A few months ago I stumbled across Vic Clinco. He is a chef, writes for Chile Pepper Magazine, is a Certified Judge for the National Taco Association, is the co-founder of the Phoenix Hot Sauce Club and owns the largest privately owned hot sauce collection in the world. I was so impressed with this guy, I just needed to learn more. I reached out, we became quick friends, and he agreed to do an interview. As many of you know, I like spicy foods and have even tried Paqui Carolina Reaper Madness One Chip Challenge, so I was excited to learn more about Vic’s collection. This was a really fun interview for me and I hope you enjoy it, too. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Vic Clinco.
Safe to say you are a hot sauce fanatic. Where did it all begin and how have you stayed focused on hot sauce over the years?
I think like many of us when we are young, we develop some of our eating habits and patterns from the adults in our lives. I can vividly remember mimicking my dad and grandfather by putting red pepper chile flakes on my food just like they did. I also remember how crunchy my food became because I had put so much on trying to get it spicy. From there it was the readily available sauces the grocery stores offered like TABASCO, Frank’s RedHot and Louisiana. Those were my gateway sauces.
Do you remember the first bottle you purchased?
Actually my wife Wendy bought them for me. It was for our first Christmas together. There were a couple from Southwest Specialty Food, Inc., the Ass Kickin’ brand, a couple from Dave’s Gourmet and one called Hellfire & Damnation. I put them on our kitchen counter and when friends and family had come over that holiday season, they laughed and giggled at the labels and they were a big topic of conversation… It ignited a passion. Shortly after I found a cool book from author Jennifer Trainer Thompson, The Great Hot Sauce Book. It was a picture catalog of hot sauces broken down by styles and regions they came from. I used it as a checkoff list to find new sauces. It opened my eyes to a world I had no idea existed.
Tell me more about Chile Pepper Magazine.
Ah, so fun! But this is bittersweet, Chile Pepper Magazine has closed their doors sadly. It was the largest nationally distributed publication on everything spicy. I had written for them for 7 years, I had two separate articles. The first and my heart was called Sauce & Tell, it followed my culinary journey, my spicy addiction and provided sauce, condiments and dip specific recipes with spice. The second article was called Chile Max and I provided the hottest recipes in the magazine. I used all super hot peppers and sauces in the recipes to challenge the readers heat tolerances in a delicious way!
What is best hot sauce you’ve ever tried?
Man, that is an unanswerable question. Do you know how many hot sauces are on the market right now?! Think about this, back in 2012 HuffPost did an article and reported that hot sauce production was the 8th fastest growing industry in the United States! Thousands of craft artisan makers with tens of thousands of amazing spicy sauces, that’s not even taking into consideration what is out there worldwide… No way anyone could ever narrow it down to just one, literally impossible my friend.
I am OBSESSED with Hot Ones. Sean Evans does a killer job with that show. Do you watch the show and have you tried any/all of his sauces?
(Laughs.) Love that guy! He is good people. I have the honor of seeing him each year when I travel to the NYC Hot Sauce Expo in Brooklyn, he’s there every year. I have tried a great many of them, they have a few new ones out that I will try and also grab for The Collection when I go up in April. Keep an eye out, I’ve been talking to his group about doing an episode here at the house in The Collection…
What is the hottest hot sauce you’ve ever tried?
I had a straight 6 million SHU, Scoville heat unit, extract from Germany. My good friend John Dilley of Defon Sauces, I still don’t know what he gave me but it took my breath away I can tell you that, it was incredibly hot, he’s a sick sick man!
I spent 5 years in Phoenix. What are some of your favorite restaurants in the Valley?
Dude what a great place for food right now, there is so much amazing food by incredibly talented chefs here it’s mind boggling. Some of my faves right now are CRUjiente Tacos, Roland’s Cafe Market Bar, Little Miss BBQ, Frasher’s Smokehouse, Peoria Artisan Brewery and Fabio On Fire. I know I am missing so many more…
I LOVE chicken wings. Besides wings, what do you like putting hot sauce on?
Honestly everything… I put it on or in literally everything. I struggle to even think of anything I haven’t at least tried it on.
Tell me more about the Phoenix Hot Sauce Club.
Yes! Pretty cool. So a buddy and I were sitting around and thought how cool would it be to start an actual club, somewhere Chileheads can come and hang out with people who share a common interest. A formal meeting where we could focus on one specific local hot sauce maker from the area, they are the guest vendor and speaker. They are able to sell their sauces, tell their story, share their passion and inform the group about their journey. Door prizes, giveaways, food, friends and hot sauce… It’s a little slice of spicy heaven in the Valley of the Sun.
Let’s say someone is new to hot sauce. How do you recommend they get started? What sort of sauces do you recommend they try?
Great question, I get asked it a lot. Because there is so much out there right now, it can be a little overwhelming. Read you labels and do a little research. Start off with sauces with milder peppers and look for ones that denote they are mild. Always try a small amount, you can always add more if it’s not hot enough but it’s more difficult to take away the heat if it’s too much. Work your way up, not everyone’s heat tolerances are the same so you are unique and need to find your own spicy path. Your heat tolerance will increase, very similar to drinking alcohol, you can build up a tolerance. Farmer markets are a good outlet because number one, a lot of great local sauces will be there and you can ask the maker questions while sampling. Other good options are hot sauce shops, there are unfortunately not as many of them around, but if you’re lucky enough to have one or two close to you, they are great resources to be able to sample before you buy as well. The last option is a hot sauce festival or expo, again there are about 10 to 15 of them of various sizes across the country, if you can make one, they are so much fun and great one on one opportunities to sample some amazing products.
