Columbus Hot Sauces

Columbus is a pretty large city and holds many spicy wonders.

If you’ve been with us for any amount of time, you know we’ve been trying to track down the Spiciest Dish in Columbus, going from restaurant to restaurant, sweating and whatnot. What you may not know is that Columbus is also home to many vendors selling spicy wares. We’ve put together a small list of other folks that are helping Columbus stay spicy and figured we’d share them with you.

Fartley Farms

Self-serving to put ourselves at the top of the list? Sure, but we’re proud to be one of many hot sauce makers in the capital city of Ohio. Fartley Farms has a broad array of sauces with fresh flavors and a heat level for just about anyone. Although we only have four sauces at the moment, we’re planning to expand to at least one more sauce by the end of 2020. Get a three-pack today!

Flavor & Fire / MadStone / Clamlube

You may hear the name and think “Hey, that’s the place in North Market!” and you would be correct. Flavor & Fire not only makes sauce, but they distribute Columbus sauces and CaJohn’s sauces in Downtown Columbus. Featured sauces from Flavor & Fire include: Columbus Black Garlic Hot Sauce, CBus Hot Sauce, and the Super Hot Ohio Ghost Pepper Sauce.

Another thing you might not know is that Flavor & Fire is now combined with MadStone and Clamlube, all under one roof. Clamlube is the most heavily-awarded, with six sauces that have placed in some capacity including a 1st Place Golden Chili Award at ZestFest in 2017 for their Zing Bling. Clamlube sauces typically land on the spicier side of things, especially Akua Kawaka which features Carolina Reaper, Chipotle, and “our secret enlivening mojo.”

MadStone brings up the rear of this trio with mustards, salsas and a couple of extract sauces, one of which we tried out, the Rise and Die. You can find all of these at North Market or on the Flavor & Fire website.

Tactical Tacos

Tactical Tacos is another awesome venture right here in Columbus. They are unique in that they use a citrus blend for all of their sauces instead of a vinegar base. “Veteran owned and run company dedicated to making delicious marinades and hot sauces,” Tactical Tacos brings three sauces to the table with Snafu (a citrus base with lime and cayenne), Fire Fight (with their 5 pepper heat blend), and Ghost Protocol (the hottest, with Cayenne, Chipotle, Serrano, Jalapeno, Habanero, and Ghost Peppers).

Double Comfort

One of the most awarded Columbus-based hot sauce makers on this list, Double Comfort takes 100% of their profits and donates them to hunger-relief charities. With four sauces and two spice blends, Double Comfort won a Golden Chile Award in 2019 for their Blues City Cayenne and 2nd place in the “Hot” hot sauce category at the 2019 World Hot Sauce Awards in Louisiana for their Memphis Heat sauce. We had a few of these a while back at BrewDog and can attest to the versatile flavor profile of Memphis Heat.

Spicy Mike’s Hot Sauce

Newer on the scene, Spicy Mike makes “full-flavored hot sauces” here in Columbus, OH. They are available via Market Wagon or at various farmer’s markets around Columbus. Check out their Facebook page for the latest information. The first sauce we tried of Spicy Mike’s was the Smoky Tequila Verde with smoked jalapeño, smoked poblanos, serrano peppers and lime. Spicy Mike’s lineup all comes in the 5.2oz bottles with the metal top, one of the only hot sauce makers in Columbus to do so.

Sauce Boss Gang

One of the only female-owned hot sauce companies in Columbus, Sauce Boss Gang is the brainchild of Nicole DiTommaso. Currently Sauce Boss Gang has three flavor options to choose from including: Coffin (a habanero garlic sauce), Granada (a chipotle sauce) and Tongue Tied (a cayenne garlic hot sauce). From Sauce Boss Gang, “We promote an independent, wild & fun lifestyle. We create wild flavors, host fun pop-up parties-all while being independently self made. JOIN THE GANG.”

Ron’s Sauce

This was one we saw at Fitzy’s Diner a while back, but when trying to find more info about this other mysterious Ron and his lone sauce, we were unable. Just know that if you’re out there Ron, we’d love to chat!

Have others in mind that you don’t see? Give us a shout on Instagram, Facebook or via our contact page and we’ll get folks added to the list!

Featured Photo by Oz Seyrek on Unsplash

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