Carolina BarbecueSauce

Read off the label, not the tongue: ingredients in order, sugar on the panel, the town it comes from. Nobody tasted a thing. Arguments over which one wins get settled elsewhere on this site, at length.

bottles read

North Carolina

South Carolina

with sugar on the label

with an ingredient list

Sugar, by the tablespoon

One dot per bottle, 29 in all; the upright tick is the median of its row. A tablespoon of table sugar is about 12.6 g, so the right-hand end of this chart is nearly sugar. Hover a dot for the bottle.

The same numbers as a table

Sauce	Maker	Base	Sugar g/tbsp
Cattlemen's Carolina Tangy Gold BBQ Sauce	McCormick	Mustard	6.49
Trader Joe's Carolina Gold Barbeque Sauce	Trader Joe's	Mustard	6.49
Bone Suckin' Sauce Sweet Southern	Ford's Foods	Heavy tomato	6
Bone Suckin' Spicy Sweet Southern	Ford's Foods	Heavy tomato	6
Taste of Inspirations Carolina-Style Mustard BBQ Sauce	Delhaize America	Heavy tomato	5.51
HT Traders Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce	Harris Teeter	Mustard	5.5
Cackalacky Sweet Sauce	Cackalacky	Heavy tomato	5
Sam Jones Sweet BBQ Sauce	Sam Jones BBQ	Other	5
Heinz Carolina Sweet Mustard Style BBQ Sauce	Kraft Heinz	Mustard	5
Lillie's Q No. 40 Western North Carolina Tomato Barbeque Sauce	Lillie's Q	Heavy tomato	5
Rodney Scott Carolina-Style Sweet BBQ Sauce	Good & Gather with Rodney Scott	Other	4.5
Lillie's Q No. 27 South Carolina Mustard Gold Barbeque Sauce	Lillie's Q	Mustard	4.5
Texas Pete Sweet Flame BBQ Sauce	T.W. Garner Food Company	Heavy tomato	4
Heinz Carolina Vinegar Style BBQ Sauce	Kraft Heinz	Lexington dip	3.99
George's Original Barbecue Sauce	George's Sauce Company	Lexington dip	3.5
George's Hot Barbecue Sauce	George's Sauce Company	Lexington dip	3.5
Golding Farms Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce	Golding Farms Foods	Mustard	3.5
George's Special Barbecue Sauce	George's Sauce Company	Light tomato	3.01
Lewis Barbecue Original Red Barbecue Sauce	Lewis Barbecue	Heavy tomato	3
HT Traders Peppery Vinegar Eastern Carolina Barbecue Sauce	Harris Teeter	Lexington dip	2.01
Food Lion Eastern Carolina Pepper & Vinegar BBQ Sauce	Food Lion	Lexington dip	1.5
Rodney Scott Carolina-Style Tangy Pepper Barbecue Sauce	Good & Gather with Rodney Scott	Vinegar and pepper	1.5
Texas Pete Eastern Carolina BBQ Sauce	T.W. Garner Food Company	Light tomato	1
Brookwood Farms Carolina Vinegar BBQ Sauce	Brookwood Farms	Vinegar and pepper	1
Carolina Treet Original Cooking Barbecue Sauce	Legacy Family Foods	Other	0.5
Lillie's Q No. 12 Eastern North Carolina Vinegar ENC Barbeque Sauce	Lillie's Q	Vinegar and pepper	0.5
Scott's Barbecue Sauce	Scott's Sauce Company	Vinegar and pepper	0
Cackalacky Pepper Sauce	Cackalacky	Pepper sauce	0
True Made Foods E. Carolina Pitmaster BBQ Sauce	True Made Foods	Vinegar and pepper	0

What comes first on the label

Ingredients are printed in descending order by weight, so the first one is the sauce's argument in a single word. Numbers on the segments are bottles; the number at the right is the row total.

Vinegar firstMustard firstWater, sugar or other firstTomato or ketchup first

The same counts as a table

Base	Vinegar first	Mustard first	Water, sugar or other first	Tomato or ketchup first	Bottles
Vinegar and pepper	3	0	1	0	4
Lexington dip	6	0	0	0	6
Light tomato	1	0	0	1	2
Mustard	3	2	2	0	7
Heavy tomato	0	0	3	3	6
Pepper sauce	0	0	1	0	1
Other	0	0	1	0	1

Where the makers are

One little map per sauce. A dot is a bottler's town, not a restaurant; several bottles from one town sit on one dot. The line across the middle is the state border.

