Yes, I am in Chicago.  That wonderful midwestern city with the epic skyline, beer that flows like water, and endless supply of processed meat products. Meat products flow in such volume here, that Chicago poets are required by law to pay homage to its meat-ness in their opening lines:

Okay, so it is an unofficial law that I just made up, but there is seriously a LOT of meat product here. There are so many styles of sausage-based meats in Chicago that Lady Ga-Ga's dress of meat looks down-right vegetarian in comparison to what the streets look like at lunchtime. I know that many like to say Chicago is the "Windy city", but I really think it should just be called "the Sausage Meatropolis". 

Therefore, to honor my stay at "the Sausage Meatropolis", I have decided modify one of the city's most classic Sausage offerings in a way that would even make Abe Froman proud. Yes, I have Hotmaple-ized THE CHICAGO-STYLE HOTDOG

Now, before you Chicago natives don your Bears Jerseys, and decide to unleash the mighty fury of the great Mike Ditka on me... let me explain: I AM NOT CHANGING ANY OF THE CORE COMPONENTS OF THIS DELICACY. SO PLEASE LOWER YOUR PITCHFORKS.

Instead, I am just asking you all to try ADDING a bit of Hotmaple Smokey Habanero to the wonderful mix of the Chicago-style Hot Dog. 

Everyone reading this blog that has never tried a Chicago-Style Hot Dog needs to go out and procure everything in the picture ASAP! Whatever you do, do NOT skip on the celery salt... never, ever.

Once you have this magnificent creation crafted - slather on the Hotmaple Smokey Habanero. It will give that Chicago-Style dog a bit of a "kick in the pants" and put some fire in it. The smokey flavor also wakes up the beef hot dog, and turns it into a grill-masters dream.

 

This is one of those matches made in heaven that you need to try once before you die.
Hotmaple Smokey Habanero + the Chicago-Style Hot Dog.

I can't believe it, we are finally shipping product!!!

Here is a quick photo of the first run of orders being separated. By the time I post this they will already be in their boxes and on the way to customers.

I can absolutely say at this point we are turning around orders in <1 day! 

What ar you waiting for? Order up!!!

So you may have noticed something that looks like this on the information pages for our sauces:

 

That, my friends is a "tasting profile" of a particular sauce. You'll notice I am using only 4 of the 5 basic tastes: Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter  (as defined by Wikipedia).  I chose not to profile "Savory / Umami" as one of the areas, as I find in hot-sauces this is hard to define (there is so much going on).  Therefore I replaced it with: HOT, which obviously corresponds to the heat-level in the sauce.

While the way I am measuring this is not 100% scientific, this profile is compiled by input from tasters of the particular sauce. In reality this is more of a "relative graph" that will help you compare one Hotmaple sauce, to another Hotmaple sauce.  It is not intended to compare external brands to Hotmaple, or vice versa.

As our library of sauces builds, you'll be able to shop for a particular sauce based on flavor-profile.

On final note, I need to thank Sean Seidell Art + Science for the inspiration of this graph. I can only hope he chooses to pursue a deep study of hot-sauces for his next project ;-)

 

Go Science!

YES IT IS PINK!!! But don't let the color fool you, this sauce means business!

For summer 2013, we are working on a Maple-Nut Cherry Habanero sauce. It will make an excellent sauce for Whitefish, Pork Tenderloin, and Chicken Breast. Also meant to pair with side-dishes for White wines and cheeses. It is really fresh tasting with a bit of heat.

Flavor Profile: Bing Cherry's form the base-flavor, with a mix of Walnuts and Maple Smoke.

We will also be sharing a number of drink recipes (as in alcohol) that use this sauce in ways unheard of!  If we have our way, hot sauces will no longer be reserved for hangover cures and bloody mary's. We intend to put this guy up-front, in the line of fire, and hopefully be the reason you have a hangover the next day :-) 

Stay tuned!!

We combined 100% US Grade-A Dark Amber maple syrup with a special blend of spices and the most flavorful Habanero peppers to create an incredible hot sauce unlike anything you’ve ever tasted. We’ve spent a decade perfecting the recipe flavor; it's smokey and spicy with a hint of maple that delivers a subtle sweetness and rich flavor complexity to any meal. 

We are proud to craft our delicious hot sauces in Portland, Oregon and source 100 percent of our ingredients from the best suppliers in the Pacific Northwest.

How Hot is it?
The natural antioxidant properties from the maple syrup in Hotmaple Smokey Habanero helps shorten the heat cycle of the Habanero pepper. The sauce retains the usual Habanero "kick", but will not continue to burn long after consumption.

With Hotmaple Smokey Habanero, the heat comes with the flavor and doesn't cross-over to other parts of your meal. 

 

Designed for Everyone.
We wanted to create a sauce that anyone can love. That is why we took every step possible to insure our sauce is:  100% All natural & GMO Free, Gluten Free, Vegan & Vegetarian Friendly, and uses No Preservatives / artificial flavors or colors.