December's Best-Selling Products at Carolina Sauce Co.

Wells BBQ Sauce

Because of the holidays, December is always our biggest month at Carolina Sauce Company, and this past month was no exception. We're still in the process of tallying the totals to compile our lists of the best-selling products for all of 2012, but we did manage to complete the calculations for the month of December. There were a few newcomers and plenty of old favorites on the list of December's Top Ten products, which follows:

1.  Wells Hog Heaven Barbecue Sauce once again is our best-selling sauce, which should come as no surprise because it's also our best-selling product of all time, as well as 2012's top-selling sauce. This is a traditional eastern North Carolina BBQ sauce, which means vinegar is the main ingredient and there are no tomatoes or other thickeners. This tangy sauce is best enjoyed with Carolina style pulled pork barbecue, but is also tasty as a marinade for chicken or splashed on fried fish or collard greens at the table.

2.  Bone Suckin' Rib Rub took second place, which is the best finish I can recall for this savory-sweet BBQ dry rub from North Carolina. Not too spicy or salty or sugary, its well-balanced blend of spices complement ribs and other meats, and also work well with grilled chicken or shrimp and even as a seasoning for popcorn and fries.

3.  Completing the NC trifecta is the original Bone Suckin' Sauce, a western NC style barbecue sauce that's tangy, sweet and sassy. Like most North Carolina barbecue sauces, vinegar plays an important role but the tomatoes add mellow sweetness and a bit of body without turning it into a thick sauce. Great on everything from pulled pork to grilled chicken, Bone Suckin' BBQ Sauce is all-natural, gluten-free and Kosher.

Bacon Hot Sauce

4.  Bacon Hot Sauce broke into the top ten for the first time, and was a popular Christmas gift for bacon lovers. It's a classic pepper-vinegar hot sauce with a medium kick and that unmistakeable smoky-meaty flavor that makes bacon so addictive.

5.  Matouk's West Indian Hot Sauce is one of the best-selling hot sauces of all time and a regular on our monthly top 10 lists. Thick, flavorful and spicy-hot with a hint of tropical papaya and mustard tang, this scotch bonnet pepper hot sauce from Trinidad & Tobago is superb on everything from meat and chicken to seafood, veggies and beans-n-rice dishes.

6.  JohnBoy & Billy's Original Grillin' Sauce made its debut on our list of best sellers, finishing an impressive sixth last month. Made in the coastal Carolina or "low country" style with mustard added to the vinegar-tomato base, its tangy flavor goes great with BBQ chicken, ribs (pork or beef), pork chops, shrimp, grilled vegetables, burgers and more.

NC BBQ Gift Set

7. One of our new sauce gift sets for Christmas was our revamped Mild NC BBQ Sauce Gift Set, which comes with full-size bottles of Wells Hog Heaven, the Original Bone Suckin' BBQ Sauce, JohnBoy & Billy's Original Grillin' Sauce and the original Bone Suckin' Rib Rub (which are some of our most popular North Carolina products).  In addition to being a favorite Christmas gift, in years past this BBQ gift has been a huge hit for Father's Day, birthdays, and as a housewarming or thank-you gift.

8. Scorned Woman Hot Sauce holds on to a spot on our top ten list, this time finishing eighth. This all-purpose vinegar-pepper hot sauce adds fiery heat at the table and in any recipe calling for hot sauce. It's my go-to choice for soups, stews, bloody Marys, and anytime I want serious peppery heat without altering the natural flavors in my food.

9. Gourmet bacon from Bacon Freak took ninth place in December thanks to holiday gift orders as well as holiday cooking (after all, everything's better with bacon, right?)  Whether you're looking for traditional hickory-smoked bacon or nitrite-free bacon, or more exotic varieties like maple, vanilla-bourbon, etc., you'll find it at Bacon Freak (along with all sorts of other bacon products, novelties and gifts).

10. North Carolina country ham graced many a holiday table last month (or seasoned a recipe), and was also a popular gift choice for people who appreciate the depth of flavor and buttery texture of old-fashioned, traditionally cured country ham from Johnston County, NC.  Whether you're looking for bone-in or boneless, whole hams or sliced, cooked or uncooked, or even the rare and award-winning Mangalitsa hams prized by chefs and connoisseurs, you'll find them on our Country Ham page.

We'll keep working on the calculations for 2012's best-selling products and will have them posted here and on the Carolina Sauce Company website as soon as possible.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria