Laramie Farmer’s Market Spotlight: Holy Habanero

With no intent to be sacrilegious, Holy Habanero truly is a hot sauce set apart. Jonathan Howdeshell, Greg Coffey, Tom Rardin and Matt Bath knew excellence when they tasted it in Doña Lucena’s family recipe. Besides making enough hot sauce to satisfy their own addictions, these four pursued the business of producing large quantities of Holy Habanero because they felt it was something too delicious not to share.

Because the original sauce was, like many home recipes, a pinch of this and a dash of that, considerable effort went into figuring out weights and measures to guarantee the final product would be consistent. In addition to the trial and error required to get the measurements right, the number of servings each recipe made had to be increased to accommodate large batch production.

Having made it “through the fire” of their early stages of research and development this ambitious group of friends now has the process down to a science. It takes about 15 hours to make 10 batches and with four people they have the flexibility to meet demand and keep up with other jobs.

After years of trying different kinds of hot sauce, the four tired of concoctions that seemed to consist of nothing but powdered spices and vinegar. These sauces had an uninspiring tang of vinegar followed by heat from the spices. Holy Habanero is made with hand selected, fresh organic ingredients. Garlic, carrots, onion, lime and of course, habaneros combined with a variety of spices make a robust hot sauce with a wonderful, unique flavor.

The flavor is difficult to describe and tasting it for yourself is by far the best way to experience Holy Habanero. That said, the first adjective that comes to mind is “authentic.” The ingredients compliment and meld so well that no single ingredient overpowers another. The heat builds gradually, but doesn’t destroy your taste buds for the next bite. In addition to being amazing in its own right, Holy Habanero adds fire and flair to everything from enchiladas to ranch dressing and even toast with peanut butter. (I’ll admit I haven’t tried this yet, but it’s on my list.)

Beyond dedication to a great product, the guys who make and distribute Holy Habanero are focused on keeping every aspect of their business plans as local as possible. Jennifer Howdeshell is the artist and designer, a majority of the ingredients are purchased at Big Hollow and the labels are printed by Modern Printing. Knowing the purchase supports multiple Laramie businesses adds further appeal to a high quality product.

The Laramie Farmer’s Market is every Friday from 3:00-7:00p.m. If your peanut butter and toast seems a bit dull or if you’d like to add some spice to supper, head down to the Farmer’s Market and find the folks at Holy Habanero.