Hogg's Sauce Review: A 100 Year Old Ketchup and Three Hot Sauces

Oct 6

7 min read

Hoggs Hot Sauces on dislpay in London

Quick Summary

I only stopped for a quick taste and ended up walking away with all four bottles. Caleb Hogg was doing a tasting outside Kitchen Provisions at Coal Drops Yard in London, and the Heritage Tomato Ketchup, Smokey Red Reaper, Banana Bonnie Blaze and Zesty Granny were all good enough that I bought the lot. The ketchup has a story behind it too, a recipe passed down four generations of Caleb's family, starting with a great-grandmother in New Zealand over a century ago. Here's how I found Hogg's, the story behind it, what's in the range, and what I thought of the four I brought home.

Scorecard

Value: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 🌶️

Flavour: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 🌶️

Packaging: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Range: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Would Buy Again: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

How I Found Hogg's at Coal Drops Yard

We always head down to London for the classic car boot sale at Coal Yard Drops, just by King's Cross. It's a very cool event, classic cars, motorbikes, clothes and loads more, and well worth the trip if you're into any of that. Tomo came with me this time.

While we were wandering round Coal Yard Drops outside Kitchen Provisions, Caleb Hogg, the owner, was running a tasting of his Hogg's hot sauces. We tried them on little bits of cheese and crackers, and I tasted all four. I never normally buy on the spot like that, but they were that good I bought all four, the Heritage Tomato Ketchup especially. I also got a free Hogg's tote bag with the order, which came in handy for carrying them round London all day.

Hogg's sauce is a name I'd never come across before that day, so it was a nice surprise to stumble on something this good.

The Story Behind Hogg's Hot Sauces

Hogg's is run by Caleb Hogg out of South-West London, and the whole thing starts with his great-grandmother Alice, who came up with the original Heritage Tomato Ketchup recipe in New Zealand, sometime around 1910 to 1920 as best anyone can tell. That recipe got handed down to Caleb's grandmother, then his mother, then to him, which is also where the company name comes from.

Caleb's grown up making the annual batch with his mum, gifting it to friends and family all over the world, Australia, Canada, the US, and here in the UK. After years of people raving about it, he finally decided to start selling it in late 2025, rather than just keeping it in the family.

Even the logo's got a story behind it. It's a sketch of the family's pet pig, Louise, a Kunekune who once escaped her pen with her sister and ended up walking along Peka Peka Beach, someone rang up to say they'd spotted two pigs strolling along the shore.

What's In the Hogg's Sauce Range

Here's everything on the Hogg's website at the moment:

Heritage Tomato Ketchup 280g: £6.49, the original Alice recipe
Hot Sauce Trio Gift Pack: £19.95, three bottles
Zesty Granny 145ml: £5.99, green jalapeño, Granny Smith apple, and lime
Banana Bonnie Blaze 145ml: £5.99, banana and Scotch bonnet
Smokey Red Reaper 145ml: £6.49, Carolina Reaper, ghost pepper, smoky tomato base
Chook Chicken Seasoning Rub 75g: £4.49
Cajun Redneck Rub 65g: £4.49, a Louisiana Cajun blend
Herb Your Enthusiasm 45g: £3.49, a general purpose herb blend
NYCeasoning 75g: £4.49, dill and coriander seed, aimed at bringing a pastrami style flavour to steak
Sample Gift Pack: £6.95, smaller sizes of their best sellers

I came away with four, the Heritage Tomato Ketchup, Smokey Red Reaper, Banana Bonnie Blaze and Zesty Granny, all bought from Caleb at Coal Drops Yard. The ketchup was the standout at the tasting. I haven't tried the rubs yet, so this review covers the ketchup and the three hot sauces.

The Hogg's Branding and Packaging

I really like the branding, it looks really cool and artisan, and it suits a small batch hot sauce and ketchup brand. The plain brown paper labels, the pig illustration and the simple black lettering look great on the shelf, and it's easy to see the family story in it, since that's Louise on the label. Each hot sauce also has the heat rating on the front, one to three chillies, so you know what you're getting before you open it, and the ketchup is labelled small batch and hand crafted. It all looks like a small family business, which is exactly what it is.

What I Thought of the Hogg's Sauces

Some of these are the best hot sauces I've tried in a long time, and having made hot sauces myself along time ago, I don't say that often. Here's how each one got on.

