Vienna's pantry has always reached east into Burgenland and the Pannonian plain for paprika, onion and the wine that fills its Heuriger glasses. Pippis Pepper, a craft producer registered in the 9th district under Phillip Hauck-Tyran and growing its own chilies in Neudorf bei Parndorf, has taken a Bronze Medal in Garlic Chili Sauce at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (heatawards.eu) with Šoafer Knofl, the name itself in Wienerisch dialect.
Pippis Pepper started when Phillip was gifted a Chocolate Habanero plant that turned into a two-kilo harvest and a stack of Christmas-gift bottles. The recipes come from his sister Julia Crawford, the chilies grow on a Burgenland field east of Vienna, and the sauces are bottled in small batches by hand. The current range runs four sauces, all in 100 ml format: Šoafer Knofl, Pumqueen, Original Nr. 3 and Original Nr. 4.
Nathan Austin on Šoafer Knofl:
"Naming a hot sauce in Viennese dialect is a small thing that does a lot of work. Šoafer Knofl tells you before you open the bottle that this is a Vienna producer who isn't reaching for an American register, and that comes through in the build: garlic-forward, with the heat sitting underneath rather than on top." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
Šoafer Knofl took a Bronze Medal in Garlic Chili Sauce: tomatoes, garlic, chilies, red wine, apple-quince vinegar, sugar, onion, sunflower oil and salt, built around intense garlic notes with balanced heat. The name is Viennese dialect for "scharfer Knoblauch", sharp garlic.
"Honestly still hard to take in. We grow the chilies in Neudorf, bottle them in Vienna, and putting Šoafer Knofl on the European Garlic podium from a small producer with our recipes is the kind of result we set out to chase. Big thanks to everyone who has been with us on this." – Phillip Hauck-Tyran, Pippis Pepper
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. The Garlic Chili Sauce category drew ten EU entries, and Pippis Pepper took the last Bronze of the cohort.
"Garlic is one of the harder categories to win in because the panel has tasted everything from Provençal aioli builds to fermented Korean variants, and the bar for a balanced garlic sauce that holds up against an EU field is high. Pippis Pepper landed it with a Vienna-Burgenland build, and we're watching closely for what Phillip brings next." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
Šoafer Knofl and the rest of the range are available through Pippis Pepper at pippispepper.com. Full EHSA 2026 results across all 16 categories: heatawards.eu/results/2026?utm_source=press_release&utm_medium=press&utm_campaign=ehsa2026&utm_content=pippis-pepper.
PRESS RESOURCES Reveal video on YouTube, embeddable: - Garlic Chili Sauce: https://youtu.be/7ATiV-ZJHU0 Press kit (photos, logos, AI lifestyle composites credited Republic of Heat / European Hot Sauce Awards 2026): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OOy8T38QNKkJwhlyvgz9klx_tl5icn-z?usp=drive_link
ABOUT PIPPIS PEPPER Pippis Pepper is a craft hot sauce producer registered in Vienna's 9th district and run by Phillip Hauck-Tyran, with chilies grown on a Burgenland field at Neudorf bei Parndorf and recipes from his sister Julia Crawford. The brand started with a single gifted Chocolate Habanero plant, grew into a Christmas-gift run, and now sits on the European Garlic podium with Šoafer Knofl. The four-sauce range, including Šoafer Knofl, Pumqueen, Original Nr. 3 and Original Nr. 4, is available at pippispepper.com.
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 4–6 September 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
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