Spice Up Your Life
This week’s food adventure is a little different. Instead of a restaurant, this is my first “experiment” highlighting a local food product that is heating up the hot sauce market.
Enter Barrel 22 Hot Sauce, based off Road 22 between Oliver and Osoyoos, created by Tony Konefall and Rick Lim. Just over a year into business, they’ve already managed to do something most hot sauce brands and any new food product struggles with – getting noticed.
Hot sauce is an incredibly competitive market. Not just because of the sheer volume of competition, but because right away you’ve lost half your customers just because some people don’t like hot sauce.
There are two types of people: those who love hot sauce and those who don’t. And even among those who do, you’re dealing with personal preferences – heat level, flavor, types of peppers, price, availability, and even what people grew up on. Some are loyal to Tabasco, others swear by Frank’s or that iconic rooster-labelled sriracha. Breaking into that kind of loyalty isn’t easy.
But after a year of seeing Barrel 22 show up in local businesses, farmers markets, grocery stores, and restaurants, it’s safe to say they have exceeded where hundreds of others have failed. They’ve carved out a strong presence by focusing on something many hot sauces forget: flavour first.
Peppers in the smoker.
I sat down with Tony to talk about how his business all started. He and Rick have been friends for over 20 years and always wanted to go into business together. When I asked, “Why hot sauce?”, his answer was simple: “Why not?” His reasoning was just as straightforward – a product only fails if its generic and doesn’t stand out
Their approach was to create hot sauces with character, starting with fermentation to add depth and complexity. And this is where I completely agree—hot sauce should enhance food, not overpower it. You shouldn’t need a drink after every bite, and it shouldn’t feel like a chore just to finish your meal. Tony advised that spice levels can easily be adjusted but flavor is everything and requires great detail and care.
Barrel 22 is up to 18 different sauces, including seasonal releases and award-winning staples. Tony brought me one of their gift packs – four sauces in a clean, well-packaged box that would make an easy gift for any hot sauce fan.
The lineup included “Jerkin My Gherkin,” with a surprisingly good dill pickle twist; “Dragon’s Spit,” their best-seller and the most traditional hot sauce of the bunch that had a perfect balance of heat and flavor; “Salsa Tofino,” an award winner and my personal favorite thanks to its mild heat and taco-friendly profile; and “Black Garlic Reaper” which was the spiciest and definitely not for beginners but came with such a good flavour it was impossible to not go back for more, especially if you enjoy bold, spicy dishes like Szechuan cuisine – but it does come with serious heat thanks to the Carolina Reaper chili pepper (about 200 times hotter than a Jalapeno).
To take my taste test a step further, I invited a few readers to join a group tasting who showed interest in being part of one of my food adventures. Five locals showed up and after getting some wings from “Ive the Chicken Lady,” we put the sauces to the test.
The clear winner? Dragon’s Spit. It hit that perfect balance of flavour and heat that people want to use regularly and on everything.
Another detail worth mentioning – Tony sources his peppers locally, even picking them himself from a neighbour’s orchard. When they say local, they mean it.
So if you’re looking to spice up your bland dinner (or bland life), Barrel 22 is worth checking out. You can find them at local shops like the Osoyoos Home Hardware, local markets, and restaurants, or order directly from their website at barrel22.com and if you happen to see Tony or Rick selling their sauce at one of the many local events, tell them Sheldon sent you.
Sheldon Herman is the author of the multi award-winning, international best-selling book The Tortured Traveller: How I Survived the Worst Vacation Ever and has eaten his way through over 60 countries. This review was written independently and without compensation. Have a restaurant you’d like featured? Email [email protected].
