Making sauce, not getting sauced
A Colorado family hot sauce company that started in a home kitchen.
How it started
Every label carries the line “Making sauce, not getting sauced since 4-19-20.” That's the day Derek Nykamp took his last mind- or mood-altering substance. Giving it all up is what made these sauces possible.
The early taste-test batches came out of our home kitchen: fun, tasty, time-consuming, and a real test of Alexa's and Wilson's patience. Today we cook in a commercial kitchen, still in small batches, with fresh produce and real peppers.
None of it happens alone. Regulars like Curly and Eliot, plus friends who pitch in when they can, help us cook, bottle and pack every batch.
The three big players
Derek Nykamp
Derek loves creating new sauces, and the hotter the better. He makes most of them to his own taste but keeps a few on the milder side.
Alexa Fredrickson
Alexa put up with the noises and smells of the early home-kitchen days, and she still taste tests every sauce. Derek couldn't do it without her.
Wilson
The original boss of CCC. Forever featured on every bottle, forever loved, and forever part of our story.
Read Wilson's story →