Field Notes
Notes from the table
How to Taste Hot Sauce Like a Sommelier
Five things to read in any bottle before you decide what it is for: aroma, base, heat curve, finish, and salt-and-acid balance. A repeatable method, with a scoring card.
The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival: Why a Cuban Sauce Keeps Going Back to Texas
The 36th Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival is Sunday, August 30, 2026 at Radio/East. Matanza took 2nd Place in Commercial Bottlers Pepper Sauce there last year; here is what the festival is like from the table.
Weekend of Fire 2026: Four Ribbons, an Eating Contest, and the Makers Who Made the Trip Worth It
Jungle Jim's 15th Weekend of Fire in Fairfield, Ohio: about 400 sauces, three tasting sessions, People's Choice for Piñazo, and a taco challenge we presented. Plus the peers who had a big weekend.
Reading a Cuban Hot Sauce Label: The 1-to-10 Scale, Lab Scoville, and the Mojo Base
A maker explains its own label: why Barbaro Mojo prints a 1 to 10 heat number, what the independent lab Scoville results say (1,992 to 6,500 SHU), and what "mojo criollo" on an ingredient list means.