- 14 hours ago
Shop Essence Live in partnership with New Voices. In this week’s episode Neil Hudson of Scotch Boyz talks about their incredible authentic Jamaican sauces, shares a unique Margarita recipe that you have to try, and tells us how his products gives back to his homeland.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello, hello. We are live, live right now. My name is Noni Donovan. I'm Vice President
00:07here at Essence of Video. And this is another episode of Shop Essence Live. So what you guys
00:13are tuning into right now is a live shopping experience that Essence does every single
00:19week right here. And we're bringing you these amazing Black-owned brands that you can shop
00:25directly on platform with us. And we are doing this in partnership with New Voices Family.
00:30On today's show, we're going to feature sauces from the Scotch Boys. Now, if you love authentic
00:36Jamaican cuisine, you're going to stay tuned for this. Scotch Boys, if you're out there,
00:41make sure that you're requesting to go live with me. And then we have Undefined Beauty. Now,
00:46if you love conscious beauty, if you love clean beauty and you want to get your skin right,
00:51definitely, definitely stick around. So make sure that you guys are tagging, right? We want to make
00:56sure if you're tuning in live or if you're tuning in on the replay, tag someone that loves Jamaican
01:01cuisine, right? And you want to make it authentically at home. And then you also want to tag someone that
01:06loves beauty products and looking for clean solutions. Also, if you're watching this and you
01:12have a small Black-owned business, absolutely, absolutely tag someone that you know or if you
01:19want to be featured on Shop Essence Live, I'll be sharing information on how to do that at the end
01:24of the show. So right now, I am looking for Scotch Boys. All you guys here, hold on. And I have to pin
01:32my comments. Scotch Boys, you guys out there, let me just search and I'm going to pin my comments. And
01:39then also, something really, really important for you guys. This is a live experience for a reason.
01:45I want to ask all of your questions. If you have any questions about recipes for Scotch Boys or how
01:52they make their actual, oh, there he is. So we're joined right now live by Neil Hudson. I know you
01:59can see the screen right now. Your head is cut off a little bit. If you can dip down. I know you're
02:04tall. You're probably real tall. Perfect. Neil, I'm so excited to have you here. Welcome, welcome to
02:12Shop Essence Live. Hey, Stephanie. Welcome to the house of Scotch Boys. It's really good to be here.
02:18I think my head's a little cut off. Let me just start fixing it. No, no, no. You're good. You're
02:21good. Okay, great. Absolutely perfect. So we have Neil Hudson of Shop Boys, Scotch Boys. So we want to
02:27get into these products and we're going to learn your story in a little bit. But why don't you tell us
02:33what you have for the people today? Well, welcome. So I've gone ahead and made some great dishes with
02:39our Scotch Boys sauces. So we have the full line here today. So the main sauce that we have is our
02:46Scotch Bonnet Pepper, which from which we derive our name. It's this one here, bright yellow sauce.
02:53It's this color because we buy our sauce, we buy our peppers to make the sauce from over 200 small
03:00farmers throughout Jamaica. Today, we're also featuring our jerk, Alan Barbecue. But if you're
03:07also interested, we have a full range of sauces. We have our jerk seasoning, as well as we have
03:14our, as well as our Island Barbecue. That's a little low. Let's get back up.
03:19I love that.
03:20Yep.
03:23So I think as you're going through this product, these products, it's really important for everyone
03:28to know. You guys have a very amazing mission on how these products are made. Do you want to give
03:34everyone a little bit of background on what your mission is and how the products are made?
03:40Absolutely. So we buy our peppers from over 200 small farmers in Jamaica. We pay a premium for the
03:47peppers as well, because we want to make sure that as Scotch Boys grows and benefits, the local
03:53community in Jamaica grows and benefits as well. Apart from that, we're also giving 5% of our product,
04:00of our proceeds to a small school in Jamaica, Sabomar Primary. We started this during COVID
04:07because we went on a buying trip and we saw that one of the farmers' daughter was, you know,
04:14playing on the farm. And we realized that, you know, she didn't have the money to actually go to
04:18school. So, you know, we bought her an iPad with service. And from that, we decided we didn't want to
04:23only help one person. We wanted to help an entire community.
