Pique (Puerto Rican Style Hot Sauce)

Drop the garlic cloves, peppercorns, salt and bay leaf (and any of your optional additions) down into the bottle.

Remove the stems from the hot peppers. Leave the seeds and membranes intact if you want your pique spicy! If necessary, slice the peppers lengthwise until they are a size that fits easily into the mouth of the bottle. Insert peppers (or peppers strips) into the bottle. Use a funnel to pour vinegar into the bottle to cover the peppers and spices. If your bottle has a shaker top, snap it back into place, add the lid and set out on the counter for two days. After two days, store your pique in the refrigerator. You can top off with vinegar when it starts getting low. When the peppers start losing their punch, use a chopstick to remove the peppers and start over!