Why Canada’s new condiment contender should be held up next to the hot sauce titans from our southern neighbours. 

Name the best-selling hot sauces in the world. Go on, we all know the names. Franks Red Hot and Tabasco are American brands.

Cholula and Valentina hail from Mexico.

Sriracha has Thai origins but is produced primarily by California company; Huy Fong Foods.

What you won’t find on this short list of spice sultans is a Canadian contender.

Enter Front Street Heat. 

What does Canada’s premium hot sauce have in common with these tastebud tycoons? None of them are chasing Scovilles. 

Pepperhead Lesson of the Day

Scoville heat units, simply put are the unit of measurement that we assign to measure the relative spice level or “heat” of a pepper or sauce. The higher the Scoville unit, the hotter the sauce. 

Rather than subjecting end users to the taste of pain, these fiery fat cats know that the way to their consumers hearts (and wallets) is through teasing their pallet points, not demolishing their digestive tract.

Front Street Heat certainly checks all the boxes here.

A mild but powerful flavour impact.

The heat without the hate. 

Made with a lineup of quality ingredients, headlined by its unique roasted red pepper base, Front Street Heat combines a pepper blend (habanero, jalapeno, chipotle) formulation that allows heat to plateau at just the right spot to keep your tastebuds wanting another dab.

Let’s call it… Hoser Heat.

If Canada were a hot sauce, it would be mild mannered but bold and strong in flavour. If Canada were a hot sauce it would be made up of a beautiful mix of quality premium ingredients (that’s you guys) and an attention to detail that leaves no doubt it was Canadian made. If Canada were a hot sauce and you told it that it wasn’t hot enough, it would likely give you a confident grin, apologize and tell you to hang tight for *Spoiler Alert* Front Street Fire.

What Franks, Tabasco and Cholula understand is that hot sauce heat isn’t a spice flexing competition. While you might earn bragging rights with friends, you are unlikely to win awards for flavour.

Front Street Heat did just that at the 2018 World Hot Sauce Awards in Baton Rouge Louisiana.

If there is one thing that Louisiana knows, it is the balance between heat and flavour to pull and tie savoury flavours together in a Creole dish.  

While offering something completely unique in texture and profile, Front Street Heat is finding a home sitting on the same shelf as these seemingly impervious imports. It combines that condiment level versatility with a pleasant, flavourful and extraordinarily clean condiment alternative (or culinary companion hybrid). 

Whether it be that complement to a hearty egg breakfast, the sauce you slather your buffalo chicken wings with, or that secret ingredient that elevates your favourite dishes, hot sauce plays a very important role in the current culinary landscape. YouTube web series Hot Ones has not hurt the cause. Hot Ones gives celebrities a platform to plug a project or a cause after being interview while having their mouth’s set on fire via chicken wing.

Hot sauce is in.  

Canada has not been known to be a player in the hot sauce world traditionally. It may not be where you expect hot sauce to be made. With that in mind, our national cocktail is the Caesar, a savoury cocktail featuring hot sauce.

We love supporting Canadian products. #WeCANDoUs

There is a quality and pride in what Canada produces that gets baked into this product. Top Shelf Canada with its flagship product Front Street Heat seems to be less interested in whether or not they belong and more concerned with showing the world we can produce anything at a high standard. That is ultimately what Canada is known for. Uncompromised quality.  

Front Street Heat is really making its mark displaying some unique qualities to its imported competition while living comfortably in the same category. It is standing out in the condiment world and saying very firmly but very politely “Canada can make great hot sauce too, eh?” as Canada would say if it were a hot sauce.   

10 out of 10 would recommend. Pick a bottle of Front Street Heat directly from our online store.