Berlin took 12 medals at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (EHSA, heatawards.eu) across five independent makers, the densest cluster from any European city this cycle, judged blind by chefs, sommeliers, critics and chilli specialists.
The European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 results landed ahead of this year's Berlin Chili Fest, which ran 29–31 May. The festival, which gave EHSA its start, returns 4–6 September 2026 (tickets €8–12, chilifest.berlin).
Berlin's food culture lives on who arrives here and brings their cooking with them: the Turkish community that shaped the döner in the 1970s, the Vietnamese phở counters of Prenzlauer Berg, the Lebanese mezze tables of Neukölln. On this year's evidence, hot sauce belongs in that lineage: 12 medals at EHSA 2026, anchored by Polish chef Karol Wojciechowski (ex-Fischers Fritz), whose Pandemonic took two Golds. The other four span Chili Oil, Salt & Condiments and Berlin's mixed pantry.
Not That Spicy took 7 of Berlin's 12 medals from a one-person Hohenschönhausen operation.
Pandemonic took both Best in Category awards, with Chocoberrie posting the highest score of EHSA 2026 (8.93 out of 10) across all 171 placings.
THE MEDALS
Gold: - Roasted Hell by Not That Spicy (Hot Chili Sauce) - Cranberry Cracker by Not That Spicy (Medium Chili Sauce) - Volcanic Honey by Not That Spicy (Chili Honey) - Chili Chrisp by Pandemonic (Chili Oil) - Chocoberrie by Pandemonic (Hot Chili Sauce)
Silver: - Honey I'm Hot by Not That Spicy (Chili Honey) - Szechuan Chili Crisp by Eckart Saucen (Salt & Condiments) - La Macha by Los Chilaquiles (Chili Oil)
Bronze: - King's Burn by Not That Spicy (Medium Chili Sauce) - Susan's Sorcery by Not That Spicy (Mild Chili Sauce) - Jude Jinn by Not That Spicy (Mild Chili Sauce) - Chunky Chili Oil by Moja (Chili Oil)
Republic of Heat's Tasting Editor on what the result actually shows:
"What I notice about Berlin is the diversity in the making. Five Berlin makers, five different traditions, judged blind without knowing the maker. Berlin's craft sauce scene is the most-awarded in Europe this year." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
These results come ahead of Berlin Chili Fest 2026, opening 6pm Friday 29 May at Berliner Berg Brauerei in Neukölln and running through Sunday 31 May. All five Berlin makers will be at the fest, where visitors can try the sauces alongside hundreds of others from over 40 hot sauce makers attending from across Europe.
Not That Spicy (Justin King) takes seven medals from one Berlin operation, across four categories: three Gold, one Silver, three Bronze. Roasted Hell pairs roasted Carolina Reaper and Chocolate Trinidad Scorpion with carrot, sweet potato and fresh rosemary. Cranberry Cracker is a ghost pepper and cranberry recipe that Justin thought about every Christmas for four years before he made it. Volcanic Honey is Madame Jeanette and habaneros fermented for 150 days in organic honey from Imkerei Bien, the Berlin honey partner Justin met at his Markthalle Neun stand.
Pandemonic (Karol Wojciechowski) takes two Gold and two Best in Category, in two different categories. Chocoberrie is a fermented chocolate habanero sauce with blackberry, apple, blackcurrant, red onion and cherry vinegar, a deep brown chocolate colour, sweet berries up front and the habanero behind. Chili Chrisp is the newest member of the Pandemonic range, a crispy chili oil. Karol grows his chillies himself on a farm in Poland and makes the sauces by hand in Berlin.
Los Chilaquiles (Rodrigo Rubio and Alejandro Jiménez) takes Silver in Chili Oil with La Macha, a salsa macha family recipe from Mexico. The format runs through Mexican kitchens: dried chilies for body, fried garlic for depth, toasted sesame for the finish, all carried in oil. Rodrigo and Alejandro work the recipe from a small Prenzlauer Berg operation. The Silver puts a Berlin maker with Mexican roots in the largest EHSA 2026 category by entry count.
Moja (Maliha Fairooz) takes Bronze in Chili Oil with Chunky Chili Oil, a textured small-batch oil hand-jarred in Berlin. The range brings together cooking traditions from Bengal, Sierra Leone and Berlin, and scaled from 30 to 300 jars a month in its first year. It is designed to spoon onto noodles, eggs, dumplings or rice bowls.
Eckart Saucen (Thomas Eckart and Sabine Welz) takes Silver in Salt & Condiments with Szechuan Chili Crisp. The label has been producing handmade fine-food sauces in Berlin since 2009, with a current range of ten sauces from mild to fiery, made without artificial additives.
"If we crown anywhere as Europe's hot sauce capital right now, the data points to Berlin: 12 medals from five makers, all judged blind against entries from across Europe. That is a proper craft industry now, not a one-off result. We will be watching very closely what comes out of Berlin next year." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
The European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 ran over 200 sauces from across the continent through blind tasting this year, scored on five criteria by a deliberately mixed panel of chefs, sommeliers, critics and chilli specialists. Chili Oil drew the largest single field in this edition, and three of the five Berlin makers placed there.
