The Story Behind Hot Ones' Infamous Da' Bomb Sauce

Americans like their food extra-spicy, research suggests. One recent study, conducted by Instacart, found that while many Americans like hot sauce, the states with the spiciest tastes were New Mexico, Alaska, and Colorado. In fact, in New Mexico, consumers buy nearly 32 ounces of hot sauce each year (which is just slightly less than a liter). But Americans don't just enjoy eating hot sauce, they also enjoy watching other people eat it, too and so does the rest of the world — particularly on "Hot Ones," the series from YouTube channel First We Feast hosted by Sean Evans.

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Every season, Evans interviews celebrities as they attempt to keep their composure while they eat spicier and spicier wings dipped in hot sauce. While "Hot Ones" features many sauces, without a doubt, one of the most iconic sauces on the show is Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity. This sauce always produces entertaining reactions from guests, which — if the YouTube viewing numbers for "Hot Ones," Beyond Insanity montages are anything to go by — viewers absolutely love. The "Hot Ones" video The Best Da Bomb Reactions of 2020, for example, has nearly 3 million views.

But why is it so entertaining to watch A-listers eat this hot sauce? It's a lot to do with just how spicy and sweat-inducing it is. Keep reading to find out the story of how Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity came to be, its Scoville score, why Evans relies on it for the best interviews, and more.

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Kansas City hot sauce brand Spicin Foods is the creator of Da' Bomb hot sauce

Da' Bomb is not just one type of hot sauce, but a whole range. There are seven Da' Bomb products, which includes four different hot sauces (one of which is the infamous Beyond Insanity) and three different spicy salsas. All of the Da' Bomb products are produced by Spicin Foods, a Kansas City-based company. 

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Spicin Foods was founded in 1999 in an old car dealership, where it first started producing different small-batch sauces and salsas (back then, it was called Original Juan Specialty Foods). This was also the same year that Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity was recognized by the National Scovie Awards, when it took second place for best packaging. Since 1996, three years before Spicin Foods launched, the National Scovie Awards have been dedicated to recognizing the best of the best in the U.S. spicy food market.

Da' Bomb isn't the only hot sauce brand produced by Spicin Foods. The company also produces Pain Is Good, another brand name known for its super hot sauces, for example, and Tradición, which specializes in spicy salsas and jams. It also produces barbecue sauce brand American Stockyard. In fact, in total, the Kansas City company produces more than 100 different products across six brands. They're not all produced in an old car dealership anymore though. In 2002, Spicin Foods relocated to a 60,000-square-foot warehouse, where it still remains today.

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Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity has a score of 135,600 Scoville heat units

The heat levels of peppers and hot sauces are measured with a tool called the Scoville Scale, which was first created by pharmacologist Wilbur Scoville in 1912. It works like this: Capsaicin, the active component in chilis that is responsible for their heat, is extracted from each pepper and dropped into a mixture of sugar water. A score is then given depending on how much solution is needed to dilute the heat of the pepper. The scale starts at zero, and goes all the way up to the millions.

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A bell pepper would be rated at zero, for example. Jalapeños, which have a little kick but not too much, are around 10,000 SHU, while Sriracha generally goes up to 2,500 SHU, and Tabasco can measure in at around 50,000 SHU. Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity is just under three times that, at 135,600 SHU. This is very, very hot, but it is still nowhere near the top of the scale.

In fact, there are a number of peppers that are hotter than Beyond Insanity. A naga viper pepper scores more than 1.3 million SHU, a Carolina reaper pepper scores at 2.2 million SHU, and pepper X, the hottest pepper in existence, scores 2.7 million. Pure capsaicin extract sits at the scale's highest end, at 16 million SHU. Pure capsaicin is considered too hot to be consumed by humans without causing extreme pain.

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It has been given to multiple celebrities on Hot Ones, with varying reactions

"Hot Ones" has been running for 10 years, and during that time, Sean Evans has interviewed countless celebrities, from Ariana Grande to Post Malone, all while they munch through chicken or plant-based wings coated in hot sauce. Plenty have tried Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity on the show, but some have handled it better than others. The Beyond Insanity sauce isn't the last sauce offered to guests, but it usually sits at the number eight spot, which is when things start to get really spicy.

