Your guide through the world of spice - by a "Pikantista"
Welcome to Pikantista! 🌶️
I’m Fabian (known to my friends as "the Pikantista") – chili expert, former producer (Pikapika, Chili Mafia), and retailer since 2018 (chili-saucen.com, chili-plants.com).
Now, I’ve embarked on a new journey with my family: this time from beautiful San Sebastián (Basque: Donostia) in Spain. And one thing is for sure: it’s staying spicy! Follow me on this new project.
Here (and on our social media channels), I share my knowledge and cool "spicy" stories, because being a "Pikantista" means more than just liking extra-hot food.
Whether it’s chili, wasabi, mustard, or garlic: if you love it hot, you’ve come to the right place.
New: Our partnership in Spain!
This shop is being created in proud collaboration with the chili sauce shop Meraki Gourmet from San Sebastián with Jhonny Porto e Inigo. In the menu above, you will find all the spicy specialties offered by Meraki Gourmet directly.
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Pikantista × Meraki Gourmet🌶️
Expert knowledge meets top-tier logistics.
- The chili specialists at Meraki Gourmet from the culinary hub of San Sebastián handle storage and shipping
The Pikantista Selection: I contribute my years of expert knowledge to curate the most exciting and delicious sauces and spicy specialties for you.
Carolina Reaper Hot Sauces
Carolina Reaper Hot Sauces
are particularly popular with extreme spice eaters. The heat level is usually above 10 to 10+++. The corresponding sauces in our chili shop are around 80,000 - 90,000 Scoville, which is in a very hot range. Hotter sauces usually contain a capsaicin extract.
Spicy and Grilling
Spicy BBQ Sauces
Barbecuing on the grill promises pure summer relaxation - all you need is the right BBQ sauce. After all, a delicious BBQ sauce will add a refined taste experience to your slow-cooked grilled food as a bonus.
Hottest Chili Sauces
Hot Sauces vs. Chili Sauces
In short: there is none! Hot sauces and chili sauces are the same product - just in different languages. "Hot Sauce" comes from English and literally means "hot sauce", but refers exclusively to hot sauces made from chili peppers.
The Science Behind the Heat of Hot Sauces
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Did you know that chilies aren't actually spicy?
The famous "spiciness" is not actually a taste, but a pain sensation! Capsaicin tricks our brain into believing it's burning, which triggers the release of endorphins. That's why spicy food is addictive.
Chilies have been cultivated for 6,000 years. The number of different varieties is estimated at over 4,000. These can be assigned to 30 species. Five species are predominantly cultivated. The other 25 are rare wild species. Chilies have only been known in Europe since the Middle Ages.
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Scoville Scale: From mild to extremely hot
Developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912, this scale measures the heat of hot sauces and chili sauces:
Heat Levels at a Glance:
0: Not spicy
1-3: Mildly spicy
4-6: Medium spicy
7-8: Spicy
9-10: Very spicy
10+ to 10+++: Extremely spicy
The current hottest chili in the world is Pepper X with 2.69 million SHU - that's dozens of times spicier than a jalapeño!
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Other Hot Sauce Varieties: Flavor Meets Heat
Originating from the Thai city of Si Racha, these hot sauces offer the perfect sweet and savory taste. Ideal for noodles, pizza, and meat.
Smoked jalapeños give these sauces smoky, chocolatey notes. The Aztecs already used this smoking technique - perfect with meat and scrambled eggs.
BBQ Hot Sauces
The spiciest BBQ sauces combine fiery chilies with sweet flavors. Thinner varieties are suitable for marinating, thicker ones for basting.