History of Hot Sauce

An infographic titled 'A Brief (and Spicy) History of Hot Sauce,' depicting hot sauce history with illustrations of a skeleton, a man holding a hot sauce bottle, a skull, and a crow. The timeline includes key points such as 7000 BC with ancient heat seekers cultivating chili peppers in Central and South America, 1492 with Columbus discovering peppers, 1600s with the birth of hot sauce in bottles, and today with the cult of capsaicin emphasizing hot sauce as an obsession.

A Brief (and Spicy) History of Hot Sauce


Ever wonder who first looked at a pepper and said, “Let’s set our mouths on fire for fun?”
Turns out… we’ve been doing it for thousands of years.

7000 BC – Ancient Heat Seekers
Chili peppers were being cultivated in Central and South America by the Olmecs, Aztecs, and Mayans. These legends didn’t just cook with peppers — they made spicy ceremonial sauces, because even their gods craved heat.

1492 – Columbus Gets Burned
When Columbus “discovered” the New World, he also “discovered” peppers — and promptly took them back to Europe. Sorry Chris, the locals were way ahead of you.

1600s – The Birth of the Bottle
The British and Caribbean crews started making pepper-vinegar mixtures as both flavor and medicine. Think early Tabasco with pirate vibes.

1807 – Commercial Chaos Begins
The first commercial hot sauce (made with cayenne) hits Massachusetts. Soon after, Louisiana joins the chat and the American hot sauce war begins.

Today – The Cult of Capsaicin
From mild to masochistic, hot sauce is now an obsession. Artisanal makers, like yours truly, craft sauces that are as flavorful as they are fatal. It’s not just about heat — it’s about experience.

Moral of the story?
You’re not just eating hot sauce — you’re tasting 9,000 years of rebellion.

Uncover Our History

What started in 2019 as a backyard obsession with homegrown heat has turned into a full-blown inferno. The Pepper Patch was born from the dirt — literally. Every pepper that goes into our sauces is grown with care, free of additives, chemicals, or anything fake. These are all-organic, small-batch, handmade masterpieces forged in flavor and fire. We’re not here to melt your face off just for the thrill — though some of these bottles might. Every drop we bottle is built to highlight the pepper, not hide it under a blanket of brutal heat. We balance complexity, richness, and just enough kick to satisfy both flavor fanatics and heat freaks alike.

But this isn’t just hot sauce — it’s history in a bottle. Humans have been crafting spicy sauces since 7,000 BC, using peppers in rituals, remedies, and recipes long before Columbus ever laid eyes on one. The Pepper Patch honors that legacy by skipping the lab and embracing the land. No xanthan gum, no shortcuts — just ghosts, garlic, bourbon, and bold ideas. What began with two legends — The OG and The Reserve — has grown into a lineup of carefully curated sauces that respect the craft and the capsaicin. So whether you’re summoning spirits or spicing up your eggs, you’re tasting something that’s been centuries in the making.