Located in Iberia Parish, Avery Island, Louisiana has been the location of Tabasco sauce creation for over 5 generations. Built on a salt dome, the island serves as the perfect place for pepper farming with fertile soil and precise weather conditions. Tabasco has been released in 36 languages and dialects, sold in over 195 countries and territories, and remains the most famous pepper sauce around the world. We visited their factory, museum, and gardens for a self-guided tour that took us through the history and making of Tabasco.
The tour started in the Tabasco Museum. The McIlhenny Company, founded by Edmund McIlhenny in 1868 was the one who began it all. After being dissatisfied with bland Southern cooking, Mcllhenny made up a recipe for a spicy sauce to add to food to give it a new flavor. The Original Red Pepper Sauce recipe has been passed down from generation to generation. Today, nearly 150 years later, the recipe, the process by which it’s made, and the ingredients remain nearly unchanged. The company and the island are still family-owned and operated.
In 1868, McIlhenny grew his first commercial pepper crop. Just one year later, he was sending out almost 1,000 $1.00 bottles of Tabasco to grocers around the Gulf Coast, particularly in New Orleans. The word “Tabasco” is of Mexican Indian origin believed to mean “place where the soil is humid” or “place of the coral or oyster shell.” Soon after its immediate success, McIlhenny secured a patent in 1870, and by the late 1870s, Tabasco was being sold throughout the U.S. and in Europe.
Next, we walked to a replica of a Tabasco greenhouse where different kinds of peppers were being grown. On display was a little red stick which harvesters have used for years to distinguish perfectly ripened peppers from ones that still needed some time. The origin of the first Tabasco peppers is not known. Some Mcllhenny family members believe it was sourced from a Mexican-American War veteran.
After seeing how Tabasco peppers are grown, we travelled next door to see the barrel and ageing process. Once the peppers are mashed up, they are stored in white oak barrels. During the fermentation process the barrels warm up, allowing liquid and air to escape through the lid. A large layer of salt is placed on top of each barrel. When the barrels cool the salt hardens, creating a layer of ‘salt concrete’ for the 3-year preservation period. Each barrel is reused for up to 20 years. After a barrel’s 20 years, it is disassembled into chips which you can buy in the Country Store.
After the mash is aged for 3 years, it gets skimmed in a big blending room full of mixing machines. Every morning, Tabasco president Tony Simons smells and tastes each barrel to ensure it is up to standards. The mash is blended with distilled vinegar and stirred periodically in 6,813-liter wooden vats for up to 30 days. The skins and seeds are removed from the mixture. To maintain their sustainability efforts, the McIlhenny Company grinds the leftover skins and seeds, and markets the byproduct for use in items from candy to medicine.
The next area to explore was a recreation of the underground salt mine that Avery Island sits on top of. The salt mine was the first of its kind in North America and was produced from evaporating springs that left behind layers of salt. The history of Avery Island is also explored here. In 1895, Bird City was created by the McIlhenny family, acting as a safe home for the then endangered snowy egret. In 1935, the 170-acre Jungle Gardens was opened to showcase local and exotic flowers and plants as well as the growing wildlife. The gardens support a wide variety of local wildlife that include alligators, deer, raccoons, and dozens of bird species. The McIlhenny’s sixty-four varieties of bamboo planted in and around Jungle Gardens are the oldest timber bamboo groves in America.
The final process of making Tabasco is the bottling line where the perfect amount of pepper sauce is placed into glass bottles, capped, labelled, and boxed up for shipping. The bottling line produces up to hundreds of thousands of bottles of Tabasco a day, which are highlighted on their live count board in the factory. The branding of Tabasco has changed over the years from new bottles and new labels, to 9 varieties of pepper sauces. Dozens of different bottles and labels are on display. You can even snap a picture next to 7 different life-sized Tabasco bottles.
The tour ends at the Country Store where hundreds of Tabasco related foods and merchandise are for sale. Nearby is Restaurant 1868 where Cajun favorites are served alongside your choice of Tabasco sauce. At the Country Store you can taste test all of the different varieties of Tabasco and even try Tabasco ice cream which was surprisingly refreshing.
The factory, museum, and Jungle Gardens are open for tours daily from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (CST.) Tickets are $15.50 for adults, $12.50 Children (4 and under are free), and $13.95 for seniors and veterans. We highly recommend this fun experience that brings a whole new view to the world’s favorite pepper sauce.