We make sites built from fire and spice.

Cindermint is an independent publisher in Philadelphia. We run PepperScale, a reference on chili peppers and hot sauce, and SPICEography, a reference on herbs, spices and seasonings.

PepperScale SPICEography The Capsaicin Code
Our sites
pepperscale.com

PepperScale

Chili peppers from mild to the hottest on record: what each one tastes like, how hot it is, and how to cook with it. Profiles sit alongside in-depth hot sauce reviews, written and on video, ranked and filterable by heat and by the pepper behind them.

The tools turn that reference into answers for the kitchen: what pairs with a pepper, how hot a finished dish will be, and how to save one that came out too hot.

Visit PepperScale →
170+chili pepper profiles
100+hot sauces reviewed and ranked
5interactive kitchen tools
The toolset
  • Chili Pepper Flavor Pairing Tool
  • Dish Heat Calculator
  • Pepper Substitute Finder
  • Pepper Conversion Tool
  • "Too Spicy" Rescue Tool
spiceography.com

SPICEography

Independent spice data. Profiles of herbs, spices and seasonings where every number traces to a named source. When sources disagree, the site shows each answer side by side instead of averaging them.

Its reference tools are built from that same sourced data, from recall tracking to how long a jar of ground cumin actually keeps.

Visit SPICEography →
Reference tools
  • Safety Ledger: recalls and findings from the FDA, UK FSA and Health Canada, updated daily
  • Conversion calculator: fresh, dried, whole and ground, with every source's answer
  • Potency Index: measured compound levels
  • Shelf Life Index: sourced keeping times
The book

The Capsaicin Code

Stop Guessing, Start Pairing: A Home Cook's Guide to Mastering Chili Peppers

The principles behind good chili pairings, so you can build your own dishes instead of following recipes. It includes a field guide to thirty peppers, from bell to Carolina Reaper, with pairings grouped by why they work, plus twelve dinners that put the ideas to use.

30peppers profiled
3pairing concepts
12annotated dinners
Get the ebook · $9.99 PDF and EPUB
Work with us

Reach people who cook with heat and spice.

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Brands

Partnerships and reviews

Hot sauce makers and spice brands can reach us about reviews, giveaways and other collaborations.

Email Matt
Readers

Wicked Wednesday

PepperScale's weekly email with recipes and chili pepper tips. Subscribers get 15% off in the shop.

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Press, licensing or anything else: email Matt Bray directly.