When the results of the 2010 Scovie Awards, the world’s leading recognition for hot and spicy products, were announced, Chef Wayne Howey of Tropical Island Gourmet was excited to get the call from the competition organizers. Palm Beach Gardens-based Tropical Island Gourmet Co., which distributes a wide assortment of bottled sauces and Spice Blends, has received a First Place 2010 Scovie Award.  In the industry’s most rigorous blind tastings, a panel of the country’s top culinary experts sampled hundreds of the world’s most lauded gourmet foods, and the top scoring products each won a coveted Scovie banner.

First Place in the Medium Hot Sauce category was awarded to Tropical Island Gourmet’s top selling “Fire Ant Juice” which is manufactured by Sauce Crafters  in Riviera Beach Fl.  Over 600 products from around the world competed for top honors.  Continue Reading

Ashley Food Company, known for its world famous Mad Dog 357 Hot Sauces, has created yet another reason for extreme hot sauce lovers and collectors to make new room on their shelves. Called Mad Dog 357 Pure Ghost Hot Sauce, this new extreme hot sauce features the world-record setting Bhut Jolokia pepper from Northeastern India, also known as the Ghost pepper.

“The Ghost is truly one of the most unique peppers in the world, not only for its record-setting heat but also for its unique earthy flavor,” says David Ashley, master sauce crafter and president of Ashley Foods. “The goal was to create a sauce that would bring out the Ghost Pepper’s unique qualities of extreme heat and signature flavor, without the need for additional pepper extracts.”

Continue Reading

What are the hottest peppers and how is it determined which one is the hottest? A method of testing peppers is called the Scoville test. This method of testing a pepper’s pungency units was invented by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. Mr. Scoville determined his test results by taking the extracts of many types of chili peppers and diluting them in a sugared water solution until none of the heat remained. The testing was accomplished by a panel of 5 “judges” who would taste these solutions and then tell Mr. Scoville when they no longer felt any heat. This testing was very subjective as your can imagine and results were not very consistent. The hottest peppers, such as habaneros, have a rating of 300,000 or more, indicating that their extract has to be diluted 300,000-fold before the capsaicin present is unnoticeable.

Continue Reading

Ashley Food Co., creator of the world’s hottest Mad Dog 357 Hot Sauce, has introduced a hot new edition: Mad Dog 357 Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce — a blend that’s bound to warm the hearts and obliterate the tongues of hot sauce collectors everywhere.

Master Sauce Crafter and Creator, David Ashley, whose sauces and extracts have won the accolades of heat seekers around the world, says, “In the world of hot peppers, the Ghost Pepper is the king the of hill. It was only natural to bring it to this super hot line of all natural Mad Dog 357 Hot Sauces.”

Continue Reading