Explore Tabasco's History on Avery Island

At a Glance 

• Avery Island is the birthplace and home of the world-famous TABASCO pepper sauce and travelers can visit to learn how the sauce is produced in the factory, see interactive exhibits at the museum and wander the nearby botanical gardens, Jungle Gardens.

History of Avery Island

Avery Island, the birthplace of Tabasco Brand Products including TABASCO® pepper sauce, has been owned for over 180 years by the interrelated Marsh, Avery and McIlhenny families. Lush subtropical flora and venerable live oaks draped with wild muscadine and swags of barbe espagnole, or Spanish moss, cover this geological oddity, which is one of five "islands" rising above south Louisiana’s flat coastal marshes.

Avery Island's Natural Salt Springs

The  2,200-acre tract sits atop a deposit of solid rock salt thought to be deeper than Mount Everest is high. Geologists believe this deposit is the remnant of a buried ancient seabed, pushed to the surface by the sheer weight of surrounding alluvial sediments. Although covered with a layer of fertile soil, salt springs may have attracted prehistoric settlers to the island as early as 12,000 years ago. Fossils suggest that early inhabitants shared the land with mastodons and mammoths, giant sloths, saber-toothed tigers and three-toed horses.

A salt production industry dates back to about 1000 AD, judging from recovered basket fragments, polished stone implements, and shards of pottery left by American Indians. Although these early dwellers remained on the Island at least as late as the 1600s, they had mysteriously disappeared by the time white settlers first discovered the briny springs at the end of the next century.

Discovering Tabasco Peppers

 After the Civil War, former New Orleans banker E. McIlhenny met a traveler recently arrived from Mexico who gave McIlhenny a handful of pepper pods, advising him to season his meals with them. McIlhenny saved some of the pods and planted them in his in-laws’ garden on Avery Island; he delighted in the peppers’ piquant flavor, which added excitement to the monotonous food of the Reconstruction-era South.

Creating Tabasco Hot Sauce

Around 1866 McIlhenny experimented with making a hot sauce from these peppers, hitting upon a formula that called for crushing the reddest, ripest peppers, stirring in Avery Island salt, and aging the concoction he then added French white wine vinegar, hand-stirring it regularly to blend the flavors. After straining, he transferred the sauce to small cologne-type bottles, which he corked and sealed in green wax.

"That Famous Sauce Mr. McIlhenny Makes" proved so popular with family and friends that McIlhenny decided to market it, growing his first commercial crop in 1868. The next year he sent out 658 bottles of sauce at one dollar per bottle wholesale to grocers around the Gulf Coast, particularly in New Orleans. The public responded positively and soon McIlhenny had introduced Tabasco sauce to consumers in major markets across the United States. By the end of the 1870s McIlhenny was exporting Tabasco sauce to Europe. So began the fiery condiment that is now a global cultural and culinary icon.

Today, Avery Island remains the home of the Tabasco Factory, as well as Jungle Gardens and its Bird City waterfowl refuge. The Tabasco factory and the gardens are open to the public. 

Frequently Asked Questions about Visiting Avery Island 

Can you visit the TABASCO factory on Avery Island? 

Yes, visitors can tour the TABASCO Factory & Museum on Avery Island. The experience includes a self-guided tour of the museum, pepper greenhouse, barrel aging warehouse, bottling area, Country Store, Restaurant 1868 and nearby Jungle Gardens. 

What happens on the TABASCO Factory Tour? 

The tour shows the full “seed-to-sauce” process, including how peppers are grown, mashed, aged in oak barrels, blended with vinegar and bottled. Guests also learn about the McIlhenny family history and the unique geology of Avery Island. 

How long does it take to tour the TABASCO Factory? 

Most visitors spend about 1.5 to 3 hours exploring the factory, museum, Country Store and surrounding attractions like Jungle Gardens. Time can vary depending on how long guests spend in each area. 

Is the TABASCO Factory still actively producing sauce? 

Yes, the Avery Island facility is still an active production site where TABASCO sauce is made, aged, and bottled for global distribution. The factory produces millions of bottles annually for international markets. 

Can you sample TABASCO sauces at Avery Island? 

Yes, visitors can sample a variety of TABASCO sauces at the Country Store, including different heat levels and specialty flavors exclusive to the visitor experience.