Avery Island Research

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about Tabasco

• • What makes peppers so hot?

    • • The substance in peppers that makes them spicy is called capsaicin. It is most highly concentrated in the white placental tissue to which seeds are attached, and in smaller concentrations in the other fleshy parts of the pepper. Even though seeds do not contain capsaicin, it often gets on the surface of seeds when they contact surrounding tissue. Capsaicin stimulates nerve endings in your mouth, causing the sensation of heat when ingested.

• • • What are Scoville Units?

      • • A pharmacist named Wilbur Scoville invented the Scoville Scale in 1912 to measure the heat of peppers. A “Scoville Unit” is actually a measure of capsaicin (the chemical in hot peppers that is responsible for their heat).

        • Scoville’s test was a comparative taste test that is considered subjective by today’s standards. A more sophisticated method is in use today, but in honor of Wilbur Scoville, the unit of measure is still called the Scoville.

• • • • How hot is each TABASCO® Pepper Sauce flavor?

        • • From hottest to mildest:

            • TABASCO® brand Habanero Sauce: greater than 7,000 Scoville Heat Units

            • TABASCO® brand Original Red Sauce: 2,500-5,000 Scoville Heat Units

            • TABASCO® brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce: 1,500-2,500 Scoville Heat Units

            • TABASCO® brand Garlic Pepper Sauce: 1,200-2,400 Scoville Heat Units

            • TABASCO® brand Green Jalapeño Pepper Sauce: 600-1,200 Scoville Heat Units

            • TABASCO® brand Buffalo Style Hot Sauce: 300-900 Scoville Heat Units

            • TABASCO® brand SWEET & Spicy Pepper Sauce: 100-600 Scoville Heat Units

• • • • • Where does the name TABASCO® come from?

          • • Edmund McIlhenny came up with the brand name TABASCO® as his second choice. Some scholars say it’s a Mexican Indian word that means “land where the soil is hot and humid.” This certainly describes the climate of Avery Island that has proved perfect for growing his special variety of hot pepper. Other scholars have put forth that it actually means “place of coral or oyster shell.”

            • McIlhenny originally wanted to call his concoction Petite Anse Sauce (after the island which then was known as Isle Petite Anse). But when family members balked at the commercial use of the family island’s name, he opted for the trademark TABASCO®

• • • • • • How many drops are in a bottle of TABASCO® Original Red Sauce?

            • • A 2-oz. bottle of our Original Red Sauce contains at least 720 drops. (There are 60 drops per teaspoon; 3 teaspoons per tablespoon; 2 tablespoons per fluid ounce and 2 fluid ounces per bottle).

              • The number of drops in a “splash” or a “dash” of our Original Red Sauce depends entirely upon how hard you shake the bottle!

• • • • • • • How many bottles of TABASCO® Original Red Sauce does McIlhenny Company make in a day?

              • • When all four production lines at the Avery Isand factory are in operation, over 700,000 2-oz. bottles of our Original Red Sauce can be made in a single day

E. A. McIlhenny, or “Mr. Ned” as he was affectionately known, founded a bird colony in the 1890s — later called Bird City — after plume hunters slaughtered egrets by the thousands for feathers to make fashionable ladies’ hats. Mr. Ned gathered up eight young egrets, raised them in captivity on the Island, and released them in the fall to migrate across the Gulf of Mexico. The following spring, the birds returned to the Island with others of their species — a migration that continues to this day, as thousands of snowy white egrets and other water birds return to Bird City.

Today, his famed 170-acre Jungle Gardens and Bird City host visitors from all over the world. In season, visitors to Avery Island can expect to see a variety of azaleas, camellias and bamboo, in addition to alligators, deer and raccoons that live in the hills and marshes around the gardens. Visitors can stroll along a path covered by gnarled oaks laced with Spanish moss and stand at the shrine that houses a centuries-old Buddha — a gift to Mr. Ned in 1936.