I want to take a second and say “Thank You” to Nick L. who does such a great job operating this site and for also giving me the chance to be a true chilihead by becoming a reviewer. I finished proctoring exams on Tuesday and I thought to myself, “What can I do since I have some time off now?” I decided “Hey let’s go do a hot sauce review for the hotsauceblog.” I recently just did one on Marie Sharp’s Comatose. I was thinking “Lets do something different and do a hot sauce shop”. So I hopped into my car and I head
down to a local hot sauce shop that I learned about from Huvason! Thanks Huv!
Location: The Hot Sauce Shop located at 189 B Portion Road, Ronkonkoma, NY 11799. Phone 631-467-9378 (ZEST). Store hours are M-Th. 12-7, Fri-Sat. 11-4, and Sun. 11-4. I have been informed that they are going to increase their store hours coming up in the near future.
Website: www.notjusthotsauce.com I have been told that they are working on to improve their website.
Store Owners: Brandon and Michelle R. have entered into the world of the hot sauce business as recently as May of 2006. Brandon and Michelle got into the idea of starting a store because Brandon loves to cook using hot sauce and BBQ sauce(ribs I believe are his favorite, but he does cook whole pigs!). About 6 years ago Brandon tried Cheech’s Garlic, which is now one of his favorite sauces. He got more into hot sauces as I am sure we all have memories of. He became more interested in the industry and continued to buy more hot sauces and he often received hot sauces as gifts. He is always willing to try a new product. The idea started because initially Brandon wanted to open a restaurant but having a 2 yr. old son that needs to be raised made Michelle and Brandon step to the store instead.
The pig is really cute! I wish I had something like that as a kid for a giant piggy bank or something.
When you walk in to the left there is refrigerator which stores hot sauces that are for taste to the public. The store owners will often open a bottle for you to taste if there is something you want to try that is not already open. Michelle’s very sauces tend to be the sweet ones such as Blair’s Sweet Death to something as Dave’s Roasted Garlic. Michelle is definitely not up to anything extreme and I am sure she won’t be sitting along with me in any Defcon Deathmatches in the near future.
To the right of the refrigerator and straight when you walk in is the front desk. Above on the top shelf you will see there “HOT STUFF”. Various candies can be purchased here as well as the mini mini bottles of Tabasco! I love giving these as small stocking stuffers to my students!! Be careful as I hear there is a batch of them that are spiked with Jersey Death? Would I do such a thing?
More Pictures of the Hot Sauce Shop after the fold
To the right when you walk in you will see a nice section consisting of Jams, Mustards, Peanut Butters, Gallon Tabasco’s, Ketchups, and Teas.
BBQ and Hot Wing Sauce Section
Hot Sauce Section & Cookbooks above
More Sauces
Clothing Apparell. I love the boxers!
Dry seasonings, powders, rubs, flakes, and pods
Ass Kickin’ Rack and Merchandise
Middle Island of store. Chips, Fish Fry, Salsa, Tomato Sauce, and Olives can be found here.
Middle Island, different angle.
Chip Section and there is Bandon Jr. opening a bag of Blair’s original plain chips! He knows to stay away from the hot stuff! This is my future partner in the Defcon Deathmatches, lol.
Brandon Jr. tearing down the banner! Where is Mommy?
Your Reviewer Goonie Nick… LOL tell CaJohn to keep up the good work.
Conclusion: If you are ever in the neighborhood or visiting Long Island check this store out. The store owners are extremely friendly and are really knowledgeable about their products that they offer. They will always go out of their way to help you with any questions that you have. I was unsure which CaJohn product was the hottest being Z, Wicked Wanza, or Mamba and they called him right up! The store is also organized by company product, not by theme which I really find more enjoyable. Too often I can be searching for something by a company I know of but just can’t find it. With the setup at this store it is never a problem. The store deals with a majority of the top companies in the industry and there are also some really unique items that you can find. Their plans for the future are to create their own gourmet foods line under the title, “B. Ready Foods”. They are hoping to capture some awards to go along with their efforts. They do attend as many food shows as they can get to. They will have a booth in New Mexico March, 2007. My best product that I enjoy from this store is the Sweet Agony line which offers Jams and Syrups.