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In January 2025, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny was forced to dunk his tongue in ice cream after sampling a wing covered in Beyond Insanity. He then told Evans that there was "no way" he was eating more wings covered in the sauce. This reaction is pretty standard for most interview guests on "Hot Ones" when they reach the Beyond Insanity stage — swearing, coughing, shouting, and even crying are all common reactions. Even top chefs have been foiled by the hot sauce. In 2019, Gordon Ramsay compared the experience to putting your tongue in acid.

Some, however, seemed to be less bothered by the hot sauce. Wrestler Steve Austin, for example, ate Beyond Insanity on Season 9 of Hot Ones, and managed to maintain a pretty composed conversation with Evans afterwards, showing no major signs of discomfort. Actor Zoë Kravitz also managed to make it through without taking a sip of water.

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The Hot Ones creator has described eating Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity as an intensely painful experience

It's not just "Hot Ones" celebrities who have an extreme reaction to Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity. Sean Evans frequently coughs and splutters along with his guests when he eats the hot sauce. The host has a love-hate relationship with the sauce, which gives entertainment but also causes him physical pain. In 2023, when talking through the season 20 lineup, Evans introduced Beyond Insanity, stating "for yet another season, I humbly sacrifice myself for you spice lords."

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Evans' colleague, "Hot Ones" creator Chris Schonberger, who also works as the general manager of First We Feast, tries the hot sauce every season. He does this even though it is always an unpleasant and, quite frankly, painful experience. He told The Pitch, a local Kansas City media platform, for example, that eating a wing covered in Beyond Insanity hot sauce is "a stick-your-tongue-in-an-electrical socket type of experience." He added that this product is not about flavor, but about novelty.

Jeff Hinds, Spicin Foods' chief operating officer, agrees with Schonberger that Beyond Insanity is painful. He also told The Pitch that the heat is "overbearing," adding that normal reactions to eating the hot sauce include bloodshot, watering eyes, ringing ears, hiccups, a red neck and chest, and sweating. He added that after eating it "pray you don't burp" because the heat is so strong "it comes back up for a second shot."

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Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity helps Sean Evans get genuine interviews from celebrities

Many celebrities are media trained, which helps them build a public persona and react to difficult interview questions with care and poise. But while this can help protect their image, it doesn't always give the most interesting interview. Journalists have many different tactics for getting celebrities to open up to them. Active listening, asking thoughtful questions, and building trust are all important parts of the process. But for Sean Evans, Beyond Insanity has a very helpful role, too. In fact, for the "Hot Ones" host, filling A-listers with eye-watering hot sauce is key to breaking down the facade.

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The presenter told Bon Appétit in February 2025 that after eating Beyond Insanity "there's no way that you can remember your media training." He added that the simple act of eating also helps to distract the interviewee and makes them more comfortable, as it's less formal than a traditional interview setting. But ultimately, the hot sauce is responsible for knocking many celebrities from their pedestal "to a level that everyone knows," said Evans. That level, of course, is struggling to maintain composure while your mouth is on fire after eating something really spicy. Evans calls the experience "equalizing."

Despite the painful experience of eating Beyond Insanity, a long line of celebrities continue to appear on the show. In February 2025 alone, Questlove, Lady Gaga, Rob McElhenney, and K-pop star Lisa battled through the pain with Evans on "Hot Ones."

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Beyond Insanity was never actually designed for wings

Most celebrities on "Hot Ones" will slather their chicken or plant-based wings with hot sauce, unless they are celebrity chef Rachael Ray, who opted to spoon hers into her mouth. But according to Spicin Foods, this was never actually the way that Beyond Insanity was supposed to be eaten. This is unsurprising — it's entertaining to watch celebrities struggle to keep up a conversation while they sweat on "Hot Ones," but in real life, it would be incredibly unpleasant to put 135, 600 Scoville units straight into your mouth.

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This is why Beyond Insanity was actually designed to be used in cooking. Jeff Hinds told The Pitch that the hot sauce was supposed to be used in dishes like chilis to turn up the heat levels. At this point, however, Chris Schonberger added that even cooking with Beyond Insanity should be approached with caution "unless you are serving a revenge dish."

If you're cooking with a really hot sauce, including Beyond Insanity, but you want to turn down the heat, there are a few ways to do that. One of the best ways is to add more of the ingredients, which you can find on the label. If it contains tomato paste (like Beyond Insanity does), for example, you can add more of this into the mix to try and dilute the spice. You can also add dairy or sweet ingredients, like fruits, to your dish to balance out the heat.

