The Black Sheep might sound like an unusual name for a hot sauce, but founder/creator Lawerence Russell has a good explanation.
“There’s hundreds and thousands of hot sauces,” he says. “The idea was, ‘This is not just another hot sauce.’ Black sheep stand out in the crowd. We do things differently.’”
Russell, 40, owner of Black Sheep Bottling Co., is a hot sauce lover. “And I love cooking food in a smoker. Smoking food. So anytime I would be smoking ribs, pork shoulders, [and had] the extra room on the smoker, I’d throw some peppers on there and make hot sauce out of it.”
He would “just slow smoke the peppers. Once the peppers are smoked, get them off the grill.”
Russell adds roasted garlic, sea salt, tomato, onion, and distilled white vinegar. He then blends everything together and brings it to a simmer.
Born in Abilene, Texas, Russell moved to Memphis when he was six months old. He was introduced to grilling by his dad on camping trips. “Just being around fire and that sort of thing. I’ve always loved the slow-cooking process. Keeping the fire right.”
And “being in Memphis around barbecue” didn’t hurt, either.
“I think I got my first barrel smoker when I was about 25. Up until then I just had a grill. I’d just grill with friends. Cooking out on football Sundays.”
Russell came up with his smoky hot sauce “kind of on a whim. Part of it was what peppers I could get at the store. Most hot sauces you get peppers, vinegar, water, and salt.”
He wanted something different. So, along with garlic and onions, he began smoking the peppers, which gave a “smoky flavor” to his hot sauce.
Russell decided to sell his hot sauce commercially about five years ago. He liked the idea of starting a small business. “Learn the process and go through everything.”
He also loved visiting the local farmers markets. “I always enjoyed being there. I thought if I would have a product, I could be a part of the farmers market.”
Russell got his business license, and began bottling his hot sauce at a commercial kitchen at Crosstown Concourse.
He brought his hot sauce to a farmers market for the first time in 2019. “I thought I’d sell maybe five or 10 bottles. I sold over 60. We were offering samples: ‘Give it a try.’ Everybody who tasted it bought it.”
Russell now has three hot sauce flavors. Original is great on “everything from eggs and sandwiches to grilled meats and veggies.”
On Fire, a hotter version of Original, is for people with a higher heat tolerance. He kicked up the heat by adding more habanero peppers.
Gone Green, which includes smoked poblano and serrano peppers, is similar to salsa verde, Russell says. “I love it on enchiladas and black beans and rice.”
Russell uses his hot sauce “two to three times a day. I’ll put it on my eggs in the morning for breakfast. If I’m having fried rice or a sandwich at lunch I’ll put it on. And then for dinner whatever I’m having — grilled steak or veggies — I’ll add it to that.”
Among others who love his hot sauce are the cooks at Dory restaurant.
David Krog, who, along with his wife, Amanda, owns Dory, says he serves Black Sheep hot sauces with the staff meals at the restaurant. “We put out the green and then the red with our family meal most every day,” he says.
Krog discovered the hot sauce when Russell gave him a bottle. Their children attend the same school. “I brought it to the restaurant and put it out and we all tasted the red and the green. The response from all of those cooks was unexpected for me. These guys were over the moon with this product. This guy’s hot sauce. I told him, ‘I’m in shock. All of my guys think this is an incredible product.’”
Black Sheep hot sauces are available at High Point Grocery, Triangle Meat Market, and Doc’s Wine, Spirits & More.
