Laeken, the northern commune of Brussels that climbs from the Royal Domain past the Atomium to the Heysel plateau, sits inside the food culture of the city below: stoemp at the brasseries and Bruxellois gueuze. Shadow Reapers, a fermentation-led hot sauce kitchen in Laeken run by Guillaume Simonin, has taken bronze in Hot Chili Sauce with Habanero Yuzu at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (heatawards.eu), Europe's flagship hot sauce competition.
Shadow Reapers is run out of Laeken by Guillaume Simonin, a side-kitchen alongside his day work in audiovisual. Habanero Yuzu builds from a fermented habanero-lemon base, lifted with yuzu, tangerine and thai basil for a register closer to Asian cooking than to a chili-forward hot sauce. A bronze placement in Hot Chili Sauce, judged blind against producers from across the continent and from a project less than a year old, says the fermentation work is paying off.
Nathan Austin on Habanero Yuzu:
"Habanero Yuzu opens on citrus before the heat catches up: yuzu's sharp aromatic top note carrying tangerine sweetness behind it, before the fermented habanero comes through to fill the body. Thai basil adds a floral lift that takes the sauce somewhere closer to Asian cooking than to a standard hot sauce. Pour it on white fish, dumplings or anything that wants the heat to read as flavour first." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
Habanero Yuzu (bronze, Hot Chili Sauce): a fermented habanero-lemon base, lifted with yuzu, tangerine and thai basil. Built for spicy-floral applications closer to Asian cooking than to a chili-forward hot sauce.
"This is amazing! Shadow Reapers started less than a year ago, getting an award in a competition against producers from across the continent is the best of motivation. Thanks to everyone who supported me on this wonderful project." – Guillaume Simonin, Shadow Reapers
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. Hot Chili Sauce is one of the most-contested categories on the panel, the volume of entries forcing a sauce to read as hot without losing the rest of its build.
"A bronze in Hot, against the volume the category attracted this year, says the sauce held its identity under the heat. From a project less than a year old, that's the kind of result EHSA exists to surface." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
Habanero Yuzu is available from Shadow Reapers at shadowreapers.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=shadow-reapers.
The European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 are announced ahead of the Berlin Chili Fest, 29–31 May 2026. Republic of Heat's EHSA 2026 Top 3 winner box is live at republicofheat.com/de-en/discovery-set/euhsa_top3, with further EHSA selection boxes at republicofheat.com/de-en/hot-sauce-sets.
PRESS RESOURCES Reveal videos on YouTube, embeddable: - Hot Chili Sauce: https://youtu.be/wJSbcurxAlk Press kit (photos, logos, AI lifestyle composites credited Republic of Heat / European Hot Sauce Awards 2026): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NR-4tjDdS7Q4FL5VmQNwwqRyd3u7pngi?usp=drive_link
ABOUT SHADOW REAPERS Shadow Reapers is a fermentation-led hot sauce kitchen in Laeken, a northern commune of Brussels, run by founder Guillaume Simonin alongside his day work in audiovisual. The project started in the past year and builds its sauces around fermented bases with citrus and aromatic lifts. Habanero Yuzu is available at shadowreapers.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 has run since 2019 and 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 contact@republicofheat.com +49 176 41601284
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