European Hot Sauce Awards · For press
Berlin · February to March 2027 · venue to be announced
Europe's hot sauce awards return to Berlin. This is the press hub, where the story, the judges and the coverage come together. The 2027 judging panel is being built now.
The story
European hot sauce is not pain content. It is a cuisine: regional ingredients, obsessive growers and small-batch makers working the same craft logic as natural wine or single-estate coffee. Flavours that exist nowhere else, because one person in one village is the only one making them. EHSA brings the best of them into one room.
Fermented, smoked, aged and blended by hand. Judged on flavour, not on who can take the most pain.
Regional chillies, styles and traditions from every corner of Europe, tasted side by side.
One-person kitchens and family growers, each with a story worth telling and worth tasting.
578 producers · 40 countries · EHSA 2026
Dot size = producers per country. Hover a country for detail.
A sample of the small-batch makers behind the 2026 medals.
Chocoberrie
Hot Chili Sauce · Berlin, Germany
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Munnvold Yuzu
Medium Chili Sauce · Oslo, Norway
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Hot Honey
Chili Honey · Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia
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Dead Moruga
Freestyle · Ostrava, Czech Republic
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Peach Riot
Mild Chili Sauce · Sursee, Switzerland
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Chee-ly
Asian Style Chili Sauce · Uccle, Belgium
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Buwġi
Chili Paste · H'Attard, Malta
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Garlic Chilli
Garlic Chili Sauce · Augšlīgatne, Latvia
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Milde Sambal
Sambal, Chutney & Pickles · Volendam, Netherlands
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Smoked Ananas BBQ
BBQ Chili Sauce · Brembate, Italy
Read the story →Covered across broadcast TV, national and regional press in 19 countries.
Every medal EHSA gives out is decided by a blind tasting, and the panel is who does the tasting: press, trade buyers, chefs, and the growers and fermenters who know the category from the inside. Put your name down and we will come back to you as the 2027 dates, venue and panel are confirmed.
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About EHSA
The European Hot Sauce Awards is the European Heat Council's juried award for hot sauce, spotlighting the small-batch makers defining the category across Europe.
