Pagochea hot sauce.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: COLORADO COOL STUFF

Phillip and Esther Lewis got hooked on Caribbean-style hot sauce in New York, then couldn't find it in Denver, so they came up with their own recipe. The resulting sauce, named Pagochea (an amalgam of the Lewis family's initials and names that mean "family," says Esther), has a mustard-vinegar base with a spicy wallop from jalapeno or habanero peppers.

"It's great as a marinade, a seasoning, or even in Bloody Marys," she says. Esther went full-time selling the hot sauce in 2004 after her late mother's encouragement. Pagochea's sales have grown...