Vol. 4: Pepper North
Extreme Biz Profiles is a series where you can learn more about Biz members' ventures while at the same time receiving a special offer! It then opens up to any questions you may have about their products, company history, industry hurdles, etc.
Preface: Pepper North was the biggest winner in The 10th Annual Hot Pepper Awards including Best Overall Hot Sauce!
THE HOT SEAT
Do you have a culinary background? Your sauces reflect the idea that heat must have flavor, but you also have some serious cheffing going on; black cherries and reapers, but the result is a full on savory bomb that would complement the finest filet mignon.
I do not have a formal culinary background, but I have always had a strong interest in cooking. My wife tells me all the time that I should have been a chef. I love combining unique flavours, peppers, and other ingredients into my cooking.
Getting the flavor to shine in extreme sauces is no easy task. I attribute this to a lot of bold flavors that linger, like your usage of garlic and ginger in combo with the right sweetness/fruit, etc. Upfront flavors that have an aftertaste, to hold up through the burn but not hide the all-important pepper flavor. And nothing is overly sweet but the sweet tends to round it all out. It's quite rewarding, and not many extreme sauces can pull that off. Can you tell us more about this?
Yes – absolutely! My goal when creating sauces is that on first taste you get that quick hit of flavour before the heat kicks in. This is where my use of fruits comes in. An example would be our Blueberry Plague hot sauce, where you get that initial blast of blueberries along with the sweetness of the honey before the heat from the scorpion peppers starts to build. Then after a couple of minutes the heat starts to subside and you are left with a sweet and savory sensation that is very enjoyable. I always use a pepper variety that I think would pair well with the combination of other ingredients, such as blueberries and scorpion peppers, pineapple and habanero peppers, black cherry and reaper peppers, etc.
The mustard is fantastic, how are the sales compared to sauces?
It’s funny, the Hive Mind mustard was actually our 2nd product we released after our No Joke hot sauce, but it has never received the overall love that our sauces have. Winning back-to-back 1st place awards in the Hot Pepper Awards has helped, but people always seem to be drawn to our hot sauces. I think the mustard is one of those products that has to be sampled – once people try it they love it.
Tell us about your latest creation.
Our newest product is our Stargazer “7 Pot Primo” Hot Sauce. We wanted to have some fun with a blazing hot, pepper-based sauce, but still keep our spin on it. We decided to keep it simple (only 7 ingredients), and really focus on the flavour of the Primo pepper. We paired it with red jalapenos, maple syrup, lime juice, and garlic to give it a sriracha style twist. We were thrilled when someone sent Bill Moore a bottle on our behalf to review and he loved it – giving it a 9/10 on his heat scale. The review can be seen here:
Are there plans to be able to offer to more customers worldwide? The Canadian-only deal seems so limiting (and quite honestly it's not fair!
). (Note: This promo is open to USA)
Absolutely, and I understand everyone’s concerns. The shipping cost is the setback at this time, just as how most US based sauce companies do not ship direct to Canada. We are working on it though, and hope to have something in place by mid-2018.
¡FIERY! QUESTION: This may be controversial, but which of your sauces do you recommend on poutine... and the real question, have you committed such heresy?
I can’t say whether I’ve actually put one of our sauces directly onto poutine, but I have definitely made pulled pork with our Heart of Aztlan BBQ sauce and topped off a poutine with that – delicious!
THE OFFER
For 30 days, we are offering anyone in Canada or the USA our Fiery 3 Pack at 50% off <-- Use This Link! Customers can pick any 3 of our sauces and use coupon code: thp-deal. We have also set flat rate shipping of $10.00 across Canada, and $18.00 to anywhere in the USA. Exp 9/9/17 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL PRICES HERE AND ON THE WEBSITE ARE IN CANADIAN DOLLARS.
THE Q&A
Go!
Extreme Biz Profiles is a series where you can learn more about Biz members' ventures while at the same time receiving a special offer! It then opens up to any questions you may have about their products, company history, industry hurdles, etc.
Preface: Pepper North was the biggest winner in The 10th Annual Hot Pepper Awards including Best Overall Hot Sauce!
THE HOT SEAT
Do you have a culinary background? Your sauces reflect the idea that heat must have flavor, but you also have some serious cheffing going on; black cherries and reapers, but the result is a full on savory bomb that would complement the finest filet mignon.
I do not have a formal culinary background, but I have always had a strong interest in cooking. My wife tells me all the time that I should have been a chef. I love combining unique flavours, peppers, and other ingredients into my cooking.
Getting the flavor to shine in extreme sauces is no easy task. I attribute this to a lot of bold flavors that linger, like your usage of garlic and ginger in combo with the right sweetness/fruit, etc. Upfront flavors that have an aftertaste, to hold up through the burn but not hide the all-important pepper flavor. And nothing is overly sweet but the sweet tends to round it all out. It's quite rewarding, and not many extreme sauces can pull that off. Can you tell us more about this?
Yes – absolutely! My goal when creating sauces is that on first taste you get that quick hit of flavour before the heat kicks in. This is where my use of fruits comes in. An example would be our Blueberry Plague hot sauce, where you get that initial blast of blueberries along with the sweetness of the honey before the heat from the scorpion peppers starts to build. Then after a couple of minutes the heat starts to subside and you are left with a sweet and savory sensation that is very enjoyable. I always use a pepper variety that I think would pair well with the combination of other ingredients, such as blueberries and scorpion peppers, pineapple and habanero peppers, black cherry and reaper peppers, etc.
The mustard is fantastic, how are the sales compared to sauces?
It’s funny, the Hive Mind mustard was actually our 2nd product we released after our No Joke hot sauce, but it has never received the overall love that our sauces have. Winning back-to-back 1st place awards in the Hot Pepper Awards has helped, but people always seem to be drawn to our hot sauces. I think the mustard is one of those products that has to be sampled – once people try it they love it.
Tell us about your latest creation.
Our newest product is our Stargazer “7 Pot Primo” Hot Sauce. We wanted to have some fun with a blazing hot, pepper-based sauce, but still keep our spin on it. We decided to keep it simple (only 7 ingredients), and really focus on the flavour of the Primo pepper. We paired it with red jalapenos, maple syrup, lime juice, and garlic to give it a sriracha style twist. We were thrilled when someone sent Bill Moore a bottle on our behalf to review and he loved it – giving it a 9/10 on his heat scale. The review can be seen here:
Are there plans to be able to offer to more customers worldwide? The Canadian-only deal seems so limiting (and quite honestly it's not fair!
). (Note: This promo is open to USA)Absolutely, and I understand everyone’s concerns. The shipping cost is the setback at this time, just as how most US based sauce companies do not ship direct to Canada. We are working on it though, and hope to have something in place by mid-2018.
¡FIERY! QUESTION: This may be controversial, but which of your sauces do you recommend on poutine... and the real question, have you committed such heresy?
I can’t say whether I’ve actually put one of our sauces directly onto poutine, but I have definitely made pulled pork with our Heart of Aztlan BBQ sauce and topped off a poutine with that – delicious!
THE OFFER
For 30 days, we are offering anyone in Canada or the USA our Fiery 3 Pack at 50% off <-- Use This Link! Customers can pick any 3 of our sauces and use coupon code: thp-deal. We have also set flat rate shipping of $10.00 across Canada, and $18.00 to anywhere in the USA. Exp 9/9/17 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL PRICES HERE AND ON THE WEBSITE ARE IN CANADIAN DOLLARS.
THE Q&A
Go!
I tried to order and it said offer had expired! 
OK, I'll get back in there for the order. 
