About The Company

Chef D’s Pepper Company makes fermented hot sauces in Seattle, Washington. The company is a small one-man operation that is owned and operated by myself, Chef D (Derek Nichols).

Most hot sauces on the market are vinegar based. I absolutely love vinegar, but I find that it usually over-powers the flavor of the hot sauce and what you end up with is typically a spicy vinegar rather than a hot sauce. I also know that vinegar can be a very polarizing flavor, which is why I’m excited to offer a unique alternative to vinegar-based hot sauces.

My sauces are made by fermenting the peppers and other ingredients for 3 weeks using lacto-fermentation. Fermented hot sauces are packed with umami (the so-called “5th taste”) allowing for more complex flavor profiles. Because sauce’s flavor is not overpowered by a strong vinegar flavor, the flavors of the ingredients that go into the sauce are much more pronounced. Fermentation also has the added benefit of creating tons of pro-biotics and pre-biotics which are super beneficial for our gut health.