04:25Oh, my goodness. I absolutely love that. And I think this is really important to note, right?
04:31When you're watching Shop Essence Live, and you guys are buying these products, you are buying and
04:36contributing directly to these Black-owned businesses. Essence is not taking a cut. I get
04:40paid nothing for doing this. We want to make sure that we uphold our mission, as well as a new voices
04:47family to uplift these Black businesses. And that is absolutely amazing, Neil. Why don't you tell us a
04:52little bit more about what else you have? Great. So, right here, we have, you know,
04:57our Scotch-Bonnet sauce that I mentioned, as well. They're great for dipping sauces. I mean,
05:01I love it when, you know, the game is coming up for the long weekend ahead. It's amazing.
05:06Also, I made with our red pepper sauce for the vegetarians out there, as well. I made cauliflower
05:14buffalo bites, just so you know, add the red pepper sauce onto your buffalo bites there for a great
05:22vegan dish. And, you know, we can't be Jamaican without jerk. Some lovely jerk pasta.
05:29Earthsable. Pause right there, because as you guys can see, I use most of my jerk sauce. Now,
05:37I am not from Jamaica, but I am from Jamaica, Queens, Southside. Jamaica, Queens stand-up.
05:41So, I have grown up loving authentic Jamaican cuisine, and I've never tackled trying to make
05:49anything jerk myself at home. It's been really intimidating. But I think you have packaged this
05:55in such an amazing way. It is so authentic. I put this on everything. And it tastes absolutely
06:01incredible. I love it, love it, love it. Yep, yep. And again, we also have our Island Barbecue. That's
06:10our most versatile sauce. You could use it as a marinade. You could use it after you cook as a
06:16condiment on top of your meals. So, I recommend you get the, you know, we're featuring three today,
06:22but get the full pack. You know, summer's not over. It's still, it's still warm. And make sure you can
06:28get some good grilling going on this weekend. Absolutely. Just in time for the weekend. Absolutely.
06:35I know you have something very on it. Hollis, Queens, stand up. I see you in the comments.
06:40And make sure, too, I'm looking at the comments. If you guys have any questions for Neil and the
06:44Scotch Boys, make sure, make sure you're dropping those in the comments. I know you have a very
06:49unconventional way to use one of your sauces coming up. Before we get into that, something really,
06:55really special happens at Essence Festival this year in the New Voices family. Can you tell us a little
07:01bit about that? Yep. Absolutely. So, Scotch Boys, it's a little warm here with all these,
07:06I have a lot of lights here. We can't tell. We can't tell. It all looks good. It's fine.
07:11Yeah. So, you know, Scotch Boys was fortunate to be the next Black Millionaire winner. The program was
07:18sponsored by and supported by New Voices Fund in collaboration with Shea Moisture. You know,
07:25you take a step back and look at it, Shea Moisture has been unbelievably successful.
07:29And they put their money where their mouth is. So, they're not only about making sure that,
07:34you know, we're not ashy. They're also trying to take all of us to the next level
07:38by sponsoring programs such as the next Black Millionaire. So, we got, we're one of three
07:44winners, Undefined Beauty and Cosmology are the other two great businesses as well.
07:49And they gave us $100,000 each to help us scale to the next level. So, it's an investment back in the
07:55community. They're putting the money where their mouth is. Not only are they doing it for
07:59community commerce because they also have sustainable supply chain from their sourcing,
08:03we're trying to model our business off of what Shea Moisture has done so that in time,
08:08as Scotch Boys grows, we can then further give back to the community and support the next crop
08:12of Black entrepreneurs. So, extremely excited. Thanks to the Shea fam.
08:17Congratulations.
08:18This was amazing. Went on stage. You know, my mother is a huge Essence reader. So,
08:24she was thrilled that, you know, not only that I was able to get on stage by a company that's also
08:29in the Shea Moisture family.
08:31I absolutely love that. And shout out to the New Voices family as well, continuing their mission
08:36and making all these Black millionaires. Absolutely incredible. And just a reminder,
08:42at the end of the show, I will be telling you guys, if you're interested in joining the New Voices
08:45family, I will tell you a little bit more information about that. Now, you have some more recipes for us.
