February's Best-Selling Sauces & Products

February was a surprisingly busy month at Carolina Sauce Company, with an unusually large number of online orders for this time of year -- and this is a good thing for a small family business! Although in some years past there had been no point in tallying up the best-selling sauces for what's typically one of the slowest months of the year, this February we had a sufficiently high number of orders to generate a statistically significant list of best-sellers for the month. So, here goes:

1. Matouk's Calypso Hot Sauce: This brightly flavorful and fiery hot sauce captures the essence of Caribbean sun and fun. Powerful scotch bonnet peppers, succulent papaya, savory West Indian mustard and island spices deliver festive flavor and heat in a thickly textured sauce that will cling to your food and make your mouth sing. Made in Trinidad & Tobago in the West Indies, Matouk's Calypso is one of our most popular hot sauces and was the top-selling hot sauce for the month of February.

2. Wells Hog Heaven BBQ Sauce is made in eastern North Carolina in the traditional fashion for this part of the state: tart vinegar, zesty spices and absolutely no tomatoes, for a thin, super-tangy sauce that's meant to be splashed liberally on slow-smoked, hand-pulled pork barbecue. If you want to experience authentic Carolina barbecue the way the locals do, this is the sauce you need. You can also use Wells BBQ Sauce as a marinade for chicken and meats, or as a seasoning sauce for collards or green beans, especially if you add a little oil to balance out the vinegar. Wells Hog Heaven is not only our best-selling barbeque sauce (and our second-best selling sauce last month), but it's also our overall best-selling product of all time at the Carolina Sauces online store.

3. Blair's Death Rain Jolokia Pepper Potato Chips are kettle-cooked slices of crispy, crunchy, FIERY-HOT potato to satisfy the cravings of serious fire-eaters and lovers of spicy snacks. Quite possibly the hottest potato chips on the market, you'll definitely want to have a well-chilled, heat-quenching beverage nearby or a cool, creamy dip in which to dunk these Death Rain potato chips seasoned with dried jolokia (ghost pepper) and other savory, spicy seasonings.

4. Matouk's West Indian Hot Sauce: Similar to Matouk's Calypso but with a slightly milder heat and a delightfully brighter, fruitier flavor from luscious tropical papayas, this hot sauce is deeply satisfying in terms of rich island flavor, food-coating thickness & texture, and cheerful color. Excellent with poultry, seafood, vegetables & rice dishes, it's also quite good with anything you grill including sausages, burgers and more.

5. *TIE* JohnBoy & Billy's Hot & Spicy Grillin' Sauce *and* Busha Browne's Pukka Hot Pepper Sauce shared the 5th place position on last month's best-seller list. The Grillin' Sauce features a tangy blend of vinegar, tomatoes & mustard with a pretty decent kick from hot peppers & zesty spices. If you enjoy hot & spicy barbecue sauces for your grilled or smoked meats and chicken, JohnBoy & Billy's Hot Grillin' Sauce is for you. Also for fans of heat that tastes great is Pukka Sauce from Jamaica, a colonial-style all-purpose hot pepper sauce that packs a good punch but won't destroy your taste buds. Pukka Sauce is equally good at the table on served food or as an ingredient in any recipe calling for hot sauce.

6. Gator Hammock Hot Gator Sauce is a favorite of Floridians and is rapidly growing in popularity throughout the United States and even abroad. Featuring a special blend of cayenne, habanero, scotch bonnet & jalapeno peppers in an all-natural, garlicky, savory-tangy spiced vinegar base, it's the go-to hot sauce for foodies who appreciate heat and for hot-sauce lovers who appreciate a well-balanced, great-tasting hot sauce.

7. Busha Browne's Authentic Jerk Seasoning comes in a deceptively small jar that holds a highly concentrated, intensely flavorful and aromatic blend of traditional Jamaican jerk spices and herbs. A little goes a long way both in terms of flavor and heat, and connoisseurs of Jamaican cuisine will be pleased when served jerked meat, poultry or seafood prepared with Busha Browne's special "wet rub" seasoning paste.

8. Walkerswood Traditional Jerk Seasoning, Hot & Spicy is another genuine Jamaican jerk seasoning that delivers superb flavor and authentic heat in a highly concentrated package. Each brand uses its own specially-developed combination and ratio of spices, herbs, scotch bonnet peppers and savory ingredients like garlic and scallions, with Walkerswood adding a bit of sugar unlike Busha Browne. Some people prefer one over the other; I like them both. You can use them the same way in the same recipes, so if you're a fan of jerk cooking, I recommend you get a jar of each and do a side-by-side taste test comparison to see which you prefer.

9. Jim's Own BBQ Sauce, Rubs & Gifts: For over a decade, this family-owned and operated small business has been making award-winning North Carolina barbecue sauces that add delicious tangy-sweet flavor to everything from pulled pork to marinated & grilled chicken, vegetables and even shrimp & fish. Jim's Own now also makes Mustard and Smokey BBQ sauces as well as a variety of zesty, savory BBQ rubs and a new hearty, wholesome chili mix that takes virtually all the work out of making homemade chili. Jim's Own also offers a special selection of gift baskets and other gift items suitable for any occasion. It's no wonder Jim's Own products are regularly among our best-selling sauces, seasonings and gifts for barbecue enthusiasts.

10. Bacon Gift Baskets & Bundles are always welcome with baconistas and other people passionate about the best part of the pig. From gourmet and flavored bacon to traditional and nitrite-free cuts, bacon-flavored foods, bacon cookbooks and even bacon-themed novelties like bacon-scented cologne & candles, bacon-flavored lip balm, bacon plush toys and t-shirts proclaiming one's love for bacon, you'll find them all at our partner Bacon Freak.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria