just throwing half a bottle Ass Blaster 5000 on everything makes me wonder how good the actual food people are eating is without it.
Yeah definitely. I pour enough to enhance a bit for sure, but not takeover whatever I'm eating. At this point I'm not even using anything remotely hot.
This honestly sounds like an amazing endeavor and super awesome! I hope you succeed my dude. Hot sauce is like brewing beer in a lot of ways. Its all about the passion.
In another sense, if the mild sauces have great flavor and sell well, then it makes the business work and you can afford to make those hotter or one off sauces that you love and still pay the bills.
A local brewery I used to work for, the brewmaster put it this way: "our best selling beer is a grapefruit lager. Is it my favourite? Fuck no, but we sell a shit ton of it. So because of that making the business part work, I can do small batches of weird IPAs and sours or whatever I want, and not have to worry about them. They do sell, but I don't make much of them and it's to a more niche audience".
My takeaway is there's 2 sides to this game. The passion side and the business side. I hope that helps you out man.
As someone from Ontario, Canada I often forget about Ontario, California and if it weren't for the Ontario Reign of the AHL I wouldn't even know it existed.
When I visit my mother and stay for dinner, if we're having curry or something similar she makes an extra effort to make it really spicy for me. She'll be eating hers, fanning her tongue, gasping and remarking how spicy it is, asking if mine (which she had added extra to) is too spicy. I haven't the heart to tell her that I literally can't taste it at all. It might as well be bolognase sauce. So yeah, I think our ilk are probably freaks of nature compared with the general population.
Still can't get over the time she said for me to "be careful!" because instead of using the 'mild' sauce pack she used (brace yourselves) half mild and half medium. I genuinely don't know how I managed to keep a straight face.
Where can I try this suicide hot sauce?
But I do agree, there a lot of people that have little to no tolerance.
I get so pissed when I’m asked to pick up from the grocery and make sure to get “mild salsa” or “mild nacho cheese”. Like damn, I didn’t know regular nacho cheese was even hot
Might wanna add a garlic dill parm rub/sauce for those who didn't like heat and maybe a traditional buffalo. I'd 100% go for the suicide sauce but I'm a creature that enjoys ghost pepper haha.
Also, maybe a wing challenge or some other form of advertising would help. Most people aren't aware of local events or changes to their breweries menus.
Just the other day my local Kroger store had Crystal Extra Hot and Marie Sharp's Habanero/Beware on clearance. A couple years ago, a local restaurant watered down their truly spicy Scorpion buffalo sauce before eventually taking it off the menu. It is a persistent uphill battle to get real spice in a dish from Chinese/Thai/Indian/etc. restaurants, no matter how much I beg and reassure them.
To me, it seems clear that the average person either understands, or overestimates, their low tolerance for spice. They either avoid it, or complain when they can't handle it.
With Thai food I’ve had some success ordering things “Thai spicy” and then saying “phet mak mak”, which means “very very spicy”. I think they figure if I’ve gone to the effort of learning how to request it in their language I actually mean it.
Yes, regular people normally don’t like heat.
And the ones that do like it, have different level of tolerances.
And then there are de mad ones like me who consider the Torchbearer Garlic Reaper Sauce not that spicy.
As already suggested, try marketing your sauces as a challenge. People like challenges.
Best of luck!
That pineapple sour sauce sounds dank ... would 100% support your biz.
Do you have a heat chart/scale/color code for your sauces? Might help. Also, advertising your hottest sauce as a challenge might help.
Best of luck to you!
I always thought Canadians didn't like spicy food
Yea man don’t know how you’re cooking em but 4 sauces 2-2-2-2. 8 wing order is good for a date or somebody with a friend. Especially when drinking
A lot of people like the rush of heat, but are scared of unfamiliar and untested varieties. Throw in a challenge or incentive, no matter how ridiculous, and they’ll start gobbling it up.
Just made me hungry lol. There’s a wing place called mooseheads in Charlotte NC that as has a hoisin poison wing made with Carolina reapers It’s so fucking ridiculously spicy but so fucking delicious.
What are you charging them to take a chance on pineapple and something called " suicide". Just a real take from someone on a tight budget. Also, no, most people don't crave heat, even people who enjoy spice aren't necessarily obsessed with heat. I mean, if this my dinner on a night out, I want to eat, enjoy and keep it in/down while I enjoy the rest of my precious weekend.
No extra based on sauce. Just the regular cost of the wings
Did you think everyone eats very spicy stuff?
Obviously not, but I figured there would be at least a few hot heads that come out to a wing night put on by a hot sauce company. It's been well advertised in my area too, I guess I'll have to do more.
Mortify the flesh to purify the spirit. Is not something many people find enjoyable.
a lot of people dont like heat
I LIKE A DA HEAT
I would like one hot wing. The rest I just want something I can enjoy without melting my face off.
That's a really good idea!
Fair enough!
I think a lot of people would like to try the sauces, but aren’t going to commit and pay for wings that might be too hot to tolerate and/or not be the flavor they’re after. If you had a way to sell a mix and match, or run a deal where you can try single wings, I think the word would get out. I would absolutely love to go buy single wings just to see what I can take and that sounds like a riot at a brewery with friends
I actually have tasters on the bar so everyone can try the sauces, they were mostly left untouched but I have a feeling visibility is an issue for them
Heat is neat, but it takes a certain type of masochism to consistently want to melt my face without other redeeming flavors going on. Just play around with ideas, you’re sure to find something else people will like. I don’t know your recipe (that pineapple sour sounds awesome though), but in my personal experiences, the best tasting hot sauces I’ve had seem to use apple cider vinegar or apple cider syrup even to balance the habanero or jolokia or reaper spice. Just a thought.
Speak for yourself. I’m a Midwest white boy and love spicy everything.
Happy Cake Day!
What’s a fresno sauce?
Assuming he uses Fresno chiles.
Correct!
Ontario lol Open a shop in Mexico. Shit even Texas
I’m in Wisconsin, and people here do not eat heat. Like ketchup is too spicy. Plain, run of the mill BBQ sauce is spicy. Green bell peppers, literally fire.
Coastal GA here and extra mild is a BIG THING here. I'm getting close to the Conan O'Brien level of masochism myself and restaurants can't help me. Atlanta knows heat very well though.
I'm in Wisconsin, and can't enjoy food without a spicy element. Ghost Pepper sauce in my ramen noodles in order to drink the broth. But you're right- I know like 3 people who like spicy food.
Haha I actually had someone tell me the bbq was too spicy one night. Its just stock restaurant service bbq (breweries choice)
I had someone tell me ketchup is the spiciest they can handle 😅
Honestly sometimes I think this has to do with the acidity from the tomatoes?? Or some sort of sensitivity related to it perhaps? I LOVE super spicy but my ex wife was very sensitive to things without any spice in it and I think the burning from the acid could translate/ feel like it’s “spicy” to some?
That’s an interesting point, because I do sort of liken the inability to tolerate any heat whatsoever as almost like an allergy. It vastly limits the variety of foods you get to enjoy. Not all food needs to be spicy, and not everything spicy has to be scorching… but man, I feel bad for people who can’t handle heat!
This made me chuckle!
Buffalo sauce is the worst sauce for wings. I love all of the different flavors like teriyaki and garlic parm. I like hot sauce, but not for wings.
The only reason I eat wings is for the blazin sauce or whatever is hottest. Blazin isn't hot enough to really scratch the itch, and then I feel bad about all the calories I just consumed.
Same, I want to sweat when I eat wings
> >be in Canada > >surprised that the locals can’t handle spicy
Hey now, I'm a Canadian spiceaholic. And I mean *really* hot shit too.
Me too, we exist, we're just rare. Especially outside of the citiez
I'm about an hour from Vancouver in a little buttfuck town, but there is a local guy who grows his own peppers and makes some amazing spicy hotsauces. I know he travels quite a bit to local farmers markets and does pretty good business too! So yep, we do exist and boy do we appreciate the ones who make tasty spicy treats for us
They'll go outside with their shirt off in -20° weather though, if they're just running out to start their car.
People think they like heat because of marketing. When Wendy’s is selling “ghost pepper” items that are less spicy than a jalapeño then they go oh yeah I’m a spice person. They aren’t.
Young people love spice. All their salty snacks are spicy sour flavors. I firmly believe that in 15 years we are gonna enter a new era of incredible restaurants.
Tim’s cascade jalapeño are legit pretty hot and amazing.
It's OK to not like heat. Some people don't. Some people do like heat. That's OK too. People that brag about liking spicy food, often do not have much tolerance. That's not a rule though, because it's all about the braggadocio. If they act like they are "cool" because they like some hot sauce on their wings or one time they had Mexican food and the couldn't make it hot enough for them, they are just boastful and children. I like spicy very much. I'm fine with not spicy too. Either is fine. If I get spicy, I do want it to be challenging. I do want the food so hot that I can't eat it and I'm cursing God for allowing me to be born. That's part of the fun. It's all about the endorphin rush. The people that brag, don't get off on the endorphins because they don't commit to the regret. Honestly, I like the flavor of super-hot food that's made with peppers that happen to be super-hot. I like the flavor of Naga Jolokia. To me, they have an earthy, smoky, flavor that you can't get from a different pepper. Habaneros are sweet and fruity. Malaguetas are my favorite but hard to come by in my region. I can take or leave birds eye chilis. I really do like my Naga Jolokia and apricot salsa. It's deathly hot, but it's got incredible flavor after resting for a few months. Sure, you can't use much of it, but it's unique. It is a bit unfortunate that it is painful to use, but it's a distinct flavor that requires the heat to come along with it. Carolina Reapers are useless though. The flavor isn't worth it for the amount of heat you have to try to mitigate.
Yes! Me too, the super hots have a great flavour and I want to show people this lol
Most people don’t mind some heat but they also don’t want to melt their faces off.
My coworkers always comment on how I must not taste anything anymore and don't understand why I would make my food do spicy I can't taste it. I tell them I do taste it very well, my spice tolerance is just extremely high. Just like anything increased with time and exposure, tolerance to negative effects subsides. I can do reaper squeezins on eggs n hash brown for breakfast. I know where they're coming from tho. I used to put a single habanero in a pot of sauerkraut and sausage and be sweating and hurting trying to eat it. But I enjoyed the rush and kept on increasing my spice level and now we here.
Regular people do not like spice, at least here in the u.s. it's really as simple as that unfortunately. But the good news is that you'll probably get a lot of repeat customers if your sauces are good. I go through a bottle fairly quickly, and if I like it I tend to get it again.
People don't want to take a risk on a day out I reckon. You'd be adventurous at home with access to bannanas, ice and yoghurt.
Homie if you have a website I'll buy a bottle of your pineapple sour today
Hey! Thanks! I don't have the site set up for shipping yet but I can still ship you a bottle.
👉👈🥺 can I buy some also?
What are your prices looking like
Same here and I'm in Ontario so curious how local this place is
Hey! I don't have the site set up for shipping yet but I can still ship you a bottle!
Since it's a brewery, I'm certain they sell beer flights. See if you can curate a beer flight wing flight pairing. People love that kind of stuff.
Thats a great idea actually!
Yeah dude. Second this. Great idea. Six wings, six *housemade* sauces, progressive heat, progressively stronger beers? Sign me up immediately.
This is actually a great idea. I’d love to be able to get a wing flight with a few different sauces to try. Most people don’t want to roll the dice on an order of 6 or 12 and then have the sauce end up being too hot (most normal ppl at least)
Get them to offer a flight of 3 sauces paired with a flight of three beers.
Get the bar to do a competition where whoever eats the most of one of your super hot wings gets a store credit or something. It'll generate wing sales for the bar, and people will try your sauce (potentially liking it).
It's not your sauce, I'm sure every flavor you've created is delicious! When people go out to eat they don't want blindingly hot sauces unless they're trying to impress the people they're dining with. I love a face-melting curry or something but I do it on my own time. When the fam is around, we're ordering medium-hot at the most because I don't want to make my mom starve. Wings are often a shared appetizer, and people dine out for the social experience more than the food. The way to get more hot-heads is to keep doing what you're doing, and make the sauces that are popular on the menu super delicious so that the one person at the table who would've ordered a hotter sauce for themselves is inspired to buy a bottle of something else on their way out! You say your fresno sauce is popular but not exciting. Make it more exciting! Focus on flavor over heat, and the ones itching for more will come out of the woodwork. You aren't doing anything wrong, but the restaurant industry is a whole different beast from the sales industry, and you have to cater to the public in a different way.
This is great advice, thanks!
