We became familiar with Pam from LBTC from Thehotpepper.com discussion forum, and it’s a darn lucky thing we did. Had we not, then it’s possible that we might not have known just how great their sauces are. Thanks to Pam & Curt for sharing some of these with us!!
One doesn’t need to have a whole line of products to be successful in the hot & spicy food biz. The Longbranch Trading Company takes this to heart…and then some. Judging by some succes at the Zesty Best food show, we fully expect to see these sauces show up someday on a list of the Scovie award winners. Yes, their sauces are just that good. As relative newbies, we wanted to get the braintrust at LBTC a chance to sound off about their products, so here they are….
Your hot sauces use some more unusual ingredients, such as pumpkin seeds. Is this a California thing or how did you come up with using those types of spices & nuts?
Curt:
Pumpkin seeds are used in sauces in Northern Mexico and Sesame Seeds in Asian sauces, so there is that kind of influence going on. We both enjoy trying new and different things. We love to experiment. When we go out to eat we like to go somewhere we haven?t gone before and try something totally new.Pam:
We have around 200 cookbooks in our collection, which include just about every taste and style you could imagine. We both love to play around with the recipes, take an element from one that you like and add it too another. Take out what you don?t like and put your own spin on it.
Aside from commercial success, are there any specific aspirations that you have for your sauces/products?
Curt:
We plan to enter our sauces in more contests. So far we have just entered one event, The Zesty Best in Costa Mesa California. The result was 4 awards for our sauces. We met a lot of fellow sauce makers and had a great time. We plan on entering the Scovies and the Fiery Food Challenge next time around to see how we measure up against the big boys.Pam:
But our dream is to open our own Co-pack facilities. We have been doing research and have even looked at a couple of buildings. Nothing would make Curt happier than spending the entire day in the kitchen playing mad sauce scientist.
How has your experience been going from making your sauces at home to moving into commercial production?
Curt:
It was definitely a learning experience, trial and error all the way. The most difficult part was finding a local Co-Pack facility that would let me be as hands on as I?d like to be. We were going to go with a Florida facility at first, but then a friend told us about a place less than two hours away in Santa Paula California.Pam:
We buy all our own ingredients. (Curt is very picky about the quality of our ingredients and doesn?t trust that to anyone else) Basically we drive up and use the Co-Packers kitchen. These are Curt?s babies and he wanted to be as actively involved in the process as possible. Plus these sauces are somewhat complex and include many steps. We try and get the color, texture and even more importantly, the taste just right.
What has been the most challenging aspect of your foray into the world of hot sauce?
Pam:
Getting the word out about our sauces. Thank goodness for sites like yours in which a new company is given a chance to get their products seen and reviewed. With all the products out there it?s difficult to get a product noticed on a small advertising budget.
Any new products on the horizon for LBTC?
Curt:
I?m working on a BBQ sauce as we speak. I am also playing around with ideas for a couple of mustards.Pam:
I am leaning more towards glazes and I have a little sweet and spicy snack in the works that Curt doesn?t even know about.Curt:
That?s the best part of this business, the creative end. Coming up with products that are your creations and making them the best that they can be.
So what’s in all this stuff? An Ingredient List!
Longbranch Original: Apple cider vinegar, water, de Arbol peppers, roasted pumpkin seeds, garlic, roasted pine nuts, sea salt, spices, Habanero peppers, Chipotle morita peppers, xantham gum
Salsa Rio Verde: Apple cider vinegar, water, tomatillos, Jalapeno peppers, Serrano peppers, Roasted green peppers, Habanero peppers, Mexican green onion, toasted pumpkin seeds, lime juice, roasted sesame seeds, garlic, cilantro, Serrano peppers, sea salt, spices, xantham gum
Hot Blonde: Manzano peppers, Apple cider vinegar, water, Mango, Habanero peppers, garlic, roasted pine nuts, Mexican green onion, red Thai peppers, sea salt, spices, xantham gum
Dorsey?s Reserve: Manzano peppers, apple cider vinegar, water, Jalapeno peppers, Mexican green onion, red Serrano peppers, garlic, roasted sesame seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, Habanero peppers, Serrano peppers, de Arbol peppers, sea salt, spices, Chipotle morita peppers, roasted pine nuts, xantham gum
Joe’s $0.02
Longbranch Original: It would be tough to use the word perfect for this sauce, but this would definitely make my short list of ones that I’d like to have if I was stranded on a desert island. Heat level aside, it’s one of the best tasting sauces I’ve tried in recent memory. It adds great flavor without too much of vinegary tartness. De Arbol peppers are not a commonly used pepper these days and I’ve often seen it used for more of a heat effect, but it’s balanced by just enough habanero and chipotle. Quite simply, it was great on or in everything I tried it with, and you can’t go wrong by having a bottle. Pam from LBTC, if you’re listening out there…PLEASE SEND MORE! Awesome stuff!
