I now have a cupboard shelf just for teh hot

[j2k4]

Agreed, Carlos.

The fun is in finding the tangential qualities of all these things, given that the capsaicin is the unifying characteristic.

Again, the revelation for me was discovering how much more than pure heat the REAL hot varieties brought to the table.

I wouldn't mind having access to a wider selection than I have where I am, but I'm getting some terrific help. ^^^.

[Disrupter]

The ghost pepper salt is from my aunts store in Manhattan... good stuff you got there!

[j2k4]

The ghost pepper salt is from my aunts store in Manhattan... good stuff you got there!

Good on your Aunt, then - that salt is AMAZING!

Yeah, my sis picked all that stuff up at the pepperfest at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, right around the corner from where she lives.

Next time I'm in NYC, I'll go give your Auntie some more business.

[green-lantern]

There is a place in Gatlinburg TN called the Pepper Palace that has about everything. I'm like a kid in a candy store.

Pepper Palace - Gatlinburg - Reviews of Pepper Palace - TripAdvisor

[j2k4]

Another eventual destination - thanks, Paul!

[Chris@Rvengeperformance]

There is a place in Gatlinburg TN called the Pepper Palace that has about everything. I'm like a kid in a candy store.

Pepper Palace - Gatlinburg - Reviews of Pepper Palace - TripAdvisor

I have the salsa from hell from there, it lives up to its name...

[FeaRpb]

How the hell did I not see this thread?

My 2nd love in life is hot sauce and spicy food. I have been in the works in making my own hot sauces. (it's almost like brewing beer) ... okay.. maybe not that fun, but still. It is awesome to make saucy hotness.

[j2k4]

The ghost pepper salt is from my aunts store in Manhattan... good stuff you got there!

Good on your Aunt, then - that salt is AMAZING!

Yeah, my sis picked all that stuff up at the pepperfest at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, right around the corner from where she lives.

Next time I'm in NYC, I'll go give your Auntie some more business.

As an aside to the thread, my younger sister lives in NYC, and broadcast this to a batch of people from one of her professional associations, a few of whom I have met:

Ladies:

Remember after our first dosa hunting adventure we said goodbye to you, Anita, and went on over to Kalustyan's? And then while there, we asked an employee to help us pick out some of the hottest hot sauces for my brother? Well, in a subsequent care package I sent last week, I included some ghost pepper salt that came from Kalustyan's.

My brother is part of an online chat community that talks about (surprise) cars, and he wanted to strike up a conversation about spicy hot things. He took a pic of the contents of my last care package, including this salt. Well, it turns out one of his online buddies tells him that his aunt owns that store.

What a small world!

That story belongs with the one where I attended church in Philly a couple years ago with an ex-Brooklynite friend who intro'd me to her priest's wife, who is Charlie Sahadi's daughter!

And if I want to complete this thematic storyline, eons ago, within the first couple years I lived here, I took Eli Zabar's deposition.

For those who don't know, Sahadi's and Zabar's are absolute-must-visit destinations in NYC, PERIOD, for foodies.

[93STLTH]

My current shelf collection. I rotate some of these as I use the sauces up. There's a store down in Key West where I go to stock up. Hot Sauce Store

[j2k4]

It's amusing just looking at the labels - how many ways can you represent heat?