TheSauceMan and TIA FELISA, both based in Madrid, took three medals between them at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (heatawards.eu), Europe's flagship competition for commercially produced hot sauces. TheSauceMan is Mark Nicholls' small-batch British project in Madrid; TIA FELISA is Ernesto Sigüenza's family hot sauce brand, named after his aunt.
Madrid is a city of cocido, callos, bocadillos de calamares and the slow Sunday lentejas that every household claims to make best. Chili sauce is not the usual entry on that list, and the two makers placing this year arrive at it from very different starting points. One is a British saucemaker working through the Spanish pantry, the other is a family operation growing its own chilies and bottling between Murcia and Madrid.
THE MEDALS
Silver: - Hot Pickle by TheSauceMan (Medium Chili Sauce) - La Clasica by TIA FELISA (Garlic Chili Sauce)
Bronze: - Tomate con Chilli Quemado by TheSauceMan (Sambal, Chutney and Pickles)
Republic of Heat's Tasting Editor on the Madrid placings:
"What stands out in Madrid is the technique encoded in the names. TheSauceMan's Tomate con Chilli Quemado is burnt chili and tomato in a Spanish-pantry chutney register. Hot Pickle is a chili-and-pickle build pushed into Medium on technique rather than heat. TIA FELISA comes at it from the other side with La Clasica, garlic worked from a family operation that grows its own chilies." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
TheSauceMan is Mark Nicholls' small-batch operation, run by hand in Madrid with almost exclusively local Madrid produce. The range is recipe-led, with no preservatives and no additives. Hot Pickle is a chili-and-pickle build that carries into the Medium register, and Tomate con Chilli Quemado sits in the chutney and sambal corner, built around burnt chili and tomato.
TIA FELISA is Ernesto Sigüenza's family hot sauce brand, named after his own aunt. The operation plants and grows its own chilies, ferments for depth, then blends and bottles by hand in limited batches between Murcia and Madrid. La Clasica is the house garlic sauce, made the way Ernesto's aunt would have made it.
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. Madrid is the only Spanish city to place multiple makers in this edition.
"Two unconnected Madrid producers placed at EHSA across three different categories. That is the kind of regional pattern EHSA exists to surface." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
Hot Pickle and Tomate con Chilli Quemado are available through TheSauceMan at thesauceman.es. La Clasica is available through TIA FELISA at salsastiafelisa.com. 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-madrid.
The European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 are announced ahead of the Berlin Chili Fest, 29–31 May 2026.
PRESS RESOURCES Reveal videos on YouTube, embeddable: - Medium Chili Sauce (TheSauceMan): https://youtu.be/t6_GvbkBCM8 - Garlic Chili Sauce (TIA FELISA): https://youtu.be/7ATiV-ZJHU0 Press kit (photos, logos, AI lifestyle composites credited Republic of Heat / European Hot Sauce Awards 2026; per-maker subfolders inside, plus cluster lifestyle composites): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hU2mLWovDmH3eSmjhMq0rbvHh0y51m0q?usp=drive_link
ABOUT THESAUCEMAN TheSauceMan is a small-batch hot sauce producer run in Madrid by Mark Nicholls, a British maker working with Spanish produce. The operation focuses on recipe design and ingredient-led builds, with everything produced by hand in small batches using almost exclusively local Madrid produce. No preservatives, no additives. The range, including Hot Pickle and Tomate con Chilli Quemado, is available at thesauceman.es.
ABOUT TIA FELISA TIA FELISA is an independent Madrid hot sauce brand named after the family's own aunt and run by Ernesto Sigüenza. The operation plants and grows its own chilies, ferments for depth, then blends and bottles by hand in limited batches between Murcia and Madrid. The range, including La Clasica, is available at salsastiafelisa.com.
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 returns 29–31 May 2026, 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 contact@republicofheat.com +49 176 41601284
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