Vinegar and pepper 9 bottles · vinegar, salt, black and red pepper. No tomato.

Lexington dip 14 bottles · the same, with ketchup or tomato and a little sugar stirred in.

Light tomato 2 bottles · vinegar and pepper reddened with ketchup — thin, not sticky.

Mustard 14 bottles · prepared yellow mustard, vinegar, sugar, pepper.

Heavy tomato 9 bottles · tomato, brown sugar or molasses, vinegar, cooked down to cling.

Pepper sauce 2 bottles · the bottle on the table beside the sauce, not instead of it.

Other 10 bottles · everything the four-sauce map does not cover.

State outlines: Natural Earth, public domain. Towns geocoded from OpenStreetMap, ODbL.

Every bottle read

Rank 1 means the first ingredient on the label. A dash means the label does not list it at all. Blank means we could not find a label to read, which is a fact about us, not about the sauce.

Sauce	Maker	Town	Base	Vinegar	Tomato	Mustard	Sugar	Sugar g/tbsp	Label
Bone Suckin' Sauce Sweet Southern	Ford's Foods	Raleigh, NC	Heavy tomato	4	2	7	1	6	seen here
Bone Suckin' Spicy Sweet Southern	Ford's Foods	Raleigh, NC	Heavy tomato	4	2	7	1	6	seen here
Cackalacky Sweet Sauce	Cackalacky	Chapel Hill, NC	Heavy tomato	6	1	—	4	5	seen here
Taste of Inspirations Carolina-Style Mustard BBQ Sauce	Delhaize America	Salisbury, NC	Heavy tomato	4	1	3	2	5.51	seen here
Texas Pete Sweet Flame BBQ Sauce	T.W. Garner Food Company	Winston-Salem, NC	Heavy tomato	5	2	11	3	4	seen here
Cackalacky Pepper Sauce	Cackalacky	Chapel Hill, NC	Pepper sauce	2	—	—	5	0	seen here
Stamey's Smokehouse Hot Sauce	Stamey's Barbecue	Greensboro, NC	Pepper sauce						seen here
Bar-B-Q Center dip	Bar-B-Q Center	Lexington, NC	Lexington dip						seen here
Bone Suckin' Sauce Eastern Vinegar BBQ Sauce	Ford's Foods	Raleigh, NC	Lexington dip	1	6	8	4		seen here
Cook's Barbecue Sauce	Cook's Barbecue	Lexington, NC	Lexington dip						seen here
Food Lion Eastern Carolina Pepper & Vinegar BBQ Sauce	Food Lion	Salisbury, NC	Lexington dip	1	6	—	3	1.5	seen here
George's Hot Barbecue Sauce	George's Sauce Company	Nashville, NC	Lexington dip	1	3	—	5	3.5	seen here
George's Original Barbecue Sauce	George's Sauce Company	Nashville, NC	Lexington dip	1	3	—	5	3.5	seen here
HT Traders Peppery Vinegar Eastern Carolina Barbecue Sauce	Harris Teeter	Matthews, NC	Lexington dip	1	6	—	3	2.01	seen here
Hursey's Bar-B-Q Sauce	Hursey's Bar-B-Q	Burlington, NC	Lexington dip						seen here
Kepley's Bar-B-Q Sauce	Kepley's Bar-B-Q	High Point, NC	Lexington dip						seen here
Lexington Barbecue dip	Lexington Barbecue	Lexington, NC	Lexington dip						seen here
Little Richard's Bar-B-Que Sauce	Little Richard's Bar-B-Que	Wallburg, NC	Lexington dip						seen here
Red Bridges Barbecue Sauce	Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge	Shelby, NC	Lexington dip						seen here
Short Sugar's Bar-B-Q Sauce	Short Sugar's Drive-In	Reidsville, NC	Lexington dip						seen here
Stamey's Dip	Stamey's Barbecue	Greensboro, NC	Lexington dip						seen here
George's Special Barbecue Sauce	George's Sauce Company	Nashville, NC	Light tomato	4	1	—	5	3.01	seen here
Texas Pete Eastern Carolina BBQ Sauce	T.W. Garner Food Company	Winston-Salem, NC	Light tomato	1	2	—	4	1	seen here
Bone Suckin' Mustard	Ford's Foods	Raleigh, NC	Mustard	3	—	1	2		seen here
Golding Farms Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce	Golding Farms Foods	Winston-Salem, NC	Mustard	1	—	6	3	3.5	seen here
HT Traders Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce	Harris Teeter	Matthews, NC	Mustard	1	6	5	2	5.5	seen here
Backyard BBQ Pit sauce	Backyard BBQ Pit	Durham, NC	Other						seen here
Carolina Treet Original Cooking Barbecue Sauce	Legacy Family Foods	Wilmington, NC	Other	2	—	—	—	0.5	seen here
