Loyalties may lie with popular table-top brands like Cholulua, Sriracha or Tabasco but this is the sauce that will make taste buds wander. And they won’t have to go far because Wake ‘N’ Bake Chipotle hot sauce isn’t imported. It’s a smoky, tangy and a Sarasota original.
Local flavor maker Robert Boyland, a 32-year-old former Cholula guy, has been messing with peppers for about 10 years, and he’s come a long way after scrapping his very first experimental batch made with store-bought ingredients. But his learning curve quickly soared and in 2008 he started his own brand: Boyland Sauce Co., and not a drop left un-savored since. His latest Wake ‘N’ Bake batch is made with chipotle, layered with notes of cocoa and coffee.
His love of heat started with mass exposure while working at Tijuana Flats. Lunch breaks broke into hot sauce tastings and competitions for who could handle the hottest. Boyland got hooked and soon cast his own line.
An 8-ounce bottle of local Boyland Sauce Co. Wake n’ Bake costs $8 and can be found at Beach Bazaar on Siesta Key, Made Restaurant and in front of the Gator Club on Saturdays. Photo by Kim Doleatto
He sold 8-ounce mason jars of his second batch to customers at Outback Steakhouse where he waited tables.
But the big push, he says, is when he riled up a beer bar crowd at Underground Blues in Orlando. He played guitar there on open mic nights.
“It was a ‘Boston bar’ so I would wear a Yankees hat on stage,” he said.
Purchasing a bottle of Boyland sauce came with a prize beyond its delicious flavor.
“If I sell a 100 jars through this bar I’ll name my green sauce ‘Green Monster’ as a concession,” he said.
Green because it was made with tomatillos, cilantro, jalapeño and serrano peppers.
“Green Monster,” because it’s the nickname of the left outfield wall of the Red Sox baseball stadium–famous for preventing home runs.
“Green Monsters” aside, the demand for more Boyland sauce grew.
There was the ghost pepper batch called Acid Test, printed on a tye dye label, Slap and Tickle was the mango-habanero, and his latest, Wake ‘N’ Bake, can be found on Made Restaurant’s table tops and at Beach Bazaar on Siesta Key.
Want to meet the man behind the sauce?
Look for the beard. Yes, he has an award-winning beard that’s as bold as his sauce. And every Saturday he sets up in front of the Gator Club from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. where a bottle goes for $8 and shirts are $15.
He can also be found at the new Cask & Ale on Main St. where Boyland Sauce will complement the braised short ribs.
Insider’s tip: he has a cache of his own Boyland-made bitters behind the bar that turn any old fashioned into an updated and unique experience.
Order sauce or learn more by visiting Boyland Sauce Co.’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
