What pepper variety is used to make Tabasco sauce?

The pepper variety used to make Tabasco sauce is the tabasco pepper.

The tabasco pepper is a cultivar of Capsicum frutescens, the species that also includes several other hot peppers. It is named for the Mexican state of Tabasco, although the pepper became especially famous through the Louisiana-made Tabasco brand sauce.

Tabasco peppers are small, tapered, and hot, typically ripening from green to yellow and then orange or red. The peppers’ juicy texture makes them well suited to fermenting into a pourable hot sauce. McIlhenny Company’s original Tabasco sauce combines tabasco peppers with salt and vinegar and traditionally ages the mixture in wooden barrels.

The pepper is often confused with cayenne because both are used in hot sauces, but they are different varieties. Jalapeños are also generally milder and have a different shape and flavor profile, while habaneros are much hotter. The sauce’s name and the pepper’s name are related, but “Tabasco” refers both to the pepper and, in everyday usage, to the commercial Louisiana hot sauce brand.