Do you love Tabasco Sauce? Do you love historical places? How about beautiful plantation-like oak trees? Well friends, I have a place perfect for you, if you like any of those things! Today we are going to be touring the Tabasco Factory on Avery Island, Louisiana!
For those of you who may not have heard of Tabasco sauce, it is a true Louisiana-brand pepper hot sauce. To be fair, Tabasco makes a lot of other types of sauces and products, but their most famous is the hot sauce. When you go to Avery Island, you can see where the original sauce was created more than 180 years ago! The island is still a working factory to this day, and you can tour all of the neat historical buildings that the sauce is made in!
First stop should be the Tabasco Country Store. They have all the Tabasco products and gifts you could ever want! They even have a tasting center where you can sample quite a few of their different kinds of sauces! I highly suggest trying their Pure Honey and the Garlic Grill Marinating Sauce! After you’ve gotten your fill of samples and picked up your favorite Avery Island Tabasco souvenir penny, you should grab some lunch!
1868 is the delicious restaurant on the property! They have everything from Hot Dogs to good ‘ole BBQ! Don’t worry if you left your Tabasco sauce at home though, they have plenty of different sauces you can add to your food if you’d like!
After you’ve got a belly full of good food, it’s time to walk it off on the Factory tour! You can see some of the really cool original pieces of Tabasco history in the first building. It’s pretty amazing to read about the incredible people that made Tabasco, and all of their different endeavors.
A little further along on the tour, you will see the greenhouses where they grow their famous peppers that are the main ingredient in the hot sauce. You will also get to see the giant barrels where the sauce sits and salts for a long time.
It is said that Avery Island sits on top of a giant deposit of solid rock salt. There are mines under the island that they gather their salt from. The rock salt formation is said to be as deep as Mount Everest is high!! They have a really neat exhibit where you can see an example of the rock salt. Trust me, it’s actual rock salt…. someone in my party might have licked it just to be sure….
In the last building there are giant replica hot sauce bottles that you can stand with and pose for pictures. It’s a pretty cool photo op!
Remember when I said there would be plantation-like oak trees? Well, it’s time for that! Not only does Avery Island house the Tabasco plants, but it’s also home to some amazing gardens!
The factories only take up a small portion of the island, the rest is home to some gorgeous plants and wildlife, called the Jungle Gardens! Take a drive around to all of the amazing scenic locations around Avery Island. When I say take a drive, I mean it, because there is no way you could walk all of the grounds in one day!
While you’re driving around all the rivers and lakes, don’t forget to watch for alligators! If you keep your eyes peeled, you might just see one! I also suggest checking out the beautiful Chinese Garden where a giant Buddha sculpture sits.
After you’ve seen all you can see, don’t forget to stop in one of the gift shops on the way out to claim your free bottles of Tabasco Spicy Green Beans and Tabasco Hot Sauce!
I hope that if you are ever in Louisiana you check out Avery Island and the Tabasco Factories!
❤ Abbie
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