<p>Hello chileheads. My name is Jay Tippett, or JayT as you know me here on TheHotPepper.com. I just wanted to tell you a little about myself. I am a stone mason, a father to a very rambunctious seven year old, and a real little guy born last October, a foodie, lover of all things hot and spicy, and reviewer here at THP. When I was a child I could not stand spicy food. I mean BBQ chips and radishes were fiery to me! Somewhere along the way, I began working in restaurants and discovered chicken wings. Of course, I ordered them mild. Then medium. Then hot. About this time I discovered hot sauces beyond Tabasco and Frank's Red Hot. My first experience with Dave's Insanity left me coughing, sweating, crying, and swearing. But I came back for more. By this time I was in my early twenties, and I met a man named Chip Welsh. He is now owner of Red Lion Spicy Food Co., but then was a coworker of mine. He introduced me to some of my still-favorite things: REAL chileheads like us, hotlucks, different types of fresh peppers, and a whole world of hot sauces from Peppers in Rehoboth, DE, home of the largest collection of hot sauce in the world. I began buying hot sauce everywhere I could find it, which back then was pretty limited. I made annual trips to Peppers, and found spots at farmer's markets selling the stuff I craved. I tried it all. Like any newbie, the first thing I had to do was find the ceiling. How hot can I go? Well, after hundreds of extract sauces, I found my limit. I tried The Source, at 7.1million SHU. I knew that this stuff was not for me. About this same time, I found the HotSauceBlog.com, and TheHotPepper.com. I joined both and that's when I realized that there were so many other people out there like me; I thought I was a freak until then. Well, that's what everyone had been telling me for years. Friends and family always give me a wary eyeball when I offer them something I have made, whether it is sauce or food. Here, everyone is like me. And, at the same time we are all different. I have learned so much about peppers, sauce and growing here. All the while, after literally thousands of bottles, I have continued to love hot sauce. This has evolved for me as I have become more accomplished in the kitchen. Now instead of wanting the next newest, hottest sauce, I immediately start thinking, how can I use this sauce with food? That is the perspective I try to bring you with my reviews. That brings me to today and being a reviewer here at THP. I try to let you try each sauce through my writing and give you my thoughts on the good and bad of each sauce and how you might use it yourself. I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet so many great chileheads, including some of the biggest names in the industry. It has been a wonderful hot and wild ride and I am looking forward to many, many years of bringing you reviews of the newest, brightest, and best in hot and spicy products. Thank you for letting me share this journey with you.<br><br>
Hottest wishes,<br>
JayT</p>
spending time with my two sons, cooking, eating, hot sauce, the Yankees and Steelers
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