Hoggs hot sauces with a sausage, bacon, black pudding and broiche roll review — **Fantastic Cotswolds sauasges, Bacon, Black Pudding, Broiche Bun with Hoggs Hot Sauces**

🌶️ Heritage Tomato Ketchup: 10/10

This is the best ketchup I've ever had, and I don't say that lightly. I worked as a chef for years, so I'm fussy about what goes on a plate, and I've been through plenty of ketchups in that time. Nothing has come close to this one.

It was the standout on those bits of cheese and crackers at the tasting, and it's been just as good at home. Sausages, bacon, cheese, burgers, it works with all of it, and whatever it goes on just tastes better. It's the sort of ketchup that makes a simple bacon sandwich feel like a real treat, and I've found myself reaching for it with everything.

I've no idea how Caleb makes it, and given it's a recipe that's been handed down for over 100 years, I doubt he's giving much away. Whatever the secret is, it works. I'll be buying a lot more of this one, and it's the first thing I'd tell anyone to try from the range. If you only pick up one bottle from Hogg's, make it the Heritage Tomato Ketchup.

🌶️Smokey Red Reaper: 9/10

This is the hot one of the three. It's made with Carolina Reaper and ghost pepper on a smoky tomato base, and the label gives it the full three chillies out of three. It's very hot, which I really like, and it's £6.49 for a 145ml bottle.

What sets it apart is the flavour. I used to run my own hot sauce company, Eureka Hot Sauces, so I've tried a lot of really hot sauces, and plenty of them are all heat and nothing else. They burn your mouth, you can't taste anything behind it, and that's the end of it. The Smokey Red Reaper isn't like that. The heat is there, no question, but the flavour is fantastic and comes through with it, which is rare in a sauce this hot.

That makes it easy to use too. Put some in a chilli, or basically anything you feel like, and it adds heat and flavour in the same go rather than just turning the dish into a dare. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes their hot sauce hot. A little goes a long way, so start small if you're not used to Reaper heat.

🌶️Banana Bonnie Blaze: 9.5/10

This one is brilliant too. It's a banana and Scotch bonnet hot sauce, and the label rates it two chillies out of three on the heat scale. I pour it on everything, and it's been on pretty much every meal since I got it home.

My favourite way to use it so far is on a sausage, bacon and black pudding roll. Ketchup goes on the bottom, the Heritage Tomato Ketchup, then the Banana Bonnie Blaze on top, and it's a really good combo. If you like a breakfast roll, give that pairing a go.

🌶️Zesty Granny: 8.5/10

Another knockout sauce. The Zesty Granny is made with green jalapeño, Granny Smith apple and lime, it's £5.99 for a 145ml bottle, and the label gives it one chilli out of three, so it's the mildest of the three hot sauces.

It's very fresh, light and zingy, and it still has a subtle heat that comes through. It's not trying to blow your head off like the Smokey Red Reaper, it's a different style of sauce, but there's enough heat behind it that you know it's there.

So far I've had it on rotisserie chicken wraps with avocado and salad, and it was bang on. The freshness suits lighter food like that, and I reckon it would be good with pork and fish tacos as well, so those are next on my list to try. It's a good one to have on the go for when you want a bit of a kick without it taking over the whole meal.

Where to Buy Hogg's Sauce & What It Costs

Hogg's products run from £3.49 up to £19.95 for the gift pack, direct from eathoggs.co.uk. The hot sauces are £5.99 to £6.49 and the Heritage Tomato Ketchup is £6.49. Free shipping on all orders over £20. They also run a "Swine Society" on their site, so have a look there if you want to keep tabs on new releases or offers.

The Verdict

Some of the best hot sauces I've tried in a long time, and the best ketchup I've ever had. I went to Coal Drops Yard for the classic cars and came home with four bottles of Hogg's sauce because they were that good. The Heritage Tomato Ketchup is the one I'd start with, then the Smokey Red Reaper if you like it hot, the Banana Bonnie Blaze on a sausage, bacon and black pudding roll, and the Zesty Granny on anything fresh and light.

This is a small family business with a recipe that's been in the family for over 100 years, and you can taste the care that's gone into it. The branding looks great, the flavour is fantastic across the range, and I'll be buying a lot more. I'd highly recommend giving Hogg's a go, you can order direct from eathoggs.co.uk. 👍😋

More pictures to follow.