Tabasco Sauce....Up Close & Personal

   Everyone has been using this stuff for years, but have you ever wondered about Tabasco Sauce? On a return trip from New Orleans, my wife and I saw a sign about tours of the Tabasco Plant and decided to pay it a visit. The Tabasco Sauce operation was founded in 1868 right on the coast of Louisiana so shipping the product out would not be a problem. Now just about any place you stop to eat has a bottle of this stuff right there on the table waiting for you..

   This is the original Red Tabasco Sauce...BUT it also comes in other flavors that I didn't know about until our visit to the facilities. It can also be tried in: Green Jalapeno... Chipotle...Buffalo Hot Sauce... Habanero... Sweet & Spicy... and my favorite, Garlic Pepper Sauce. As you tour the plant there is a glass wall separating visitors from the actual operations, but you can see everything they do in the bottling process.

   The plant is open for visiting hours from 9-4 daily and it is a easy walk-through operation you can perform at your leisure without anyone rushing you along. The entire McIlhenny complex is a 170 acre operation as the pepper seeds are grown, harvested, and processed right at the Avery Island location. Once the product has been completed, the sauce is placed in hickory barrels and sealed with a layer of salt and then stored for at least one year before being bottled.

   The Tabasco Plant has numerous greenhouses like this one and each is dedicated to a different type of pepper plant. The seedlings will grow in the greenhouses for 30-40 days before being transplanted to the fields..

    This field is about midway thru the maturation process. When fully grown the peppers will be picked, cleaned, and start the secret process that will ended up as one of the country's top brands of pepper sauce. The Tabasco people also have a country store on the premises and you can not only buy their products there... they even have tee-shirts, caps, bandanas, and other apparel on hand for sale.

   This is my wife in front of the store... Naturally we had to have shirts and caps for the grandchildren..but I also bought a variety pack of their peppers and that is how I discovered the garlic style sauce. The Jungle Garden Park surrounding the Tabasco facility is also a great spot to visit for photographers. In the park you will find everything from alligators to a real statue of Budda.

   The Tabasco Plant is located at Avery Island, Louisiana and you can throw a rock into the Gulf of Mexico from their facility since they are so close...

  Interstate Highway 10 connects Houston to New Orleans.. At Lafayette turn south on U.S. Highway 90 and go to New Iberia.. there turn south on LA 329 and go south.. It will take you right to the front gate of the Tabasco Plant and Jungle Garden. It was a fun trip and the people are super nice... and to think...we almost drove right past it.