First of all, moderators/Dan, please post this where it is supposed to go if I am posting it in the wrong place...
I went to ZF Thursday for a little while and hung out with Creator and the Wife Unit (John and Maggie Dilley of DefCon Sauces). Their setup was all but complete and I got to spend some quality time with them. Also got to meet a lot of people in the business...won't mention any names since I can't list all I talked with/met...please don't be offended..
Then Saturday, my sweet wife, Linda and I went during the regular show...my views and opinion of the show and products follow...
Attendance: generally it was pretty busy all the time with lines at each booth with samples...sometimes a long long line, like the one at Angelos...and that was just for sauce...it wasn't hard to get around in because the people attending were very nice and courteous of one another...
Booths...without a doubt, the Creator had the best booth with his display of lasers and hazardous material theme...and no about it either that he brought the pain...
quick story...Thursday while John and I stepped out on the loading dock for a smoke, a security guard came up and started talking to us...of course, the conversation was about "hot"...sooooo, Creator had a bottle of Zero Sludge in his pocket with some straws and offered the guard one...he vehemently declined but said, hey, that guy over there, get him to try it...he says he can take hot...long story short, the guy came over, Creator supplied him with the dipstick of pain (zero sludge on a straw) and he dove in...as soon as he looked up, there was this awestruck look in his eyes..widening he said, yup...its hot....and that's all he kept saying as he thanked the Creator and kinda hurried off...he was definitely looking for some place to ditch the dipstick...
Products that got my attention...shown in the picture below...mind you now, I have a lot of products from other mfgs like Intensity Academy, Danny Cash, CaJohn, the list goes on...so I was looking for something "new" for me...
Starting from the top left:
Note: most everything that was labelled hot would be considered very mild to seasoned chileheads, even my Linda kept on saying, "where's the heat...you're stuff is much hotter"...
Chef Gerard and Chuck's Green Stuff Salsa Hot!!
This is made from fresh raw vegetables and the recipe astonishingly resembles my Pico de Gallo recipe...it is very tasty and was the wifes favorite of show.
next is Slappin' Fat Bacon Ketchup...you just can't go wrong with bacon flavor and this ketchup goes even one better, no bacon fat...it is artificially flavored...I will not go into discussions about ingredients being healthy for you or not...just simply what tasted the best...this was one of my favorites...
3 A.M. Bobby Que - one of the best BBQ sauces I have had...got a tip of the tongue afterglow and great taste...just right on the levels of vinegar and sweetness plus the smoky flavor makes this one a winner for me...best BBQ sauce...
Harold's Texicun Gormay Pickuls - labelled 4X and called "Dern Hot"....that got me right there and I knew I had to try them...yup...tried them, liked them, bought them....very tasty...cucumbers and red chile peppers in a vinegar/dill/spice liquid...excellent...
Heartbreaking Dawns 1498 - Trinidad Scorpion Sauce...great tasting and pretty warm sauce...the taste is what gets me...just the taste is delicious...
Heart Breaking Dawns Mauvais Sang - have not tried this one yet but it is made with Dorset Naga and Chocolate Habanero puree....I bet it is good...
Silver Leaf Ghost Pepper Salsa...this is my pick of the show for salsas...great tasting, pretty warm, smoky salsa...definitely a keeper in my opinion...enough for me to buy 3 jars...
Bottom Row from the left...
Twangers Salts...several different flavors: Chile Lime Salt (Sal Chile-Limon), Pickle Salt (Sabor a Pepinillo), Lime Salt (Sal con Limon), Lemon Lime Salt (Sal Lima-Limon), Apple Flavored Candy (this one is going to be interesting and I bet good - only one I didn't taste), and Mango Sweet & Sour Chili...I can't wait to use these in my cooking...especially fish, pork, and chicken...my favorite so far is the Chili Lime Salt...it works especially well on the rim of a 7 Pot Bloody Mary...
Chile Pepper Magazine Cap...she begged me to wear it...I was going to anyway, but let her think I wasn't...pretty cool new owners...I wish them the best of luck in their new ventue...
And the final item is a chili bowl...uniquely shaped and a collectors item...these ladies make these in their garage and they are a might heavy piece of ceramic ware...would have bought a set of 4 but didn't have the extra 100 for them so we bought one...
Overall Impressions...I will be talking generalities here and not specifics....it seemed like everyone and his brother had a chipotle flavored hot sauce...if it didn't have chipotle in the title, it had it in the ingredients...don't get me wrong because I like a good chipotle...but Jeez folks...gimme something new and fantastic...
There were a lot of supplliers from Texas here and that is what I expected...doh...but these Made in Texas by a Texan signs are great to see and to me are an indication there is a little extra money here in Texas...not saying we are not suffering from the recession/down economy/Bear run on Wall Street...call it whatever you will...but the people that were there seemed to be enjoying themselves and spending a good bit of money...If everyone spent as much as the wife and I did,and we didn't spend that much as is evidenced by the photo...the festival was a rip roaring success...
