Hot Sauce of the Week

Uncle CC's Sauce Front Porch Committee-December is going to be another month of all Alabama hot sauces. This post in particular is going to be a little different. I was turned onto this sauce by my friend Billy and when I inquired I found out that this stuff is made in Leeds, AL, just a stone's throw down the road from me. I contacted Clint Hogland, the owner and mastermind behind the sauces and he was kind enough to answer a few questions.

Front Porch Committee is excellent. Crafted in the classic style of Louisiana sauces, it has that great vinegar and pepper pairing that made the style famous. The difference here is the quality. You can taste the freshness of the ingredients that went into it and tell if is crafted in small batches. I am a big fan of seeing bits of ingredients in the sauce and several times during my tasting I got seeds and I love that. In addition to the tang, the distinct flavor of the pepper is strong and unlike a lot of sauces of this style, this one brings the heat. Seriously, if you dig Louisiana sauces, pick up a bottle of this one.

Uncle CC's Upside Down Sauce- much like Front Porch Committee, this is a Louisiana Sauce. It carries the same small batch, fresh ingredient quality of the other. The similarities stop there. This sauce was a bit smokier with just a hint of sweetness poking through. It is easy to tell there is a different pepper in the mix as well as this sauce has a less exacting but broader burn that is very satisfying. Excellent, excellent stuff.

I tried both of these sauces over a variety of dishes this week and the flavors are classic and work well with anything. The big difference to me was the obvious quality of ingredients and care of small batch production. Seriously, these are great sauces and I am proud to say they are made here.

1. What inspired you to start making hot sauce? Spicy foods, mostly. I do a good bit of cooking, and I like it spicy. It was a natural progression for me to start making hot sauce. 

2. Are there any common elements in your recipes? In some of my recipes, yes. In others, not so much. I have a base sauce that I use as a starter for most of my sauces. 

3. Where do you source your ingredients from? I get most of my ingredients right off of the grocery store shelf or produce department. There are a few ingredients that I get from a local specialty store. 

4. Are your sauces all organic or gluten free? I'm not sure about gluten-free, but my sauces are not all organic. I am, however, working on that.

5. What is your goal for your sauces? To introduce people to the heat, and all the different ways you can use hot sauce to make you food more exciting.

6. Can we expect to see the sauces on store shelves? When? I hope so!!! When, I'm not so sure. It's quite a process to go from being a homebrew hot sauce maker like myself, to being a full-blown operation.

7. Where can people find you? Website? Facebook? The best place to find out about my varieties of sauces is https://www.facebook.com/UncleCCHotSauce

8. Where can people get a hold of your sauces? They can go to my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UncleCCHotSauce I keep updated information on there pertaining to what I currently have available.

9. What is your favorite hot sauce? My current favorite hot sauce is a very warm Chipotle Scorpion sauce that I've been experimenting with. Nice smoky flavor with a long lasting burn.