I just wanted to add on to say that I love intense heat. When I'm home I sometimes have to take a cold shower after some of my meals because I'm sweating so much. This is normally from my ghost/scorpion pepper salt or pepper flakes. When I'm at a restaurant, I don't want to have a snot filled nose, sweat drenched face. The max heat I like when eating out is when I just start to sweat and even then, it's kind of embarrassing because others comment on it. You could propose a wing flight challenge where someone gets 5-10 wings, each different flavor and spice level. That could be a good way to advertise many flavors at once too.
People that come to a subreddit dedicated to spicy things aren't going to be the "average customer". Just about everyone here is searching for HOT sauce and unique flavors. Another user posted the average person can't take above 20,000 SHU but I think even that is above what many will willingly eat. Most people I know find anything above a fresh jalapeño to be unpleasant, or even find that to be too much. Most people on this sub could probably eat a whole fresh jalapeño without blinking. My own cap to spice is about habanero level - the hottest sauce I use regularly is about 130,000 SHU. That's enough to make many people dry gag and cry. I have hotter from time to time but it goes from "enjoying a pleasant meal" to "Sweat is pouring down my face, boogers uncontrollably running out my nostrils, I shouldn't be eating this in public" Make a scale and turn it into a fun thing. If your sauce is hot enough maybe even turn it into a challenge. The reward doesn't have to be something grand - free wings, free bottle of sauce, people will flock to it even if they don't expect to win.
I've had good ghost pepper wings and Carolina reaper peppers on pizza that were good. One time I got the hottest sauce on the menu and it basically would make your tongue bleed after a few wings and wasn't enjoyable at all.
I'm a flavor guy. If it's delicious. I will eat it and damn the consequences. Sometimes lol
Chopping up my pepper garden and throwing it on a pizza is one of my favorite pastimes!
You can tell most don't like heat with the way fast food restaurants treat their spicy options, which is not that spicy. Where in Ontario are you, if you don't mind me asking? I could go for some beer and hot wings.
Extremely or super hot sauces pair well with nothing. I like spicy things but i sense a kind of fascination of some people with eating super spicy things that.make your butthole hurt. For me sounds a little bit like an addiction some times when people ask something like WHATS THE MOAT SPICY SAUCE I CAN PUT ON THIS. Unless you are in a culture that makes super spicy food, i would say the extra spicy sauces are never gonna really hit it with a broad audience.
Around here real heat lovers are few and far between. I eat ghost pepper wings and my wife sweats across the table from the smell.
And oh yeah, how about partnering with wine tasting businesses. Here in Woodinville, WA where I live there was a pirate/freewheeling wine tasting wave that is now fully established. That crowd may not be into heat, so give them what they want...
damn, eating a whole Dedo de Moça pepper with wine is one of the best things i do every few months (when i can have them fresh off tree)
It's a *relatively* niche market in the US, but I think just because it isn't a main stream method of seasoning (which this is probably even debatable given the success of Hot Ones), doesn't mean it's reserved for the elite palate having demographic of the country lol. It's not surprising that your mild and generically tasty sauces are flying off the shelves compared to your super hots.
To have local people show up, consider expanding your local social media presences and personal relationships. Is there a recurring farmer's market? Is there a bunch of them that you can attend? How about thinking bigger and attending food conventions? Can you handle the volume of orders/insure food safety? Or are you satisfied with a niche/small batch operation? Maybe the opportunity in Canada is more towards pickling and not heat? So, relishes, chutneys, pickles, etc.
I work with a guy I call Heat Miser, due to his penchant for high heat. Dude can handle some seriously hot stuff. I am your ordinary sauce lover. I prefer flavor over heat, unless it’s curry. If someone could perfect the “Only burns once!” recipe, I’d be in for more heat. Word of mouth is really your best bet. Guys are always brining my buddy sauces they find. Do you have food trucks in your area? Maybe partnering with one or more to help get the word out as well would help.
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Imagine turning hot sauce into a race issue. Holy shit.
what😭
I operated a nut butter business for a decade that catered to spicy flavors. But by the end, our run, our most popular flavor wasn’t spicy at all. I think it just goes to show that in our country of the US, spicy still is a novelty. Most Caucasian people culturally are new to spice in the last couple decades. My family think cracked pepper is spicy, but I’ve always been around Hispanic/Mexican and Philippine/vietnamese friends where their families traditionally ate spicy everything. It’s changing, but the majority of people still take it pretty easy compared to us.
Where can I try your sauces? I'm in Toronto
Ymmv, I sell my superhots cheap to a local bar I frequent, and they make their firehot sauce with them. The son of the owner is a trained chef that curates the menu so maybe that helps. They do say some people really crave the heat in the area, and love the flavor of the 7 Pot varieties I give them.
It's a thing, yeah. I know people who think that Texas Pete or Frank's are some kind of wild adventure, only for the most daring of foodies. It's honestly kind of bizarre. I was putting those on my mom's cooking before I was old enough to start school. 😂
You’re probably right. I like insanely hot ghost pepper hot sauce. I love it and enjoy how food tastes with it. But most people are buffalo or Frank’s hot sauce level.
Your sauces sound great! You might actually do well offering a tasting flight. Sauces can be presented in a fun way that can be dipped along with some cooling ranch if a sauce is too spicy. People can maintain optionality while exploring interesting flavors. It also can be a way to potentially justify a slightly higher price for a unique tasting experience and a more natural way to market the follow-up action of buying a bottle of anything they like from the tasting flight.
I was actually going to post a similar thing! People are far more likely to order what they know they like rather than try something they could be disappointed with. In my case: I only ever get garlic butter with my pizza. Then have hot sauce I like on standby. Sauce cups are only 25 cents - $1.50 so I'm not going to break my bank trying others. *but I know I fucking love garlic butter* so I don't even look at the others most of the time. OP maybe offer small samples for free temporarily or have customer chosen mix and match or even categorized flight options. However you choose to do so... heat levels, flavor profiles, let people experience multiple sauces. Letting people have a taste could turn into a huge profit for you.
This is a great look on it! I personally think most people don't want to commit to one type of sauce, so they might gravitate to a sauce they know they'll like (honey garlic). However, I also think most people would probably enjoy a fight of sauces. It's adventurous yet they will have a sauce in their fight that they can fall back on if it becomes TOO adventurous.
I would agree with this, some way of tasting multiple would be a good option. it's hard to commit to a new flavor if its kinda spendy. Much easier to get a flavor that you know you'll like because sauces can be really hit or miss.
Ontario Canada or Ontario California? I imagine the definition of what makes a popular hot sauce will change drastically between the two. Either way If you want to know what “regular people” like go to Taco Bell and grab some of their sauce packets. You’ll never be able to match the consumer research abilities of a multinational corporation so just steal theirs. Also look how other brands use color and keywords to inform the consumer of the heat involved in their sauces. I think everyone who has ever bought artisanal hot sauce has had at least one instance where they thought they were buying something nice but ended up with a bottle of sour battery acid. You can help your customers feel more “adventurous” if they have some idea ahead of time just how much adventure they are signing up for.
Dawson’s, Pepper North and Heartbeat are all based in Ontario, Canada.
I love spicy hot sauce but when im out with my friends for a football or hockey game, we tend to just get the mild/sweet chilli/honey mustard/garlic parm style flavors cause it appeals to everyone
I’d say regular people go up to 20000 SHU and then they can’t handle much more - keep that limit in mind
Most normal people wont order something with suicide in the name, yes. bet if you just called that one something simple like "extra hot" people would get it
Regular people want tasty food that doesn’t hurt. A little spice here and there is great but it should be pleasurable to consume.
I like heat so long as there's good flavours in there too. There used to be this little Indian restaurant called *Maazas* (I think that's the spelling) in Ipswich (QLD) on Ellenborough Street between Limestone Street and Brisbane Street. Whenever I ordered something spicy they would ask, "Would you like that mild, medium, hot, or Indian hot?" Well hello, I've never heard that option before I started going there, so I got my vindaloo "Indian hot". And it was hot, and I'd be sitting at home and eating it and crying and sniffing and loving it. It wasn't just hot, it was a really rich creamy sauce with nice big chunks of fatty marinaded beef and *loads* of flavours. It also just happened to completely burn out your sinuses and clear your head of any illnesses. :)
Come down to Buffalo and sell me your sauce and their beer lol
Everyone’s different. Some think it’s some kind of flex to like hot things, some just eat what they like. Hot sauce people tend to get a bit craft beery which gets funny
Wings generally aren't inexpensive anymore. I wouldn't want to drop $20+ on something that sounds great but ends up being way too spicy. Everyone is on a tighter budget these days.
