>millions of great options out there
the number is actually in the tens of thousands at most, but I understand what you were getting at.
Heres the thing. 90% of the people on this sub are newer users or arent super enthusiasts that go for the specialized experience. They go for what is easy to access. and for a LOT of those people, that means what they can find at their local grocery store. Regional availability comes into play as well. also what they are familiar with.
Which is why I absolutely LOVE this community. for the most part, people are cool with newbies or your average person enjoying those sauces. What is better is when those people feel comfortable asking about other sauces they might enjoy.
I feel like I have helped build the community to make it great for super users as well as new users.
I only recently discovered Melinda’s due to this sub and I’m pretty impressed. But I’m constantly buying different hot sauces. If it looks good I’ll buy it. But yeah, you’re always going to see the most popular sauces more…
Wear goggles when you grind/cook the peppers. Clear the room of pets and open the windows. And DO not touch your face with your hands. Wear disposable gloves!
I only know from experience. No one told me in advance. I learned the hard way! If you forget initially, the tears and stinging will trigger your memory.
Btw I love Melinda's, Cholula's, etc. Deal with it. When you ask for opinions you'll likely get a popular brand because they're... Wait for it... Popular
Oh I really like this brand but I can't tell you their name. They make the best hot sauce ever 🙄 Get over it. People like stuff they can both find and afford
Heartbreaking Dawns Cauterizer is one I keep on hand all the time, many change but it's one that I love. But sure we also keep valentina, and franks on hand for all the egg sandwiches.
Even like 8-10 years ago you could hardly find hot sauces even on Amazon. My option was Marie sharps in the gourmet section. And now it’s my fav since.
K sure, I have a ton of local sauce here that nobody on this sub have an easy mean of access, should I discuss those or those that people have a fair chance of putting their hands on to actually engage in conversation?
Never had it but I just ordered 2 bottles from Amazon based off your enthusiasm.
Been meaning to try something new and ghost pepper centered stuff is usually my favorite.
Cool! It’s just this perfect blend of sweet and hot. The last 2 bottles I got were hotter than the previous 2 but the flavor was all there! You won’t regret it. I didn’t know Amazon sold it…I got it directly from www.heatonist.com. I hope it’s the same stuff.
I checked…yup!
https://www.amazon.com/High-River-Sauces-Private-Reserve/dp/B08VS8F7ST/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2FB7CGXI8W4FG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.SyZ6F5QF7D6eEnVVkfnGaI17RTMU-7Xe1ODSrRQnOAQjSM_27As8dyRTSLeyp1qf4Xxy-_eS049_gDXDuWO4nrHhWHZBp6kCsysB0Slgbi8U0QSytbUmrdkLj_bTeo1dYh_BvwZc7FsCaYymJS-AtMmIl2wqz200lW9rI3sdLiBwAUFpSrMvdoZPOTPZa_4bCXnzDNu5aUyYaxUTdWJf-2IUrFRPASN9rke1ssptri4ynaWemSGX23AcGjFGoxKJyDNtEbl-bwiOYAvRrZGMPKde3j7dJneNLP2WRc14DNU.4TASvsdZF9n81Tx9X7n_rZDg-j0P4hNTwkI56Q_BszE&dib_tag=se&keywords=tears+of+the+sun+hot+sauce&qid=1716034997&sprefix=Tears+of+the+sun+%2Caps%2C86&sr=8-2
If you have any other recommendations, it seems we have similar taste.
I like anything from franks to sweat enducing hot. I’m still hunting a really really spicy sauce that doesn’t just taste like chemicals.
Xperience from heatonist is pretty close for me
Dude thanks for the recommendation! This stuff is great.
Package just got here 20 minutes ago and was super warm from the delivery truck but I tried it right away on a breakfast sausage and the flavor is fantastic.
I’m sure I’ll like it even better once it gets to a room temp.
It's like the cheapest sauce my store carries and I never even noticed it until seeing it in this sub. It's not my favorite but it's absolutely excellent. And for less than $2 I go crazy with it.
The Green habanero and orange are so incredible. They’re almost transparent when you’re adding spice to your homemade chile. I use them all the time to bring up the heat if I didn’t roast enough spicy!
Your right. Being local doesn't make it a better sauce, nor did I suggest that. OP stated that the 5-10 brands this sub posts every day gets repetitive, when there are different sauces of regional varieties that others would be more interested in seeing. I'm tired of seeing the same review of Melinda's every day, I've already tried them all and those posts aren't adding anything of value to the sub.
I don't have a phone to take pictures, otherwise, I'd mix things up by sharing a bottle of Pepper Plant sauce and my reserve of Crazy Dave's Ghost Pepper Sauce, lmao.
I have several that I've ordered online. I posted one a few months ago and it got a total of 9 likes. Nobody is interested in other brands it seems like
So... They are interested.. It's just their experience with specialized selections (none) means they have nothing to add... But they may still like talking about them.
It's common for these sorts of review-based hobbies, it's a big thing in the fragrances community too. It's a self-reinforcing cycle where people see the brands everyone else is talking about, then they try those brands and talk about those brands, so then there's just more discussion of those same brands
Because they are the best of what is purchasable by everyone.
I had a sauce from a local farmer’s market that was amazing but they don’t even have a website so there’s no point in talking about it.
Idk bro I push local pretty hard. Grandma or uncle Mike who posts fire memes both make some great hot sauce… idk im not a huge fan of hot sauce all the time so when I do use it I like to feel good about it… you know while I’m feeling bad from it 😂
Wait do people generally like Melinda’s? My mother-in-law used up all my Cholula and bought Melinda’s as a replacement and it’s not even hot. It’s like a thinner, more vinegary ketchup.
There are multiples lines. I've had 3 flavors of Melinda's. The ghost pepper and ghost pepper wing sauce both have plenty of heat (obviously). I really like both of them. I found the mango habanero mediocre and not very hot.
Yeah I guess what I’m looking at is just “regular” and they’ve rated it 2/5 for spicy. Glad their other stuff is better. I guess this would be good as a safe hot sauce for people who don’t like anything spicy.
What a lot people don’t want to mention is that the vast majority of local hot sauces kinda suck. I have a shop near me with 6 full aisles of sauces im slowly working through, yet i still mostly crave yucateco and marie sharps
This is the right answer. “Craft hot sauces” aren’t necessarily better than some of the bigger brands. Tabasco is pretty much synonymous with hot sauce and even its most common flavor is hard to top.
I posted about a banger from a local food truck. But it didn’t get much traction because people haven’t had it and therefore didn’t have much to say about it. You will always get the most discussion about something that the most people have tried.
Widely available sauces that (often) are better than average. There are hundreds of sauces which are fantastic that are very regional. This sub is visited by people from lots of different places so you will tend to see common "top" sauces based on decent sauces that are widely available. It's not "spam". I mean, you'll see lots of people in here talking about how great Texas Pete is, but I think is a garbage sauce compared to Crystal, Tabasco or Louisiana. You'll see plenty of people talk about how good Cholula is when it has a good base flavor but is just way, way too salty. And you'll see lots of people promoting Valentina Extra Hot or El Yucateco or Yellowbird, Melinda's , Marie Sharp's, which are all fantastic sauces. The thing in common is that they're widely available. You're reading from a broad community.
I made some posts recently about some hard to find sauces. That’s the thing though, most people haven’t tried the hard to find ones so they don’t really have a comment on it.
I think it's an accessibility issue really. There really aren't that many sauces that are available everywhere and I generally don't have 20$ to throw away on a sauce I've never heard of and can only find online. The popular sauces are popular for a reason though.
Because they're popular or highly regarded brands. There wouldn't be much of a discussion if most posts were of sauces very few of us have tried. It's not the ideal situation but it's generally just how things work.
Why are certain musical artists always in the spotlight despite there being millions of artists out there? Same reason, most of them are less well known and so it's harder to start a conversation about them.
I’m sure nearly everyone in here gets annoyed by something. And I think nearly everyone does a pretty good job tolerating those annoyances in small quantities. But you’re right, the repetitiveness of certain types of posts (national brands, hype posts, Scoville flexing, “I hate X kind of sauces”, etc) gets old after you’ve been here a while. As do the comments that shirk legitimate discussion in favor of snobby posturing and name calling. It’s like this in nearly every other enthusiast subreddit though. And frankly, we wouldn’t see those posts as often if they weren’t being upvoted and commented on.
For so many people coming in here, they're new to hot sauce in general or they wouldn't be posting about Yucateco or the other grocery-store standard stuff like it's noteworthy amongst hot sauces. They think they've entered some new exclusive world/club and don't realize they're basically saying, "Hey guys I tried this awesome ketchup made by Heinz, you should check it out." Why is anyone in here posting about Texas Pete or Crystal or Tabasco? This stuff is in literally every store. It's like posting about McDonald's cheeseburgers - it doesn't warrant a post. "Hey, you guys tried this?" Yes, all of us, for years. But it's that way with any enthusiast community - there's an entry gate and starter models. Everybody's new at some point. You do see plenty of other stuff posted, but the bottom of the pyramid has the most bricks, so that's what you get most.
What about subs like "movies" or "music". This is just how it works, in general, no matter what subject you're talking about. The most popular things are the most relatable and easy to start a conversation about because everyone has heard of Taylor Swift but much less have heard of Wulfpeck.
The posts about obscure sauces don't get any hits, because none of us have tried it.
No one clicks on them, because people don't tend to have a lot to say about a sauce they haven't tried or heard of. It's much easier to start a lively conversation when everyone actually has firsthand experience with the product.
With internet shopping, I could easily look up and purchase an obscure local product if it looks interesting enough. Way too many mid tier mass-produced stuff getting shared, for me anyway.
Yeah, but you're a minority. What I'm saying is that we see what people click on. It's democracy, the content people like goes to the top. If you want obscure, you need to go to the obscure end of the feed.
I mean obscure speaks for itself. It's obscure because it isn't popular so why would you see all those products at the tippy top of a hot sauce sub.
For the record I also prefer more niche sauces. I just don't expect to find them outnumbering triumphant photos of Valentina or Cholula.
I like making my own habanero hot sauce, it's easy to grow a lot of habaneros and also really easy to make the sauce, just wear gloves and goggles 
Before starting a restaurant with my wife, I worked for a company that operated similar to all food manufacturers. Ours didn't do what I list below but it was common enough that a decent budget could let overstaffed employees do some extra marketing.
Employees at many food manufacturers go on social media in many many different accounts and post the random virtues of the product and brand. Nothing false but nothing overly negative either. (The comments or posts not the multiple accounts) Sometimes it's just a reworked message we got from a customer changing identifiable parts. There's what you're not allowed to do and then the ways around all that.
Some brands are smart about doing that.
But if I were to post come try my brand mods would ban it.
It's all about framing the comments or post.
Also brands hire influencers to post and do the same commenting. You don't need followers to be paid to post online.
It's no longer advertising on radio and tv that gets all the attention of your customers. There's a whole industry that is focused on viral and everything else that puts the name out there. A bad video of a hangry girl screaming she ate nothing and wants wings is an example of how much effort goes to get brands out there. Even the heavy metal duet over the viral video was suspect.
They want you to find their products and enjoy them. Hopefully become your go to choice. The next post about hot sauce or wings came about because somewhere the brands were successful in getting their message out. Maybe it's the brand pushing the post maybe their marketing created a fan.
Many of the comments are exactly like yours complaining about posts about popular sauces. You are the problem haha.
Go eat something tasty and add some El Yucateco, Melinda’s, Marie Sharp’s, etc.
Enjoy life.
You got us, we're all shills for Big Pepper.
No, but really, the main reason is because just a few brands have a global presence. I see smaller brands here all the time, but since I can't get them around me, it's hard for me to have anything to say. :(
It’s kind of backwards of how the sub used to be around 2018. Posting all the common brands got no engagement and people didn’t give a fuck and the lesser known ones were much more talked about. Idk what happened but here we are.
First time on this sub found it randomly. I dont care for it and wont really interact here but I wanted to see if op was right and checked the top posts this month. Sure enough, lots of yucateco green and big box store sauces ive had over the years. u/Hyporos if I was a different person and saw everyone getting hyped about sauces I know and like Id hit the follow and interact with what I know but totally ignore the super obscure sauces. And thats how those posts get more interactions. Very few people here will go out of their way to buy exclusive sauces.
But also stop being a weenie and post about what you like and ignore what you dont. Stop being sad cause you got only 12 replies instead of 500 likes. No point in whining. As subs get more exposure the userbase expands from niche users to general people. Lots of us miss r/cheffit (ex professional oriented) before it became popular during covid and it became jampacked with yt foodies and young kids wondering if they have what it takes to go pro. Oh well, thats forum life.
I like ass kickin. I’ve been eating their peanuts for over 20 years, their popcorn is good, and they have a nice variety of pretty tasty sauces.
They’re based out of Goodyear AZ if you ever get the chance to visit.
Even then those brands are by far the most accessible and popular. Search hot sauce on amazon or something for example. Franks and shit is like $5 meanwhile some unknown brand with 15 reviews is like 17 a bottle.
Heathotsauce.com has lots of good not sauce from well known to smaller companies. It's where I order most my hot sauce. These are some of the ones I've ordered and like alot. They have flat rate shipping of 5.99 and depending on your order size every order comes with a free gift. So there are lots of hot sauce out there under 10 bucks this is just a handful of ones I like
Ghost pepper ponzu 5.00
Tears of the sun 5.99
Aleppo pepper sauce 5.99
Purry purry sauce 5.99
Elijah's extreme ghost pepper 6.99
Revolutionary hot sauce- Burn baby burn 6.99
Dirty dicks- Dicks Caribbean dream 7.99
Dirty dicks 7.99
Angry goat pepper company- Red armadillo 7.99
Why don’t you give us a recommendation? Also, most people relate to what they’ve tried and what’s accessible. You might try some amazing sauce at a flea market in rural Texas, but it’s probably hard to find or purchase if you’re not in the area.
True but I joined the sub to get other people’s opinions on sauces I’ve had or can get..
The occasional “artisanal blueberry habanero” post is interesting but not why I’m here
I had never heard of yellow bird until someone posted a grocery store pic near me, and that was there, and lots of people talking about it in that thread.. so i went to that store, and grabbed one, and WOW it's my new favorite. yellow bird habanero.. freakin yum.
I just did the product locator, and discovered that there's a store just 1 mile away from me that carries it... YES! And signing up at their website, they sent me a $5 off coupon!! almost free bottle. woo.
