Two Frys: NYC Hot Sauce Expo Page 3

NYC Hot Sauce Expo Continued...

Defcon Sauces - Superior Products

The Defcon Creator John Dilley, giving Allen a personal prototype demo

Defcon Sauces
It is always great to see the Defcon creator and innovator, our friend John Dilley and his wife Maggie. Maggie was so busy at their booth we did not get to talk to her this year. We are both huge fans of this NJ based company, and reviewed Defcon products and featured an interview with John for the expo last year. John gave me a close up demo of the upcoming Limited Defcon item Prototype. The Prototype was truly impressive and the final product will be a very unique collectable. Defcon swept the Wing Sauce category Screaming Mimi Awards taking first, second and third place. Defcon achieved this honor two years in a row to get the top three spots, which goes to show just how great the Defcon product line is.

I visited with John and picked up the new, Bonum Allium “Good Garlic” Rub that gets its heat from Chipotle peppers. John told us it becomes a glaze when cooked with meat in the oven, and goes great as a rub on steaks. For more intense heat, you can choose the hotter, Malum Allium “Evil Garlic” that will satisfy heat seekers. I got a bottle of Defcon Defense Condition #1 Wing Sauce to make hot wings, and we made wings with #2 and #3 purchased from past expos. We also both bought Defcon t-shirts. We love Defcon’s Horseradish Habby Pony (a favorite Allen’s uses on his burgers), and Habby Horse and Defcon Contaminated Soil. Other great wings sauces include Defcon Cluckwing Orange and Defcon Galactus. For a dry wing sauce, get Defcon Smokey Dust or try the painful and extreme heat of Defcon Zero Habanero Extract if you dare! Defcon offers many more products and the quality and taste is top notch. It is always a pleasure to see John and fun to watch him during the Hot Wings Eating Competition. John’s get up matches his bold but warm personality, and the product line is diverse and features heat levels for every palate.

Sara of El Yucateco and Allen

El Yucateco booth awesome

El Yucateco - Sara talking sauce with Allen

El Yucateco sampling

El Yucateco
I was surprised as I walked up to the El Yucateco booth and they called me by name. The staff Sara and Amy knew me from my social media interaction with El Yucateco and past reviews of the great sauces they offer. Both of the staffers were awesome and we loved the booth set up. Being a big fan of El Yucateco, it was great to see their debut at the expo. I took a picture with staffer Sara and was presented with a special gift that really made my day. We hope to see El Yucateco at future expos. El Yucateco offers a great line of “HOT” hot sauces made in Mexico. I recommend the entire product line and enjoy them all.

Elijah's Xtreme Ghost Pepper Sauce

Elijah's Xtreme - Bret and Elijah Morey

Elijah's Xtreme Ghost Pepper Sauce banner

Elijah’s Xtreme
It was good to see our friend Bret Morey and his son Elijah at the expo. This was the first time they came up from North Carolina to the expo. The booth was extremely packed and they had their Xtreme Ghost Pepper Sauce, one of my faves. I wish I would have been able to chat more with Bret but he was swamped and very busy. I have been writing and sharing about Elijah’s Xtreme on social media and to my friends and family since the sauce came out. I am glad to see the line is growing as they add new products such as Elijah’s Xtreme Reaper Sauce.

Gemini Crow

Our friend Dov Teta - Gemini Crow

Gemini Crow - Death By Primo Show Sauce exclusive

Gemini Crow
We stopped by and visited with our buddy, Dov Teta from NJ based Gemini Crow Sauce Company. Gemini Crow had a slew of an exclusive sauce called “Death by Primo” Hot Marinara Sauce made in collaboration with Jersey Barnfire and Primo Peppers. This year, Dov had the Reaper Salt bottled and available for purchase. Gemini Crow feature a great line of various sauces and items such as Jack the Reaper, Reapercussions Salt, Blackberry Belle (a feature review on the blog for the expo coverage), Salvation, The Devil His Due, burn, and Geminiah’s Fiery Catsup made with Datil peppers. Gemini Crow has been at the expo for three consecutive years and does various NJ events, markets and the Punk Rock Flea Market in Trenton, NJ. Dov is a great person with some amazing hot sauces to please heat aficionados. Sophia loved the t-shirts and purchased one.

