Today marked the completion of the three month fermentation of the habanero hot sauce. After 8 weeks fermenting as a mash and the last month being extracted with white vinegar, the pH was approaching 3.0. It was time for it to go in the bottle.

I blended everything including the seeds for 7 minutes on high in the Vita-Mix which heated up the sauce before I strained it twice through a mesh strainer and finally a chinois. I returned the strained mixture to the blender once again and blended for two additional minutes with a very small amount of xanthem gum to prevent separation. I’m going to let it sit in the bottle for 2 to 4 weeks to rest before I start handing it out to my friends and putting it into some recipes.

So how did it taste? Surprisingly good. It has a sweet, fresh scent and the taste is the typical slow habanero burn. It was punchy but manageable and will be really good on fried chicken or seafood.