Lea and Perrins were not impressed with their initial results. The pair found the taste unpalatable, and simply left the jars in their cellar to gather dust. A few years later, they stumbled across them and decided to taste the contents again. To their delight, the aging process had turned it into a delicious, savory sauce.
Soon Mr. Lea and Mr. Perrins began bottling their special blend of vinegars and seasonings. Without any kind of advertising, in just a few short years, it was known and coveted in kitchens throughout Europe.
In 1839, John Duncan, a New York entrepreneur, ordered a small quantity of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. In the space of a few short years Duncan was importing large shipments to keep up with demand. Lea & Perrins was the only commercially bottled condiment in the U.S., and Americans loved it right away. Almost 170 years later, Lea & Perrins sauce remains a favorite in households across the U.S.
Lea & Perrins® first started exporting Worcestershire sauce around the world by boat. The lengthy and often rough sea voyages caused some of the bottles to break. The practice of wrapping each bottle in a paper wrap was devised to protect the bottles and prevent breakage.
While wrapping bottles is no longer technically necessary, the custom has endured, and the wrap has come to symbolize the rich heritage and premium quality of Lea & Perrins® sauces, a tradition dating back to 1835.
Imported in 1839 by New York buinessman John Duncan, Lea & Perrins® is the oldest commercially bottled condiment in the U.S.
Worcestershire can be properly pronounced a few ways: "WUST-ter-shire, "WOOS-ter-sheer", or "WOOS-ter-sher" sauce. But the easiest way to say Worcestershire Sauce is Lea & Perrins®.