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
53 responses to “Meet Your Maker #9 – Danny Cash & Lee@DC”
Nice story Danny! I’ll have more bread for you at Ft Worth 🙂
Now I know something about the makers I knew nothing about.
I guess it is about time I try your sauces!
Thanks for the insight Danny & Lee!
“How can we break into the collectable scene?”
In my opinion, collectibles need “rarity”, limited production(the smaller the better), numbered (everyone wants #1, #13, a special number to them) uniqueness (special bottle, not just your common bottle), and prototypes seem to go well
There’s a thread about this in the collectors section i believe.
“What is more important to you, flavor, or fire?”
BOTH – the hottier and tastier the better! Give me heat, but dont lose the flavor.
“How far can a sauce go if the maker is not very personable?”
I think the sauce will speak for itself. If I like I sauce, I’m gonna buy it, no matter how much of an A$$ the maker may be. But being personable can only help.
Thanx for the insight guys, hope to meet you in Texas, maybe with your first collectible too!
That thread is in “Hot Sauce Collectors” and is “The Other Collectibles”
[Comment ID #47632 Quote]
Great answers big show,
I “double” agree with “I think the sauce will speak for itself. If I like I sauce, I’m gonna buy it, no matter how much of an A$$ the maker may be. But being personable can only help”
Personable, a$$, nut, whack-job, totally off the deep end, or the nicest upstanding person around, it doesnt matter. In the end, its the sauce. The taste and the presentation.
“EVERY” sauce is collectible! “ESPECIALLY” when the makers are “GREAT” friends!!!!!!!!
THE “KREWE of CASH” rocks!!!!!
IT’S HABANERO TIME!!!!!!!!!
[Comment ID #47632 Quote]
very nice well said
Haha! I love this blog! However, I don’t know why Dan still refers to us as ‘young’. We were young when we started this almost 5 years ago, I’m gonna be 30 this year. We maybe relatively young compared to Cajohn, MSK and Jim, but who isn’t??? lol
[Comment ID #47637 Quote]
CaJohn & MSK maybe, but don’t try to throw *me* into that group 🙂 I’ll show you old- care to race some stairs with me?? 😛
[Comment ID #47638 Quote]
Sounds like a challenge to me…lol
Good Luck Jim.
Cool paint job on the kitchen, by the way!
[Comment ID #47639 Quote]
Thanks- just passed the 1/2 million stair mark since starting to keep records in mid-May 🙂
Don’t get Lee too fired up- he just might beat me in a sprint 🙂
These guys sure seem like alot of fun! From the sounds of it they won’t be holding back in Ft Worth but likely be part of the fun!
[Comment ID #47638 Quote]
LOL! No thanks, Jim. I’ve no need to be humiliated.
I’ve no need to be humiliated…….
Care to eat some habaneros laddie? LOL
[Comment ID #47645 Quote]
Sure! I can hold my own there, you and Nick were just showing off in ALBQ.
“Personable, a$$, nut, whack-job, totally off the deep end, or the nicest upstanding person around, it doesnt matter. In the end, its the sauce. The taste and the presentation.”
I totally disagree with this statement. part of the presentation of the sauce is how I am treated as a consumer. It’s all about the customer service. I say this from experience, if I am treated badly I am not going to buy anything from you, why give my money away to someone who could care less about me or any other consumer?
[Comment ID #47634 Quote]
I personally disagree. I won’t use products of people I don’t respect. Tasty or not, you’re buying the whole package and the person behind the sauce is just as important to me as the ingredients. Think Tommy Boy where Chris Farley starts selling stuff, confidence and personality sell. We’ve gotten several emails from people like this one on our testimonials page:
“My wife and I met Danny Cash at the Zest Fest/Fiery Foods Challenge in Ft. Worth, TX recently and we found both him and his sauces to be truly exceptional.”
We all buy more products from people we like. I know I do.
[Comment ID #47648 Quote]
LOL! Yeah, baby!
on another note it’s really great to finally get some insight on Lee and Danny. Nice to meet you guys!!! Love the hair! Thank you for taking the time to do this interview.
Lee I am still mad you quit the air conditioning business 😉
[Comment ID #47649 Quote]
YES!!!!!!! I have 2 people I buy all my sauce from because they always have time for me no matter how busy their day is, that to me says I am important and I’ll keep going back because of this.