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In May 2021, Spicin Foods sold its millionth bottle of sauce, thanks to Hot Ones

Before the interviews start streaming in, First We Feast always releases one video where Sean Evans explains the new lineup for the season. This helps to familiarize viewers with what the celebrities will be up against in their interviews. In his Season 26 hot sauce lineup reveal, Evans said about Beyond Insanity: "Back again. The bane of my existence, Da' Bomb." Because while First We Feast regularly changes up the "Hot Ones" lineup, with new additions in different spots for each season (like Brooklyn-based brand Señor Lechuga for Season 26, for example), Beyond Insanity is a mainstay. This commitment to keeping the Da' Bomb sauce in the lineup has helped create huge sales for Spicin Foods. In 2021, it even celebrated the sale of its millionth bottle of Da' Bomb hot sauce.

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It also helps "Hot Ones" keep viewers engaged. Evans knows that fans want to see this sauce back again and again, likely because of the extreme reaction it provokes. In his Season 26 video, for example, he took the time to promise viewers that this sauce was not going anywhere anytime soon. He even said fans of the show don't need to keep tuning in to the lineup reveal to check if it's still there, because it always will be. "Here we are at the 10th anniversary [of "Hot Ones"], Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity is still on the table," he said.

Da' Bomb producer Spicin Foods was accused of stealing recipes

Despite its success and support from the "Hot Ones" team, Spicin Foods is not immune from controversy. In 2021, it celebrated a huge win with the millionth sale from its Da' Bomb hot sauce range, but in the same year, it also faced a lawsuit from one of its former collaborators: Courtney Richmond of Chef Courtney's Homemade BBQ Sauce, a barbecue sauce company based in South Dakota.

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According to Richmond, Spicin Foods had been commercially producing his barbecue sauce before the company allegedly decided to steal his recipe to use in its other products. The lawsuit was originally filed in Nebraska, before it was moved to a Kansas court. There, the court ruled that Richmond did not have a plausible claim for copyright infringement on his ingredients or recipe, and in the end, the lawsuit was dismissed.

It was bought out in 2018 by Florida entrepreneur Scott Morse

Spicin Foods has had its share of ups and downs. In 2017, back when it was still called Original Juan Specialty Foods, one of its original founders, Joe Polo, died. He had been preparing to transition the business at that time, and the sale was ultimately taken over by his wife, Christine Polo. In 2018, Original Juan Specialty Foods became Spicin Foods when it was sold to Florida businessman Scott Morse, who remains as the company's CEO today.

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After the sale, Spicin Foods' chief operating officer Kent Korte expressed hope that the transition would be good for the brand's future. He told Deli Market News that while Polo had been a "mentor and a dear friend," Morse would hopefully help steer the brand towards "bigger and better things." In another follow-up interview with Deli Market News in 2019, Korte said that, despite some hurdles, he and Morse were working together to implement a new "vision" for Spicin Foods. He added that the company had purchased new equipment, implemented new processes, and adopted a new attitude. He praised Morse, telling the publication that he had "gone over and above his word" for the company.

There is a hotter version of Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity, called Da' Bomb The Final Answer

Da' Bomb is a mainstay on the "Hot Ones" lineup, but it is not the hottest sauce given to celebrities. In fact, it usually sits at number eight out of a total of 10 sauces. In Season 26, the number nine spot went to Sicilian Scorpion Hot Sauce, which has a SHU score of 816,000. Number 10 goes to "Hot Ones"' own The Last Dab sauce, which has an eye-watering SHU score of more than 2.6 million.

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But Beyond Insanity is also not the hottest in the Da' Bomb range, either. In fact, the brand makes two even spicier hot sauces. The first is Ground Zero, which, at 312,900 SHU, is almost twice as hot as the famous Beyond Insanity. There's also The Final Answer hot sauce, which is far hotter than Beyond Insanity and Ground Zero put together. In fact, it has an SHU score of 1.5 million. This sauce even comes with a warning that it should not be eaten straight from the bottle, but instead used in cooking as an additive. For those who prefer to take the heat down a bit, Da' Bomb also offers Ghost Pepper hot sauce, which is still spicy, but comes in at a much milder Scoville score of 22,800.

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