Done with Bravado

The most unlikely entrepreneurs: Duo turns a whiskey-fueled idea into aburgeoning sauce empire

Jeremiah Tallerine, left, and James Nelson, right, have known one another sincehigh school.
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The two conceived the idea of Bravado Spice in Nelson's kitchen — they considerthis entrepreneurial venture a career, not a job.
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Tallerine, who supplies the business savvy, says that he can make the salsa inhis sleep at this point.
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Nelson is the culinary mastermind behind the operation, coming up with complexand distinctive flavors for their two signature sauces.
Courtesy Photo

James Nelson and Jeremiah Tallerine are long-haired and bearded, with an appearance and an air that seems more punk rocker than entrepreneur. But don't let first impressions fool you: These two are the brains and the brawn behind Bravado Spice.

The pair has developed a whiskey-fueled idea into a burgeoning business in the matter of months, thanks to unforeseen good fortune with their Kickstarter campaign — which brought in 273 percent of their original $7,000 goal — plus a dream-team dynamic. And they're not stopping here.

Nelson is the culinary mastermind behind the operation, the one who came up with the unique mixtures and perfected the recipes of their two signature sauces, Roasted Pineapple & Habañero Sauce and Crimson Chili Sauce.

"He wanted to get his creation and creativity into the mouths of the masses," Tallerine says.

"He wanted to get his creation and creativity into the mouths of the masses," says Tallerine, who had the Internet business savvy to make that happen.

At barely a month old, Bravado Spice has already established a presence around the Bayou City. The guys can be spotted at area farmer's markets, their sauces stocked on store shelves (at Ruggles Green on West Alabama and Revival Market) and worked into the menus at food trucks as varied as Chi'Lantro, H-town strEATs and NOLA's Creole2Geaux.

Plus, they're working with other brick and mortar restaurants — El Gran Malo, for example, and Royal Oak Bar & Grill, which hosted the company's launch party in early October — to get their sauce featured in drinks and dishes.

If it seems like they've been busy, that's because they have. As Nelson tells CultureMap, "When you start with nothing, you have to build your own market."

The sauce of yore

As Nelson and Tallerine see it, hot sauce companies historically fall into two camps: Those that make a decent, mass-produced sauce and the others who make the hottest hot sauce possible. It was due time for a third party.

Bravado Spice distinguishes itself in an inundated industry as a hand-crafted, preservative-free, artisan sauce that combines all natural ingredients in a painstaking process.

Both the Roasted Pineapple & Habañero Sauce and the Crimson Chili are meant to be used as complements to dishes, not as a condiments. And their unique flavor profiles lend to that — they work well on pretty much everything. (I can speak from personal experience.)

Bravado Spice distinguishes itself in an inundated industry as a hand-crafted, preservative-free, artisan sauce that combines all natural ingredients in a painstaking process.

Take the sample menu at their launch party, which included a Hawaiian pizza using the pineapple sauce as its base, topped with melted cheese, salty ham and crispy red onion, as well as basic hot wings slathered in each sauce. Or a dark chocolate and butter cream truffle that makes use of the smoky Crimson. Or the Empanadas Veracruzanas at Sirena Seafood that incorporates hot sauce and seafood.

The team is currently working out of Kitchen Incubator, taking over the building each weekend for the prep work and labor involved in filling several hundred bottles, but with a kitchen operations manager on staff and a new vendor signed almost every day, they're already quickly outgrowing that space.

Nelson acknowledged that they chose the word "bravado" because it implied stupid and brave, but that blind gusto has gotten them this far. Bravado Spice is hoping to be everywhere in the city by the end of the year — and to become the first Houston-based hot sauce company to go national in the not-too-distant future.

And that's not to mention the other far-fetched condiment concoctions they have up their sleeves. (A hint: It's going to be delicious.)

"If you have an idea and you think it merits an action, just do it," Tallerine says.

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long live the king

University of Houston archaeologists discover 1,700-year-old Mayan tomb

University of Houston Caracol Belize archaeology

Courtesy of Caracol Archaeological Project / University of Houston

The tomb was found near Caana, the central complex of Caracol.

Two University of Houston archaeologists have made scientific history with the discovery of a Mayan king's tomb in Belize.

A UH team led by husband and wife scientists Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase made the discovery at Caracol — the largest Mayan archeological site in Belize, situated about 25 miles south of Xunantunich and the town of San Ignacio. Together with Belize's Institute of Archeology, as well as support from the Geraldine and Emory Ford Foundation and the KHR Family Fund, they uncovered the tomb of Caracol's founder, King Te K’ab Chaak. Their work used airborne light detection and ranging technology to uncover previously hidden roadways and structures that have been reclaimed by the jungle.

The tomb was found at the base of a royal family shrine. The king, who ascended the throne in AD 331, lived to an advanced enough age that he no longer had teeth. His tomb held a collection of eleven pottery vessels, carved bone tubes, jadeite jewelry, a mosaic jadeite mask, Pacific spondylus shells, and various other perishable items. Pottery vessels found in the chamber depict a Maya ruler wielding a spear as he receives offerings from supplicants represented as deities; the figure of Ek Chuah, the Maya god of traders, surrounded by offerings; and bound captives, a motif also seen in two related burials. Additionally, two vessels had lids adorned with modeled handles shaped like coatimundi (pisote) heads. The coatimundi, known as tz’uutz’ in Maya, was later adopted by subsequent rulers of Caracol as part of their names.

During the Classical Period, Caracol was one of the main hubs of the Mayan Lowlands and a covered an area bigger than that of present-day Belize City. Populations survived in the area for at least a thousand years before the city was abandoned sometime around 900 CE. The royal dynasty established by Te K’ab Chaak continued at Caracol for over 460 years.

The find is also significant because this was roughly when the Mexican city of Teotihuacan made contact with Caracol, leading to a long relationship of trade and cultural exchange. Cremation sites found in Caracol contain items that would have come from Teotihuacan, showing the relationship between the two distant cities.

"Both central Mexico and the Maya area were clearly aware of each other’s ritual practices, as reflected in the Caracol cremation," said Arlen F. Chase, professor and chair of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Houston. “The connections between the two regions were undertaken by the highest levels of society, suggesting that initial kings at various Maya cities — such as Te K’ab Chaak at Caracol — were engaged in formal diplomatic relationships with Teotihuacan.”

Courtesy of Caracol Archaeological Project / University of Houston

The tomb was found near Caana, the central complex of Caracol.

The Chases will present their findings at a conference on Maya–Teotihuacan interaction hosted by the Maya Working Group at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico in August 2025.

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