What pepper gives Tabasco sauce its name?

The Tabasco pepper gives Tabasco sauce its name.

Tabasco peppers are a cultivar of Capsicum frutescens associated with the Mexican state of Tabasco. Edmund McIlhenny used the pepper to develop the hot sauce that later became the signature product of the McIlhenny Company on Avery Island, Louisiana.

The original sauce combines Tabasco peppers with salt and vinegar. It is aged before bottling, and the production method has made the brand one of the most recognizable Louisiana food products. The peppers used commercially today are grown in several locations, although Avery Island remains central to the company’s history.

Tabasco pepper should not be confused with cayenne pepper. Both are used in Louisiana cooking, but they belong to different pepper varieties and have different shapes, flavors, and traditional uses. The sauce’s name comes from the pepper, not from a general Louisiana term for hot sauce.