Outerbridge’s Original Sherry Peppers

Sherry Peppers are indigenous to Bermuda and synonymous with Outerbridge’s

It all began centuries ago when sailors began fortifying barrels of sherry with fiery hot peppers. The all purpose seasoning was used to mask the less than appetizing taste of rancid ship rations. Not exactly an alluring origin and perhaps they would have been more precise to call it “Peppered Sherry” but ….. we cannot rewrite history.

During the 19th Century, the British Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda was one of the largest and most strategic maritime bases in the world. Transient Royal Navy shipmen shared their incendiary sauce with sea-faring and land-bound Bermudians who eagerly adopted and enhanced the recipe. At this time, Bermuda was mainly a maritime and agricultural society. Bermudians began cultivating quality pequin peppers (or “bird” peppers as they are known locally) to trade with the sailors who had onboard, readily available casks of sherry. It was a mutually beneficial matrimony of convenience… Bermuda Sherry Peppers were born.

In 1964, Yeaton Duval Outerbridge, YDO to his friends, and his cousin Robert “Robbie” Dean Outerbridge decided to brew up a batch of Bermuda Sherry Peppers for use at Robbie’s Harbourfront Restaurant in Hamilton. Soon, locals and visitors alike were requesting a sample to take home. YDO recognized a business opportunity and began to commercially brew and bottle his Original Sherry Peppers in the basement of the family homestead at “Villa Monticello” in Flatts Village. Since then, Outerbridge’s Original has become synonymous with Bermuda Sherry Peppers. Nearly every restaurant and pantry in Bermuda contains a bottle of Outerbridge’s Original Sherry Peppers. It is THE Bermuda hot sauce that predates the hot sauce craze by decades.

A Chef’s in America Award Foundation Gold Medal Winner, Outerbridge’s Original Sherry Peppers features 17 herbs and spices and is the cornerstone of all our products; what we like to call “The Flavour and the Fire”. How hot is it? Actually quite mild. An independent authority rated Outerbridge’s Original at 146 on the Scoville Scale. Today, Outerbridge Peppers Limited offers a full line of twenty-six products including our Sherry Rum Peppers (blending the two common additives for Bermuda Fish Chowder), our Devilishly Hot Sherry Peppers (which is twelve times hotter than the original), our Full Hot Mustard Sauce and our Royal Full Hot Rum Peppers.

For the unacquainted, in Bermuda, if you have indulged in several adult beverages, you may be considered “hot”; legless and feeling no pain…you are “full hot”. If you have disappeared for two or three days and your family is about to officially report you missing, you’re on a “Royal Full Hot”. This may explain why many consider the National Anthem of Bermuda to be the Soca classic “Hot, Hot, Hot” by Arrow (1982) and covered by Buster Poindexter in 1987.

Other popular products include our Bloody Mary Fix, Swashbuckling Steak Sauce, Sizzling Soy Sauce, Barbecue Sauces and Spiced Jellies (available HOT or MILD), Bermuda Rum Swizzle Mix, Bermuda Swizzle Taffy, ready-to-serve Bermuda Fish Chowder, Admiral’s Spicy Cocktail Onions, Outerbridge’s Original Cookbook and our marinade and rub spice packs; Righteous Ribs, Fantastic Fish, Tempting Tasty Chicken and Luscious London Broil.

Please take some time to review our website and visit us on Facebook to give us your endorsement. Contact us if you need more information or if you just want to visit. Try all our products, in YDO’s words, “We do hope you enjoy them!”