Tabasco Sauce (04:18)

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The U.S. is the largest exporter of sauce and seasoning. Tabasco produces 700,000 bottles of sauce every day using the traditional recipe that includes capsicum frutescens peppers sourced locally and imported. Workers harvest and grind the peppers into chili mash.

Tabasco Production: Mash (05:49)

Workers transfer chili mash into whiskey barrels where it will mature for three years. In Arizona, Ed Curry cultivates specific peppers for worldwide markets. Tabasco is the top seller of chili sauce.

Tabasco Production: Sauce (05:29)

The chili mash matures after three years in storage. Workers decant and blend the mash with other ingredients before it goes through a refinement process. Christopher Columbus introduced chilies to Europe; 400 years later Edmund McIlhenny produces Tabasco.

Bottling and Distribution (05:07)

Every day, workers bottle 19,000 gallons of Tabasco sauce and ship it around the world; labels are available in 25 languages. Tabasco produces 12 varieties of sauce; the capsicum frutescens registers 30,000-50,000 SHUs. (Credits)