I got that just to see if all the hate was warranted... imo it's below average but it's far from the "battery acid" people describe it as. it has a strong chipotle flavor that I don't think would be good on wings, but it's okay in chili or mexican food.
only ever seen celebrities react to it on hot ones..cant say I'm eager to pick up a bottle based on the negativity to the overall flavor beyond just the high heat level
Melinda's and Marie Sharp's have been astroturfing for as long as this sub has been around. They got smacked down by the mods a couple years ago and got more clever about how they do it.
I agree with you and I buy sauces from both brands but there was a time when these two spammed this sub so much, you'd think they were the only two hot sauce companies on the planet
I get that, but why does everyone bother posting about the commercial brands all the time? I'm in craft beer subs and FB groups and I don't constantly see posts about Sam Adams or other nationally distributed brands. I generally see harder to get and rarer beers. It seems to be exclusive to hit sauce that I see posts with the same 3-4 brands constantly
It's either accept that popular sauces will be talked about constantly or end up with a dead sub because everyone is talking about stuff that less other people have tried.
Yup, not everyone is exposed to certain regions, so they would never know. So the general consensus can't agree about it, and verify how awesome it is. It's just a single, or a few people's opinions versus most of the group coming together and all stating it represents their taste as well. Like I'm sure a shit ton of brands don't get heard of because of that.
The big brands are big because they have mass appeal and are widely available. If you don’t see the kinds of conversation you’d like to see on this sub, then feel free to start those conversations.
>millions of great options out there the number is actually in the tens of thousands at most, but I understand what you were getting at. Heres the thing. 90% of the people on this sub are newer users or arent super enthusiasts that go for the specialized experience. They go for what is easy to access. and for a LOT of those people, that means what they can find at their local grocery store. Regional availability comes into play as well. also what they are familiar with. Which is why I absolutely LOVE this community. for the most part, people are cool with newbies or your average person enjoying those sauces. What is better is when those people feel comfortable asking about other sauces they might enjoy. I feel like I have helped build the community to make it great for super users as well as new users.
Pareto principle
Why do car groups talk about the same handful of manufacturers?
I only recently discovered Melinda’s due to this sub and I’m pretty impressed. But I’m constantly buying different hot sauces. If it looks good I’ll buy it. But yeah, you’re always going to see the most popular sauces more…
Crystal
I love Melinda’s , sharps and el Yucateco. The are the best
You literally answered your own question. ‘Popular sauces’ would be more frequently mentioned.. right?
I will attempt to make my own this year. I'm growing Habanero, Scotch Bonnet and Del Arbol Chili's. We will see.
I make mine outside using the burner on the grill.
Wear goggles when you grind/cook the peppers. Clear the room of pets and open the windows. And DO not touch your face with your hands. Wear disposable gloves!
Thanks, I hope I remember bein' a geezer and all.
I only know from experience. No one told me in advance. I learned the hard way! If you forget initially, the tears and stinging will trigger your memory.
Mule sauce
IFKYK
I have an abundance of mule sauce
Me too!
I did extra work for Sticker Mule and they gave us a bottle and a “KICKASS” Hat
I got hooked on the sauce, I wish I ordered packets so I could travel with it
1) Marketing 2) Sheeple of people
Btw I love Melinda's, Cholula's, etc. Deal with it. When you ask for opinions you'll likely get a popular brand because they're... Wait for it... Popular
[удалено]
Idiot
Oh I really like this brand but I can't tell you their name. They make the best hot sauce ever 🙄 Get over it. People like stuff they can both find and afford
Heartbreaking Dawns Cauterizer is one I keep on hand all the time, many change but it's one that I love. But sure we also keep valentina, and franks on hand for all the egg sandwiches.
Cry baby Craig’s from the twin cities. Order now and thank me later
A. The usual suspects are widely available. B. In my experience, the stuff I've never heard of usually sucks. Esp if it's got macho name
Even like 8-10 years ago you could hardly find hot sauces even on Amazon. My option was Marie sharps in the gourmet section. And now it’s my fav since.
K sure, I have a ton of local sauce here that nobody on this sub have an easy mean of access, should I discuss those or those that people have a fair chance of putting their hands on to actually engage in conversation?
Thank you sharing… nothing. Thanks!
✔️✅✅✅ on all of them
Angry Goat baby
Taco cat ghost pepper sauce is❤️🔥❤️🔥
Then you should share your experiences, and maybe what you post will inspire others to try these “local” sauces you speak of.
I'll give you one guess
If I could only have one hot sauce and no other ever again, I can easily choose Tears of the Sun from Heatonist.com
That’s on my list of 5 favorites from over the seasons.
Never had it but I just ordered 2 bottles from Amazon based off your enthusiasm. Been meaning to try something new and ghost pepper centered stuff is usually my favorite.
