You’ve heard the rumors, the tales of parties and debauchery, but now it’s time to hear from some of the youngest manufacturers on the circuit, Danny Cash and Lee. I first met these guys through SNS where we picked up their sauces early and then I finally put the sauce to a face at the 2005 Fiery Foods Show. Anyone that has met these guys has a different party related story to tell, but they will all tell one thing the same: their hot sauces are excellent. First made in a church kitchen the boys are now moving up big time and have agreed to grace the HSB with their hair styling tips and hangover cures. (kidding – it’s all about the hot sauce) 🙂
Danny Cash: I wanted to be a pilot. I started making hot sauce out of pure necessity. I always had known of the big guys, Blair, Dave, CaJohn, but never had and of their sauces. I made my own sauce out of stuff I got at the grocery store. Bottled Up Anger is our most popular sauce and we only changed one thing since the first batch.
Lee: Yeah.
2. If you had to pick a favorite sauce yours, which would it be?
Danny Cash: My favorite is still Bottled Up Anger. I made it to be the world’s perfect hot sauce, and still believe that it is. Plus, I love garlic. I keep wanting to put more and more in, but nobody lets me.
Lee: Yeah.
3. Any new products we should be ready for from your line?
Danny Cash: Our Renegade Ranch will change the way you look at the world.
Lee: Yeah. …..but the new Kung-Fu Ketchup is a totally original product that we’ve been selling out of everywhere we go lately.
4. Where do you see the future of hot sauce 5 years from now? 10? 20?
Danny Cash: I think it’ll most likely be the never ending battle between who’s is hottest vs. who is tastiest. I’m excited to see the first bottle of sauce eaten on the moon.
5. What is your favorite sauce that you don’t make?
Danny Cash: CaJohn’s Curry Fruit Hot Sauce – enough said.
Lee: Hula Girl Habanero Chipotle
6. Do you eat the sauce you make?
Danny Cash: Every day of my existence.
7. What do you eat hot sauce on?
Danny Cash: From pizza to eggs, sandwiches to mixed drinks, calamari to eggplant, I will eat it on anything.
8. What sets you aside from the other hot sauce producers out there today?
Danny Cash: We’re the young ones. We do things differently, and we have serious fun doing it.
Lee: We also try to do everything we can ourselves. We have a great group of friends and family from plumbers to artists that always come through and help us out. We built a kitchen instead of using a co-packer. We design and print almost all of our own labels. We make great mid-range heat sauces that can be used on any food and we specialize in private label for restaurants.
9. What is your inspiration before you embark on a new concoction?
Danny Cash: It’s what people want to get us started, but we make everything the way we want it. Even some of our friends don’t think certain things will fly, but we show them. Every one of our sauce has far exceeded our expectations.
Lee: Like the Kung-Fu Ketchup. Look for it soon on SNS.
10. Outside of creating hot products, what else keeps you occupied or out of trouble?
Danny Cash: Motorcycles, camping, boating, my brother has 2 small boys, we have tons of fun.
11. Any weird stories or uses for your hot sauce that you would like to share?
Danny Cash: One lady was buying gallons at a time of our Ragin’ Red Cayenne sauce to rub on her shingles. She said it helped – I lost my appetite.
Lee: “Danny Cash Hot Sauce: Great on Pringles and Shingles!”
12. How much sauce do you make in a week?
Danny Cash: On average, 70-100 gallons per week.
13. How many different recipes do you go through when developing a new sauce?
Danny Cash: Usually not too many, we had a hard time with the Ragin’ Red, but everything else just came together.
14. How did you get started in the industry?
Danny Cash: I was forced into it. A diner that was giving me used Tabasco and Cholula bottles, and they became addicted to the sauce. They told get off my butt and get legit so they could start buying it.
15. What is your biggest challenge so far?
Danny Cash: Working with the family. My brother, sister-in-law, parents, and cousin are amazing. But they’d agree that it’s very challenging at times.
Lee: Hahaha, but who else can you yell at one minute and drink beer with the next?
16. What is the most common question you get?
Danny Cash: How old are you?!
Lee: No way, he gets: “Did the hot sauce do that to your hair?” way more.
17. What do you want to know from the readers of the HSB?
Danny Cash: A lot. Most collectors have been doing it for much longer than we’ve been making sauce. What flavors haven’t worked in the past that I should stay away from? How can we break into the collectable scene? What is more important to you, flavor, or fire? How far can a sauce go if the maker is not very personable?
18. What’s a typical day for you?
Danny Cash: Show up to work late, spend about 5 hours on the phone, and complete about half of things I wanted to do. I design most of the labels we use, either for ourselves, or our customers. So it gets very tedious.
19. Worst burn ever?
Danny Cash: My back was tightening up in Orange County so I went to Jim from Mild to Wild. I told him to give me something really hot to get the endorphins rushing and cut the pain. He gave some Habanero bread with Stupid Hot on it. My back felt was fine after that. My tongue was not.
Lee: Baliff’s Brutality by Judical Flavors, it looks like normal salsa, but it aint.
20. Best burn ever?
Danny Cash: CaJohn gave me a box of his puree sauces (awesome) and his Fatali line. I’ve almost finished the 11 bottles in the box. I just sit in front of the TV with a few beers, the box of fire, and a bag of chips. I cry like a little girl watching the Simpsons – Its great.
Lee: Wasabi/horseradish, anytime and anywhere. I like pepper hot a lot, but I love having the ability to make one eye water and feel like I’m going to die just for a second then it goes away so fast and you get to do it all over again!
Danny Cash Hot Sauces
1-888-3HOTSAUCE