Keaton's Barbecue Sauce	Keaton's Barbecue	Cleveland, NC	Other						seen here
Little Pigs Bar-B-Q sauce	Little Pigs Bar-B-Q	Asheville, NC	Other						seen here
Sam Jones Sweet BBQ Sauce	Sam Jones BBQ	Winterville, NC	Other					5	seen here
Brookwood Farms Carolina Vinegar BBQ Sauce	Brookwood Farms	Siler City, NC	Vinegar and pepper	2	—	—	3	1	seen here
Parker's Barbecue sauce	Parker's Barbecue	Wilson, NC	Vinegar and pepper						seen here
Scott's Barbecue Sauce	Scott's Sauce Company	Goldsboro, NC	Vinegar and pepper	1	—	—	—	0	seen here
Wells Hog Heaven Barbecue Sauce	Wells Hog Heaven	Burgaw, NC	Vinegar and pepper						seen here
Wilber's Barbecue sauce	Wilber's Barbecue	Goldsboro, NC	Vinegar and pepper						seen here
Lewis Barbecue Original Red Barbecue Sauce	Lewis Barbecue	Charleston, SC	Heavy tomato					3	seen here
Maurice's Hickory Red Sauce	Maurice's Piggie Park	West Columbia, SC	Heavy tomato						seen here
Melvin's Southern Red Sauce	Melvin's BBQ	Charleston, SC	Heavy tomato						seen here
Melvin's Sweet Red Sauce	Melvin's BBQ	Charleston, SC	Heavy tomato						seen here
Bessinger's Golden Style Barbeque Sauce	Bessinger's Barbeque	Charleston, SC	Mustard						seen here
Cannon's BBQ sauce	Cannon's BBQ	Little Mountain, SC	Mustard						seen here
Dukes Bar-B-Que mustard sauce	Dukes Bar-B-Que	Orangeburg, SC	Mustard						seen here
Hite's Bar-B-Que sauce	Hite's Bar-B-Que	West Columbia, SC	Mustard						seen here
Hudson's Smokehouse sauce	Hudson's Smokehouse	Lexington, SC	Mustard						seen here
Jackie Hite's Bar-B-Q sauce	Jackie Hite's Bar-B-Q	Batesburg-Leesville, SC	Mustard						seen here
Maurice's Southern Gold BBQ Sauce	Maurice's Piggie Park	West Columbia, SC	Mustard						seen here
Melvin's Golden Sauce	Melvin's BBQ	Charleston, SC	Mustard						seen here
Palmetto Pig sauce	Palmetto Pig	Columbia, SC	Mustard						seen here
Shealy's Bar-B-Que sauce	Shealy's Bar-B-Que House	Batesburg-Leesville, SC	Mustard						seen here
Sweatman's Bar-B-Que mustard sauce	Sweatman's Bar-B-Que	Holly Hill, SC	Mustard						seen here
Big T Bar-B-Q sauce	Big T Bar-B-Q	Gadsden, SC	Other						seen here
Bucky's Bar-B-Q sauce	Bucky's Bar-B-Q	Greenville, SC	Other						seen here
Home Team BBQ sauce	Home Team BBQ	Charleston, SC	Other						seen here
Rodney Scott Carolina-Style Sweet BBQ Sauce	Good & Gather with Rodney Scott	Charleston, SC	Other					4.5	seen here
True BBQ sauce	True BBQ	West Columbia, SC	Other						seen here
Maurice's Vinegar Sauce	Maurice's Piggie Park	West Columbia, SC	Vinegar and pepper						seen here
Melvin's Vinegar Sauce	Melvin's BBQ	Charleston, SC	Vinegar and pepper						seen here
Rodney Scott Carolina-Style Tangy Pepper Barbecue Sauce	Good & Gather with Rodney Scott	Charleston, SC	Vinegar and pepper					1.5	seen here
Scott's Bar-B-Que sauce	Scott's Bar-B-Que	Hemingway, SC	Vinegar and pepper						seen here
Lillie's Q No. 40 Western North Carolina Tomato Barbeque Sauce	Lillie's Q	Chicago, other	Heavy tomato	3	1	4	2	5	seen here
Heinz Carolina Vinegar Style BBQ Sauce	Kraft Heinz	Pittsburgh, other	Lexington dip	1	3	11	4	3.99	seen here
Cattlemen's Carolina Tangy Gold BBQ Sauce	McCormick	Hunt Valley, other	Mustard	1	9	4	2	6.49	seen here
Heinz Carolina Sweet Mustard Style BBQ Sauce	Kraft Heinz	Pittsburgh, other	Mustard	4	5	3	1	5	seen here
Lillie's Q No. 27 South Carolina Mustard Gold Barbeque Sauce	Lillie's Q	Chicago, other	Mustard	3	4	1	2	4.5	seen here
Trader Joe's Carolina Gold Barbeque Sauce	Trader Joe's	Monrovia, other	Mustard	3	4	2	1	6.49	seen here
Lillie's Q No. 12 Eastern North Carolina Vinegar ENC Barbeque Sauce	Lillie's Q	Chicago, other	Vinegar and pepper	1	—	3	2	0.5	seen here
True Made Foods E. Carolina Pitmaster BBQ Sauce	True Made Foods	Atlanta, other	Vinegar and pepper	1	—	—	—	0	seen here

The sauces themselves

Bone Suckin' Sauce

A Raleigh line of bottled sauces, of which the one that built the brand is Sweet Southern: cane sugar first, tomato puree second, water third, apple cider vineg

Carolina Treet

A Wilmington sauce that fits none of the four Carolina bases. Its label reads water, vinegar, wheat flour, salt, soybean oil, paprika, garlic, onion, xanthan gu

George's Barbecue Sauce

A bottled sauce from Nashville, North Carolina, a Nash County town on the edge of the Coastal Plain, sold in three strengths: Original, Hot and Special.

Golding Farms Foods

A Winston-Salem sauce manufacturer, the second of that city's two, and one whose output mostly reaches a table under someone else's name.

heavy tomato sauce

A thick red sauce built on tomato — ketchup, paste or sauce — sweetened with brown sugar or molasses, soured with vinegar and seasoned with spices, cooked down

Lexington dip

The Piedmont's sauce: the east's vinegar, salt, pepper and red pepper with ketchup or tomato and water added, sometimes sugar, so that it comes out thin and red

light tomato sauce

Vinegar-and-pepper sauce with ketchup added — enough to redden and sweeten it a little, not enough to thicken it — and often cayenne or a bottled hot sauce.

Maurice's Southern Gold

The mustard sauce of Maurice's Piggie Park at West Columbia, sold in bottles, half gallons and gallons alongside the family's Hickory Red, Vinegar and Hot Peppe

Melvin's Golden Sauce

The mustard sauce of Melvin's Bar-B-Que in Charleston, sold in 16-ounce glass bottles, half gallons and gallons, beside the house's Southern Red, Sweet Red and

mustard-based barbecue sauce

Prepared yellow mustard thinned with vinegar and sweetened with sugar or brown sugar, with black and red pepper and whatever else the house keeps to itself — Be

Sam Jones BBQ sauce

A bottled line from the whole-hog house Sam Jones opened at Winterville in 2015, third generation of the Skylight Inn family at Ayden.

Scott's Barbecue Sauce

A bottled eastern North Carolina sauce — vinegar-based, the recipe kept secret, sold as sugar-free and fat-free — made by the Scott family of Goldsboro since th

Texas Pete

A cayenne-pepper hot sauce made by the T.W. Garner Food Company of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, since 1929 — mild as hot sauces go, 747 on the Scoville scale

vinegar-and-pepper sauce

Vinegar — cider or white — with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper, and nothing else in its plainest form; some houses add sugar, a bottled hot sauce or

Wells Hog Heaven Barbecue Sauce

A vinegar-based sauce made at Burgaw, the seat of Pender County in southeastern North Carolina, and sold in that corner of the state.

Labels were read on the makers' own pages and on retailers' product pages; each row links to the page it was read from, with the date on the sauce's own entry. Nutrition Facts round sugar to the gram, so a bottle showing 0 g may hold a little. The data is at api/sauces.json.

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