A sriracha shortage is upon us. Meet the B.C. man who can hook you up with some hot alternatives

Hot sauce is one of those polarizing condiments: You either like the spice or you wonder at the fascination of those who do.

If you're in the latter camp, then talk of a sriracha shortage may not have registered. But for fans of the hot stuff, the news is hard to swallow.

According to the Associated Press, Southern California-based Huy Fong Inc., which produces the popular topper, told customers in an email earlier this year that it would suspend sales of its famous spicy sauce over the summer due to a shortage of chili peppers.

The company sources its peppers from various farms in California, New Mexico and Mexico, and says weather conditions are affecting the quality and quantity. Hightemperatures and a historic drought across the western United States have been taking a heavy toll on California's agriculture industry.

But while British Columbians who like it hot may have to cool it on the California export for now, there is no need to despair.

Like craft beer, there is a wide variety of small-batch alternatives to the big brands and you can find many of them at Lucifer's House of Heat in Vancouver's West End.

The Early Edition's Lisa Christiansen dropped in to check out the 1,000-plus products and speak with shop owner Andrew Betteridge about finding theperfect sriracha substitute.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

What have you heard about the great sriracha shortage?

I heard that their crops got messed up and they won't be able to ship any products after May. The company is going to try and resume sales in the fall if they can get enough peppers by then.

Most of what I sell comes from small batch brewers in B.C. and Canada, with a few from the U.S., andour products are notaffected.

You're a sauce aficionado, what is your take on sriracha? Is it a good hot sauce?

Yeah, it's good. But once you venture out into the world of all the other hot sauces it will probably drop lower on the flavour scale for you.Heat wise, it's pretty mild and we have some that are much,much, hotter.

So, if someone comes in this summer panicked they can't get their beloved sriracha, whatwould you suggest?

We have multiple sriracha sauces here that are not made by Huy Fong. Burns and McCoy (Colorado-based) makes a sriracha sauce. There's even a local Vancouver company called Sriracha Revolver that uses sriracha peppers and has other flavoursmade with habanero and chili too.

Ok, but how hot are some of the sauces you carry?

Well anything with the Carolina Reaper pepper, and when companies use extracts, that's when things can get really hot. The two hottest sauces in the store are probably Doomed and Hellboyof the Right Hand of Doom by Hellfire (Wisconsin-based). I've tried Hellboy once and won't again.

Well I'm clearly going to have to try it then...

I wouldn't. It literally gave me cramps within 20 minutes.

Lisa hesitates, tries a couple of fruity mild sauces. Enjoys them. Contemplates upping her game ...

I have to try the Hellboy! When you say it's the hottest...

Ireally wouldn't ...

Lisa goes for it ... sputters ... mutters incoherently. Collects herself.

Oh my gosh that was not enjoyable. It's going to linger for awhile. Thank you for having me.

Interview abruptly ends.