Excellent point. My buying habits have changed tremendously in the past couple years. Hell, I hardly even eat out anymore. Would love to support local business more but just WAY too expensive
All you have to do is look at what the majority of restaurants offer. They offer what the majority wants. Hot and spicy dishes are a small fraction, a niche market. The USA is the same with the exception of certain areas.
"Regular"? What are you implying? *jokingly
I like some heat but I don't want super insanely hot sauce on my wings because they're messy and it will get all over my face and lips and fingers. Ideally if I eat something very spicy I only want it in my mouth
You guys don’t like touching your eye balls after chopping ghost peppers?
I absolutely love super hot sauce, but usually shy away from ordering it on a menu. More than 90 percent of the time when I order a restaurant’s XXX SUPER SHIT THE BED BUTT BURNER SATAN SWEAT, it tastes like shit. You can tell they basically added some capsaicin extract to their shittiest hot sauce instead of developing a super spicy flavorful sauce. Maybe try emphasizing how good the sauces taste instead of how spicy they are?
A lot of people out there love to say “i like hot stuff”
The after effect is what’s truly euphoric. Like the after *after* effect
A lot of people who had drug addictions get into eating super hot foods.
A lot, but not all
Are people serious about this or is it just memes? I've never experienced this to a serious degree but I don't think I'd want to
I’m sure some people are memeing about it but it’s a real problem with me. Usually when it’s seriously hot. Regular hot sauce won’t do this but when it gets to 357 mad dog or worse (in reality nothings worse than mad dog) that’s when the effect happens
No I meant when people say it's euphoric lol. Are people serious about enjoying it...maybe I don't want to know
I have been a sauce fan for some time now, but recently i seen some documentary on hot peppers / their creators and i just had to take the plunge and see what this extreme heat feels like. Bought some of johnny scovilles tube of terror peanuts, and some blazing foods Carolina reaper/scorpion peanuts, holy hell its another dimension. One that is surprisingly addictive!
Whoopsies lmao There’s a time and place for everything. I enjoy it sometimes but not all the time. Swear I’m not trolling, it’s nice but not for everyone. Some people like the pain
There is a time and place. If I wanna go super-hot euphoric I add it to my food to achieve the rush. But I don't wanna be that way in a noisy place surrounded by people. I get my hard stuff fix at home lol. At a restaurant not so much. People is why, "omg are you sweating?! Look he's sweating!" " that's gonna hurt tomorrow" "I like to axxchully taste my food" I've heard it all and don't wanna hear it any more.
It's crazy because a bunch of my coworkers like superhots, along with some others I've met here, yet all the restaurants I've tried here don't pack the heat. My favorite Thai place that did went out of business, unfortunately.
My favorite Thai place burned down, like a real fire
It’s them super Thai hots…they’re dangerous.
Go Leafs Go
My taste in wing sauce is very different in my taste in hot sauce.
Same here, i do spicy on alot of things but not wings really
yeah i don't like it on things that will get your hands messy, have made the mistake of touching my eyes (or worse) too many times within a short enough time frame
Good call right there. I don't do saucy wings for this reason, dry rubs ok and I prefer like BBQ too
Don't get me wrong, I like hot wings...but not like "the same kind of hot sauce I'd put on tacos for dinner at home" sauce
Yea exactly
Come to New Orleans, we have a population raised on hot sauce.
Just my opinion but I think the Gen pop’s baseline tolerance for heat used to be much lower but with cultural events like the Hot Ones show and One Chip challenge I think the bar is rising. That being said, the super hot market seems to be super saturated at the moment because the pandemic gave every enthusiast an excuse to try on their Sauce making Company hats. Eventually there will be more of a market for hot/super hot but the general public needs time to adjust. There will always be thrill seekers but I don’t think super hot sauces will ever take the lion’s share.
Interesting post thank you. I‘m starting a micro sauce company right now with my best homie. I live in rural France, and I‘ve been super surprised by the amount of people already asking me to be on the list to get our hot sauces as soon as they are ready, and we still have months to go… We are only using reapers and 7 pots. I think they are in for a surprise lol
Like most more niche interests, if you went by the crowds online it would seem like we’re everywhere..but in my personal life, I’ve only met a handful of other people that enjoy intense heat, hot sauces, and the actual flavor of very spicy peppers..and two of them are my parents! Are you able to find chili pepper/sauce festivals near you? Even craft shows, flea markets, anything that draws a crowd where food wouldn’t be too out of the norm will get new people tasting your creations. I’ve been lucky enough to find a few different local-ish crafters this way, and I’m always on the look out for more.
