Bumblefoot and his hot sauces

Hot rocks!
Rock stars are rolling out condiment recipes at NYC’s first hot sauce expo

By TIM DONNELLY
Last Updated: 10:35 PM, April 20, 2013
Posted: 9:27 PM, April 20, 2013

Maybe the song should’ve been called “Sweet Chili o’ Mine?” Because that’s how much Bumblefoot, the lead guitarist of the new iteration of Guns N’ Roses, loves hot sauce.

“I was almost like a drug pusher of hot sauce,” says Bumblefoot, a k a Ron Thal. “The first one’s on me, from there on it’ll cost you.”

He’s even pushed some sauce on the notoriously mercurial lead singer, Axl Rose. The super-powered sauce was so hot, it quickly had Rose wishing for some “November Rain” to wash it away.

“Axl’s head broke out in welts,” Thal says with a sadistic chuckle.

Thal’s love of fiery flavor went from personal passion to full-on side project in January, when he released a line of hot sauces bearing his image and some hand-picked rock ’n’ roll names such as “Abnormal” and the scorching “BumbleF**KED,” described as a “6-million-Scoville sledgehammer of caffeine and ginseng.”

But Thal, 43, a Brooklyn native who now lives in central New Jersey, is far from alone with his spicy sideline: a wave of heavy metal rockers have been releasing hot sauces lately, something they see as a natural marriage between the chord-shredding intensity of rock ’n’ roll and the tastebud-burning fierceness of chilis. From Bad Brains to Twisted Sister, rockers are jumping into the hot sauce market with headbanging fervor. And these rockers are actually in the kitchen, tinkering with recipes and fine-tuning ingredients.

They will also be on hand to hawk their creations at the first annual New York City Hot Sauce Expo, which concludes today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at East River State Park in Williamsburg.

Chris Caffery, guitarist in the band Trans-Siberian Orchestra, is one of them.

Caffery released his Tears of the Sun hot sauce in 2011 based on a mild but sweet recipe he invented. But you won’t find him or the band’s name on the bottle.

“I think if you put your name on it, we’re not going to be taken seriously,” the 45-year old Goshen, NY, resident says. “These recipes are 100 percent my creation.”

The same can be said for Thal, who created his first hot sauce recipe by putting a hot plate on his sun porch (to keep the burning pepper smoke out of the house) and adding ingredients into a pot “like Doctor Frankenstein.”

Eddie Ojeda, 57, a Nyack, NY, resident, who you might remember shredding his signature bull’s-eye guitar in the Twisted Sister teen rebel anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” discovered his love of hot sauce through being on the road, gathering different flavors around the world.

“I think it’s because of the lifestyle we have: eating on the run, in different places. [Collecting hot sauce flavors is] kind of like [collecting] guitars in a way, but much cheaper,” he says.

It was after realizing that there were no decent cherry-flavored sauces on the market, that Ojeda decided to make his own. The resulting product, Ojeda’s Cherry Habanero Hot Sauce, made its debut at the expo this weekend.

It’s a great time to get into the game, says John Rizzotti, owner of Rippin’ Red Sauces, who is working with Ojeda on his sauce.

“The market is crazy right now,” he says. “It really is one of the biggest growing businesses in the country.”

Heck, hot sauce sales may even be more reliable than album sales these days.

“Ninety-five percent of record sales are disappearing,” Caffery says. “[But] you can’t download hot sauce. Once somebody’s finished a bottle, you buy another.”

Expanding into condiment territory seemed like a natural extension of band artistry for Darryl Jenifer of Bad Brains, who released Bad Brains Fire Burn Babylon sauce in January, which is described, like the band, as a “punky reggae party in every bottle.”

“That’s what I do: dream up sh - t,” says the 52-year-old who lives outside Woodstock. “Hot sauce seemed like the thing to do.”

But does a band with an anti-authoritarian rap like Bad Brains worry about looking like they’re shilling products now? Not so, according to Jenifer, who is quick to point out this isn’t some lame band-themed T-shirt they’re selling. The hotness puts your punk endurance to the test.

“The rock and roll and the hot sauce, it’s like tattoos or some sh - t,” he says. “The hot sauce is like our tattoo.”

Your Saucy Shopping List

* “Tears of the Sun” by Chris Caffery of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, distributed by High River Sauces.

Flavor: Sweet, a blend of habanero peppers and tropical fruit.

Pairs well with: Chicken wings, bagel with cream cheese, fish.

* “Fire Burn Babylon” by Darryl Jenifer of Bad Brains, distributed by Bad Brains’ Web site.

Flavor: Caribbean tastes with Scotch bonnet peppers.

Pairs well with: Crispy red snapper with ginger, fresh garlic, green onion, pizza

* “Ojeda’s Cherry Habanero Hot Sauce” by Eddie Ojeda of Twisted Sister, distributed by Rippin’ Red Sauces.

Flavors: Cherry habanero

Pairs well with: Pork, roasted vegetables, egg whites

* Bumblefoot hot sauces, by Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal of Guns N’ Roses, distributed by CaJohns Fiery Foods.

Available in six flavors including “Bumblicious!,” a mild cherry bourbon; “BumbleF**KED,” a ginger, tropical fruit, ginseng and caffeine combo; and “Bumblebabe,” a “hot sauce with women’s pleasure in mind.”

Pairs well with: Barbecue or steak for Bumblicious!, as a mole sauce or on desserts for Bumblebabe.

puddledumpling wrote:and another thing,
you won't likely find this tidbit associated with any cuisine/gourmand type of publication but this is a GN'R forum so anything goes:

I can get frozen TV dinners for kids near their expiration date at the grocery, 10 for $10, and the breaded chicken or fish dinners with a bit of any BBF sauce becomes 10 times more palatable and sure beats ramen noodles again. The sauce Uncool I have found especially good with simple vegetables like potatoes and I can't wait until this summer when the squashes first ripen.
I've had various flambeau sauces in the past but they were more fire than flavor, especially on fish. I've made a few of my own up from scratch that were OK but this is easier. I wonder if Ron's ever traveled to Goa. I haven't but Goan style recipes have inspired my own experiments.

puddledumpling wrote:
I will let you know what they say. I know that some CaJohn's sauces are for sale on U.S. Ebay, some are distributed through gourmet foods section in Amazon.com.
Hard to choose one without tasting it first. Have you heard Ron himself describe them? It is in this forum somewhere in I think part I of the Dropping The Needle Podcast - Bumblefoot is a very good pitchman.

puddledumpling wrote:
I make up stuff in my kitchen for fun and sometimes it is good, sometimes not. I don't have to share a kitchen with anyone else. It is all my place, my stuff, my mess so it is easier for me to learn my own way. I realize this is a great freedom that I have.

Soulmonster wrote: