California Hot Sauce Expo Brings The Heat To Anaheim

ORANGE COUNTY, CA – Tears streamed down my face while a hot sauce called "The Reaper" lit my mouth on fire in a way that's unique to a hot sauce named after the personification of death. In that moment, I yearned for a mini bottle of soy milk. But the Fourth Annual California Hot Sauce Expo wasn't for wimps.

Forty of the best hot sauce companies gathered in the parking lot of the City National Grove of Anaheim to serve up their most unique blends of death peppers. Under the heat of the August sun, the bravest souls at the festival lined up on stage to enter competitions like the Slaytanic Burrito Challenge, the Spicy Taco of Hell Challenge, and the Spicy Pizza of Doom Challenge.

To say it was a testosterone-fueled battle of the most-macho would be putting it lightly. I simply dipped my toe into the hot sauce pool, taking a break in the shade each time my mouth fire reignited. Others powered through the nose-dripping burns to try every spicy sauce the festival had to offer.

But not all sauces were "the hottest of the hot." Some blended fruits like pineapples, mangos and berries with their chosen pepper, adding a sweet note to the not-so-hot sauces. There were hot sauces meant for marinades, dips, and dressings, so everything from barbecued chicken to tortilla chips could get a little extra kick.

There were plenty of local vendors too, including: Burning Break from Long Beach, Chone Hot Sauce from Laguna Niguel, Ghost Scream from San Clemente, Inferno Farms from Irvine, Infinity Sauce from Fullerton, and Mago Hot Sauce from Laguna Beach.

Orange County's first craft distillery, The Blinking Owl, was also serving up their vodka, gin, whiskeys, and their take on the Scandinavian spirit, aquavit.

Whether you're a mild hot sauce enthusiast or a full-blown aficionado, when the California Hot Sauce Expo comes to Orange County next year, don't forget to bring some milk.

Images courtesy of Patch staffer Emily Holland