It’s hatch chile season, and that can only mean one thing: hot sauce! Obviously spicy condiments are a year-round obsession for many, but we like to celebrate spice around this time each year with a gathering of heat-lovers and sauce-makers. The 36th annual Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival took place at Radio/East for the first time and brave (some might say masochistic) attendees enjoyed palate-pummeling tastes to match the outdoor temperatures.
Below you’ll find a list of winners from our panel of judges in addition to the people’s choices for best red sauce, green sauce, special variety, and pepper sauce. Proceed with caution.
Commercial Bottlers
Red Sauce
1st Place: Hot Salsa – Tasty Amy’s
2nd Place: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Salsa – Fantastic Fuego
3rd Place: Hot Red Salsa – Jaime’s Spanish Village
Green Sauce
1st Place: Smoked Hatch Hot Sauce – High Seas Provisions
2nd Place: Serrano’s Ghost – SAVIR Foods
3rd Place: Hot Green Salsa – Jaime’s Spanish Village
Honorable Mention: Cherry Limeade – Poor Vida Hot Sauce
Special Variety
1st Place: Spicy Tikka Sauce – Tasty Amy’s
2nd Place: Machete Salsa – Fantastic Fuego
3rd Place: FIRE BOXX – t0tsauce
Honorable Mention: Lemon Starburst – Spicy Dadda
Pepper Sauce
1st Place: Executioner – Apicklelypse
2nd Place: Five Deadly Venoms Salsa – Fantastic Fuego
3rd Place: Sugo di Peppa Scorpione Edition – SAVIR Foods
Honorable Mention: Burnt Reynolds – Waste Mgmt.
Restaurant Category
Red Sauce
1st Place: Salsa Roja – Tacodeli
2nd Place: Salsa Roja Tatemada – LeRoy and Lewis
3rd Place: Roja – Sazón
Green Sauce
1st Place: L&L Salsa Verde Fresca – LeRoy and Lewis
2nd Place: Green Delicious – Taco Baby
3rd Place: Trevino Salsa – Fairways Cantina
Special Variety
1st Place: Salsa X – Eldorado Cafe
2nd Place: Salsa Doña – Tacodeli
3rd Place: Macha – Sazón
Honorable Mention: L&L Kimchi Salsa – LeRoy and Lewis
Pepper Sauce
1st Place: Pineapple Salsa – LeRoy and Lewis
2nd Place: Joelula – Eldorado Cafe
3rd Place: Picosa – VIVO
Individual Category
Red Sauce
1st Place: La Salsa Macha – Jesus Yanez
2nd Place: Puro Perez Red – Marvin Perez
3rd Place: Chava’s Red – Sal Solano
Honorable Mention: The Red-Headed Texan – Julie Oliver
Green Sauce
1st Place: Greenhouse Gardens – Mark Kobdish
2nd Place: Scary Mary Creamy Tomatillo Sauce – Mary Welch
3rd Place: JC Bullfrog’s Tomatillo Sauce – Jeff Cox
People’s Choice
Red Sauce
1st Place: Old Bones Chilli Co – Smoked Garlic Chilli
2nd Place: Waste Mgmt. – Rot Sauce
3rd Place: Bindu Bites – Nepali Himalayan Sunrise Sesame
Green Sauce
1st Place: Aji – Verde
2nd Place: Waste Mgmt. – Trash Juice
3rd Place: Bindu Bites – Emerald Cilantro
Special Variety
1st Place: Bindu Bites – Flaming Nectar Mango
2nd Place: Wicked Provisions – Flaming Cock
3rd Place: Undead – Basic B
Pepper Sauce
1st Place: Tasty Amy’s – Spicy Tikka
2nd Place: Ville’s Jamaican – Hot Pepper Sauce
3rd Place: Wicked Provisions – Magic Mushroom Stout