[Comment ID #47637 Quote]
ROFL!! I am pretty sure some subtle payback is in the works
[Comment ID #47634 Quote]
Based on this statement, I have to ask this question…How many bottles of Cackalacky to you own, Chris? 😛
If I remember correctly, just about everyone, if not all of us, in so many words swore they wouldn’t buy any of Skelton’s products due to the fact the guy is a complete a$$hole. In any industry, customer service is number one. It builds loyalty. And if the vendor presents himself as arrogant (pardon me if I misspelled that), egocentric, and portrays that the only way he can get ahead is by slandering the competition… that’s not the kind of business person that I want to support. The only time these personality traits and tactics actually do something for the individual is in politics, and we all know that polititians can’t be trusted. Would you buy hot sauce from George W.? HELL NO! Cause if George were in the hot sauce business, he’d wage war on any country that produces chile peppers, thus raising the price per pound of chiles so he could line his own pockets for when his terms ends…kinda like he’s doing with oil 😀
Man, did I go off on a tangent or what? 😛
[Comment ID #47662 Quote]
None,
good point ryan!
But ryan-son, I did mention that “In the end, its the sauce. The taste and the presentation.”
I wouldnt necessarily consdider that the same thing. Mr Skeleton may be many things, (which is fine), but he put out a complete bashing of other makers for his own benefit. Thats not cool! 👿
[Comment ID #47648 Quote]
Kinda true if its repetative business mrs ryan.In the case of collectibles, most of those that buy 1 to display and one to try it really doesnt matter how badly you were treated as a customer cause 9 times out of 10 you wont buy anymore of that sauce anyway.
And, alot of sauces are purchased from “a middle-man” Nick, TracyC all do a great job of servicing their customers. So if I am buying from them, I am more concerned how they treat me. In fact, the manufacturer doesnt even know my name 😉
[Comment ID #47649 Quote]
I am speaking from a collecters point of view here, not a sauce that I would buy on a continual basis.
I really dont have the time to sit here and defend all of what I said and why. Nor do I need to. I could go I to great detail and get carried away on this topic. Bottom line is, if you collect sauce, you collect sauce. For some its the labels, for some its the name, for some its to get as much as you can. You know its not at all about the manufacturer and who, what they are. Nor is it what they think of you. Now if you are treated like sh$$ and its a suuce you like, well then maybe you will switch, but you still bought the first few bottles didnt you?
Lets just say this convesation can receive many responses, such as is it ok to buy a collectibile to sell and make a profit. Many many opinions on here about that, and this topic is right up there with that.
[Comment ID #47672 Quote]
Nobody is attacking you Chris, sorry if anyone has made you feel that way. There’s no need to “defend” you personal beliefs on collecting. I personally don’t collect because of the name on the product, who its made by, or what I could get for it on Ebay (or any other method of reselling for that matter as I have never sold a single bottle). I have, however, chosen NOT to purchase certain products based on the manufacturer’s business practices and customer service. The sauces I “collect” are all ones that look cool in my eyes. Sauces I buy on a regular basis for consumption? Again, if I don’t like a manufacturer’s business practices and what not, regardless if the sauce is tasty, I won’t buy it. These are just the principals that I live by when purchasing ANYTHING…not just sauce. And as some of you know, I have even turned down free collectibles that many on here have gone nuts over based on these principals.
The only reason I quoted you,Chris, was because you brought up that it didn’t matter how the manufacturer is, its the sauce that matters in the end. I didn’t intend for that to be taken as an attack. When purchasing sauces in general, not just “collectible” (and many of us have different definitions of what is collectible) sauces, the how a manufacturer treats customers and so called competition weighs heavily on the consumer
i have to agree with i believe its is(chris K) … if i bottle a hot sauce with urine and call it urine hot sauce…then i call you guys and tell you how great you look and come over and mow your lawn and ask if there is anything i can do for you…would you buy my hot sauce (i think not) so chris k i think you are absolutly right is is the taste and flavor….
Welcome aboard Truth! I have to say, that if someone tried to get me to buy a bottle of piss, they would have to go to some great lengths to convince me to spend the money on it. 😛 On the other hand, if there were a sauce out there that tested great, had good heat, and all that, if the guy was a complete jerk, wouldn’t buy it. Anywho, thanks for chiming in, Truth. And now back to the topic of this thread, the Cash boys.