Not That Spicy is available at notthatspicy.com. Pandemonic is available direct from Karol and through selected German hot sauce retailers. Los Chilaquiles is available direct in Berlin. Moja is available at mojaberlin.com. Eckart Saucen is available at saucen-designer.berlin. Full EHSA 2026 results across all 16 categories: heatawards.eu/results/2026?utm_source=press_release&utm_medium=press&utm_campaign=ehsa2026&utm_content=cluster-berlin.
Republic of Heat's EHSA 2026 Winners Box is available at republicofheat.com/de-en/discovery-set/euhsa_top3.
The Berlin Chili Fest 2026 opens this Friday, 29 May, at 6pm, and runs through Sunday 31 May.
PRESS RESOURCES Reveal videos on YouTube, embeddable: - Hot Chili Sauce: https://youtu.be/wJSbcurxAlk - Medium Chili Sauce: https://youtu.be/t6_GvbkBCM8 - Chili Honey: https://youtu.be/KUVUZ0AKsdA - Mild Chili Sauce: https://youtu.be/nQsGH0tPhZ8 - Chili Oil: embed via heatawards.eu/results/2026 Press kit (one folder, photos and AI-generated lifestyle composites for all five makers plus cluster composites, credit: Republic of Heat / European Hot Sauce Awards 2026): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tWAZVeZghwLFm3whKAD8MLBVHRiiVzls?usp=drive_link
ABOUT NOT THAT SPICY Not That Spicy is an independent Berlin hot sauce label run by Justin King, made by hand in small batches. The range covers chili honey, mild, medium and hot sauces, all built on original recipes. Volcanic Honey and Honey I'm Hot are fermented in organic honey from Imkerei Bien, the Berlin honey partner. The full range, including Roasted Hell, Cranberry Cracker, Volcanic Honey, Honey I'm Hot, King's Burn, Susan's Sorcery and Jude Jinn, is available at notthatspicy.com.
ABOUT PANDEMONIC Pandemonic is an independent Berlin hot sauce label run by Polish chef Karol Wojciechowski. Karol previously cooked at Berlin's two-Michelin-star Fischers Fritz. The chillies are grown on a farm in Poland; cooking and bottling is done by hand in small batches in Berlin, from original recipes and with a focus on flavour rather than heat records. The Hot Chili Sauce Chocoberrie and the Chili Oil Chili Chrisp are the EHSA 2026 gold-winning bottles. Pandemonic sauces are available through Pandemonic's own channels and selected German hot sauce retailers.
ABOUT LOS CHILAQUILES Los Chilaquiles is a small-batch Mexican food maker in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg, founded and run by Rodrigo Rubio and Alejandro Jiménez. The operation works on family recipes carried from Mexico; La Macha is its signature oil-based salsa. La Macha is sold direct in Berlin.
ABOUT MOJA Moja is an independent hot sauce maker in Berlin's Schöneberg-Tempelhof, founded and run by Maliha Fairooz. The range brings together cooking traditions from Bengal, Sierra Leone and Berlin, hand-jarred in small batches. The operation scaled from 30 to 300 jars a month in its first year. Chunky Chili Oil is available at mojaberlin.com.
ABOUT ECKART SAUCEN Eckart Saucen is an independent Berlin fine-food sauce producer run by Thomas Eckart and Sabine Welz since 2009. The current range covers ten sauces from mild to fiery, all handmade without artificial additives. The range, including Szechuan Chili Crisp, is available at saucen-designer.berlin.
ABOUT THE EUROPEAN HOT SAUCE AWARDS The European Hot Sauce Awards (EHSA) is the professional competition for commercially produced hot sauces in Europe, run annually since 2024 from heatawards.eu. EHSA was born out of the Berlin Chili Festival, which next runs 4–6 September 2026 at chilifest.berlin, and became an independent competition in 2024. Over 200 sauces from producers across the continent were entered in 2026. Entries are judged blind across five criteria: aroma, heat profile, flavour, creativity and finish. The 2026 edition covers 16 categories, with Gold, Silver and Bronze medals awarded across multiple positions in each. Each category also names a Best in Category, the top Gold. EHSA is run independently of any single producer or retailer.
ABOUT REPUBLIC OF HEAT Republic of Heat is a European hot sauce subscription designed to show off the flavours coming out of Europe and help solve the distribution problem independent makers face. Founded June 2025 in Berlin by Nathan "Naga" Austin and Simon "Scoville" Gardner. The Discovery subscription delivers three handpicked craft sauces plus a spicy extra to subscribers across the EU each month. Press partner of the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026. republicofheat.com.
PRESS CONTACT Press: Republic of Heat, on behalf of European Hot Sauce Awards Si "Scoville" Gardner press@republicofheat.com +49 176 41601284
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