Lil Red Stick

The 'Lil Red Stick'...
'Le Petit Baton Rouge' is used for gauging the ripeness of the Tabasco Pepper. This one was brought back from Avery Island, Louisiana.......Home of the Tabasco Company's Factory and birthplace of the hybrid Tabasco Pepper. The goal for this Traveler is to get to Avery Island and be presented to a member of the McIlhenny family or, to be put on permanent display in the Tabasco Company’s Pepper Museum. Perhaps it can visit some peppers from different parts of the country during it’s travels. Upload a photo of 'Lil Red' next to your favorite hot sauce.

At Avery Island, the hot peppers are carefully picked by hand as soon as they ripen to the perfect shade of bright red. (Young peppers are green, turning yellow, then orange and, finally, bright red as they age). When in doubt, pickers can gauge the color by comparing it to a small wooden dowel, "le petit bâton rouge," painted the preferred hue of TABASCO® red. The same day the peppers are picked, they are mashed, mixed with a small amount of Avery Island salt, placed in white oak wooden barrels and allowed to ferment and then age for up to three years. When deemed ready by a member of the McIlhenny family who personally inspects each barrel of cleaned and drained pepper mash, the approved, fully aged mash is then blended with all-natural, high grain vinegar. Numerous stirrings and about four weeks later, the pepper skins and seeds are strained out. The "finished" sauce is then bottled by modern methods and prepared for shipment to over 105 countries around the world The next pepper crop is ensured by the McIlhennys who personally select the best plants in the field during harvest. The pepper seeds from those select plants are treated and dried and then stored-for use the following year-both on the Island and in a local bank vault as a hedge against any disaster that might befall future crops.

NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT SHOW THE TAG NUMBER IN A PHOTO, OR USE THAT NUMBER IN YOUR WRITTEN LOGS FOR THIS TRAVEL BUG!!!