I’m a beer snob, and there are several beers that are just out of reach… Bucket list beers. Is it the same with hot sauce? Are there sauces that you want to try but can’t find?
Well, sure, and as a collector there are a few collectable and reserve pieces I’ve missed out on. It’s difficult for me because self admittedly I would send us to the poor house, I have very little self control. But unlike some collectors who either just collect one maker or focus in on just collector pieces, I am an equal opportunist, I collect it all. I love the bottle I find at the Hispanic grocers just as much as the hand signed, hand numbered pieces, as the a fun find at a dollar store. I welcome them all with open arms.
I did the Paqui One Chip Challenge a few months ago. SO hot!!! But I loved every second of it. Would do it again in a heartbeat. You did the challenge a couple of years ago. What do you remember most about that experience?
Heck yeah, I enjoyed it, loved the heat. And like you, I would do it again, I actually think I still have one here in the cupboard. I loved how intense the flavor and heat was, kinda smoky and a deep flavor. They did great with them.
What about The Death Nut Challenge?
Have not tried them yet, Johnny Scoville is coming out to ZestFest in Irving, Texas in a couple of weeks, I’ll see him there and grab one from him. I want to try them. Have you tried Culley’s World’s Hottest Ramen? Holy hot brother! Chris Cullen and Ed Currie collabed on them… Hot belly bomb!
You have the world’s largest hot sauce collection… But has the Guinness Book of World Records been to your house? Now that would be cool!
They have not, that is a goal of mine. So they actually approached me, they reached out and we had dialog back and forth, I sent over some background and pictures. Was funny, because a few months later, everything word for word I sent them showed up in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! book! All I need to do is catalog or list my sauces out… So if you know anyone willing to come help me out, that would rock!
How long does a bottle of hot sauce last?
Typically the official shelf life is 2 to 3 years sealed, it does depend somewhat on how a sauce is made on how long it’s good for after it’s opened. The style and amount or percentage of vinegar is key. Many sauces produced now try and stay away from vinegar, they need to be refrigerated after opening. If it is a fruit based sauce, refrigerate it after opening. Sauces like TABASCO, Tapatío Hot Sauce and Cholula Hot Sauce are table stable. They will be used way before they would ever go bad, that’s why they are so popular at restaurants, they can put them on their tables and basically forget about them, just switch them out when they are empty.
Have you tried all 8,600 sauces in your collection?
No sir, though I have tried a great deal of them. I typically try and get two, one to eat and one to enshrine. I also am lucky enough to be able to get to several of the festivals and expos each year, I try a ton there. I have a lot of collectable pieces that I would never open.
What’s next for hot sauce? I’m sure Smokin’ Ed Curry has something up his sleeve.
Yeah man, it’s a great time to be a chilehead! There are a lot of folks in development of new sauces. A hot trend right now are collabs between makers, one that pops in my head is from California Just Chili Hot Sauce, Paulman Acre and Hella Hot Hot Sauce, they did two completely different sauces using edible ants! Both were crazy tasty actually and loved that these two guys came together on such a unique angle.
You share some awesome photos of hot sauce on your Instagram account. What other social networks are you using to promote your collection and your love for hot sauce.
Love my social media, it’s opened my eyes to a huge spicy world out there and I’ve met some fascinating Chileheads around the world. I use Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Social media is a great way to find new sauces, to follow my spicy shenanigans and great places that offer spicy food. I also have the Phoenix Hot Sauce Club on Facebook and Instagram and also Hot Sauce Festivals on Instagram. That is an informational page of all of the great spicy focused festivals, shows and Expos all over the planet!
So what’s next for Vic Clinco?
I’m a non stop party brother!!! Festival season is ramping up, hitting the road in a few weeks for the Fiery Food Challenge/the Golden Chiles. I run the judging side of things for the biggest spicy food competition and awards in the country. That is followed by Zest Fest in Irving Texas. I am in the works with two local restaurants here in the Valley to do some extreme spiced collabs… Stay tuned! And as always, looking to build upon the collection and keep growing it. At this point it truly has morphed into more of a museum and/or a shrine to the hot sauce industry. I want to include as many companies as possible to truly represent this incredible industry that has taken me in and made me family! I am blessed my brother.
Thank you for doing this. That was fun, man! In all of the interviews I do, I always give the artist the last word. Go.
Get out there and support your local hot sauce makers, that is what this is all about, it’s why I do everything I do. All of my social media work, the Phoenix Hot Sauce Club, my collection, all of it… It is all to promote hot sauce and the people who make it. I make zero money off of any of it, any of it! I want to educate people, I want to share my knowledge, I want to help my friends sell their sauces and grow this industry, that is my ultimate goal and my driving power behind it all. Thanks for giving me this opportunity to tell a piece of my story.
