Partnerships
JOE ROGAN
From ancient rare peppers to the most desired and premium truffles in the world, we pulled out all the stops for the most exciting collaboration hot sauce has ever seen – crafted in collaboration with Joe Rogan.
Limited edition. 3 x 5 oz bottles.
Introducing .121 // Habanero, Urfa Chili, Paprika // Crafted in collaboration with Joe Rogan.
Introducing .888 // Chilhuacle, Colima Salt, Ghost Pepper // Crafted in collaboration with Joe Rogan.
Welcome back .5326 // Heirloom Tomatoes, Winter Truffle, Reapers // Crafted in collaboration with Joe Rogan and Half Face Blades.
We were first connected with Joe right after he tasted and loved our .5326 hot sauce (a collaboration with Half Face Blades). In crafting the custom sauces, Joe tested our full lineup to start. We talked through flavors and heat levels. We talked specific ingredients. (Our goal was to source rare, unique, ultra-premium ingredients to set the collection apart.) Joe tested samples with different flavors and varying heat levels. We tweaked recipes. And Joe picked the final custom sauces.
On the creative side, we presented ideas for custom sauce names, fonts, labels, graphic treatments, images, copy... and from what we presented, Joe selected and approved what he liked best.
Joe was involved at each step beyond standing behind the collection by putting his name on it.
THE JOE ROGAN COLLECTION.
As #calienteasfuck as it’ll ever get.
THE JOE ROGAN BURGER
The limited-edition Joe Rogan Burger dropped opening weekend of SXSW in Austin Texas at a custom JRB-branded NADC food truck parked behind The Comedy Mothership.
Available March 8-18 2024, the spicy triple wagyu bacon cheeseburger designed by Joe himself was fired up with @senorlechugahotsauce x @joerogan x @halffaceblades .5326 truffle hot sauce — plus lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles.
NADC Burger is the brainchild and culinary feat of professional skateboarder Neen Williams and Michelin-starred Chef Phillip Frankland Lee of Sushi by Scratch restaurants.
Born from ash and fire and released on Friday the 13th (10132013), The Lords of the Fallen Collection is Señor Lechuga’s first-ever gaming partnership!
Made in collaboration with action-RPG LORDS OF THE FALLEN, and inspired by the dual dark fantasy worlds of Axiom and Umbral, this epic limited-edition custom two-pack of Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce brings fire and flavor to an otherworldly dimension.
“Part of the enjoyment in playing a game like Lords of the Fallen is overcoming adversity - not only learning to withstand the hardships, but rising above them. In time, you come to savour the suffering, to take pleasure from pain. The same could be said of a hot sauce company, especially one that prides itself on being 'caliente as fuck'.“ – Ryan Hill, Senior Brand Director @lotfgame
The .6 5 5 4 (born in Axiom) combines blood orange and strawberries with beets to build a sweet and robust flavor, fired up by habaneros and reapers. It starts as a kiss, finishes as a bite.
The .8 5 18 (born in Umbral) blends chocolate ghost peppers, cacao and fermented locust beans into a savory, complex flavor, rich with depth and intense heat. Charcoal creates a dark finish.
This limited-edition custom two-pack is wrapped in a branded sleeve displaying epic game art that also appears on the collaboration labels. As a brand known for its minimalist aesthetic, this creative departure is also an exciting first.
Gamers and foodies… get it while it’s HOT.
CHEF CLAUDETTE ZEPEDA
Our .664 Salsa Macha collab with celebrity chef and culinary rockstar Claudette Zepeda combines a crunchy foundation of hot and savory chilies with the sweetness of macadamia nuts and the richness of avocado oil. The result: an irresistible blend.
Here’s how it all came together.
We met Chef Claudette Zepeda in LA on November 9, 2019 at a Summit event she co-hosted with Don Julio pairing tequilas with chiles. Instant WOW factor. This woman is a boss. A rockstar in an apron. A rising star in a heavily male dominated field. A proud Mexicana with vibrant tattoos, burgundy red lips and unicorn hair paired with total confidence in her culinary prowess. As working parents ourselves, it was all the more impressive how she was crushing it professionally while also holding down fort as mom.