Ghost Scream - flavorful heat

Ghost Scream Hot Sauce

Ghost Scream Hot Sauce
It was good to see a California based hot sauce company at the expo. I am a California native and like to follow sauces from my home state. I tasted and was impressed with the flavor of the Ghost Scream Hot Sauce made with Naga Jolokia (Ghost) peppers. Ghost Scream has not only heat, but great flavors. The sauce was hot and tasty. I tried the Chili Sauce and it was “wow” much hotter. Ghost Scream offer Chili Garlic Jam and Chili Garlic Paste. They won a Screaming MiMi Award for their sauce and we congratulate them. Ghost Scream craft their recipes using the Ghost pepper to appeal to fans of different types of heat levels. We will keep in touch with them for future blog coverage. I recommend the Ghost Scream Hot Sauce just from a tasting I had.

Heartbreaking Dawns "The Green" Verde - delicious

Heartbreaking Dawns Booth

Heartbreaking Dawns
We love Johnny and Nicole, and the entire product line of Heartbreaking Dawns. We missed not seeing Nicole this year and it was great talking to Johnny. I have tried and cooked with just about all of the hot sauces. Heartbreaking Dawns Hot Sauces are top-notch, A+ quality with bold and intense flavors to satisfy Chile heads and heat seekers alike. I recently reviewed one of my faves, The Green Verde Hot Sauce with tomatillo and a touch of Ghost pepper. Other Heartbreaking Dawns Hot Sauces include Fervor Reaper, Mango Habanero, Jalapeno Pineapple Classic Gold made with golden and red Habanero peppers, 841 Pear & Apple Ghost, 1498 Trinidad Scorpion, Southwest Habanero made with Chocolate Habanero (AKA Congo) peppers and (ouch) as the name implies, Cauterizer with Trinidad Scorpion peppers.

Hell's Kitchen Hot Sauce

Ron of Hell's Kitchen Hot Sauce

Hell's Kitchen Hot Sauce shirts - they look awesome

Hell's Kitchen Hot Sauce in action

Hell’s Kitchen Hot Sauce
Hell’s Kitchen is a newer and growing hot sauce company from NYC. I was impressed with the growing line of sauce flavors made by Hell’s Kitchen Hot Sauce. The sauces feature amazing artwork and are branded well. I was going to talk to Ron Menin but he had a humungous crowd at his booth. I was able to say hello quickly. Ron was in full sauce slinging mode and at the time of my visit, Rom was manning his booth solo. I will be writing about Hell’s Kitchen Hot Sauce and cooking with it on the blog in the near future. This was Ron’s first year as a vendor at the expo and his booth was awesome.

Chris Caffery (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Savatage) of High River Sauces

High River Sauces - Shirt Table we purchased two expo shirts

High River Sauces - Tears of the Sun

High River Sauces - Hellacious Hot Sauce

High River Sauces Reaper Sauce - Foo Foo Mama Choo

High River Sauces
Steve Seabury’s High River Sauces features an extensive selection of award-winning artisan sauces. We purchased some of the hot sauces at the first expo and always have High River in our pantry to cook with and add as a condiment companion for our favorite foods. We each bought a t-shirt for our collection, and love the theme of the NYC expo artwork this year. We said hello to everyone and chatted with Chris Caffery (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Savatage), whose Tears of the Sun is one of the best tasting Habanero based sauces I ever had. High River products are Hellacious Hot Sauce with Habanero and Chipotle peppers and Rogue featuring Moruga Scorpion, Jolokia, Red Serrano peppers and fruits-blood oranges, apples and pears. Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper pepper is the star of Foo Foo Mama Choo, and the eclectic Grapes of Wrath has Habanero, Ghost, Scorpion, Jalapeño and Serrano peppers and Cabernet wine.