08:51So, why don't you get into that?
08:55Yep. So, you know, after you had a good meal, whether you had the vegan buffalo cauliflower bites
09:01with our hot pepper sauce, or if you had some jerk chicken and shrimp featuring our jerk sauce,
09:06you know, you might get thirsty. And, you know, how better to quench your thirst than with a margarita?
09:12So...
09:13Right? That's the first thing you go to.
09:16Spicy margarita. You know, it's Thursday.
09:19It's Thursday. It's Thursday, or as I like to call it, Friday Eve.
09:24You say that too? I say that. Friday Eve, going down.
09:29Yep. So, to make your tequila, I already have ice in here for, in my shaker.
09:35It's simply just a 3-2-1.
09:38So, this is my favorite tequila. You know, I bring it to, on the go, people think it's, you know, salad dressing, but 3-2-1.
09:48So, it's an ounce and a half of tequila.
09:52And then, if two, you're just using one ounce of our triple sec, but here we're using agave and lime juice.
10:05So, just squeeze a little lime juice in this.
10:12And, again, you know, there's a little lime juice in here already. You know, use as much lime juice as you'd like.
10:17And, of course, it can't be a spicy margarita without the spice.
10:27So, just add a little drop of our Scotch Boy's Scotch Bonnet sauce.
10:34There we go. Perfect. Just a little drop.
10:36And, uh, there we go.
10:49Just, uh, enjoy it, you know.
10:50We're making a margarita for anyone that is tuning in.
10:52Your favorite.
10:53With hot sauce!
10:54There you go.
10:55Yeah.
10:56Oh, no!
10:56Yeah.
10:57But I like to drink mine out of my Scotch Boy's mug.
11:00So, let me just transfer it in there.
11:03And, uh, you know.
11:03I just so have that one transported over.
11:06Tony, you're having a good...
11:08Yeah.
11:08There you go.
11:09Cheers!
11:09So, let's, uh, let's cheers to Scotch Boy's.
11:13Cheers to Essence.
11:14And let's cheers to the weekend.
11:16Summer's not over.
11:17It's always summer with Scotch Boy's.
11:19I love that.
11:21Always summer with Scotch Boy's.
11:22Now, I do see some, uh, questions coming up.
11:27Uh, it was Yoli that wanted to know,
11:29do you have any sauces that are mild for those that don't want to venture off into spicy land?
11:35Do you have any, um, sauces that are mild?
11:39Absolutely.
11:40What would you recommend?
11:40And on the barbecue, it's, it's not hot at all.
11:43It's extremely flavorful.
11:45And, uh, the jerk as well.
11:46Has a hint of pepper, but I wouldn't call it all overbearing at all.
11:50But even our signature sauce, the Scotch Bonnet,
11:52it does have a kick to it, but it's not just pure pepper.
11:56We're not going to be scorched.
11:57We're not trying to burn your face off.
11:59It has a very distinct flavor profile.
12:02So, I recommend you give it, you give it a try and, uh, you, uh, see,
12:05you see what you think about it.
12:08The margarita.
12:10I don't know.
12:11I don't know how y'all came up with that.
12:13Putting hot sauce in the margarita.
12:14I would never think, but trust me, you guys need to try it.
12:18And that was Yoli. My life had that question. Now I just want to,
12:23we do have undefined beauty coming up very, very soon.
12:27So you guys stay tuned.
12:29If you're into beauty products and clean beauty products, Dorian,
12:32if you are watching,
12:33make sure that you request that be added in a little bit. Um,
12:37before we switch up, Neil,
12:39I would love for you to just say a little bit about what has kept you going.
12:45You even said you started during the pandemic.
12:48You have this amazing mission to give back to Jamaica.
12:52You were just awarded next black millionaire at festival.
12:56Like that roadmap does not happen without perseverance.
12:59And now you're here on shop essence live, um,
13:02selling your products directly to your consumer. So, um,
13:06tell us what has kept you going throughout all this as a black entrepreneur.
13:10Sure. Uh, Scotch boys is not an individual effort. You know, it's the Z it's plural.
13:15So I'm a part of a team. It's drew who's my co-founder,
13:19who's at the factory daily, making sure we meet all our orders.