We connected on IG and saw we had a close mutual friend (Andy from HFB!). Fast forward to June 2021. We met another mutual friend who graciously offered to pass our core collection on to some of her close chef and culinary contacts. A week or two later Claudette posted our hot sauce and spice blends to her IG story. (Thank you, Chef!)
Then Dec 2021 Claudette sees our Half Face Blades XXL large format drop and DMs us about it and mentions she loved seeing us on Hot Ones. By now, we are huge fans of hers. So when, in a casual DM exchange, she hits us with, “Let’s make a sauce together!” Ummm… FUCK YES.
When we do collaborations, typically Nico and the collab partner discuss flavors, ingredients, heat level. And Nico takes it from there. He sends samples. He makes tweaks. But he’s driver. So early Jan we have our first call with Chef Claudette. And it’s clear she has some concepts that are intriguing to her. And some peppers she thinks would pack the right punch. So we end the call with Claudette to send over some peppers to sample. Remember, this is for a HOT SAUCE collab. Nico and Lauren try the peppers, give feedback, Claudette gets to work.
Initially she’s thinking 1 collab hot sauce and 2 rubs. But after us playing around, what ultimately arrives is 2 hot sauces and 1 jar of something else she threw in as an extra. We hardly pay it any attention at first. The hot sauces are really good. They are unique and bold and substantive. Then Nico says, “try the other thing, I’m curious what you think.” Now you all know Lauren is NOT the cook in the house. But she does know what tastes good and she’s pretty spot on with what our customers will love. Lauren helps Nico nail down the final version of each Señor Lechuga flavor, even if she has no idea how he’s using the ingredients and all of their individual roles. So Lauren takes one bite. Off a spoon. Closes her eyes. And say to Nico, “OH. MY. GOD. THIS. IS. IT.” And Nico smiles, “100 PERCENT.”
Now we do hot sauce. Plus spice blends and we offer some brand merch too. But is this other thing sooo good, we’re going to launch with a brand new collab partner into a brand new product category for us?
YES. 1000 percent yes.
As many know, Claudette is an award-winning chef, celebrated and recognized by Michelin, James Beard, The New York Times, Food & Wine, Iron Chef and so many more. Her culinary work is a love letter to Mexico and Mexican cuisine. So the production also presented a responsibility. To create a product that makes Chef Claudette Zepeda and also Nico Lechuga proud to have their names on the jar. And have Lauren love it too. That’s some pretty high standards.
And we did it.
Spicy. Premium. Limited. 1000 bottles. By hand. By us.
CAFE UNIDO
Made for the big multi-city US launch of Panama’s Café Unido coffee shops (with first locations in DC and Miami), this obscenely delicious and addictive sauce was made in collaboration with world renowned Panamanian chef Mario Castrellon.
A premium, clean hot sauce made with some of the world’s best coffee and cascara, we dialed down the heat because the flavor is so explosive. (No reapers required!)
Currently available in the US and Panama.
CAFE UNIDO
After the success of our .507 collaboration sauce with Cafe Unido, we reunited with world renown chef Mario Castrellon and head roaster Benito Bermudez to launch .098 using the most expensive and premium coffee in the world.
The recipe for .098 centers on Panama Geisha coffee (a single lb of which just sold for $1,300.00). We balanced the geisha coffee with passion fruit and blueberries. And for heat, habaneros.
The name .098 comes from Café Unido receiving cupping scores of 98/100 for its geisha, sourced from the Panamanian highlands. “Cupping” is a globally recognized process where individual characteristics of a coffee are scored from 1-10 to grade its quality. These characteristics -- like Aroma, Flavor, Body, Acidity, Balance -- add up for a final score between 1-100, which then determines pricing per pound.
Our .098 collab sauce has notes of pomegranate, dark chocolate and violet, and pairs with everything from a bagel and cream cheese (you'll NEVER need jam or jelly again) to barbecue ribs.
Currently available in the US and Panama.
GOOP
Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce was selected for goop’s 2018 Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide in the The Cook's Gift Guide!! More, our trio of hot sauce was selected to be sold in the 3-pack carrier we custom-designed for goop at the national goop GIFT pop up shops in NYC, Manhasset, Dallas, and San Francisco. Between the online shop and the pop-up locations, Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce sold out!
