Dan Stevens from the W.O. Hesperus Company gave us a jingle the other month for a Featured Review. Luckily, I received the honor of trying his products and having a chat with him. Along with learning why seaweed goes good in hot sauce I was also treated to an intriguing history lesson.

Tell us a little bit about your company.

We are a small family run business, making gourmet hot sauce and fiery foods.

Why the name W.O. Hesperus Company and what does the “W.O.” stand for?

W.O. stands for “Wreck of” as in “The Wreck of the Hesperus” a poem written by another of Portland’s sons, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. If I knew then, what I know now, I would have picked a much easier name to remember, as in the address of our web page WWW.EATMEIMHOT.COM no one forgets that one, and everyone knows how to spell it!

I’ve noticed that you use a lot of products specifically from your local area (Maine). Why is that?

You think it’s easy selling hot sauce in Maine, or at least getting people to try hot sauce from Maine? I make all my sauces three gallons at a time, I weigh all the ingredients by the gram, pretty crazy huh. My blueberry hot sauce, BLUE FLAME, is made with over eight and a quarter pounds of wild Maine blueberries per batch. Maine harvests more blueberries than any other state in the USA, having them local is having them fresh.

I was very intrigued by your use of Maine Seaweed in your sauces. What sparked that little bit of creativity?

You mean everybody doesn’t use seaweed? It kinda sets us apart, gives the sauce a great viscosity.

I love your logos. Who does the design?

My kids. When they were younger, and before everybody had a computer that could help with design, we enlarged pencil drawings of labels, and the kids would color them using colored markers and crayons utilizing different color combinations, then we would vote on which colors to use in which combinations.

Speaking of your labels, who is Captain Mowatt?

Captain Henry Mowatt was a Scottish sea captain in the British navy. He commanded five ships, the Canceaux, Spitfire, Halifax, Cat, and the Symmetry. He sailed those ships into Portland Harbor on October 18th 1775, and burned the city to the ground. We’re still burning Portland. As you’ve noticed, our labels state “Burning Portland since 1775″

Looking down the very extensive list of sauces that your offer, I notice an ongoing theme; sweet. Why so many and what are your feelings on the combination of sweet with heat?

Love the sweet with heat, then again I have 4 or 5 different sauces with no sweet at all.

I’ve got to ask, what’s up with the rubber chicken being choked on your Recipe page?

What makes you think it’s rubber?

Let’s talk about Vat 54. What inspired you to make a sauce out of peppers that are aged for a year in an oak barrel?

It was strictly for my own consumption, I wanted to see if the sum of the different peppers would be greater in taste than they are individually. Some giving heat early, others sneaking up later, some creating heat on the tip of your tongue, others in the back of your throat, how would they be, attacking your taste buds all at once. Well, I loved the flavor, trouble was, it was very labor intensive. I had no intention of ever selling any. Who would pay $25.00 for an 8-ounce bottle of hot sauce from Maine? Well wrong again, I ship Vat 54 all over the country, and the most amazing thing is the repeat customers……..just can’t get enough of that VAT 54.

So, what can we look forward to in 2007 from your company?

Well for Valentine’s Day we’re making two new products, HOT KISSES, deep rich chocolates with Fireberry Sauce (raspberry hot sauce) centers, there goes that hot and sweet again, and a new hot sauce just for the occasion called PASSION, made with, what else, Passion fruit, plus mango and a great little herb called Horny goat Weed, google it, you’ll love the stories.

Any plans for a Naga Morich based sauce?

We’re not that kind of company, we’ll leave the “scorching your taste buds” to the others, who do it so well.

Thanks for the interview and the sauces, Dan. Speaking of sauces, I was sent four (and immediately went out and bought a fifth) for sampling. Folks, these are not your ordinary, run of the mill sauces. Coming in 8 ounce bottle, they are exquisite AND exotic. With flavors that tantalize the taste buds and just the right amount of heat to satisfy chili heads and non chili heads alike.

Blue Flame: Ingredients: Native Maine blueberries, red chili peppers, Cane sugar, water, cider vinegar, salt, spices, xanthan gum, Maine Seaweed.

This is my second favorite out of the five and is now the most used breakfast sauce out of my collection. Upon pouring some out on a plate, there are chunks of blueberries which give the sauce a nice look on gourmet foods. The taste is to die for. The blueberries are right up front along with the sweetness of the cane sugar and the sharp bite of the chilies following those up. The cider vinegar also adds a nice touch of sweetness and then some spices that had my nose twitching a little (probably due to black pepper). I call this a breakfast sauce because it goes amazing on waffles (first pour on maple syrup then the sauce on top of that) and French toast. Taste: 10, Heat: 3

Canceaux Sauce: Ingredients: Red chilis, water, sugar, vinegar, garlic, salt, spices, xanthan gum.

A sort of blood red sauce with chunks of seed suspended within gives this one a nice appearance. The first thing that hits your tongue is sugar and then the chilies. I differently recognize the familiar bite of Cayenne. I’m glad he went with plain vinegar with this sauce because it would have been way too sweet if he chose Cider Vinegar. Taste: 10, Heat: 5

Jolly Roger Hot Sauce: Ingredients: Red Savina Habanero Peppers, cider vinegar, Maine seaweed, sea salt, spices.

This is the one that I went out and ordered. I am unfortunately let down a bit by this sauce. It’s thicker than all the rest of his sauces, which isn’t a bad thing, but it is filled with seeds. I find myself chewing on them, which distracts from the experience of the sauce. There was also something I just couldn’t put my finger on until today; too much sea salt. It just does not groove well with the peppers and when combined with the vinegar throws the taste “overboard” (Pirate ship. Sea salt. Overboard, see what I did there?). Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a completely bad sauce, it isn’t that great, but it’s far from bad. I would recommend using this sauce in stir-fries or added to a steak marinade. Taste: 5, Heat: 7

Cocoloco: Ingredients: Coconut milk, red chili peppers, cider vinegar, brown sugar, lime juice, molasses, spices, xantham gum.

Yet another astatically pleasing sauce with it’s orange color and red chunks of peppers. This sauce is by far, the sweetest tasting hot sauce I’ve had. The brown sugar mixed well with the molasses and coconut milk. I also noticed that the coconut milk gives this sauce a nice creamy texture which spreads over your tongue. I must admit that there is a little too much xantham gum. It, when combined with the molasses, makes the sauce really thick. When you refrigerate the bottle, the sauce becomes even thicker, making it a slight ordeal to pour it out onto foods. The other thing that bugs me about this is the cider vinegar. It gives the sauce a slight tang which distracts from the smooth, sweetness of the sauce. Taste: 8, Heat: 2

VAT 54: Ingredients: Chile peppers, vinegar, cane sugar, water, cruched garlic, sea salt, Maine sea weed, spices, xanthan gum.

Chili peppers aged in an oak barrel for one year, that’s something you don’t see every day. This sauce, by far, is my favorite of the group. Moocho heat mixed with tangy peppers, and the sweetness of cane sugar makes it well worth the $25 price tag. I can taste the Cayenne and I know there are other peppers in it, but a strange thing has happened to them. It seems that, after sitting in that oak barrel, their flavors have all merged into a taste that I’ve never had before. I just can’t tell them apart. As Mr. Spock would say, “Fascinating”. Lesser chili heads beware, this sucker has a bite to it. The heat grabs your tongue right away and them walks round the room with it, dragging you behind. A feeling I always look for in the sauces I try. Awesome job, Dan! Taste: 8, Heat: 8.42

Over all, Dan and his family are making some great sauces. I wish them best of luck in their endeavors for they truly are a great addition to the hot sauce industry and community!