13:23It's a Matthew who's a,
13:24we use as a face of a Scotch boys and Kemar who's in our design,
13:28who designed the initial logo and has been with us right through.
13:32So what has helped me going is that, uh,
13:35we are friends and we are honest with each other.
13:38When one person is falling down, another person comes over,
13:42gives them a nice kick, but after the kick to pull them back up.
13:44So it's the camaraderie and we,
13:46we parlay our different energies and our different talents off of each other.
13:50So, but again,
13:51we want to make sure that we're helping the community where,
13:54and if we give up, um, then, you know,
13:58we show that, you know,
13:59black entrepreneurship is in viable and we've been extremely successful.
14:02I'm based in Atlanta.
14:03Atlanta is a great, uh, bed for young black entrepreneurs.
14:08And it's the community has been exceptionally welcoming and warm.
14:12So that's what keeps going on.
14:13There's nothing like, uh, building your own business,
14:16building your own brand and doing it the right way.
14:19I absolutely love that. Yeah.
14:22Community is so, so important. Um,
14:26I'd love for you to share with everyone,
14:27where can they find more, follow you, find more recipes.
14:32There's a lot of questions about recipes,
14:34the recipes for, um, using your products.
14:37Um, tell the people where they can find you.
14:39Sure. So, uh, Instagram is the best way, uh,
14:42at Scotch boys is our IG.
14:44We have a website, scotchboys.com Facebook page on the website.
14:48So that you can sign up for the newsletter.
14:50If you want to buy, we are on Amazon with a Shopify page.
14:54We're in a handful of retail stores. Uh,
14:56if any big retail buyers out there are watching, you know,
14:58we're coming to a retail store, uh, near you as well.
15:01But again, online is the best way for, for,
15:04for the national audience here in the U S.
15:08Absolutely. And just to repeat, this is shop essence live.
15:12When you buy products on our show,
15:14you are contributing directly to these small businesses and Scotch boys has an
15:19incredible cause. I'd love for you to talk. Just repeat one more time. Um,
15:23but what happens when people buy spot scotch scotch boy, uh, products?
15:28Scotch boys is essentially for, uh, the capturing of a pepper in a bottle.
15:33So behind us are 200 small farmers that are supporting the brand.
15:37It's not only peppers that we're buying.
15:38We're buying scaly and we're buying green onion.
15:40We're buying all spice.
15:41We buy that all from small producers in Jamaica.
15:44So buying scotch boys is actually a direct conduit to the community where we're
15:50having an impact there. So each bottle, uh,
15:53supports local farming, uh, in Jamaica,
15:55everything inside the bottle is sourced in Jamaica, the label,
15:59top to bottom.
15:59Only thing is it is the glass bottle cause it's not made there,
16:02but all the contents are, um,
16:05sourced from the local community.
16:08So, so great. So you guys not only are giving to a black owned business,
16:11you're giving to farm directly on the Island of Jamaica,
16:14which is absolutely incredible.
16:17Neil, I am so excited to see what is to come from you.
16:22Um, absolutely incredible.
16:23Please do keep us posted and remember,
16:25even if you're watching this on the replay,
16:27you can shop these products as well.
16:30Um, thank you. Thank you so much.
16:31And is there anything you want to leave everybody with before you go?
16:35Oh, thanks for the support. Uh,
16:37if you have any aspirations to be an entrepreneur, just go for it.
16:40Uh, without trying, you'll never know what you can achieve.
16:42Uh, we've been fortunate so far and I'm happy to be a resource for anyone
16:46that's interested in learning more about my journey.
16:48I'm happy to help anyone who's starting as well.
16:50So Stephanie, uh, thank you for having us, you know, uh,
16:54too bad you have, uh, you know, handed off to Dorian and, uh, cheers.
16:57Yeah. Thank you. Cheers. Absolutely.
17:01I'm trying to be very careful on how much I got.
17:04I still got some, I still have an interview to do.
17:07I think Dorian's going to come in, uh, toasting as well,
17:10but thank you so much, Neil.
17:12All right. Thank you. All right. Bye-bye.
17:14Bye-bye.
Comments