I recently happened upon Uncle Brutha’s Hotsauce Emporium near Eastern Market, and had a conversation with the proprietor, Brennan Proctor. Brennan was a production sound engineer for many major music videos between 1999-2003. He originally began formulating his sauce for use on hot wings. He would bring the wings to potlucks and to work. His clients started asking for the sauces. Eventually they would ask for them by the case, and he started getting new clients with the understanding that he would bring them hot sauce. Brennan perfected his sauces and won twenty awards between the two sauces.
I brought both of Brennan’s sauces, the red and the green to a meeting of DCfud writers, and the sauces were a big hit. There wasn’t an onion ring or burger at our table at Brickskellar that wasn’t covered in hot sauce, and our beloved editor actually drank some straight from the bottle. The green was the favorite with 1/2 a bottle consumed, while the red had 1/3 of a bottle consumed. The green sauce is thicker, so pours slower, leading me to believe that if the consistencies had been the same that even more of the green sauce would have been consumed. You can taste both sauces as well as the other hot sauces that Brennan sells at the hot sauce tasting bar at the store.
The green sauce is made with serrano chilies, and flavored with ginger and garlic, and is tasty without being very hot. The red is a little hotter and is made with 4 kinds of chilies. For the red sauce, habanero, red and green jalapenos, and serrano are used. I like both sauces.
Some other hot sauces that are sold at the store include “Crazy Mother Pucker’s”, “Pain is Good”, “Dave’s, Mama Africa’s” (from South Africa), “Susie’s” (from St. John), and “Marie Sharp’s” (from Belize.) There are also some with politically inspired names, like “Monica Lewinsky Sauce”, “Where’s the WMD’s?”, “Weapons of Ass Destruction”, “Saddam Insane”, and “Bomb Ladin.” There are some sauces referencing various parts of the anatomy including “Colon Cleaner”, “Ass Blaster”, “Red Rectum”, “Bayou Pecker Power”, and “Liquid Lava, It Will Pucker Your Pecker.”
Uncle Brutha’s also carries BBQ sauces, marinades, dry rubs, spices, and condiments, and is in its third month of operation. Their own 2 sauces are also available in area Wholefoods.
Uncle Brutha’s Hot Sauce Emporium
323 7th Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
Hours: T-Th 10-7, Fri. 10-8, Sat. 9-7, Sun 10-5
Closed Monday
(202) 546-FIRE