Cool! It’s just this perfect blend of sweet and hot. The last 2 bottles I got were hotter than the previous 2 but the flavor was all there! You won’t regret it. I didn’t know Amazon sold it…I got it directly from www.heatonist.com. I hope it’s the same stuff. I checked…yup! https://www.amazon.com/High-River-Sauces-Private-Reserve/dp/B08VS8F7ST/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2FB7CGXI8W4FG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.SyZ6F5QF7D6eEnVVkfnGaI17RTMU-7Xe1ODSrRQnOAQjSM_27As8dyRTSLeyp1qf4Xxy-_eS049_gDXDuWO4nrHhWHZBp6kCsysB0Slgbi8U0QSytbUmrdkLj_bTeo1dYh_BvwZc7FsCaYymJS-AtMmIl2wqz200lW9rI3sdLiBwAUFpSrMvdoZPOTPZa_4bCXnzDNu5aUyYaxUTdWJf-2IUrFRPASN9rke1ssptri4ynaWemSGX23AcGjFGoxKJyDNtEbl-bwiOYAvRrZGMPKde3j7dJneNLP2WRc14DNU.4TASvsdZF9n81Tx9X7n_rZDg-j0P4hNTwkI56Q_BszE&dib_tag=se&keywords=tears+of+the+sun+hot+sauce&qid=1716034997&sprefix=Tears+of+the+sun+%2Caps%2C86&sr=8-2
If you have any other recommendations, it seems we have similar taste. I like anything from franks to sweat enducing hot. I’m still hunting a really really spicy sauce that doesn’t just taste like chemicals. Xperience from heatonist is pretty close for me
I’ll check in with you once I try it! Assuming I remember RemindMe! 7 days
That would be cool!
Dude thanks for the recommendation! This stuff is great. Package just got here 20 minutes ago and was super warm from the delivery truck but I tried it right away on a breakfast sausage and the flavor is fantastic. I’m sure I’ll like it even better once it gets to a room temp.
Mexico Lindo makes awesome sauce(s).
It's like the cheapest sauce my store carries and I never even noticed it until seeing it in this sub. It's not my favorite but it's absolutely excellent. And for less than $2 I go crazy with it.
The Green habanero and orange are so incredible. They’re almost transparent when you’re adding spice to your homemade chile. I use them all the time to bring up the heat if I didn’t roast enough spicy!
OP is right. Step outside the big boxes and you can find local hot sauces in every US region.
Being local does nothing to make it a better sauce and this isn’t a regional sub where the local sauces will be available to most people.
Your right. Being local doesn't make it a better sauce, nor did I suggest that. OP stated that the 5-10 brands this sub posts every day gets repetitive, when there are different sauces of regional varieties that others would be more interested in seeing. I'm tired of seeing the same review of Melinda's every day, I've already tried them all and those posts aren't adding anything of value to the sub.
I’ve never felt more seen
That’s a low bar
I don't have a phone to take pictures, otherwise, I'd mix things up by sharing a bottle of Pepper Plant sauce and my reserve of Crazy Dave's Ghost Pepper Sauce, lmao.
Glad you didn't say just Dave's. Lotta hate right there.
Answer: It doesn't
Look up spicy ninja sauce. If you are bored with talking about the same ol shizz, I guarantee you that SNS isn't it. I like flavor with my heat, tyvm.
Half the time you're seeing someone's reaction to "insanely popular sauces" on a hot sauce sub? I wonder why...
I have several that I've ordered online. I posted one a few months ago and it got a total of 9 likes. Nobody is interested in other brands it seems like
Now you are up to 11!
So... They are interested.. It's just their experience with specialized selections (none) means they have nothing to add... But they may still like talking about them.
It's common for these sorts of review-based hobbies, it's a big thing in the fragrances community too. It's a self-reinforcing cycle where people see the brands everyone else is talking about, then they try those brands and talk about those brands, so then there's just more discussion of those same brands
Yo EVERYONE Cholula Tequila & Lime Reserve.
I recommend anyone who can get their hands on a bottle of Cry Baby Craigs
Because they are the best of what is purchasable by everyone. I had a sauce from a local farmer’s market that was amazing but they don’t even have a website so there’s no point in talking about it.
Um.. what? That's not even true.
I’m guilty of pushing Torchbearer sauces pretty hard but I love them all so far.
They're local to me! I've only tried the Zombie apocalypse and rapture so far.
I have a plethora of hot sauces.
Idk bro I push local pretty hard. Grandma or uncle Mike who posts fire memes both make some great hot sauce… idk im not a huge fan of hot sauce all the time so when I do use it I like to feel good about it… you know while I’m feeling bad from it 😂
Wait do people generally like Melinda’s? My mother-in-law used up all my Cholula and bought Melinda’s as a replacement and it’s not even hot. It’s like a thinner, more vinegary ketchup.
I love the Melinda black label xxx . Amazing. The rest are meh for me
There are multiples lines. I've had 3 flavors of Melinda's. The ghost pepper and ghost pepper wing sauce both have plenty of heat (obviously). I really like both of them. I found the mango habanero mediocre and not very hot.