Salsa Rio Verde: Tomatillas can be a very strong, sometimes dominating, flavor in sauces, but this sauce manages to blend well with Jalapeno for a very green tasting sauce with medium heat. Actually, the heat really tastes like its from the Serrano peppers, but it doesn’t overwhelm the yummy taste. I thought this sauce went best with Mexican food, and was a delight to pour over enchiladas. It was also good with meat, but it seemed to favor the lighter meats as opposed to darker (red) meats. Solid effort.
Hot Blonde: This sauce avoids one pitful of fruit-based hot sauces in that it’s not too fruity. I wasn’t exactly sure what a Manzano pepper was before I tried this sauce, but I think I’ll now be tempted to taste this pepper in other concoctions. A little spicier to me than the Original sauce above, I liked this best spread over spareribs or as a dip with chicken dishes. A very versatile and tasty sauce.
Dorsey?s Reserve: This is the ‘hottest’ of the sauces from LBTC…at least you’d think so from the list of peppers that are used. I liked the heat level, but there is an earthiness (for lack of a better word) to the taste that limited how often I wanted to use this sauce. This sauce made an excellent accompaniment for dishes where chipotle-ish flavor works best, and I liked it with Mexican food and soups/stews. I’d still reach for the Longbranch Original sauce first, but you get your HEAT from this one. Arriba!
Linda’s $0.02
Longbranch Original: Without a doubt, this is one of the best sauces I’ve ever tried. I can’t imagine our cupboard being without this bad boy. I believe the first words out of my mouth, and Joe’s, was “Wow…that’s great.” When they say original, they don’t mean first either. They mean ORIGINAL, as in there’s really nothing like it. The de Arbol peppers are a great paring with the remaining ingredients, many of which are roasted. So, you can expect a really rich taste that you will want again, and again, and again.
Salsa Rio Verde: Chicken fajitas are screaming for this sauce. Very, very green taste. I’m not big on tomatillos, so seeing that as the second ingredient made me skeptical. The tomatillos are NOT overpowering. In fact, they almost take a back seat to the fantastic pepper taste. Oh, and don’t think that the habanero is all wimpy because it’s on the lower rung of peppers. This one has some heat.
Hot Blonde: Admittedly, one thing I’ve done with all these sauces, as I do with most, is look at the ingredients first. I usually have a pretty good idea about what I will be tasting. I’ve been wrong on every one of their sauces. This one, for example, I was expecting to be much sweeter than it is. I have to believe that they have found the perfect balance in all of their sauces, because you can’t pick an ingredient out by a singled out taste. Above all, they don’t use boring peppers. This one has Manzano peppers and there is a subtle, but distinctive difference between them and their pepper peer the habanero.
Dorsey?s Reserve: The hottest of the bunch and still full of flavor. I mean, really, I’m so glad we had the chance to try all of these fabulous sauces. This one is so bold, spicy and yet still great on EVERYTHING. How do they do it?
Don’t just take our word for it! Here are some online reviews of these sauces:
HSB review for Salsa Rio Verde
Dorsey’s Reserve review
Hot Blonde review
Longbranch Original review
Salsa Rio Verde review
Saucerater
Give these reviewers a shout and ask them to review Longbranch Trading Company’s products as well.
Carl’s Big List of Reviews
Alien Zombie
Virtual Hot Sauce Museum
The Hot Sauce Guide
Want to review Longbranch Trading Company’s products for yourself? Go here and leave your own opinion:
www.rateitall.com
www.thehotpepper.com/viewforum.php?f=3
Recipes
You can find several tantalizing recipes through the Longbranch Trading Company’s website. Their list o’ recipes can be found HERE.
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