I’ve been finding new uses for TorchBearer’s Slaughter Sauce ever since the inital review and even when I’m sick I can think of new ways to enjoy this stuff. This time around I decided to see if I could clear out my sinuses with a little bit of Chicken Noodle Soup.

I added just one (heaping) spoonful of Slaughter Sauce to a can of chicken noodle soup and I was off and running.

This soup not only cleared out my sinuses but it burnt every last remaining virus in my system. Woke up the next day feeling 100% better and ready to take on the world.

Take that evil winter cold!

People must be needing some Christmas money because all of a sudden there’s been an influx of Blair’s Reserves and other collectible hot sauce related items on eBay. Check a few of them out below:

Blair’s Reserves on eBay
- Blair’s 2005 Halloween Reserve Hot Sauce #36 Of 299
- Blair’s 5 am Reserve Hot Sauce #631 – Rare
- RARE hot sauce BLAIR’S 6 A.M. am Death SIGNED NUMBERED
- Blair`s5a.m.Reserve HOT SAUCE #619
- Blair’s Holiday Reserve Hot Sauce #249
- Blair’s 16 Million Reserve Hot Sauce #278
- Blair’s 6 a.m. Reserve Hot Sauce #571
- Blair’s 6a.m.Reserve HOT SAUCE #364
- Blair’s 2004 Halloween Reserve – only 99 made
- Blair’s Halloween Reserve 2005 – #170 of 299
- BLAIRS RESERVE LE MILLION-Only 999 Made Worldwide!!!!!

Other Hot Sauce stuff on eBay:
- Xhosa Umsobo Iyababa Hot Sauce – Rare, from Africa (not that rare, I’ve seen these at trade shows)
- RARE hot sauce BLAIR’S AFTER DEATH 1995 LABEL signed
- TABASCO NEON GREEN LIGHT POOL PUB BAR BEER SIGN CLOCK
- TABASCO Topper for IGT Slot Machine
- 5 Tabasco mugs with logo on both sides
- New Tabasco® Party Lights – with Steak

Minnesota Daily, November 10, 2005

Nick Beste’s drive in business has led to a deal to supply Cub Foods with a hot sauce brand.
By Bryce Haugen

As long as University first-year finance student Nick Beste can remember, he’s been coming up with “cockeyed ideas.”

Whether trying to develop a cell phone-controlled car starter or a Global Positioning System navigated robotic lawnmower, the East Grand Forks native explored countless ways to make money during high school.

“I don’t ever want to work for another person. I don’t ever want to work for a business,” Beste said. “I just want to start them and run them.”

And in his first few months at the University, he did just that. With luck and determination as the key ingredients, Beste said, he launched a hot sauce brokerage business in September.

The product, Village Hot Sauce — until recently a product exclusive to North Dakota and northern Minnesota — goes on sale in late November at 62 metro Cub Foods locations for $2.79.

Beste said he realized on a random weekend trip to Cub Foods this September that Twin Cities supermarkets don’t offer chunk-free hot sauce, a popular item in stores up north.

He eyed this untapped market and, a couple of days later, approached Cub with a business plan, he said.

“I said ‘I have a hot sauce I’d like to sell in your stores. How would I go about that?’ ” he said.

They liked the idea and agreed to a trial period. But there was one problem, he said: He didn’t have a hot sauce product to sell them.

Posing as a University student doing research on salsa trends in northwestern Minnesota, Beste called a grocery store and asked them which hot sauce sold best.

The store directed him to Tom Zimmer of Grand Forks Grocery, who’s been making Village Hot Sauce as a side job for 27 years. He agreed to work with Beste.

“We’ve always looked at Minneapolis as the next place to grow,” said Zimmer, 59, who makes 8,000, 15-ounce hot sauce units per week out of a combination of family recipes. “(Beste’s) got a good head on his shoulders so we’re more than willing to work with him on it.”

