Making hot sauce is empowering. But making mustard is humbling

Mustard is like nothing else

Hey Friends,

When I first started making mustard, I did it the same way I start most things - read a bunch of conflicting recipes, shut the computer, and start poking at ingredients until they taste good. Beginner’s luck carried me through those first jars at the farmers market, but mustard is tricky. It acts more like a chemical reaction than a simple recipe - hot vs. cold liquid, soaked vs. unsoaked seeds, even the wrong pot can send it sideways.

Twelve years later, mustard still surprises me. But practice (and plenty of taste tests) paid off. This year, we were floored to take home the 2025 Gold Medal for Whole Seed Mustard at the World-Wide Mustard Competition - alongside big names like Maille and Inglehoffer. That was a real shot of validation.

Mustard is almost as versatile as hot sauce. Think sausages, sandwiches, salads, pretzels, tofu, or stir fry. Or, do like my mom and spread on a wedge of cabbage. My mother-in-law stirs Gustard into her salad dressing, where the jalapeño gives it a black-pepper-like “ting” of spice. I love reheating leftover rice with butter and a spoonful of Hard Cider Smoked Onion Mustard. And our Maple Sriracha Mustard? Perfect brushed on pork tenderloin, coated with breadcrumbs, and roasted. Our Heady Topper Mustard always has been and probably always will be our most popular mustard. It goes on everything and the options are endless.

So tell me - how many mustards do you keep in your fridge? Do you, like me, have one for every occasion?

-Claire
BBVT Founder and CEO