Heat 8/10 / 100ml
Core of the Sun
The signature tropical burn.
The original Core of the Sun sauce: bright tropical fruit up front, a serious chilli glow through the middle and a long, warming finish.
Created with the fearsome Armageddon chilli, measuring 1.3 million Scoville Heat Units (around 400 times hotter than a Jalapeño), making it the hottest commercially grown chilli in the UK.
Yes, that means it's hot!
Early customer feedback
Testimonials
"Hits the throat fast but fades fast, lingers on the tongue and is vicious! Feels like a snake has my tongue."
Paul, Gnosall
"Quite possibly one of the nicest chilli sauces I’ve tried in a long long time. I’ve used over half a bottle since Saturday when I opened it. The fruitiness and the heat combo is fantastic"
Samuel Rainey, Gnosall
"You must be joking!"
Emily & Lauren, Gnosall
Serving suggestions
What it best for?
A spicy dip for your Chicken Wings
Drizzled on a beef (or chicken, veggie) burger
Superb with fresh cooked prawns
The perfect condiment for halloumi friesA new and unique experience
About this sauce
Long story short. I managed to pick up an Armageddon chilli plant a couple of years ago. I'd already started experimenting with creating my own pasta sauces, but I had a Eureka! moment and decided that chilli sauce was my new pet project.
After taking the seeds from that original plant in 2025, I nurtured those seeds and grew FIVE Armageddon plants as an experiment in a propagator over winter, naming them (A)lexis, (B)eth, (C)aroline, (D)iana, and (E)rin. Giving them actual names was the brainwave of my twin girls, Emily and Lauren (thanks girls).
Those seedlings grew into fully-blown Armageddon beast plants, each with its own character. Alexis is a powerhouse, producing 80+ pods with a strong nettle-like aroma with a vicious tongue burn. Beth has Scotch-Bonnet-like flavours and a long sinus heat profile. Caroline - sweet Caroline - well, she's been a vigorous all-rounder with an interesting, floral and perfumed aroma. Then there is Diana, the towering phenotype at almost five foot tall, producing strong citrussy pods. Finally there's Erin - a resilient brute with an immediate tongue-and-throat attack.
Yet, anyone can grow superhot chillis and turn them into a sauce with bite. With these chillis that was no problem. But I wanted flavour too - and lots of it to counter the effects of the massive heat profile. So I introduced a range of ingredients (see below) to give each bottle some character.
My launch event at The Grosvenor Centre in Gnosall was a massive hit. People from Gnosall were blown away (sorry) with the flavour, the heat... oh, that heat! Feedback ranged from "F*ck, this is hot", to "I need a drink of milk quick". I'd say those were positive!
Then there were some that took delight in finally discovering a chilli sauce that had a flavour profile. Many commented about the fruitiness of the sauce, others mentioned tomato. That was the idea - to create a chilli sauce that develops a quick hit of Scoville heat, backed up with a fruity character, and ending up with a long, satisfying (?) burn.
And so, my chilli sauce was born. Pop a bottle or three into your basket today and find out how good they are yourself. Your food will thank you, even if your tongue won't.
Chris Haycock, Creator of Core of the Sun Chilli Sauce
Ingredients
What's inside
Tomatoes, Paprika Pepper, Apricot, Pineapple, Onion/Shallots, Chilli (Armageddon, Scotch Bonnet, Paprika, Ground), Garlic, Ginger, Salt, Galangal, Lime, ***Miso Powder (~0.1%)***, cardamom seed, xanthan gum (natural thickener). The foundation ferment contains chillies, tomatoes, shallots and garlic prepared with salt at approximately 2.5% by weight. Fruit is added after fermentation before the sauce is blended, heated (full pasteurisation to 85%) and hot-bottled. *** Contains soya, a known allergen.
Most of the ingredients that go into bottles of Core of the Sun are grown organically in my garden in Gnosall.
Flavour profile
A quick guide to how the sauce opens, develops and finishes.
Illustrative flavour profile, based on customer feedback (and my personal tasting notes, of course).
Explore the range
More sauces
More from the Core of the Sun range coming soon.