Goop, by Gwyneth Paltrow, believes ““that the little things count, that good food is the foundation of love and wellness, that the mind/body/spirit is inextricably linked, and we have more control over how we express our health than we currently understand. We believe in making every choice count. We also believe in buying fewer things that are better, which is why we both make and curate incredible products.”
HOT ONES
Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce debuted on Season 16 of Hot Ones!!
As two neighboring Williamsburg Brooklyn brands, just blocks apart, we knew we were values aligned with Heatonist years ago when the sign outside their store read: Jalapeno in the streets, Habanero in the sheets. When they reached out to us to create a new sauce for Season 16 of Hot Ones (featuring some of the best brands they’ve never before had on the show), we knew it was time to use the digits 7 1 8, the OG BK area code established in 1984 – a number we’d be holding onto for the right time and partner.
.718 is an all-natural, super addictive hot sauce with a traditional Mexican adobo flavor profile. Getting *ghosted* is a good thing. For the first time ever, for fire, we traded Carolina Reapers for Ghost Peppers. We also added guajillo and pasilla peppers. For flavor, you’ll taste notes of lime, paprika, cinnamon and ginger.
Our first verified review on Heatonist: "I have a fridge dedicated to hot sauce, and this is probably the best sauce in it. This will probably be the first bottle of sauce I finish in 5 years."
Get it here.
HALF FACE BLADES
Size matters.
You already knew and loved our .5326 Señor Lechuga x Half Face Blades truffle hot sauce, made with 100% all-natural REAL black winter truffles and white truffle olive oil. You loved it so much you told us you wished you had a bigger bottle, you either go through it so fast or use it so sparingly. We get it. We do the same. So for a limited-edition run, we upgraded from our traditional 5oz glass woozy to a beautiful 16.9oz glass dorica bottle.
To complement the delicious and ultra-premium .5326 truffle hot sauce in this new XXL format, we designed a limited-edition, super luxe, black-on-black textured and foiled label. The texture mimics the lines of Damascus steel often found on Half Face Blades and also the vein pattern of black winter truffle. We also added in metallic splashes of red for the HFB logo and lion’s head. It’s still our minimalist look, elevated.
To launch .5326 SLHS x HFB XXL, we commissioned animated NFTs to be raffled and auctioned with the first four large-format bottles. These original and non-interchangeable works of digital art are in contrast to the sleek design of the XXL bottles and new labels. They showcase a retro aesthetic, heavy on the nostalgia. Each of the four NFTs feature a unique pixelated interpretation of our new XXL bottles of .5326 truffle hot sauce and are numbered to match the bottles.
To complete the launch, Half Face Blades handcrafted one-of-a-kind, limited-edition acid-etched and stone-wash-finished 8” Chef Blades. Inspired by the new bottles, the blades were made with a marble copper carbon fiber split with a red G10 center space, white G10 and stainless-steel liners, stainless-steel mosaic pins, a contoured grip, and rock work spine. The custom blades, like the NFTs, were numbered to match bottles 1 through 4.
The bottle #3 package complete with its #3 knife and NFT along with the bottle #4 package complete with its #4 knife and NFT were raffled.
The bottle #2 package complete with its #2 knife and NFT along with the bottle #1 package complete with its #1 knife and NFT were auctioned on social.
This partnership marked several firsts – our very first large format bottle, our first non-white label, our first textured label, our first NFTs and our first social auctions hosted on Instagram.
HALF FACE BLADES
Born in Brooklyn. Envisioned in San Diego. Made in the USA.
As two brands who share the desire for superior quality goods and the value of never compromising, we teamed up with Half Face Blades to create the most premium truffle hot sauce out there. As with all our sauces, this one brings both fire + flavor and is certifiably #calienteasfuck. Unlike other hot sauces on the market, the .5326 sauce uses 100% REAL TRUFFLES. Compare our ingredient list to any other truffle hot sauce on the market to see the difference, in print. Those black specks in our sauce are actual truffles.