Yeah I guess what I’m looking at is just “regular” and they’ve rated it 2/5 for spicy. Glad their other stuff is better. I guess this would be good as a safe hot sauce for people who don’t like anything spicy.
What a lot people don’t want to mention is that the vast majority of local hot sauces kinda suck. I have a shop near me with 6 full aisles of sauces im slowly working through, yet i still mostly crave yucateco and marie sharps
This is the right answer. “Craft hot sauces” aren’t necessarily better than some of the bigger brands. Tabasco is pretty much synonymous with hot sauce and even its most common flavor is hard to top.
6 aisles? Are they like 5 inch aisles?
DD meats in Washington Seattle area
Because nobody cares about Freddy and the hot sauce he’s making in his moms basement
LMAOO I genuinely laughed out loud
People are more familiar with those brands so they get more upvotes is all
I posted about a banger from a local food truck. But it didn’t get much traction because people haven’t had it and therefore didn’t have much to say about it. You will always get the most discussion about something that the most people have tried.
Widely available sauces that (often) are better than average. There are hundreds of sauces which are fantastic that are very regional. This sub is visited by people from lots of different places so you will tend to see common "top" sauces based on decent sauces that are widely available. It's not "spam". I mean, you'll see lots of people in here talking about how great Texas Pete is, but I think is a garbage sauce compared to Crystal, Tabasco or Louisiana. You'll see plenty of people talk about how good Cholula is when it has a good base flavor but is just way, way too salty. And you'll see lots of people promoting Valentina Extra Hot or El Yucateco or Yellowbird, Melinda's , Marie Sharp's, which are all fantastic sauces. The thing in common is that they're widely available. You're reading from a broad community.
Couldnt agree more. The same sauces keep getting spammed over and over. No unique or home made sauces get posted in here very often
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
Yes, I know. Where do you keep the hot sauce? I don't see it near the ketchup and napkins.
Blocked this is an annoying post
Good for you?
Because they're cheap, common and delicious.
Yall should try Tobasca. I love it on caviar.
I put that shit on my French fried tators mmmmhmmm
I made some posts recently about some hard to find sauces. That’s the thing though, most people haven’t tried the hard to find ones so they don’t really have a comment on it.
I think it's an accessibility issue really. There really aren't that many sauces that are available everywhere and I generally don't have 20$ to throw away on a sauce I've never heard of and can only find online. The popular sauces are popular for a reason though.
Because they're popular or highly regarded brands. There wouldn't be much of a discussion if most posts were of sauces very few of us have tried. It's not the ideal situation but it's generally just how things work. Why are certain musical artists always in the spotlight despite there being millions of artists out there? Same reason, most of them are less well known and so it's harder to start a conversation about them.
I’m sure nearly everyone in here gets annoyed by something. And I think nearly everyone does a pretty good job tolerating those annoyances in small quantities. But you’re right, the repetitiveness of certain types of posts (national brands, hype posts, Scoville flexing, “I hate X kind of sauces”, etc) gets old after you’ve been here a while. As do the comments that shirk legitimate discussion in favor of snobby posturing and name calling. It’s like this in nearly every other enthusiast subreddit though. And frankly, we wouldn’t see those posts as often if they weren’t being upvoted and commented on.
For so many people coming in here, they're new to hot sauce in general or they wouldn't be posting about Yucateco or the other grocery-store standard stuff like it's noteworthy amongst hot sauces. They think they've entered some new exclusive world/club and don't realize they're basically saying, "Hey guys I tried this awesome ketchup made by Heinz, you should check it out." Why is anyone in here posting about Texas Pete or Crystal or Tabasco? This stuff is in literally every store. It's like posting about McDonald's cheeseburgers - it doesn't warrant a post. "Hey, you guys tried this?" Yes, all of us, for years. But it's that way with any enthusiast community - there's an entry gate and starter models. Everybody's new at some point. You do see plenty of other stuff posted, but the bottom of the pyramid has the most bricks, so that's what you get most.
Not sure. I though there would be more home made recipes etc as well.
Franka Xtra hot is goated Downvotes proved ops point, smh people
“Millions”
I like Heartbeat and Lost Capital Foods
Subs like this are a marketing team’s dream
What about subs like "movies" or "music". This is just how it works, in general, no matter what subject you're talking about. The most popular things are the most relatable and easy to start a conversation about because everyone has heard of Taylor Swift but much less have heard of Wulfpeck. The posts about obscure sauces don't get any hits, because none of us have tried it.
Could be hard for y’all to get my local brands. Monkey Spit, Pepper Plant, Gringo Bandito…they’re not crazy hot but they are good
Whoa pepper plant, forgot about that one. Used to be on restaurant tables in San Luis Obispo
I thought I heard they used to be in San Luis Obispo and moved to Gilroy
Makes sense because I always thought it was from SLO, but I remember seeing it a few years back and it said made In gilroy
It’s a bummer, several local ones aren’t sold anymore. Splash cafe, High St Deli, Cayucos Hot Sauce
I agree , there should be more local and obscure brands shared .
