One Hot Brutha

When it comes to hot sauce, heat should not be the only goal. But all too often, flavor is an afterthought behind the tongue-searing, tastebud-paralyzing properties. Well, area residents should know that there's one bad-ass, flavor-packed hot sauce being produced and sold right in our backyard.

Friends recently brought over a bottle of Uncle Brutha's No. 10 hot sauce, a local product I'd seen several times at a stand at Eastern Market but (stupidly) never stopped to try. Spiced primarily by habaneros, jalapenos and serrano chiles, the Fire Sauce No. 10 delivers a powerful bite that hits hard, but after the almost smoky, garlicky flavor charms your tongue. The No. 9 sauce, made with green chiles, is heralded today by the Hot Sauce Blog.

Uncle Brutha, aka Brennan Proctor (that's him on the label), started selling his hot sauce in 2003, and the No. 10 sauce was awarded second place in the 2005 Fiery Foods Challenge. According to a family story, Proctor's great granduncle George "Brutha" Hubbud was working as a Pullman porter on the Underground Railroad when "he came across a patch of wild bushes full of a strange fruit he had never seen before. These special chilies were used to give this sauce its unique flavoring."

Aside from Eastern Market, here's where to find Uncle Brutha's hot sauce.

(Photo by Metrocurean.)

Comments

Anonymous said…
The green sauce is honestly the best hot sauce I've ever tasted. So different from Tabasco (which is what most people are familiar with), it's not even funny. I agree with the hot suace blog post that the made-up story about the underground railroad is pretty tacky--the sauce is so good there doesn't need to be some hokey story on the side of the bottle.
10/24/2005 1:45 PM
Amanda said…
I need to get a bottle of the green sauce.

I agree with you on the story. Not sure the connection the Pullman porters had with the Underground Railroad (did some searching), but I'm no historian...
10/24/2005 2:35 PM
Anonymous said…
I stopped by his stand in August! He was funny, nice and passionate about his product- and FYI speaks Spanish! I'm so happy to see you support this made-in-DC gem. Good job!
10/25/2005 10:21 AM
Anonymous said…
I picked up the green sauce on the advice herein, and hot damn, thanks for that. It's really good stuff.
11/07/2005 12:48 PM
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