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High River Sauces announces 2016 Hot Sauce Hall of Fame Inductees

Immediate ReleaseMarch 29th, 2016

Hot Sauce Hall of Fame Class of 2016

 
 The Hot Sauce Hall of Fame Foundation is very proud to announce the Hot Sauce Hall of Fame Class of 2016. The Hot Sauce Hall of Fame will induct 5 people all of which have been very instrumental in the fiery foods. After months of balloting, with just shy of 500 voters, the NYC Hot Sauce Expo is now proud to announce and present the Class of 2016.

 

This year’s group are the biggest and brightest names in the industry. One of Legend. One of inspiration. Here is your Hot Sauce Hall of Fame Class of 2016.  

 

1. Blair Lazar – Blair’s: Heating up over 31 countries, printed in six languages, and Guinness World

Record certified with the hottest product created, Blair’s passion for peppers is ever present. It is what fuels the fiery phenomena that’s called the Death Sauce.

2. David Tran – Huy Fong Foods (Sriracha Sauce): Started in 1980 and has grown to be the leader in Asian Hot Sauce with his Sriracha Sauce also known to hot sauce fans as the “Rooster Sauce”.

3. Jacob Frank – Founder of Franks Red Hot and one of the biggest selling hot sauces in the country. Frank’s RedHot cayenne pepper sauce was used as the secret ingredient for the first ever Buffalo Wings in Buffalo, New York, putting it on the map and starting the flavor craze that has led to consumers obsession with all things Buffalo-flavor.

4. Marie Sharp – Marie Sharp’s & the Original Melinda’s: Owner Marie Sharp’s Fine Foods Ltd. – Started making sauce in the early 80’s and actually was the creator of Melinda’s sauces. Her sauce is the quintessential Central American hot sauce awesome flavor and great heat!

5. Sam Garner – Texas Pete: This hot sauce was introduced to the world in 1929 and is now the 3rd largest selling hot sauce in the country.

 The Hot Sauce Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony will be held on Saturday April 23rd on the main stage of the NYC Hot Sauce Expo. Inductees will receive a distinctive Red Jacket and a Hall of Fame Ring.

This year the 4th Annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo will take place on April 23rd and 24th at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Brooklyn, NY.

For More Information Please Contact Steve Seabury: steve@highriversauces.com  

Info on the NYC Hot Sauce Expo: http://www.NYCHotSauceExpo.com 

 

NYC Hot Sauce Expo Announces Hall of Fame Nominees

Immediate Release
August 12, 2014
NYC Hot Sauce Expo – Presents The Hot Sauce Hall of Fame

Steve Seabury owner of High River Sauces and the organizer of the NYC Hot Sauce Expo will present to the world the official Hot Sauce Hall of Fame Foundation. The Hot Sauce Hall of Fame will induct 5 people in its inaugural year and each of the following years they will induct 3 all of which have been very instrumental in the fiery foods industry. Each year the NYC Hot Sauce Expo will present and host the induction ceremony to enshrine the legends of the industry to this greatest of honors.

The Hot Sauce Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony will be held on Saturday April 25th on the main stage after the Screaming Mi Mi Awards show. Inductees will receive a distinctive red jacket, an achievement trophy and will be featured on exhibit at the Hot Sauce Hall of Fame Library each year at NYC Hot Sauce Expo.

This year the 3rd Annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo will take place on April 25th and April 26th 2015.

The first group on the inaugural ballot are some of the biggest and brightest names in the industry.

1. Blair Lazar – Owner Blair’s Sauces and Snacks also came out with one of the if not the first extract hot sauce. Took the collector sauce/limited edition sauce to new heights. Also took extreme heat to the limit with some of the hottest sauces ever.
2. Chip Hearn – One of the original hot sauce websites, as well as one of the first, and one of the largest national zesty distributors, Peppers.com. Inventor of the Bloody Mary Smorgasbord in 1978. Originated the “risqué” hot sauce genre at the 1989 National Fiery Foods Show.
3. David Ashley – Owner Ashley Foods. Another one of the first users of extract sauces in the early 90’s. Was one of the first to collaborate with and have celebrity driven sauces.
4. Dave DeWitt – “The Pope of Peppers” – Author and maybe the original “Chilehead” Started the Fiery Foods Show 26 years ago and set the standard for The Big Hot Sauce Show.
5. Dave Hirschkop – Owner Dave’s Gourmet and creator of Dave’s Insanity one of the, if not the 1st extract hot sauce. Was one of the first to create “limited edition sauces” and was instrumental in the collector hot sauce craze.
6. Dave Lutz – Founder of Hot Shots Inc. one of the original hot sauce distributors and still operating for almost 20 years.
7. Edmund McIlhenny – Created Tabasco in the 1860’s and is the best-selling hot sauce ever.
8. Jim Campbell – Was one of the first pepper growers who supplied hot sauce companies their peppers from their early starts. Was very instrumental for the early success of some of the leading hot sauce makers like Blairs, CaJohns and Dave’s Insanity.
9. John Hard – Owner of CaJohns Hot Sauce. The God Father of the hot sauce industry. Started in 1996 and has garnered over 200 regional, national and international awards.
10. Marie Sharp – Owner Marie Sharp’s Fine Foods Ltd. – Started making sauce in the early 80’s and actually was the creator of Melinda’s Sauces. Her sauce is the quintessential Central American hot sauce with amazing flavor and great heat!
To be eligible for the nominating or voting process, a person must operate within the fiery foods industry for a minimum of 3 years. These people will be known as the Selection Committee which will consist of hot sauce companies, retailers, distributors, exporters, chile pepper growers, media and restaurateurs who specialize if spicy foods and hot sauce. The Selection Committee will be polled by email from the Hall of Fame’s Senators Board in which the board will eventually narrow the Selection Committee’s ballot to a list to 10.

After the nomination process The Selection Committee will then receive the final ballot from the Senators Board. To be elected, a finalist must receive the top 3 votes from the Selection Committee. If a person has been nominated 3 separate times by the committee and does not get inducted their name will be removed from future elections for a waiting period of 5 years.

For More Information Please Contact Steve Seabury: seabury32@optonline.net
Info on the NYC Hot Sauce Expo: http://www.NYCHotSauceExpo.com

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MiMi is Screaming “The Award Goes To” at the NYC Hot Sauce Expo

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Steve Seabury, owner of High River Sauces and Producer of the NYC Hot Sauce Expo, announced the Winners of the 2014 Screaming MiMi Awards during the first afternoon of the Expo! If you’ve been following my You Tube videos and Facebook posts this weekend, you already know that the show is a rocking success!!! Thousands of people getting their “burn” on kept 45 vendors from across the country crazy busy sampling, educating, and entertaining the crowd. Seabury has raised the bar for Hot Sauce and Fiery Foods Events, with Hard Driving Rock playing during the show, and the likes of Food Network’s Chris Santos, Trans Siberian Orchestra’s Chris Caffery, and Twisted Sister guitarist Eddie Ojeda doing demos and signing autographs!

But the real stars were the sauces, salsas, and spicy products of love being showcased all weekend. The Screaming MiMi’s were judged several weeks ago by a veritable Who’s Who of judges from Food Network, Bon Appetit Magazine, and other true experts in the culinary world! The complete List of winners is below!

I’m having blast at the show and I highly recommend all you to make the trip! Why would you make the trip to NYC for the Hot Sauce Expo! Because, Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s a Fiery World!

Screaming MiMi Awards 2014 Complete List of Winners

Louisiana Style
1st- CaJohns – Firehouse
2nd – Race City Sauce Works – Carolina Cayenne
3/rd – Culley’s Limited – Trinidad Scorpion Hot Sauce

Chipotle
1st-Hoboken Eddies – Home Grown Smoke
2nd – Pucketbutt Pepper Co. – Voodoo Prince Death Mamba
3rd – Dog Gone – Chipotle

Fruit Based
1st – Frankie V’s – The Serranos
2nd- Dirty Dicks- Dirty Dicks
3rd – Loud Foods -0 Sunshine Mango Sauce

Fruit Based Hot
1st-Hellfire Hot Sauce – Elixir
2nd- Volcanic Peppers- Lava Death by Douglah
3rd-Puckerbutt Pepper Co. – Pineapple Ginger

Jalapeno
1st-NW Elixirs – Verde
2nd-Queen Majesty-Jalapeno Tequila
3rd – Lucky Dog-Green

Habanero
1st-Dirty Dicks – Dirty Dicks
2nd-Frankie V’s-Habanero Classic Recipe
3rd-Freshies Food Corp.-Sweet Fire

All Natural
1st- Race City Sauce Works- Aleppo
2nd-Scotty O’Hotty – The Ghost Sauce
3rd- Heartbreaking Dawn’s- 1498 Apricot Scorpion

XXX Hot Sauce
1st- Race City Sauce Works- Cirque De
2nd- Grim Reaper Foods- The Raven
3rd- Tahiti Joe’s – Ulane’ Akai XXXX Hot Sauce

Pepper Blend
1st – Scotty O’Hotty – Premium Habanero Sauce
2nd- Born To Hula – Ghost of Ancho
3rd-Salvy Salsa – Boom Boom

Chicken Wing
1st- Defcon Sauces – Defense Condition #1
2nd Rizzotti Foods- Rippin Red Mild
3rd- Rozzoii Foods – Rippin Red Hot

BBQ Sauces
1st- High Octane- Peach Ghost Scorpion BBQ Sauce
2nd- Torchbearer Sauces-Chipotle BBQ
3rd Davis Sauces- 1929

Spicy Salsa
1st-Silverleaf International- Ghost Pepper Salsa
2nd Gunther’s Gourmet-Jalapeno Salsa
3rd.Apsara Foods, Pepper Salsa

Best Label Artwork
1st- Grinders Near Death
2nd- Cully’s Limited – No. 1 Hot Sauce
3rd – Puckerbutt Pepper Co. -Reaper Sauce

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No Foo Foolin’! High River Sauces Heats Up the Reaper Scene!

Foo Foo Mama Choo is High River Sauce's Latest Creation

Foo Foo Mama Choo is High River Sauce’s Latest Creation

When I tell you that Steve and Lisa Seabury’s High River Sauces is heatin’ up the New York skyline, I’m not kidding! Their newest creation, Foo Foo Mama Choo, is made from the latest pepper to be recognized as the hottest on the planet by Guinness World Records- Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper! The “Reaper” clocks in at an average of more than 1.5 Million (yes, Million with a capital M!) Scovilles!  So it takes a lot to make a sauce that celebrates the sweetness of the Carolina Reaper while acknowledging the “Kung Foo Foo Fighting” nature of it’s heat!  And that’s exactly what Foo Foo Mama Choo does!

For those not familiar with High River Sauces, the sauce company was born a few short years ago with the release of Hellacious, a great sauce with a rich flavor that travelled the heavy metal circuit with Steve.  After adding the likes of Tears of the Sun, Rogue, and Grapes of Wrath, this latest offering does not disappoint.

I absolutely love Foo Foo Mama Choo’s label!  Just like the sauce, it’s simple and complex, from the name to the logo of the fired up dragon out to save the princess! I know..I know!! Dragon?  Fire? Princess? What’s up with that? I’ll tell you in a second….But back to the label- great graphics, easy to identify on a shelf, and fun! High River has won awards for their label graphics and marketing, and with good reason! The label makes a great marquis for the concert of flavor inside.

Foo Foo Mama Choo is a complex sauce. But it comes off simple. The label says it’s a little Asian, a little Southern Country, but I say it’s a lot unique. The natural blending of new flavors with favorite ingredients creates a veritable concert of smooth flavor.  Kinda like when  Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones played with the Foo Fighters in 2008 at Wembley (get it? Foo Fighters? Foo Foo Mama Choo?! Ok, fine….never mind..). Complex notes of “secret spices”, ginger, reaper pepper, roasted red peppers, and soy sauce, along with the more simple harmony of roasted tomato, onion and garlic come together nicely thanks to the backup band of rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, and white pepper. And did I mention it’s HOT!? The Carolina Reaper, with it’s world record heat, packs a big punch. But it is a sweet pepper, with a great citrusy note, and High River has managed to layer it, control it, and deliver it with the finesse of a fine sound board engineer! Yessir, ladies and gentlemen, just like the music legends I mentioned, Foo Foo Mama Choo masters its sound and harnesses the raw energy of the world’s hottest pepper in unique and memorable fashion.

Foo Foo Mama Choo is a Rich, Medium Consistency Sacue

Foo Foo Mama Choo is a Rich, Medium Consistency Sacue

So, to sum it all up, Foo Foo Mama Choo comes in with a 5 Fiery World rating! My highest, and rarest, score!  It’s really that good, folks. This is a sauce that creates a fire breathing, high flying dragon that rises up, brings serious heat, and saves the Princess from the evil Witch! I know…I told you earlier that I’d explain. Steve and Lisa’s daughter created the inspiration for the sauce when she tried to cast a spell to turn Steve into a dragon to save the princess from the evil Witch. But, instead of Bippity Boppity Boo, she came out with Foo Foo Mama Choo – and history was made!

Foo Foo Mama Choo makes it public debut on February 28, 2014. Do yourself a favor, and go to High River Sauce’s website and order some. It can also be found at iBurn.com and at Peppers.com. Order more than one- trust me on this one!  Why, you ask?! Because, Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s a Fiery World!

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