"So Vic...just how many bottles of Hot Sauce DO you have in your collection right now...?""Ah man...Rob...let me see...as of a couple days ago...it was just north of...hmmmm....just running some numbers in my head...just north of 2,370...but we have some orders coming in the mail this week that should put us over the 2,380 number, shooting for 2,400 in no time."
(the muffled thump Vic heard in the background was my jaw hitting the Mexican tile on my back porch in Florida)
I need to set this up for you.
Two weeks ago I'm looking at the Sweet Life Sauce Company Fan Page on Facebook and I get these tagged photos of this extensive private Hot Sauce collection from Vic Clinco out in Arizona. Pretty cool just at that but then I see one of the pics has our two hot sauces; Boodreax's Cajun Rocket Fuel and Screamin' Peaches Hot Sauce. I'm thinking this is pretty cool that our two sauces are already in a Hot Sauce collection like this...but then it hits me...how in the heck did our Hot Sauces show up in a Hot Sauce collection in Arizona...I gotta talk to this Vic guy!
After a few back and forths with some private messaging, Vic and I set up a time to speak on the phone. During our conversation, Vic was kind in accepting my offer to interview him for our blog at Sweet Life Sauce Company.
We offer this Part 1 of 3 interview to you with Vic Clinco: Hot Sauce Collector Extraordinaire!
Sweet Life Sauce Company: Vic...what is the watershed moment, that childhood memory or event from your past sticks in your mind that you are and were destined to be a Hot Sauce fan...well...hot sauce addict?
Vic Clinco: Rob...it was probably in High School in Florida. I can remember being at a watching party for the Final 4 Basketball Tournament...Georgetown was in the final 4's. I was at a party that this hot sauce was getting passed around with my friends and a few of them were hitting the floor in pain and carrying on about how hot this particular hot sauce was...I said give it to me...I poured it on and threw it in my mouth and LOVED it. It was one of Miss Anna's and I was hooked from there on...Matouk's fit the bill for me as well in the earlier years. I definitely became a fan of Hot Sauce then...but hadn't started collecting until later years.
Sweet Life Sauce Company: How did this hobby of collecting Hot Sauces start?
Vic Clinco: Well about 14 years ago...about the same year my wife and I were married I received a 12 pack of random hot sauces from around the country for a Christmas present. I always had them out on our counter in plain view and as friends and family would come by they would always comment on our 12 bottle Hot Sauce collection. Seems as though this little gift of 12 had some legs as those same friends and family started giving us Hot Sauces from their travels and it began to grow from there.
I pretty quickly picked up a copy of Jennifer Trainer Thompson's book "The Great Hot Sauce Book". I loved the full page shots of all the bottles and used that as a model for our walls of Hot Sauce. I had a blast finding the Hot Sauces in her book and marking each one of them off with a felt tip pen as they came into my collection.
Sweet Life Sauce Company: With 14 years or so of collecting under your belt and the mention of you tying the start of this hobby back to your wedding...I suspect there may be some level of support for this hobby with your wife? I mean...I know lots of men that have had their man caves reduced to a slide show on their iPhone of the 10 pound bass they caught...your wife has let you take over entire rooms in your home for this hobby...
Vic Clinco: (laughing) Yeah...my wife is the closet Hot Sauce collector in our family. She's not the "go out and hunt and find what you can run across" type in stores and such..she's the "laser focused tactical" type that uses technology and the good ole' Post Office to get the perfect Hot Sauce additions in our collection to our front door. She is a huge fan as well and we have a great time as a family with our Hot Sauce hobby.
Sweet Life Sauce Company: What tips can you give to budding collectors on where to look for new Hot Sauces?
Vic: Wow...let's see...I'm the type of collector that will randomly stop at some small grocery store, the local grocer types, Mexican groceries, gift shops. I love finding the $0.89 centers that have no marketing, no fancy labels...just hot sauce and a bottle. I am always looking for these types. I'm also really big on developing relationships with the manufactures and the men and women around the country that bring these products out to the market each and every year. Most makers have Facebook pages, websites, many Twitter...it's awesome when you can interact directly with the owners and makers of these products.
Sweet Life Sauce Company: Looks to me that this isn't just a hobby for the Clinco's...your love for Hot Sauce is a lifestyle?
Vic Clinco: Hot Saucing for us is a lifestyle. I mean we will plan vacations around Hot Sauce Conventions and gourmet food shows where we know there will be a good contingent of Hot Sauces available. I have actually worked show booths with a few of our favorites like Flaming Joe's out at the Fiery Foods Show in Albuquerque. We were on cruise this past year in the Caribbean and found our shore trips to be a treasure chest of finds for hot sauces we had never run across before.
Sweet Life Sauce Company: Biggest AHA! moment in your pursuit of Hot Sauces?
Vic Clinco: Probably from a visit I received at my home from a friend in the industry...he walked into my Hot Sauce den and started pointing out all the hot sauces on the shelf that had the same product on the inside of the bottle...only difference being the label on the outside. There is a big part of the industry that simply places the same products in the same bottles but changes up the image through the labels and packaging. Still fun to collect though and there are some good ones.
Thanks for the info Vic for Part 1. We'll get Part 2 out in a day or two and in Part 2...we'll learn
- Vics favorite Hot Sauces and why...all you Hot Sauce makers get ready.
- Hot Sauce pairing with Vanilla Ice Cream and a Shiraz.
- A little history on how he found Sweet Life Sauce Company Hot Sauces.
Rob W.
Owner and Founder...and sometimes writer
Sweet Life Sauce Company
http://www.sweetlifesaucecompany.com/
Vic is da man!
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