When the sauce goes on sale, Beste will serve as a middle man, in charge of promoting the product to the new market. A suburban distributor will handle product shipping.

For a few high school summers, Beste operated a commercial lawnmowing business. He also manages stocks for himself, family and a few friends.

But he credits a 2005 summer internship at a Grand Forks real estate company with providing him the real-world skills to succeed.

“It taught me you could make a deal from nothing,” he said.

As an aspiring real estate developer, Beste was always looking at properties to buy, fix up and resell, he said. At one point, his parents threatened to ground him if he didn’t cool out, but he eventually convinced them to invest in a home and renovate it.

“He’s done a lot of homework,” his father and business partner Kevin Beste said while fixing up the home. “In this (hot sauce) case, I told my wife I’m just going to let him run with it.”

St. Cloud State University first-year business student Branden Wald said he believes Nick Beste, a longtime high school friend, will succeed in his hot sauce endeavors.

“He just has the business savvy,” Wald said. “He sees angles that other people don’t see … He’s not all talk.”

Nick Beste’s roommate, undecided first-year Carlson School of Management student Mike Jorgenson, agreed.

“When Nick has a goal in mind, he’ll do anything to accomplish it,” he said.

Living with Nick Beste has its advantages, Jorgenson said, like consistent midnight snacks.

“If I sit down and I’m hungry, I could probably eat a whole bag of chips with his hot sauce,” he said.

Nick Beste said he hopes to expand to each of Cub Food’s 110 stores in four Midwestern states and eventually sell through other companies. His company also plans to introduce three new products, he said.

“If it sells, it’s not hard to get the grocery stores to sell your product,” he said. “If it doesn’t sell we can’t go anywhere.”

He said he’s committed to making the first scenario happen.

“I don’t really like to mess around, I guess … I’m mildly obsessive-compulsive. It’s all I ever think about.”

Marianne Refuerzo
Arizona Business Gazette
Nov. 10, 2005 12:00 AM

Hot sauce, salsa, barbecue popcorn and spicy jelly beans are just some of the products you can find at Southwest Specialty Food Inc. in Goodyear.

Owners Jeff and Linda Jacobs started making barbecue sauce in 1986, but their Valley-based company has grown to distribute more than 150 products in specialty stores around the world.

The Jacobses first housed their company in Glendale but moved to Goodyear because of the affordable land and open space. Linda said their Bullard Avenue address is ideal because of the nearby freeway exit to be built in the next few years.

The 50,000-square-foot facility is what Linda likes to call a “pick, pack and ship” production. The Jacobses grow habanero peppers and harvest them in November. They store the two-year supply in two 6,500-gallon tanks. Everything, from cutting ingredients to labeling bottles, is done in-house, which Linda said ensures the product quality.

Ass Kickin’ and Hot Sauce from Hell are the company’s two biggest lines, which include salsas, taco seasoning and olive oil.

“Those two brands kind of put our feet on the ground as far as our growth,” Linda said.

Customer input is the company’s greatest inspiration for new products. Linda said she always gets calls and e-mails with recommendations for new flavors or sauces.

In addition to the kitchen and shipping area, there is a silkscreen and print shop. The company makes novelty T-shirts and recently donated shirts to the nearby Southwest Valley YMCA branch.

Linda said Southwest Specialty Foods Inc. makes Goodyear more recognizable. The city’s name is on every product label, which are sent as far as France and Japan.

“We are really helping distribute the city of Goodyear with our distribution,” she said.

The company has grown from Jeff and Linda to a 29-person staff. Linda says she will need the help with Christmas on its way, one of their busiest times of the year.

Business continues to grow. The Jacobses recently created a snack division to promote only snacks, such as the flavored peanuts. Linda said she hopes to start an institutional division to get their product into restaurants.

The novelty food market is competitive, but Linda said the quality of their product keeps them in business.

“We would like to be the ‘everyone has in their refrigerator’ brand.”