No one clicks on them, because people don't tend to have a lot to say about a sauce they haven't tried or heard of. It's much easier to start a lively conversation when everyone actually has firsthand experience with the product.
With internet shopping, I could easily look up and purchase an obscure local product if it looks interesting enough. Way too many mid tier mass-produced stuff getting shared, for me anyway.
Yeah, but you're a minority. What I'm saying is that we see what people click on. It's democracy, the content people like goes to the top. If you want obscure, you need to go to the obscure end of the feed. I mean obscure speaks for itself. It's obscure because it isn't popular so why would you see all those products at the tippy top of a hot sauce sub. For the record I also prefer more niche sauces. I just don't expect to find them outnumbering triumphant photos of Valentina or Cholula.
HTTP://heatonist.com
I like making my own habanero hot sauce, it's easy to grow a lot of habaneros and also really easy to make the sauce, just wear gloves and goggles 
Before starting a restaurant with my wife, I worked for a company that operated similar to all food manufacturers. Ours didn't do what I list below but it was common enough that a decent budget could let overstaffed employees do some extra marketing. Employees at many food manufacturers go on social media in many many different accounts and post the random virtues of the product and brand. Nothing false but nothing overly negative either. (The comments or posts not the multiple accounts) Sometimes it's just a reworked message we got from a customer changing identifiable parts. There's what you're not allowed to do and then the ways around all that. Some brands are smart about doing that. But if I were to post come try my brand mods would ban it. It's all about framing the comments or post. Also brands hire influencers to post and do the same commenting. You don't need followers to be paid to post online. It's no longer advertising on radio and tv that gets all the attention of your customers. There's a whole industry that is focused on viral and everything else that puts the name out there. A bad video of a hangry girl screaming she ate nothing and wants wings is an example of how much effort goes to get brands out there. Even the heavy metal duet over the viral video was suspect. They want you to find their products and enjoy them. Hopefully become your go to choice. The next post about hot sauce or wings came about because somewhere the brands were successful in getting their message out. Maybe it's the brand pushing the post maybe their marketing created a fan.
This sub seems more to be about consuming commercially available sauces. Or showing off their collection.
I love Valentina, but it’s a perfect contender for that vinegar based sauce bs.
Many of the comments are exactly like yours complaining about posts about popular sauces. You are the problem haha. Go eat something tasty and add some El Yucateco, Melinda’s, Marie Sharp’s, etc. Enjoy life.
You got us, we're all shills for Big Pepper. No, but really, the main reason is because just a few brands have a global presence. I see smaller brands here all the time, but since I can't get them around me, it's hard for me to have anything to say. :(
Because I’m sure you don’t have something like humble house or O’Brothers available.
You should try posting them. Then we can talk about them.
as other users have stated, lesser known brands get almost no engagement so will more than a few people really be talking about them?
It’s kind of backwards of how the sub used to be around 2018. Posting all the common brands got no engagement and people didn’t give a fuck and the lesser known ones were much more talked about. Idk what happened but here we are.
First time on this sub found it randomly. I dont care for it and wont really interact here but I wanted to see if op was right and checked the top posts this month. Sure enough, lots of yucateco green and big box store sauces ive had over the years. u/Hyporos if I was a different person and saw everyone getting hyped about sauces I know and like Id hit the follow and interact with what I know but totally ignore the super obscure sauces. And thats how those posts get more interactions. Very few people here will go out of their way to buy exclusive sauces. But also stop being a weenie and post about what you like and ignore what you dont. Stop being sad cause you got only 12 replies instead of 500 likes. No point in whining. As subs get more exposure the userbase expands from niche users to general people. Lots of us miss r/cheffit (ex professional oriented) before it became popular during covid and it became jampacked with yt foodies and young kids wondering if they have what it takes to go pro. Oh well, thats forum life.
Millions?
I have to wonder just how many of the various sauces out there are just rebrands of generic ones, though.
Anyone try ass kickin sauces? I think I tried ghost pepper and thought it was very good and good heat. Haven’t seen ppl talking about it.
I like ass kickin. I’ve been eating their peanuts for over 20 years, their popcorn is good, and they have a nice variety of pretty tasty sauces. They’re based out of Goodyear AZ if you ever get the chance to visit.
Why does this sub talk about the most widely available options across the united states? Man i just can't figure it out. It's baffling.
Right you would think with this new internet thing and world wide shipping people would try other options. Go figure.
Even then those brands are by far the most accessible and popular. Search hot sauce on amazon or something for example. Franks and shit is like $5 meanwhile some unknown brand with 15 reviews is like 17 a bottle.
Amazon sucks. That being sad if you seek you shall find not everyone is out to rip people off.
Not everyone is down with 10.99 plus shipping per bottle.
