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Saucy Sunday
Man sweat, burned tongues, and cold beer dominated the Austin Chronicle’s annual Hot Sauce Festival and competition on Sunday. A bounty of Austin’s bravest descended on Waterloo Park to test their Texas taste buds on sauces both red and green, chunky and thin, zing-zangy and hotsy-totsy. Lines were long, but spirits remained high among those eager for a mouthful of abuse.
What was good:
No scarcity of chips. Revolts have broken out in years past. Sad times.
What was not so good:
Bum sweat and blazing overhead sun make for a long day.
What was weird:
Sun-damaged kids screaming for more sauce. True story.
The winners, after the jump.
17th Annual Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Contest Winners
Restaurant Category | |||
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | |
| Red Sauce | Sazon | Curra’s | Rio Grande |
| Green Sauce | El Rincon | The Gage Hotel (Marathon, TX) | Curra’s |
| Special Variety | Curra’s | Serrano’s | El Rey Mexican Food |
Individual Category | |||
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | |
| Red Sauce | Logan Kunitz | Paul Peterson (Alpine, TX) | Jaime Simon (Pflugerville) |
| Green Sauce | Ted Valmassei (Round Rock) | Arty Passes | Barry Hoelscher |
| Special Variety | John W. Purser (Round Rock) | Kevar Hedtke | Jason & Angie Volk |
| Pico de Gallo | Kala Uprety | Valery Caselli-Dubov | Scott Willis |
Commercial Bottlers (People’s Choice) | |||
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | |
| Red Sauce | Texapenos Gourmet Red | Two Hot Mamas Mambo Combo | Classy Delites Aztec Salsa |
| Green Sauce | Two Hot Mamas Roasted Almond Chimichurri Mint | Classy Delites Pistachio Roasted Pepper Dip | Tacodeli Verde Salsa |
| Special Variety | Two Hot Mamas Creamy Cilantro Salsa Dip | Classy Delites Chunky Pineapple Dip | Texapenos Orange Flame |
| Pepper Sauce | Aztexan Habanero Supreme | Two Hot Mamas Amaretto Pepper Sauce | Winston’s Hot Pepper Sauce |
Commercial Bottlers (Celebrity Judges) | |||
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | |
| Red Sauce | Rancho Bravo Salsa Picante | El Gringo Loco - Hot | --------- |
| Green Sauce | Two Hot Mamas Roasted Almond Chimichurri Mint | Austin Slow Burn Salsa Verde | --------- |
| Special Variety | Vern’s Raspberry Chipotle Jelly | Vern’s Habanero Jelly | Big Dawg Salsa Chunkin' The Deuce Hot Sauce |
| Pepper Sauce | Big Daddy’s Ass Burn Hot Sauce | Texapenos Red Flame | Sgt. Pepper’s Tejas Tears |
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