Everything in our collab sauce is fresh, clean and quality. The .5326 is all-natural. There’s nothing synthetic. Nothing. No synthetic truffle ingredients, no “truffle flavors” or “truffle essences”, no coloring agents, no artificial preservatives, no emulsifying agents. Both black winter Périgord truffles and white truffle olive oil provide that unique truffle flavor, balanced by Carolina reapers, habaneros, seasonal heirloom tomatoes, cremini mushrooms, white wine vinegar, sherry vinegar, garlic and onions.
Our collaboration sauce .5326 is a NSW reference. If you know, you know.
Half Face Blades was founded by Andrew Arrabito, Navy SEAL (ret.), to meet the need for high-quality, go-to knives for every person in every walk of life. HFB brings the soul of rugged, dependable, combat knives and tools to a variety of settings - from special operations tools for warriors, hunters and backpackers, to knives for everyday cooks and top chefs alike. Among its honors, HFB is the chosen steak knife for diners at French Laundry, renown as one of the best restaurants – in the world.
“I wanted each person to have a usable tool, embodied with a warrior’s spirit.” - Andy Arrabito
The limited edition .5326 hot sauce, available on halffaceblades.com.
Here’s what people have to say about it.
HALF FACE BLADES
Half Face Blades is trusted by everyone from special warfare operators around the world to the elite team in Thomas Keller’s kitchen for his dining room at French Laundry.
For Valentine’s Day, we joined forces to create a custom one-of-a-kind drop-dead-gorgeous Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce Santoku blade, which we gave away (though it pained us to part!) to prove our love for our followers and fans.
THE BRONX BREWERY
Picture this. Early 2020. We planned to drop a Bronx Brewery beer using Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce peppers and a Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce using Bronx Brewery beer, launching with a live event at the brewery’s Backyard. A night of sweet heat. A mega-collab showcasing rising stars from across the hot sauce, beer, cuisine, mixology and design worlds.
Then COVID hit, putting a screeching halt to live events, large groups, human interaction.
We found ways to stay connected while apart. With Zoom. With Instagram Live. With videos of you all reacting to those 30 cans of Que Fuego with reaper peppers in them.
And we launched each collab product, online.
As people ate (and drank!!) while locked down or quarantined on their couch, at home — both the QUE FUEGO beer and the .856 hot sauce SOLD OUT.
A year later, as we emerged from COVID, we hosted a 💥 CELEBRATION 💥 a year in the making. To introduce QUE FUEGO: EL SANTO ARDIENTE.
In a year’s time Que Fuego had become an emblem of resilience. Of bonding together to fight through the flames. So to celebrate how far we'd all come, we made a couple changes. The beer was a few degrees hotter, with fresh blood orange and saison yeast for a slightly peppery finish. We teamed up with rising-star DJ & day-party collectives Tacos y Cerveza to bring 'Que Fuego: El Santo Ardiente' to life with a 4-weekend Backyard takeover, bringing the heat to a party long overdue. And back on the label? More graphic fire by Jose Ruiz.
At the same time we dropped a NEW collaboration sauce – Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce x The Bronx Brewery .136 !!!
A hot sauce built around reapers, plum tomato and our newly released 2021 beer collab QUE FUEGO: EL SANTO ARDIENTE.
Plus habaneros, New Mexico chili peppers, red onion, Himalayan sea salt, garlic, malt vinegar… everything you loved about our .856 collab sauce minus the Well Earned Pilsner plus the new Que Fuego Saison.
Brimming with fire and flavor, SLHS x BXB .136 (like all our sauces) is CLEAN. No added sugar, preservatives, emulsifying agents, animal products, artificial flavors or coloring. Just natural, superior hot sauce.
Every label is marked with its batch and number. And every bottle is #calienteasfuck.
The .136 sauce is a limited edition drop. Get it while it’s HOT.
BRONX BREWERY
For our limited-edition collaboration with The Bronx Brewery, we wanted to bring some new flavor. That started by crafting the ingredients around their Well Earned Pilsner. We decided to swap out traditional white distilled vinegar for malt vinegar. This flavor profile complements the BXB Well Earned Pilsner adding richness to the sauce. Next we incorporated plum tomatoes for sweetness, mild acidity, and texture. (Tomatoes pair so well with a Pilsner — you don’t have to look any farther than the explosion of people at brunch drinking micheladas and bloody beers — and this is no exception.) Finally, it wouldn’t be a Señor Lechuga hot sauce without serious heat. We used habaneros and, of course, Carolina Reapers.
