Upper Franconia carries its food reputation on the Bamberg-to-Bayreuth brewery corridor and the Frankenwein vineyards down on the Main, with the granite-shouldered Fichtelgebirge rising above both. Burnin Benzes Chilimanufaktur, a craft chili manufactory run by Jürgen "Benze" Bendzinski and Jessica Benze in Thiersheim, has defended its Extra Hot Chili Sauce title with chillies grown in its own Fichtelgebirge greenhouses and added a second Best in Category at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (heatawards.eu), Europe's flagship hot sauce competition: Best in Category in Extra Hot Chili Sauce with Scorpion Grinder, Best in Category in Salt and Condiments with Jamaican Jerk, and Bronze in Medium Chili Sauce with Hot Pepparella.
Burnin Benzes has been a family business in Thiersheim since 1999, with chillies from across the world grown in its own greenhouses in the Fichtelgebirge. Jürgen and Jessica work across hot sauces, extra hot sauces, dry rubs and seasoning blends, with no preservatives or chemical additives, under a Rock'n'Roll for your food house motto. Scorpion Grinder first took Extra Hot gold at EHSA 2024 and has now defended the title with the same recipe.
Nathan Austin on Burnin Benzes:
"A Jamaican Jerk made in a Fichtelgebirge kitchen by the same producer also defending Extra Hot is a range that knows its own corners. Putting a Best in Category in two very different disciplines, in the same year, is what you see from producers who control their own crop and their own recipe development end to end." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
Scorpion Grinder (gold, Best in Category, Extra Hot Chili Sauce): Trinidad Scorpion Moruga at 20%, in a chunky yellow build with carrots, pineapple, tomato, mustard and selected spices. The chili is one of the world's hottest and also one of its fruitiest, and the colour-matched supporting ingredients are chosen to carry that fruit through without disguising it. Chillies grown in the makers' own Fichtelgebirge greenhouses. Defended title from EHSA 2024.
Jamaican Jerk (gold, Best in Category, Salt and Condiments): a traditional Jamaican-style spice blend built on Scotch Bonnet chillies, thyme, allspice, cumin, nutmeg and lemon pepper. Designed as a dry rub for chicken, pork, lamb or fish, or as the base for a homemade jerk sauce.
Hot Pepparella (bronze, Medium Chili Sauce): a medium-category entry from the Burnin Benzes range, picking up Bronze alongside the two Best in Category golds.
"Honestly still speechless. We make this in Thiersheim by hand, in small batches, our own recipes, our own chilli cultivation in the Fichtelgebirge, going up against producers from across the continent and coming out with 1st in Extra Hot and 1st in Salt and Condiments. That's the result, the team has earned it, and massive thanks to everyone who's been with us on this." – Jürgen and Jessica Benze, Burnin Benzes Chilimanufaktur
The European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 ran over 200 sauces from across the continent through blind tasting this year, scored on five criteria by a deliberately mixed panel of chefs, sommeliers, critics and chilli specialists. Extra Hot Chili Sauce demands heat that still tastes of something other than capsaicin, and Salt and Condiments demands proper dry-rub technique and balanced spice composition. Burnin Benzes won both at Best in Category, with a Bronze in Medium on top.
"Defending a Best in Category against the same recipe two years on, without rerolling the formula, is rare at this level. We're watching for what comes out of the Fichtelgebirge greenhouses next." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
Scorpion Grinder, Jamaican Jerk and Hot Pepparella are available through Burnin Benzes Chilimanufaktur at burnin-benze.de. Full EHSA 2026 results across all 16 categories: heatawards.eu/results/2026?utm_source=press_release&utm_medium=press&utm_campaign=ehsa2026&utm_content=burnin-benzes.
The European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 are announced ahead of the Berlin Chili Fest, 29–31 May 2026. Republic of Heat's EHSA 2026 Top 3 winner box is live at republicofheat.com/de-en/discovery-set/euhsa_top3, with further EHSA selection boxes at republicofheat.com/de-en/hot-sauce-sets.
PRESS RESOURCES Reveal video on YouTube, embeddable: - Extra Hot Chili Sauce: https://youtu.be/WXVJ6Qcbjzw Press kit (photos, logos, AI lifestyle composites credited Republic of Heat / European Hot Sauce Awards 2026): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SSpd6n_LF2PK2UUGouCIRxvS8tmJIlJQ?usp=drive_link
ABOUT BURNIN BENZES CHILIMANUFAKTUR Burnin Benzes Chilimanufaktur is a craft chili manufactory run by Jürgen "Benze" Bendzinski and Jessica Benze in Thiersheim, in the Fichtelgebirge of Upper Franconia, Bavaria, since 1999. The range covers hot sauces, extra hot sauces, dry rubs and seasoning blends, with own-cultivation chillies grown in the makers' Fichtelgebirge greenhouses and no preservatives or chemical additives. Scorpion Grinder and Jamaican Jerk are EHSA 2026 Best in Category winners; Hot Pepparella picked up Bronze in Medium. The full range is available through burnin-benze.de.
ABOUT THE EUROPEAN HOT SAUCE AWARDS The European Hot Sauce Awards (EHSA) is the professional competition for commercially produced hot sauces in Europe, run annually since 2024 from heatawards.eu. EHSA was born out of the Berlin Chili Festival, which has run since 2019 and returns 29–31 May 2026, and became an independent competition in 2024. Over 200 sauces from producers across the continent were entered in 2026. Entries are judged blind across five criteria: aroma, heat profile, flavour, creativity and finish. The 2026 edition covers 16 categories, with Gold, Silver and Bronze medals awarded across multiple positions in each. Each category also names a Best in Category, the top Gold. EHSA is run independently of any single producer or retailer.
ABOUT REPUBLIC OF HEAT Republic of Heat is a European hot sauce subscription designed to show off the flavours coming out of Europe and help solve the distribution problem independent makers face. Founded June 2025 in Berlin by Nathan "Naga" Austin and Simon "Scoville" Gardner. The Discovery subscription delivers three handpicked craft sauces plus a spicy extra to subscribers across the EU each month. Press partner of the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026. republicofheat.com.
PRESS CONTACT Press: Republic of Heat, on behalf of European Hot Sauce Awards contact@republicofheat.com +49 176 41601284
— End –
Press contact
Contact the Council