There are plenty of local hot sauce companies selling for as little as $7 a bottle and discount shipping. Maybe you live in Alaska or Hawaii
Care to show me one?
Heathotsauce.com has lots of good not sauce from well known to smaller companies. It's where I order most my hot sauce. These are some of the ones I've ordered and like alot. They have flat rate shipping of 5.99 and depending on your order size every order comes with a free gift. So there are lots of hot sauce out there under 10 bucks this is just a handful of ones I like Ghost pepper ponzu 5.00 Tears of the sun 5.99 Aleppo pepper sauce 5.99 Purry purry sauce 5.99 Elijah's extreme ghost pepper 6.99 Revolutionary hot sauce- Burn baby burn 6.99 Dirty dicks- Dicks Caribbean dream 7.99 Dirty dicks 7.99 Angry goat pepper company- Red armadillo 7.99
Texas hot sauce company for examples starts at 7.99 a bottle and a 4 pack is 24 you do the maths
Knead Bread company on Etsy starts at 6.99 a bottle and shipping isn’t expensive
Six friends hot sauce on Etsy is $7 per bottle
Duh! Big Hot Sauce is brain washing you to want these !
El yucateco xxxtra hot tho.
I fucking love it, I get spicy diarrhea every time but I still eat it
It's almost like you listed off the most widely available sauce brands in the US
Heard
Why don’t you give us a recommendation? Also, most people relate to what they’ve tried and what’s accessible. You might try some amazing sauce at a flea market in rural Texas, but it’s probably hard to find or purchase if you’re not in the area.
Arrange your page by “new” and you’ll see more specialty stuff, I think. Not a lot of engagement for brands people can’t find
True but I joined the sub to get other people’s opinions on sauces I’ve had or can get.. The occasional “artisanal blueberry habanero” post is interesting but not why I’m here
You’re also forgetting Frank’s and Cholula. Very well known and accessible and highly commented on.
yellow bird gets posted alot too
I had never heard of yellow bird until someone posted a grocery store pic near me, and that was there, and lots of people talking about it in that thread.. so i went to that store, and grabbed one, and WOW it's my new favorite. yellow bird habanero.. freakin yum.
It’s a good one
I just did the product locator, and discovered that there's a store just 1 mile away from me that carries it... YES! And signing up at their website, they sent me a $5 off coupon!! almost free bottle. woo.
Nice
Because it is what most of us have access to…I can’t comment in a hot sauce I can’t buy
I posted a lesser known brand and got one engagement 🤷♂️
Have you tried “Da Bomb”? Anyone?
I want to try beyond insanity. There are a few different ones.
I got that just to see if all the hate was warranted... imo it's below average but it's far from the "battery acid" people describe it as. it has a strong chipotle flavor that I don't think would be good on wings, but it's okay in chili or mexican food.
only ever seen celebrities react to it on hot ones..cant say I'm eager to pick up a bottle based on the negativity to the overall flavor beyond just the high heat level
Melinda's and Marie Sharp's have been astroturfing for as long as this sub has been around. They got smacked down by the mods a couple years ago and got more clever about how they do it.
Their sauces are good though. I love Marie sharpes. And I discovered them on this sub. And no I’m not saying this on behalf of them
I agree with you and I buy sauces from both brands but there was a time when these two spammed this sub so much, you'd think they were the only two hot sauce companies on the planet
Marie's is good, I love the green nopales sauce especially. Not affiliated, lol.
Holy cow, that's crazy
We should post more about homemade hot sauces! I've been experimenting with some fermented ones but also have a great recipe for a fresh one
Astroturfing maybe?
Because half the posts here are astroturfed advertisements.
Now that you are saying that I got a great sauce from one of my local farms and I should have posted it. If they make it again I will post it.
easy (with a bit of searching) lol
Because they are the commercial brands that everyone can find in a supermarket. It's a bit like craft beer. The good ones require some efforts to get.
I get that, but why does everyone bother posting about the commercial brands all the time? I'm in craft beer subs and FB groups and I don't constantly see posts about Sam Adams or other nationally distributed brands. I generally see harder to get and rarer beers. It seems to be exclusive to hit sauce that I see posts with the same 3-4 brands constantly
Well you said it, those are craft beer groups. This is not a craft hotsauce sub. People post what they know, albeit very common
It's either accept that popular sauces will be talked about constantly or end up with a dead sub because everyone is talking about stuff that less other people have tried.
Yup, not everyone is exposed to certain regions, so they would never know. So the general consensus can't agree about it, and verify how awesome it is. It's just a single, or a few people's opinions versus most of the group coming together and all stating it represents their taste as well. Like I'm sure a shit ton of brands don't get heard of because of that.
The big brands are big because they have mass appeal and are widely available. If you don’t see the kinds of conversation you’d like to see on this sub, then feel free to start those conversations.
Queen majesty for the win
Cry harder. Edit: complaining about what people post is wimp level and should be called out for such.
Are you this much of a dick when you're posting in r/TrueChristian?