Jennifer Russo

Jared Brodeur, a Leicester native, is a musician and freelance graphic designer and screen printer, but always imagined that he’d take one of his many passions and make it a living. His dad and brother run their own companies, and it made sense for him to find something of his own to put his energy into.  Having a great love of food and working in several kitchens throughout his life, he toyed with the idea of owning a cocktail bar or restaurant, but a chance happening at a family holiday planted the seed for a different idea.

“My Uncle Ray showed up to Thanksgiving one year with two pounds of red habanero peppers.  Everyone was just like ‘woah…okay, haha’.  Nobody touched them, so the next day I decided to make a hot sauce out of them so they wouldn’t go to waste.  I just went for it and it came out awesome.  I started getting into the whole thing and it snowballed very quickly.  Six months later, Decimation officially launched,” Jared tells us.

Jared always loved hot sauce, as a love for spicy food was popular in his family.  Very involved in the punk and metal/hardcore music scene in his teens and twenties here in Worcester, and then moving to Nashville for a while before heading back to the area, he admits that those influences greatly played into the branding.  Aesthetic was important, and he thought it would seem pretty “half-assed to just call his products something like jalapeno sauce”, and he has a great time choosing the names, relating it back to choosing titles for new songs.

And the names are fantastic – Tiki Torture is a pineapple forward sauce, but not too sweet, with great heat and citrus taste that pairs well with Mexican style dishes and any kind of chicken.  Six Six Citrus combines habanero and orange, for a bright and flavorful punch.  According to Jared, “it’s got a nice burn to it, but it’s not going to kill ya.”  

Green Hell is a jalapeno and fresh lime sauce, with a robust flavor profile that would be the perfect topping on tacos or any kind of seafood. It’s versatile and Jared gives it a 6/10 on the heat scale.  Lucifer’s Tears boasts bold flavors of Thai red chilis and red Fresno chili peppers.  It is what you’d expect from a traditional hot sauce that pairs well with anything but remains unique with a very slight hint of pineapple for balance.  A little spicier, Jared likes this on pizza.

For those who like to really turn it up, with a raise in body temperature and some sweat beading on the forehead, Everlasting Torment is for you.  This is a limited edition, collaborative effort with New England thrash metal outfit HIGH COMMAND.  This sauce is not for the weak, with ghost peppers that boast a “massive blaze that resonates” and smoky, slightly sweet notes for this 8.5/10 heat bomb.  Have a cold glass of milk nearby for this one.

Coming up with the flavor profiles for these sauces comes from a knowledge of what works well on the palette, and a little bit of trial and error, Jared says.  “Similar to any type of art or music design, you can keep f***ing with it forever, but at a certain point, enough is enough – accept that it is good or not.”  Once the ideal flavor and heat are achieved, the sauce is named and produced in the kitchen, and Jared designs the label to go along with the overall feel of the product.  The logo used today features a fire-headed skull with his tongue sticking out, which falls in perfectly with the overall theme, and for anyone who has had a really good hot sauce, I think we’ve all been that guy.

What may be unexpected, despite its seemingly malevolent branding, is that there is huge attention given to sustainability when producing the products.  Everything is composted, they use very little plastic, and they source their ingredients from local farms in New England whenever possible.  It’s important to Jared to stimulate the local economy and reduce any harm to the environment.  Additionally, all of their hot sauces are gluten free and soy and nut free.

Decimation will be working the farmer’s market circuit this year and are working on a line of spicy simple syrups that should be released in the February/March timeframe.  There are also a couple new sauces that will be coming out just in time for summer barbeques.  You can support this local business and get your spicy on by purchasing Decimation Hot Sauce and their other products directly on their website at Decimationhotsauce.bigcartel.com.