Avery Island is about 12 miles from New Iberia and is the home of Tabasco. I was amazed by some of the things we learned today about Tabasco.
Tabasco was founded by Edmund MelLhenny shortly after the Civil War and today is still privately owned by the same family. Avery Island is the only place Tabasco is made.
They exclusively use capsicum peppers and grow the seeds on Avery Island. Then they send them to Central America where they oversee the growth and harvest of the peppers. They are very picky about their peppers. The harvest would remind you of the care taken to pick perfect wine grapes. After the harvest, they send the ground up peppers back in barrels (bought from Jack Daniels) where they stay for up to three years while they ferment.
I found this to be staggering but they produce 700,000 bottles of Tabasco per day, 5 days a week and they ship them to 110 countries world wide. Of course, today they don't just produce one "flavor" of Tabasco. They have many different flavors for any kind of taste (Soy, Chipote, green pepper, teriyaki are just a few).
Avery Island is also the home to one of the largest salt mines in the world (also owned by the same family). It is said to be as deep as Mount Everest is high and today they are only down 1500 feet.
This all just goes to prove that you are never too old to learn. I never had any idea that Tabasco was such a large company. Honestly, I didn't even know it was made in Louisiana.