BTW, I happen to like the Cash boys and enjoy their sauce. Groov on!
Gotta agree with ya there Ryan, There sauce does KICK ASS!!! I won one of those contest thinghies on here about 8-9 months ago an got one of there hot sauce tins. I have to say every one of the sauces in it just ROCKED.
On a side note. I went to ONE of my local LeGourmet Chefs here in town. There is two here but have never gone to the one in St. Augustine since the LeMillion came out. I cleaned out the LeMillions at the one closer to my house. So, anyway I get there to see if they had any. And guess what. They had one left. And the number is 78!!! so that makes 2 double digit LeMillions I have now. Should have gone there sooner because im sure they had the other double digit ones close to that number.
[Comment ID #47648 Quote]
[Comment ID #47649 Quote]
I am with you 100%, sorry chris k
Is it me or does this feel like old times? Where is thakswet?
[Comment ID #47693 Quote]
LMAO! Well, depends on which “old times” you’re refering to, but yeah, in one way or another, it does 😉
[Comment ID #47686 Quote]
If you come to my house and mow my grass, and wash my cars, I’ll happily pay you 6 bucks for the bottle of urine! Sounds like one hell of a deal to me! 😛
[Comment ID #47696 Quote]
ROTLMAO – now that’s funny. I’m in too tracy. Paint my fence and ill buy three 🙂
Hey Huv, wash my dog and I’ll by a bottle of yer sauce.
[Comment ID #47698 Quote]
I’m sending yours out this week. No nmeed for me to wash youir dog 🙂
Cool, gives me something to look forward to this week.
[Comment ID #47696 Quote]
Hell Tracy, hey truth, sign me up for a case. 😉
Hell, I’ll give you guys bottles of my urine for free if you’re accepting them 😛
[Comment ID #47703 Quote]
If it will pass a drug test, you could prolly sell it on ebay and make sum big bucks!!
[Comment ID #47703 Quote]
Thanks Ryan…. your giving away the Fat Kid Sauces secret recipe. I thought you said you wouldn’t tell 😀
Cash Boyz, keep up the great work!!
Keep doing your own thing and I believe that the collectable part will take shape over time. Your products combined with yer personallities seem to be a win-win combo. The paint job on the wall is coool!!
[Comment ID #47706 Quote]Thanks guys, you are all too kind. Really, if you really knew us you’d agree! lol
I love how easy it is to stir up $hit around here, too! Good fun. I definitely respect your opinions chrisk and thebigshow. I understand how that could be true from a collectible point of view.
Thanks on the wall. Yeah, we like it. Why build a hot sauce kitchen without some attitude?
“and have agreed to grace the HSB with their hair styling tips and hangover cures.”
Tip 1: After putting a bunch of red crap in your hair for a hot sauce show, you might wake up in the morning still drunk and confused with a red pillow. NO, you haven’t been bleeding from the skull or puking up blood like you might think, it’s the hair crap. Don’t freak out.
Can’t wait for Texas!
[Comment ID #47707 Quote]
The great thing about this blog, it doesn’t matter how much carp is thrown or stirred or passed around eventually we all agree on one thing, we have our own opinions and learn to respect them and each other. or pretend to just to get along because we enjoy being here. we all collect sauce for one reason or another, right now I am on a caJohn kick, because he treats me well, educates me, helps me, and is an all around good guy. when I am done collecting what I want from him, then I will move on to someone else, BUT I won’t forget what he has done for me. now if a manufacturer can say the same for the people that have paid his bills and helped him off the ground then they are awesome in my book!!
Booger, never defend what you believe to be right, an opinion is something that can not be taken away from you. it’s yours, and if you choose sauces based on the taste and not customer service because you use 3rd parties than good for you!
I am a little harder to please I guess.
[Comment ID #47709 Quote]
Well said Mrs R…. I couldnt agree more.
[Comment ID #47708 Quote]
Thank goodness the red of my hair does not come off on my pillow 😐 that would suck!! who min their right mind would use wash out red color….red heads are the best 😀
[Comment ID #47710 Quote]
you agree with my statement of being hard to please? 😛
[Comment ID #47712 Quote]
LOL – Yeah that was the part I was agreeing with 😀
LOL Ryan would too probably 🙄