I’ve gone full circle on hot sauces in the last ten years. While my friend Andrew Berns has always been an aficionado, the web series Hot Ones definitely ignited a passion to try tons of different hot sauces. The Copeland house used to have an entire shelf with hot sauces.

Now-a-days, I just keep going back to Cry Baby Craig’s. It’s my favorite.

It’s primary spice comes from habaneros, but they’ve been pickled, which dials back the heat while enhancing the flavor. It is a general purpose hot sauce that works across a ton of foods, but it’s especially good on avocado toast from Standish Cafe. While some hot sauces are exceptional in specific foods (like Cholula on fish tacos), Cry Baby Craig’s wins my all-around prize.

There’s lots of good spice out there, though. The Reaper hot sauce above was from the Minnesota State Fair and I’ve never found it since. The Last Dab (from Hot Ones) is really superior at an immediate tongue burn, as is the Scorpion pepper powder.

Any sauces I should give a shot? I’ll open up comments on this post, send me a suggestion!

Bonus: Here’s a video of me eating a ghost pepper at the Minnesota State Fair in 2018.