You could imagine how pissed I was when Vickie sent me a note that Gringo Bandito was announcing on its website something about a “Private Reserve” version of its not-so-famous hot sauce–you know, given I'm basically their spokesperson for the best hot sauce not named Salsa Huichol. So I fired off an angry email to Gringo Bandito marketing head Matt McCollum. Ever the Dallas gentleman, Matt sent me a typed note explaining what the Private Reserve gimmick is–and boy, does it sound chingón.
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The effort actually started last year, when Gringo Bandito head gabacho Dexter Holland teamed up with his co-cook, Florencia Arriaga, to make a special batch of their hot sauce–only 250 bottles. In addition to a different flavor, Holland packaged each in small wooden boxes, autographed them and added a Gringo Bandito pick. The company announced the bottles would go on sale one Tuesday at 9 a.m., and that it was first-come, first-serve; the demand was so high that Gringo Bandito's website servers became fried.
Loins girded on said servers, McCollum writes, “Dexter and Flor are going to try to make one every year for at least the next five years . . . changing the recipe every time, as well as the label color and a few other subtleties.”
The release for this year's batch is 9 a.m. on Nov. 15–mark those calendars, son!
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