A Kick of Spice from Seed to Sauce

There are three types of people in this world: those who like their food as-is, those who like a little dash of hot sauce, and those who like their food so spicy that they shed actual tears over it. Some of these people like hot sauce on their eggs at breakfast, while others like theirs on top of everything, even ice cream. This article is for the people who need sauce! Whether you like a little bit of heat or a big ol’ dollop of fire, if you’re looking for a new hot sauce to spice up yo’ life, we’re totally digging locally-made Funky’s Hot Sauce right now.

Handmade in Bellingham out of locally sourced organic peppers, Funky’s prides itself on creating great tasting, well-balanced sauces that offer more than just a spicy kick, but a mouthful of flavor, too.

Founder Matt Mini is a Cali transplant, bringing with him the foundation of what has now turned into a family business. Matt has always had a love for both hot and sweet peppers alike, and in 2006 he started a small pepper farm in his 800-square foot backyard in Santa Rosa. As far as the fermentation step of hot sauce making goes, Matt picked up those skills while working at a brewery and was able to mix up all sorts of funky creations that his friends and family loved.

Eight years later, with hours of practice under his belt, Matt and his family moved to Bellingham where he learned to grow peppers in a cooler climate, and in 2019 Funky’s was officially launched. While there are many things that makes Funky’s special, what we really love is their dedication to sourcing local, non-GMO, mostly organic peppers for their sauces. All of their peppers are sourced from Seattle-based Charlie’s Produce distributors, with peppers coming from Alvarez Organic Farm in Eastern Washington throughout the summer.

And even better, this summer, Matt plans to source from two local Skagit County Pepper Growers: Boldly Grown Farm and Southern Exposure Family Farm! If you’ve ever spent time browsing our produce or garden departments, you might be familiar with both of those names (and faces!).

Boldly Grown supplies our Produce Department with everything from Brussels sprout trees in the winter to a variety of greens in the summer. Southern Exposure provides us with late summer plant starts including organic peppers, specialty tomatoes, artichokes, and more. Jimmy at Southern Exposure is even growing some peppers exclusively for Funky’s, including the infamously-spicy Carolina Reaper.

Offering three different hot sauce flavors with varying levels of heat, Funky’s has a sauce for everyone. Like a little sweetness with your heat? Try Liquid Sunshine. Do you like your hot sauce on the green end of the spectrum? Try Terra Luna! Or if you just like it nice and hot, give Stellar Fuzz a shot. No matter which sauce you go with, every bottle supports a local, family-owned business that has been working towards perfecting the art of sauce since 2009.