A digital counter totals the amount of TABASCO Pepper Sauce bottled inside the bottling plant at the TABASCO Pepper Sauce Factory on Avery Island in New Iberia. (Gazette photo by Raymond Partsch III)
By: RAYMOND PARTSCH III
Managing Editor
AVERY ISLAND — The state of Louisiana has become synonymous around the globe for a multitude of different people, places and things.
There is the revelry of Mardi Gras and debauchery of Bourbon Street, the distinctive musical sounds (Zydeco, Jazz and Swamp Pop) that have risen out of the swampland, the legendary and infamous political figures with names like Long and Edwards, and of course the backyard crawfish boils, hot plates of etouffee and bowls of chicken and sausage gumbo.
But no list, just like no kitchen table, would be complete without the state’s famous export, TABASCO Pepper Sauce.
Visitors to the TABASCO Pepper Sauce Factory and Museum on Avery Island will not only get the history of the hot sauce and the island, but also have a chance to see how TABASCO is made, its cultural impact and even eat some TABSCO-flavored dishes.
“There is a lot that goes on with the TABASCO brand,” Visitors Center Coordinator Kaitlyn Stanford said. “A lot of people don’t know what goes on here.”
Edmund McIlhenny, a former banker, created TABASCO Original Red Sauce in the mid-1860’s on Avery Island. After successfully planted peppers on the island, McIlhenny founded the McIlhenny Company in 1868. McIlhenny’s method for this hot sauce was to blend crushed red peppers with salt from the island and age the “mash” for a month. He then mixed the “mash” with French white wine vinegar and aged that for another month. After straining, the mixture was poured into a small bottle and corked.
Despite a few minor changes, like now aging the sauce in white oak barrels for three years, the process is the same as it was nearly 150 years. And instead of selling the bottles only in New Orleans, TABASCO is labeled in 22 different languages and is sold in more than 180 countries.
More than three decades, visitors to Avery Island could learn that history and also take a very short tour of the factory but that was the extent of the experience. That has since changed and the reason was the demand from customers and tourists.
“We have been discussing expansion for the past six to seven years,” Stanford said. “Our visitors have been asking for more and we wanted to give them more. For the past 30 years we have had the same existing tour. We got to hear their feedback and what they wanted to see.”
That feedback led to the completion of a multi-million dollar expansion that took nearly 18 months to complete. The tour now has ten spots and begins with a state-of-the-art museum, which was originally intended years ago in New Orleans, which has video presentations about the island, displays on the company’s history, and the factory’s bottling and culture influences. The latter includes a film montage of TABASCO appearances and a TABASCO specialty guitar played by Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony.
Visitors then follow the concrete paths to the pepper greenhouse and barrel warehouse before walking to the factory to see more displays, including five-foot tall bottles of sauce, as well as a window allowing visitors to watch the bottling process.
“We liked our customers to see the value behind the brand,” Stanford said.
In addition to the new museum and expanded tour, visitors can also eat lunch at Restaurant 1868, which opened last August. The restaurant features dishes that feature at least one of the dozens of the company’s sauces.
“We wanted to teach people how to use TABASCO,” Stanford said. “Each dish in our restaurant incorporates one of our flavors.”
After touring the factory, and stopping off at the TABASCO General Store, visitors can also check out the 170-acre Jungle Gardens and Bird City, which is a popular spot for wedding pictures.
“It is our hidden treasure on the island,” Stanford said. “We are looking to keep expanding the entire island experience for our visitors.”