Are Alcohol-Based Hot Sauces About To Take Menus by Storm?

On Foodable

When creating your menu, the last thing you want is for your dish to be flavorless and bland. In many ways, spicy, heat flavor varietals can elevate your dish. Millennials, in particular, have recently shown to favor hot sauce and many data sets describe the tastes of younger generations as more adventurous with flavor and spice.Hot sauce sales alone are expected to become a $1.65-billion market in the next five years, according to market research firm IBISWorld.One spicy innovation previously covered by Foodable, is Mike’s Hot Honey. This chili pepper-infused honey has made a name for itself in pizzerias as the best way to enhance pizza slices with a sweet and spicy kick.Another hot sauce high in demand is sriracha. According to recent Foodable Labs research, Sriracha is up 21.3% in use by chefs on menus year over year.The latest trending spicy condiment alcohol-based hot sauce. This comes as a major contrast to a majority of hot sauces on the market. Most brands use similar ingredients, hot peppers, and white vinegar. Commercial hot sauces use vinegar as a preservative for shelf stability. However, this can overwhelm the taste of the pepper.“I would spend a couple of days making a beautiful pot of gumbo, and it just seems against the divine plan to dump some vinegar in that just to get some spice,” said Matt Beeson, founder of Swamp Dragon Hot Sauce. “The smell of it clashes. The taste of it doesn’t work with anything.”With a boozy base in five flavors -- vodka, rum, tequila, ouzo, and bourbon -- your dishes will get a unique kick. Not to worry though, this hot sauce innovation won’t have enough alcohol to get your diners drunk after topping their dishes. Learn more about this boozy hot sauce taking over stores in the video above and at “Thrillist.”