North London-based HOP’T Sauce infuses their delicious hot sauces with the hop flavours associated with your favourite beers. African Queen, the latest, exciting addition to the HOP’T Sauce range, was named after the hop variety it showcases.
African Queen hops, a rich and fragrant hop variety found in South Africa, combine with fiery Rwandan Scotch Bonnet chillies for a pilsner-style sauce that will tantalise your tastebuds.
Founder Sammi Marwan is a mixed-race British-born citizen. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder by American police and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, he was inspired to create a sauce celebrating the power of diversity, while also raising money for charity. As a BAME business founder, he decided to donate a portion of proceeds from every bottle sold to the Racial Justice Network, a registered charity (no 1165804) with a vision of holistic, societal, environmental, spiritual and cultural repairs to address legacies of colonialism and ending racial injustice.
Founder Sammi started HOP’T Sauce while between jobs, just weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown was implemented. “When the pandemic hit, starting a new business and investing personal savings was certainly a big worry, but we’ve been stunned by the reception from both the craft beer and hot sauce communities alike,” said Sammi. African Queen is the first in a series of limited releases for HOP’T Sauce and has already been received with excitement by the brand’s loyal social media following.
HOP’T Sauce has a “core range” of always-available flavours: Mango-Jalapeno IPA, Tropical Habanero Lager, and Chocolate Chipotle Stout. But beyond those flavours, Sammi is always exploring new and unique flavours that can infuse some of his creativity as well as allow him to collaborate with other artists, craft brewers and chefs to create “limited releases”. African Queen presented the opportunity to do just this and so HOP’T Sauce joined forces with the incredibly talented Black British artist Camilla Ru, who created the logo artwork for African Queen. The striking design pays homage to the nobility so often absent in portrayals of people of African descent in the West, and represents the peaceful power struggle that many people from that background endure day-in and day-out in pursuit of justice, tolerance and respect.
Sammi Marwan, Founder, Hopt Sauce, said: “African Queen is a celebration of what diversity in race and culture has brought the UK from a culinary perspective. In the wake of recent events in the UK and the U.S., as a person of colour I felt that silence wasn’t an option. I decided to do what little I could to try to make a difference, while making an unforgettably tasty sauce for our amazing customers.”
Customers can order African Queen Piri-Piri Pilsner from 7pm BST on 7th August here.