The Toad & The Butterfly, a Blog

Today we're officially launching Pepper Patrons, which means you can now join the farms, peppers, experiments, and flavor obsession behind this year’s sauces.

When I made my first hot sauce back in 2010 with my now husband, I definitely didn’t picture 13+ million people watching the biggest band in the world take on the hottest sauce I’ve ever made. But here we are.

If you’re putting together your own picnic condiment kit, this sauce pulls it all together.

The April Microbatch drop features a no heat, a low heat and medium sauce that makes folks lose their ever-loving minds.

There’s a moment every year when you smell that first grill firing up and you take a deep breath. Dinner moves outside. Friends linger longer. And whatever’s on those grates deserves better than ketchup.

We don’t boil maple syrup or work in the woods ourselves, but we get to work with some of the best people who do. And this is the weekend that reminds us just how much work goes into that one perfect ingredient.

This one tastes like sitting with your favorite people in a cozy, wood-paneled gin bar. Or sipping cocktails in a cabin in the woods.

Running a food company that sources directly from small farms means we actually get to know the people behind the ingredients. These women are wonderful, thoughtful, funny, wildly capable humans who care deeply about their land, their animals, and their communities.

I just finalized our projected needs for the 2026 growing season. I send our totals to the farms we work with, they tell me what they can grow and at what price, and then I spread our orders across all of them.

I have always loved the depth and texture of roasted butternut squash, and I was thrilled to discover it was the perfect foil for smoked onions and red jalapeños. The result was Ooh La La, a sauce I adore just as much as the album itself.

4th time's a charm. We're back on Hot Ones. Meet Smoked Serrano Squash Reaper X!

Every once in a while we make a sauce that folks just can't get out of their brains.

My husband is stretched out on the other one, and my daughters are being wonderfully goofy while working on a bunny-in-an-umbrella puzzle at the kitchen table. It’s nothing special. It’s everything.

Wherever you are tonight, however you are celebrating, however much is done or undone, we hope you feel proud of yourself.