From Backyard Cookouts to Award-Winning Bottles
B.T. Leigh’s started with a cookout, a craving for flavor, and a lot of curiosity.
I grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, where my dad hosted massive backyard barbecues that lasted for days. I was the kid running around with sauce concoctions, usually some wild mix of ketchup, mustard, and whatever I could find in the fridge, offering samples to anyone who’d try them. That early obsession with bold, unexpected flavor stuck with me.
In 2012, my then girlfriend, now wife, Jenny and I bought a grill. I turned it into a smoker and started cooking for coworkers at my tech job, most of whom didn’t cook much themselves. I started making sauces to go with the meats, and before long, they were asking if they could buy bottles. That’s when things got real.
By 2014, we were handing out homemade sauce as wedding favors. One of those recipes became our first product: Somethin’ Somethin’ Sauce. We launched with two sauces and two rubs, including The Clevelander, my ultimate tribute to home - mustard for the stadiums, maple for the sugar houses, and rosemary for the Italian influence that runs deep in Cleveland. It’s still our most awarded sauce.
From the very beginning, it was important to us that everything we made be inclusive - all-natural, gluten-free, vegan-friendly - so no one at the table felt left out. That commitment came from cooking for the people we care about, friends and family who live with dietary restrictions and deserve flavor that doesn’t compromise.
In 2022, I had the chance to share that passion on a national stage as a featured home cook on the first season of The Great American Recipe on PBS. That experience reminded me just how powerful food is, not just as nourishment, but as a way to tell stories, preserve memories, and build community.
What started at a local farmers market in Bowling Green, Kentucky, has turned into a full-blown sauce and seasoning company with a growing online store, a growing list of retail partners, and over 60 international awards. And still, every batch we make is small, intentional, and crafted with care.
B.T. Leigh’s isn’t just about flavor. It's not just about products on a shelf or in your fridge - it’s about sharing meals, making memories, and helping everyone, no matter what they eat, find their somethin’.
Cheers!
Brian Leigh
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