The McIlhenny Company and Louisiana’s Favorite PepperSauce

By Ebiere Ekadi

• Made from the Tabasco Pepper• Salt, Pepper and Vinegar• Edmund McIlhenny given seeds of Capsicum frutescens peppers• Cultivated seeds on Avery Island and created his first pepper sauce

The Origins of “Original Red Sauce”

Edmund McIlhenny, creator of Tabasco Pepper Sauce

Flavor in the“Reconstruction South”• Diet of Reconstruction South bland by LA standards• Created pepper sauce from via simpler process (little machinery)

• Create mash by crushing the reddest peppers• Mixed with Avery Island Salt• Aged Mash for 30 days in crockery jars and barrels• Blended mash with French white wine vinegar• Aged for another 30 days• Strained and bottled in cologne type small bottles

The Tabasco Pepper

McIlhenny Company Today • Labeled in 22 languages and dialects• Sold in over 165 countries and territories• Added to soldiers rations• Used in restaurants around the globe• Still on Avery Island• 200 employees live on the island• Flavors: Original Red Sauce, Green Jalapeno, Chipotle, Buffalo Style

Hot, Habanero, Garlic Pepper, Sweet & Spicy

The Tabasco Sauces

THE PROCESS:How Tabasco is Made• Extremely Quality Based• The Peppers (originally from Mexico or Central America)• Aged for three years after picked and mashed

• Mash placed in oak barrels and the wooden tops are covered in Avery Island Salt• Salt acts as a natural barrier to protect the contents from

spoiling

The Tabasco Sauces

“le petit bâton rouge”

THE PROCESS:How Tabasco is Made• The mash is inspected by a member of the McIlhenny family• When approved, the fully aged mash is then blended with high-

quality distilled vinegar• Numerous stirrings and about four weeks later, the pepper skins,

pulp and seeds are strained out using three different-sized screens• Then the “finished” sauce is bottled by modern methods, labeled

in 22 languages and dialects, and prepared for shipment to over 165 countries and territories around the world.

• LINK TO VIDEO

The Barrels

INSPECTIONS:Controlling Quality• Inspection primarily on labeling correctly• Acquire Automation (www.acquire-automation.com) for 360 degree inspection• The inspection station can read barcodes, verify text, inspect

graphics and measure features at production line speeds of up to 1,200 parts per minute.

The Tabasco Sauces

ACHIEVING SUSTAINABILITY• Since its early days, McIlhenny Company has

manufactured its premier product in a sustainable manner.

The Tabasco Sauces