High River Sauces proudly presents the West Coast’s most distinguished hot sauce event, the 1st Annual California Hot SauceExpo 2015, at Rainbow Lagoon (Long Beach, CA) on Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12, 2015.
Happening for the first time ever in California, Long Beach will have the honor of hosting High River Sauces as the company brings together 45 of the greatest hot sauce brands from throughout the nation, including the finest purveyors from California.
With more than 100 submissions from purveyors around the states, the California HotSauce Expo cherry-picked 45 hot sauce companies, including including Long Beach’s very own Hot Licks, 9 Circle of Hell Small Batch Chile Powder (San Jose, CA), Bravado Spice (Houston, TX), CaJohns(Columbus, OH), Chesterville Pepper Company (Cincinnati, OH), Chile Pepper Magazine (Houston, TX), Ghost Scream Hot Sauce (San Clemente, CA), Heartbreaking Dawns (Mahwah, NJ), Heat Hot Sauce Shop (San Francisco, CA),High River Sauces (Kings Park, Long Island), ,Humboldt Hot Sauce (Arcata, CA), Lucky Dog (San Francisco, CA), OSO Pepper Company (New Almaden, CA), Palo Alto Pepper Sauce (Palo Alto, CA), Peppers(Rehoboth Beach, DE), Puckerbutt Pepper Company (Fort Mill, SC), Race City Sauce Works (Charlotte, NC), Sauce Goddess (San Diego, CA), Texas Creek Products (Carton, WA), Volcanic Peppers (Bellevue, NE) among many others yet to be announced.
“We are so thrilled to be heading to Long Beach for the debut California Hot Sauce Expo, said Ed Currie, founder and CEO of PuckerButt Pepper Company in an earlier press statement. “Not only do I get to bring the heat to the West Coast, but we are going to bring the Guinness World Record-Winning Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper Eating Contest.”
Currie said he expects companies from all over the world to compete for the title.
According to the release, Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper beat out former Guinness World Record-holder Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T.” To put a few things in jaw-dropping, tongue-tying perspective, the Carolina Reaper delivers an average of 1,569,300 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), while jalapeño peppers barely leave a mark with 2,500 to 8,000 SHU.
Co-producer of the Hot Sauce Expo, Steve Seabury, is more than excited to bring this spicy first event to Long Beach. Owner of the multi-award-winning hot sauce company High River Sauces, Seabury certainly has a passion for anything spice-related.
“I love adding spice to my food with hot sauce, and I can’t wait to share my passion for the mighty pepper with one of the greatest cities in the world, Los Angeles,” he said in a statement. This is a special opportunity for West Coasters to be able to meet the chefs, sample their sauces and purchase the best hot sauces available on the market— a party “you won’t want to miss,” according to Seabury.
The “First Annual Bloody Mary Mix-Down” and the “California Margarita Mix-Down” will also take place during the Hot Sauce Expo, pitting top notch mixologists against each other to compete under the discerning gaze of celebrity judge panel.
General Admission to the Hot Sauce Expo is $10 (day of tickets are $15). $50 tickets for the Craft Brew Package include one General Admission ticket for either Saturday or Sunday, separate entrance for easy access into the venue, access for the main stage competitions, six commemorative California Expo Drink Tokens that can be redeemed at the main bar, a bottle of High River Sauces, and a California Hot Sauce Expo T-Shirt. VIP ($100) ticket holders will have an exclusive area where they can break away from all of the spicy action to cool down and enjoy complimentary cocktail tastings, food pairing samples and their favorite craft beers.
For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.