Have a great day all...
I went to ZF Thursday for a little while and hung out with Creator and the Wife Unit (John and Maggie Dilley of DefCon Sauces). Their setup was all but complete and I got to spend some quality time with them. Also got to meet a lot of people in the business...won't mention any names since I can't list all I talked with/met...please don't be offended..
Then Saturday, my sweet wife, Linda and I went during the regular show...my views and opinion of the show and products follow...
Attendance: generally it was pretty busy all the time with lines at each booth with samples...sometimes a long long line, like the one at Angelos...and that was just for sauce...it wasn't hard to get around in because the people attending were very nice and courteous of one another...
Booths...without a doubt, the Creator had the best booth with his display of lasers and hazardous material theme...and no about it either that he brought the pain...
quick story...Thursday while John and I stepped out on the loading dock for a smoke, a security guard came up and started talking to us...of course, the conversation was about "hot"...sooooo, Creator had a bottle of Zero Sludge in his pocket with some straws and offered the guard one...he vehemently declined but said, hey, that guy over there, get him to try it...he says he can take hot...long story short, the guy came over, Creator supplied him with the dipstick of pain (zero sludge on a straw) and he dove in...as soon as he looked up, there was this awestruck look in his eyes..widening he said, yup...its hot....and that's all he kept saying as he thanked the Creator and kinda hurried off...he was definitely looking for some place to ditch the dipstick...
Products that got my attention...shown in the picture below...mind you now, I have a lot of products from other mfgs like Intensity Academy, Danny Cash, CaJohn, the list goes on...so I was looking for something "new" for me...
Starting from the top left:
Note: most everything that was labelled hot would be considered very mild to seasoned chileheads, even my Linda kept on saying, "where's the heat...you're stuff is much hotter"...
Chef Gerard and Chuck's Green Stuff Salsa Hot!!
This is made from fresh raw vegetables and the recipe astonishingly resembles my Pico de Gallo recipe...it is very tasty and was the wifes favorite of show.
next is Slappin' Fat Bacon Ketchup...you just can't go wrong with bacon flavor and this ketchup goes even one better, no bacon fat...it is artificially flavored...I will not go into discussions about ingredients being healthy for you or not...just simply what tasted the best...this was one of my favorites...
3 A.M. Bobby Que - one of the best BBQ sauces I have had...got a tip of the tongue afterglow and great taste...just right on the levels of vinegar and sweetness plus the smoky flavor makes this one a winner for me...best BBQ sauce...
Harold's Texicun Gormay Pickuls - labelled 4X and called "Dern Hot"....that got me right there and I knew I had to try them...yup...tried them, liked them, bought them....very tasty...cucumbers and red chile peppers in a vinegar/dill/spice liquid...excellent...
Heartbreaking Dawns 1498 - Trinidad Scorpion Sauce...great tasting and pretty warm sauce...the taste is what gets me...just the taste is delicious...
Heart Breaking Dawns Mauvais Sang - have not tried this one yet but it is made with Dorset Naga and Chocolate Habanero puree....I bet it is good...
Silver Leaf Ghost Pepper Salsa...this is my pick of the show for salsas...great tasting, pretty warm, smoky salsa...definitely a keeper in my opinion...enough for me to buy 3 jars...
Bottom Row from the left...
Twangers Salts...several different flavors: Chile Lime Salt (Sal Chile-Limon), Pickle Salt (Sabor a Pepinillo), Lime Salt (Sal con Limon), Lemon Lime Salt (Sal Lima-Limon), Apple Flavored Candy (this one is going to be interesting and I bet good - only one I didn't taste), and Mango Sweet & Sour Chili...I can't wait to use these in my cooking...especially fish, pork, and chicken...my favorite so far is the Chili Lime Salt...it works especially well on the rim of a 7 Pot Bloody Mary...
Chile Pepper Magazine Cap...she begged me to wear it...I was going to anyway, but let her think I wasn't...pretty cool new owners...I wish them the best of luck in their new ventue...
And the final item is a chili bowl...uniquely shaped and a collectors item...these ladies make these in their garage and they are a might heavy piece of ceramic ware...would have bought a set of 4 but didn't have the extra 100 for them so we bought one...
Overall Impressions...I will be talking generalities here and not specifics....it seemed like everyone and his brother had a chipotle flavored hot sauce...if it didn't have chipotle in the title, it had it in the ingredients...don't get me wrong because I like a good chipotle...but Jeez folks...gimme something new and fantastic...
There were a lot of supplliers from Texas here and that is what I expected...doh...but these Made in Texas by a Texan signs are great to see and to me are an indication there is a little extra money here in Texas...not saying we are not suffering from the recession/down economy/Bear run on Wall Street...call it whatever you will...but the people that were there seemed to be enjoying themselves and spending a good bit of money...If everyone spent as much as the wife and I did,and we didn't spend that much as is evidenced by the photo...the festival was a rip roaring success...
Have a great day all...
So do you have any particularly funny stories about torturing people this year?