Tabasco Pepper

With its origins in Mexico, the Tabasco pepper is named after the Mexican state of Tabasco, and is best known for its use in Tabasco sauce. Until recently, all of the peppers used to make Tabasco sauce were grown on Avery Island, Louisiana. While a small portion of the crop is still grown on the island, the bulk of the crop is now grown in Central and South America, where the weather and the availability of more farmland allow a more predictable and larger year-round supply of peppers.

The tapered fruits, around 4 cm long (1.5 inches), are initially pale yellowish-green and turn yellow and orange before ripening to bright red. The plant, which can grow to nearly 60″ tall, typically shows all stages at once. Tabasco fruits, like all other members of the C. frutescens species, remain upright when mature, rather than hanging down from their stems.

FUN FACT: In it’s dried form, the Tabasco is known as the Red Amazon pepper.