You know all our sauces are named with a 3 digit number and our .856 honors our collaborators, The Bronx Brewery, for a partnership that was originally scheduled to launch April 2020 with a special event in their Taproom at 856 East 136th Street in The Bronx.
AND check out The Bronx Brewery’s newest beer, inspired by and in collaboration with Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce — QUE FUEGO! Pick up a can and scan the side for custom recipes, made by 4 top NYC chefs and mixologists, to go with that sweet heat you're holding.
WHALEBONE MAGAZINE
After being recommended by and connected through Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti, an honor in and of itself, this partnership started as a hot sauce collaboration and ended with us on the front AND back cover of the first-ever HOT SAUCE ISSUE of Whalebone Magazine as well as inside the pages with two spreads as the issue’s Presenting Sponsor.
The .668 sauce honors Whalebone’s heritage and is named after the old Montauk phone number prefix. This smooth and spicy bottle is fired up by habanero and balanced by guajillo. Unlike our born-in-Brooklyn #calienteasfuck core collection, the .668 is mellow for Montauk. A burst of flavor - fresh, delicious and, as always, clean.
The Hot Sauce issue of Whalebone Magazine, their biggest issue ever, covers the history of hot sauce, hot sauce personalities, peppers 101, a reaper dare caught on camera, and So. Much. More. It's instagram-worthy. Coffee-table-worthy. Tell-all-your-friends-about-worthy. Bringing-sexy-back-to-print-worthy. Read-cover-to-cover-worthy. Keep-forever-worthy.
SHAKE SHACK x HBO GAME OF THRONES
In partnership with HBO and in anticipation of the premiere of the 8th and final season of Game of Thrones, Shake Shack launched a special Game of Thrones fiery burger and Señor Lechuga hot sauce is the FIRE in the burger!
Shake Shack’s executive chef (John Karangis) and head of culinary (Mark Rosati) crafted the burger in Shake Shack’s Innovation Kitchen in NYC’s West Village, incorporating Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce .002 (Chipotle Salt Reapers) to provide the “fire" in Shake Shack’s biggest collaboration to date.
Of all burgers tested and all the hot sauces that could have been selected for this massive collaboration with these two powerhouse and esteemed brands, Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce was chosen.
The fiery burger launched exclusively at NYC’s Madison Square Park (along with the Game of Thrones Icy Dragonglass Milkshake for a complete Fire & Ice GoT concept), and could only be ordered if requested in Valyrian (the fictional GoT language). After a week at the single location, the secret menu rolled out nationwide, with the burger being offered at select Shake Shacks in top markets across the country.
The collaboration instantly went viral resulting in tons of press, with the burger getting phenomenal feedback and reviews.
HEATONIST
Just in time for the 2021 Holiday season, the top and go-to curator of hot sauce Heatonist hand-selected this very limited edition and ultra premium 3-pack for the very FIRST in it’s “new line of high-end / limited edition Maker's Collection packs”.
Introducing, the Maker’s Collection | Señor Lechuga Trio
Consisting of our .5326 all-natural real truffle collab sauce with @halffaceblades plus our .507 and our .098 decadent coffee collab sauces with @cafeunido, here’s how Heatonist describes the set:
“The ultimate hot sauce gift pack for foodie hot sauce lovers! The hot sauces in this HEATONIST-exclusive set feature opulent, hard-to-find ingredients, combining luxurious flavors with premium peppers to create a great gift for gourmands and pepperheads alike. .507 features Cáscara, the husk of the coffee fruit, from award-winning Panamanian coffee roaster Café Unido. The floral, pomegranate notes of ultra-rare Geisha coffee ($1,300/lb!) are complemented with tropical passion fruit in .098, while .5326 includes not just white truffle oil, but also real winter Perigord black truffles, giving the hot sauce an irreplaceable umami quality that rounds out this pièce de résistance of a sauce pack. With some of the most unique flavor combinations we’ve ever seen, this is the must-have hot sauce gift set for epicures or anyone who enjoys a fine meal.