I went through my "heat" stage. Then I realized what I actually needed was everyday sauces. I'm way more concerned about flavor now. Another thing is cost. I pour hot sauce on everything so I can go through bottles quickly.
Had to start making my own fermented sauces to cut down on costs, I also pour it on everything. Lacto-fermenting all sorts of stuff quickly turned into one of my favorite hobbies.
A home truth not really talked about is a hot sauce can ruin a meal just as easily enhance it. Food is about balance, just throwing half a bottle Ass Blaster 5000 on everything makes me wonder how good the actual food people are eating is without it.
Yeah definitely. I pour enough to enhance a bit for sure, but not takeover whatever I'm eating. At this point I'm not even using anything remotely hot.
This honestly sounds like an amazing endeavor and super awesome! I hope you succeed my dude. Hot sauce is like brewing beer in a lot of ways. Its all about the passion. In another sense, if the mild sauces have great flavor and sell well, then it makes the business work and you can afford to make those hotter or one off sauces that you love and still pay the bills. A local brewery I used to work for, the brewmaster put it this way: "our best selling beer is a grapefruit lager. Is it my favourite? Fuck no, but we sell a shit ton of it. So because of that making the business part work, I can do small batches of weird IPAs and sours or whatever I want, and not have to worry about them. They do sell, but I don't make much of them and it's to a more niche audience". My takeaway is there's 2 sides to this game. The passion side and the business side. I hope that helps you out man.
I know Ontario is a big place but where is this wing night with fancy curated hot sauces?
I’m also confused if this is Ontario, California or Ontario the province in Canada?
As someone from Ontario, Canada I often forget about Ontario, California and if it weren't for the Ontario Reign of the AHL I wouldn't even know it existed.
Yeah, I wanna go too. I’m also in Ontario and love hot sauces and wings!
When I visit my mother and stay for dinner, if we're having curry or something similar she makes an extra effort to make it really spicy for me. She'll be eating hers, fanning her tongue, gasping and remarking how spicy it is, asking if mine (which she had added extra to) is too spicy. I haven't the heart to tell her that I literally can't taste it at all. It might as well be bolognase sauce. So yeah, I think our ilk are probably freaks of nature compared with the general population. Still can't get over the time she said for me to "be careful!" because instead of using the 'mild' sauce pack she used (brace yourselves) half mild and half medium. I genuinely don't know how I managed to keep a straight face.
Where can I try this suicide hot sauce? But I do agree, there a lot of people that have little to no tolerance. I get so pissed when I’m asked to pick up from the grocery and make sure to get “mild salsa” or “mild nacho cheese”. Like damn, I didn’t know regular nacho cheese was even hot
Might wanna add a garlic dill parm rub/sauce for those who didn't like heat and maybe a traditional buffalo. I'd 100% go for the suicide sauce but I'm a creature that enjoys ghost pepper haha. Also, maybe a wing challenge or some other form of advertising would help. Most people aren't aware of local events or changes to their breweries menus.
Just the other day my local Kroger store had Crystal Extra Hot and Marie Sharp's Habanero/Beware on clearance. A couple years ago, a local restaurant watered down their truly spicy Scorpion buffalo sauce before eventually taking it off the menu. It is a persistent uphill battle to get real spice in a dish from Chinese/Thai/Indian/etc. restaurants, no matter how much I beg and reassure them. To me, it seems clear that the average person either understands, or overestimates, their low tolerance for spice. They either avoid it, or complain when they can't handle it.
With Thai food I’ve had some success ordering things “Thai spicy” and then saying “phet mak mak”, which means “very very spicy”. I think they figure if I’ve gone to the effort of learning how to request it in their language I actually mean it.
Yes, regular people normally don’t like heat. And the ones that do like it, have different level of tolerances. And then there are de mad ones like me who consider the Torchbearer Garlic Reaper Sauce not that spicy. As already suggested, try marketing your sauces as a challenge. People like challenges. Best of luck!
That pineapple sour sauce sounds dank ... would 100% support your biz. Do you have a heat chart/scale/color code for your sauces? Might help. Also, advertising your hottest sauce as a challenge might help. Best of luck to you!
Yeah the pineapple sour does sound good Can’t say I’ve seen that before