Like many things in life and the universe in general, El Gringo Picante is the culmination of many forces, often seemingly unrelated, that suddenly converged into a powerful explosion of spice and flavor. Jennifer Sadler and Brian Surratt used the resources they could muster to escape the cold U.S. winters whenever possible, traveling to the Caribbean, Central and South America, seeking warmer temperatures and fun surf....and of course the delicious cuisine!

More often than not, the two would be dining somewhere and there was no hot sauce to be seen.
"Salsa picante, por favor?"
Someone would bring back a mostly empty 2 ounce bottle of some generic hot sauce, the two would smile graciously, and quickly empty the bottle completely.
There seemed to be a shortage of good hot sauce in those places, hmmm.....

Although Jen and Brian are both big fans of hot sauce, it was Brian who was tagged with the nickname, "El Gringo Picante." It was partially because of his high tolerance to extremely hot peppers and sauces, but mostly because he kept calling himself that, and if you call yourself something like 4 million times, it starts to stick with a few people here and there.

But anyway, in November of 2015, the two once again left the U.S. for a trip to Ayampe, Ecuador, a quaint and serene little ocean village off the beaten path, surrounded by rainforest. While there, they enjoyed the good food and tropical delights that grew freely all around.

No one remembers exactly why, but Jen started referring to Brian as "El Gringo Picante" a little more, and seemingly out of the blue one afternoon said, "Hey, you should make El Gringo Picante hot sauces!"

And so in December of 2015, the two future sauciers set out on their spicy journey, not out of the country this time, but into the kitchen/mad science laboratory. Having been in Ecuador 3 weeks prior, they were still very much steeped in the sights and smells and tastes of this serene and beautiful place.
2 days before leaving Ecuador, they enjoyed delicious Maracuya juice (passionfruit) with their breakfast. Now back in cold Virginia, they were very much trying to connect with those tropical flavors and share them with the rest of the North American world.

Jennifer quickly and skillfully located a supplier of fresh passionfruit from Ecuador, found a couple pounds of chocolate Habanero peppers, as well as a variety of dried chili peppers for seasoning, and the two began to mix and cook and blend, and through the choking robust cloud of habanero fumes emerged their first sauce: Asesino Maracuyá, aka the passionfruit killer, aka the assassin.

On the very same day the duo created a jalapeno-based sauce with some green habaneros and an ecclectic array of tasty ingredients, and the second sauce variety was born: the Chupa Cabra sauce. The 2 initial sauces more than passed the muster with these two sauce connoisseurs, as well as with friends and family who were given samples to try.

They finished off the original trio with a simpler and milder sauced based on the fresh red peppers that were available at the time, enhanced with the strong smoky flavors of dried Chipotle and Morita peppers.
They named this one, arguably the most versatile and inclusive to more tastebuds, El Humo; "the smoke", named for its smoky flavor.

Although production is being focused on the 3 staple sauces already available, here are at least 4 more sauces being planned. Check our News page for updates, and "like" our facebook page at www.facebook.com/elgringopicante as well, to stay in the loop...

As of May 12, 2016, we have obtained all necessary licenses and permits to legally sell our products far and wide, and our 3 current sauces have all been officially lab tested and are certified shelf stable.
Here is the definition of 'shelf stable,' from wikipedia..

"Shelf-stable food (sometimes ambient food) is food of a type that can be safely stored at room temperature in a sealed container. This includes foods that would normally be stored refrigerated but which have been processed so that they can be safely stored at room or ambient temperature for a usefully long shelf life."

So, to answer a common question, you DO NOT need to refrigerate our sauces, but you can if you want!

Unlike many of our competitors, small and HUGE, we do not use Xanthan gum in our products; a thickening agent that has been linked to various adverse health effects, nor do we use any chemical preservatives.

We are now in the process of securing supply chains and planning world domination.

..or at least getting sauces into the hands of everyone who wants it!

Please bear with us as we get this operation fully functional and operating on all cylinders; all new developments will be posted to the News page.


To be continued...