.507 Made with renowned chef Mario Castrellon featuring some of the world’s best coffee and Cáscara from Panama’s Café Unido. Fruity habaneros complement the sweet herbal undertones of the Cáscara and add just-right heat.
.098 The “98” in .098 comes from Café Unido’s 98/100 score for its premium Panama Geisha coffee. The coffee’s notes of pomegranate, dark chocolate and violet are accentuated by tartness from passion fruit and blueberry.
.5326
Made in collaboration with precision knife crafter Half Face Blades, .5326 sauce uses 100% real black truffles for one-of-a-kind umami flavor. This is as luxurious as it gets.”
While supplies last.
DANNY MEYER’S TACOCINA
For summer 2022, timed up with the 5th birthday of Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce, we launched our third collaboration with Tacocina.
This time a carne asada taco created by Tacocina Culinary Manager Lara Gallegos, that uses Señor Lechuga adobo spice blends as a rub on the flank steak that is marinated for a minimum of 2 hours (but recommended, overnight).
We feasted on this taco (many many of them!) with friends and family at our 5th birthday party hosted at Tacocina on June 25, 2022.
TACOCINA x SEÑOR LEHCUGA x HEATONIST
For one day only, a BIRRIA TACO POP-UP at Tacocina in Domino Park!!
Inspired by our .718 adobo hot sauce created for Season 16 of HOT ONES, this collab brought together three Williamsburg, Brooklyn brands for good food, good people, good vibes. But mostly, good food.
Made with a blend of beef short rib and chuck roast, guajillo, ancho and pasilla chiles, Señor Lechuga Adobo Spice Blends, monterey jack cheese, cilantro and onion — and paired with a side of piping hot Consommé made with beef broth and Señor Lechuga Adobo Spice Blends — guests had the option to fire up their Consommé with our .718 adobo hot sauce. The .718 sauce was also served on tables to drizzle over the Beef Birria Tacos or add extra heat to the Consommé. And Tacocina’s addictive tortilla chips were also spiced up all day with Señor Lechuga Adobo Spice Blends, and were offered with either salsa or guac.
The limited-edition pop-up menu was expertly crafted by Taylor Haynos, the General Manager of Tacocina, a Danny Meyer restaurant.
Señor Lechuga .718 adobo hot sauce is available at heatonist, heatonist.com and Amazon.
DANNY MEYER’S TACOCINA
After dropping off sample sauce on a whim while strolling the baby on walk in the neighborhood, Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce .003 was selected for a limited edition taco at Danny Meyer’s Tacocina in Williamsburg Brooklyn.
Timed for Labor Day Weekend 2018, our .003 pineapple flavor inspired a taco collaboration where customers had to order the carnitas taco then ask to “make it caliente!”
The carnitas dish was so popular, it became a permanent menu item.
MURRAY’S CHEESE
Name a more iconic duo than hot sauce and cheese!
At these fun classes we co-host with the super knowledgeable and talented Murray’s team, we pair our hot sauces with their cheeses for an unbelievable tasting and learning experience.
There’s also Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce infused spirits and cocktails made custom for the classes, as well as unlimited beer, to complement the cheeseboard selections.
These classes always sell out in advance so check the Murray’s calendar for our next one!
BESPOKE POST
Luxury subscription service Bespoke Post selected Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce as their brand partner for their most popular box.
Timed with Cinco de Mayo, the Hecho box now contains spice blends that Señor Lechuga custom created so that people would be able to make their own version of Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce.
For the launch, a Meet the Makers video was created that introduces the Bespoke Post community to the husband + wife co-founders of Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce and also details the steps in making your own hot sauce. Check it out on our press page!
As a follow-up to the Hecho box, Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce has been chosen three times for inclusion in Bespoke Post’s new Scorch box, for subscribers to experience a variety of premium and fiery sauces.
TOUCH OF MODERN
Señor Lechuga Hot Sauce was selected for Touch of Modern’s first ever Holiday 2019 Foodie Initiative plus two 5 day Holiday flash sales and later their New York Summer 2020 campaign.
“Touch of Modern is the leading e-commerce app for men to discover cutting edge products. Catering to male millennial tastemakers, Touch of Modern focuses on offering unique and new -to-market products.”