What Is Tabasco Sauce?

As those oft-quoted philosophers The Spice Girls so sagely said: “Spice up your life!” And there’s no better, more tried and true way to give your food a little kick than with a handy-dandy little bottle of our friend Tabasco. Today, we’ll take a good long look at this congenial condiment, while keeping our actual eyes a safe distance from it, of course. Let’s tabas-go, and talk tabasco! 

What is Tabasco? Is Tabasco hot sauce?

Tabasco sauce is a hot sauce. But it’s not  just any hot sauce. It’s one of the most famous hot sauces in the world, to the point where some people generally refer to any hot sauce as “Tabasco” just as they would “kleenex” to mean tissue. 

Made with Tabasco peppers, this thin, red hot sauce is known for its vinegary flavor and medium-high heat. It’s often used to add spice to foods like raw oysters, chili, mac and cheese, and more. And it’s also frequently used in Bloody Mary recipes. 

There’s more than one type of Tabasco sauce. The company makes classic Tabasco, of course, as well as Green Jalapeno, Chipotle Pepper, Cayenne Garlic, Habanero Pepper, Scorpion Sauce, Sriracha, Sweet & Spicy, and even Buffalo. Plus, you can also get bottles so tiny that you can fit them in any of the pockets you’ve got on your outfit, so you can whip one out at an opportune time and impress the heck out of everybody! 

Where is Tabasco made?

Tabasco sauce is made and bottled on Avery Island, Louisiana, by the McIlhenny Company, which was founded there in 1868 by Edmund McIlhenny. The McIlhenny family has owned the island for over 180 years and has been making Tabasco sauce for five generations. If you ask me, that’s a much better way to use your island than hunting other humans for sport or performing inter-species Frankenstein experiments on them! What were the guys in those old books even thinking with that stuff?

How is Tabasco made?

According to the company website, classic, original Tabasco is made by combining mashed Tabasco peppers (aged in white oak barrels…fancy!), a small amount of salt and “high quality” vinegar. The peppers used in producing the sauce are heirloom Tabasco peppers that have been protected for nearly a century and a half by the McIlhenny family.

Does Tabasco go bad?

The original Tabasco has a shelf life of five years after opening the bottle, which beats out both Tapatío and Frank’s RedHot, which have a shelf life of two years. (Not that it’s a competition, we’re all friends here at the end of the day!)

Does Tabasco need to be refrigerated?

According to the McIlhenny Company, refrigerating Tabasco isn’t necessary, but it can help prevent discoloration and preserve its overall quality. Most hot sauces are shelf-stable and can be stored at room temperature for years because of their high salt and vinegar content.

How hot is Tabasco sauce?

Tabasco sauces tend to range in spiciness depending on which variation you’re using, but the classic Tabasco is somewhere around 3,750 Scoville units. That’s a far cry from the scorpion pepper Tabasco, which is somewhere between 23,000 and 35,000 units.