Best-Selling Hot Sauce, BBQ Sauce etc. for May 2010

The category-specific best-selling sauces and seasonings lists (hot sauces, BBQ sauces, snacks, gift sets, etc.) have been updated again at the Carolina Sauce Company online store for May 2010. Below are some highlights (at least one per category), with links to each highlighted product as well as each list so that you can see the complete lists:

*Best-Selling Hot Sauces: If you're looking for an authentic Mexican hot sauce that's fiery-hot, look no further than El Yucateco Salsa Picante Green Habanero Hot Sauce, made with green habanero peppers and our 6th best-selling hot sauce for May. If you prefer something a little less intensely hot but still packed with peppery flavor, check out Hog's Breath Key West Green Hot Sauce, from the famous Hog's Breath Saloon in Key West FL and featuring green jalapenos (our 10th best-selling hot sauce in May).

*Best-Selling Barbecue Sauces: If you want a rich, bold barbecue sauce that works wonders with ribs as well as chicken, is flavorful but not too spicy so the whole family can enjoy it, AND is made with all-natural ingredients and no high-fructose corn syrup, try our very own Apple Butter BBQ Sauce, which came in 10th last month on our list of best-selling barbecue sauces. For every jar sold, we donate $1 to Operation Sauce Drop, our nonprofit program that sends free sauce to deployed troops!

*Best-Selling Marinades & Dressings: If you want to wow your friends and family with an exotically delicious marinade at your next cookout, use the mildly spicy Nando's Peri-Peri BBQ Marinade and the fiery Nando's Hot Peri-Peri Marinade, both made in South Africa and featuring the African birds-eye pepper (also called the peri peri pepper). These delicious all-purpose marinades finished 4th and 7th, respectively, on May's list of best-selling marinades and dressings.

*Best-Selling Rubs & Seasonings: With a mouthwatering blend of sweet & savory seasonings and a cute name, it's no surprise that Bear-Man Tummy Rub was our third best-selling dry rub last month - AND it comes with a free recipe brochure! Making a very impressive debut (8th place) is the brand-new Bone Suckin' Poultry Seasoning, which is a milder version of the original Bone Suckin' Rib Rub with a few added herbs and spices that work especially well with chicken and other poultry.

*Best-Selling Salsa & Relish: It's hard to believe an authentic southwestern-style salsa verde like Pepper Dog Salsa Verde is made in NC, but this smoky-tangy-spicy tomatillo salsa is the real deal when it comes to flavor, and it was our 5th best-selling salsa or relish last month. Another delicious and unique North Carolina product, Red's Sweet Salsa, completed our top ten best-selling salsa list -- and unlike other sweet salsas, Red's Sweet Salsa is not made with fruit but rather features traditional chunky salsa ingredients like tomato, peppers and onions, for the perfect complement to salty chips. Red's Sweet Salsa is currently on sale at the Carolina Sauce Company!

*Best-Selling Jerks & Curry: More of a Jamaican steak sauce or condiment than a standard jerk sauce, Walkerswood One Stop Savory Sauce from Jamaica blends authentic jerk spices with other island seasonings for a robust, zesty tropical flavor that's great on just about everything, and won't burn out your taste buds. Walkerswood One Stop Savory Sauce was 7th on May's list of best-selling jerk products, and it's a real bargain at only $3.99 a bottle!

*Best-Selling Mustards & Ketchups: If you're bored with ordinary grocery store ketchup and are ready for some grown-up ketchup with a robust, spicy and smoky flavor, you need to try Melinda's Chipotle Ketchup, made with real chipotles, tomatoes and other all-natural ingredients (and no HFCS), last month's 5th best-selling ketchup or mustard -- and currently on sale at Carolina Sauce!

*Best-Selling Wing Sauces: If you love chicken wings and want to try something different from the standard Buffalo wing sauce, try Tony's Birdland Hot Wing Sauce (7th best-selling wing sauce for May) or Tony's Birdland Mild Wing Sauce (10th best-selling wing sauce for May) from the famous wing joint in Rochester NY, featuring a finger-licking-good tangy-sweet flavor that's also great with grilled or roasted chicken, stir-fry, shrimp, veggies and more.

*Best-Selling Gift Sets: Our two all-time best-selling gift sets are our Mild NC BBQ Sauce Gift Set (9th in May) and our Hot NC BBQ Sauce Gift Set (10th in May), each with 6 sauces representing the different regional styles of Carolina barbecue, and both gift sets come with lots of free recipes.

*Best-Selling North Carolina Products: The very first product that the Carolina Sauce Company began selling back when we started in 2003 was Jim's Own Homestyle BBQ Sauce (5th best-selling NC product in May), which is an addictively tasty vinegar-tomato (Piedmont style) barbecue sauce with a slightly sweet tang. The spicy-hot Jim's Hot BBQ Sauce (8th best-selling NC product in May) adds habanero peppers to the original recipe, and is one of my personal favorites. Both varieties come with free recipes!

*Best-Selling Snacks & Sweets: If you like snacking on peanuts and enjoy spicy foods, you'll love Firehouse Nuts, which are smoked-habanero-seasoned peanuts that come in a firefighter-themed can. These are one of my favorite snacks (in fact, I have an open can on my desk right now), and were our 8th best-selling snack or sweet last month.

*Best-Selling Steak Sauces & Pasta Sauces: If you love robust, homestyle spaghetti sauce that's packed with rich, slow-cooked flavor but don't have hours to spend in the kitchen, you need to try Santo & Josie Tomato-Eggplant Pasta Sauce (our 4th best-selling pasta or steak sauce in May), made from an old Sicilian recipe using all-natural ingredients and currently on sale at Carolina Sauce -- and it's also part of our Sauce for a Cause program. And as usual, our best-selling steak sauce in May was Castle Sauce, which also happens to be our all-time best-selling product across all product categories.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria