Just figured I'd do a post about where you can find "Q" Sauce. And I'll give a little history since last year at this time our first bottles rolled off the line. Between 5/26/10 and 5/28/10 we were hanging out at Mama Vida Inc in Randallstown testing our the first non home made batches to assure they were right and then bottling them up.
I gave a few bottles to a long time friend and the owner of Wild Dog's Gourmet Hot Dogs in Cockeysville. He liked our Dark so much he now carries it as a topping for his awesome Wild Dogs! If you're in the area and hungry you gotta have one. He's almost always on Texas Station Ct in Cockeysville, MD 21030. It's actually due to him that we got into our first store.
The first place to stock their shelves with "Q" Sauce was Gunpowder Bison & Trading Co. at 1270 Monkton Road, Monkton, MD 21111 and they also sent some up to their "sister store" at Twin Springs Market which is located at 5203 N. Church Street, Manchester, MD 21102. That was 6/24/10! Awesome, 2 stores at one time! All great people there. You should check them out. Fresh, locally raised Bison, beef, lamb and more. Twin Springs also has a petting zoo!
After that, I talked with a few other places, including a restaurant. Unfortunately the restaurant didn't pan out but on 8/31/10 "Q" Sauce made its was into Peppers Galore at 8108 A Harford Rd, Parkville, MD 21234. They're a little specialty shop that carries things like bbq sauce, hot sauce, wing sauce, rubs, seasonings, etc. Real nice guy, has a f/t job so the store is only open evenings and weekends, but it's worth checking out!
I started checking out some other places, leaving samples for them to try and so they could review the packaging. On 9/20/10, I happened to go to The Wine Merchant at 10741 Falls Rd, Lutherville, MD 21093. It's a Wine shop and deli that has a small "gourmet" section. They currently only carry the Original and Hot & Spicy flavors, so if you go there, ask 'em to carry the Dark!
After doing a festival at Lovely Manors in Phoenix I spoke with the owner of SomeFin Fishy Seafood & Deli at 3332 Paper Mill Rd, Phoenix, MD 21131. She also agreed to carry our sauces and on 11/1/10 we got on their shelves. She's got a great little shop at "Four Corners" and carries fresh seafood, has a deli menu and also does catering.
The winter kept us indoors and since the few other shops I went to didn't pan out, so we looked for places outside Baltimore County. We did two festivals in the early spring as well. Pork in the Park in Salisbury in April and Naptown barBayq in Annapolis in May. After those two events and multiple recommendations we found a place in Annapolis.
I called over to Bay Ridge Wine & Spirits at 111 Hillsmere Dr, Annapolis, MD 21403 and met with them on 5/20/11. They graciously stocked some "Q" Sauce on their shelves. If you're in the Anne Arundel County area, stop by and pick up a bottle. Help us stay in their specialty shop. It's a big place with a wide selection.
A place we hope to be in soon is Crabi Gras at 432 Race Street, Cambridge, MD 21613. I'll be there on 6/11/11 doing a sampling, so if you're in the area, stop by. They offer an eclectic mix of sauces, dips, Eastern Shore-themed t-shirts, and other novelty items.
We're always one the lookout for little shops, so if you know of one, tell us about it. If you know of a restaurant on the lookout for local sauces, let us know that as well. And lastly, if you are on or know of a competition bbq team looking for a new sauce to try, we want to talk with them.
Well, that's all for now, I'll post more after our sampling at Crabi Gras to let everyone know the fun they missed if they didn't come out. If you've tried Doomer's "Q" Sauce, make sure to check us out on facebook and twitter. If you haven't tried them, just "Q" it!!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Naptown barBayq
Hey there BBQ Lovers! I'm back! So this past weekend I went to Annapolis for the Naptown barBayq at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (proceeds to benefit Johns Hopkins Pediatric Oncology Research). It took place on Friday 5/13 and Saturday 5/14. Friday morning I woke up and started double checking to be sure I had packed everything into the truck. After my youngest son got home from school (he's in an AM Pre-K program) I headed out for the day.
Upon arrival at the stadium I approached the gate, told the attendant why I was there and was waived through. I parked close to the vendor area and grabbed the nearest Naptown official I could find and he kindly showed me to my space. After returning to get my truck, I pulled up next to my spot for the festival and began setting up.
This was actually a quick process at Pork in the Park, but Jo was with me there and here I was flying solo. Setting up the tent isn't so much the problem, it's the other things, but either way, I emptied and moved my truck back to the lot.
I returned to my tent and started finishing the details. Setting out sauces, the hand washing station, icing the sample bottles, and then hung my banner. Then, I sat down and waited for the health dept. to come by for inspection. Just before the festival opened, the gentlemen stopped by, we chatted for a few seconds, he looked over my set up and handed me my license, wished me luck and was on his way.
The day was overcast and gray but not too chilly, so people started coming out. I had a few people stop and try out the sauces. All good reactions, some people took my card, some said they'd be back later (a few actually come back) and I made a few sales. As the night moved on not many more people came but it looked like rain and was getting chillier.
The highlight of Friday came when a pair of KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society) judges came by and tried my sauces and told me they were excellent. One turned out to be Mark Simmons, who's on the KCBS Board of Directors. He went over to the KCBS tent and grabbed me an application, told me to be sure to put his name as the referral and was overall a really nice guy. I submitted my application online, still making sure to include his name, and am now a member of the KCBS. Mark also told me about American Royal in KC and the sauce competition they hold annually...I'll be entering all three sauces!!
After a few more sales, Friday came to a close. I sealed up the tent and made my way around the festival grounds (for the first time) and stopped by to see my friends at Local Flavors Catering. After talking with them for a few minutes I headed home for the night.
Saturday morning I headed back down to the festival grounds and opened up, ready for the day. It was still a little overcast and it actually started to rain. It actually rained pretty hard for about 20 minutes then it cleared up. The rest of the day was alright and a lot of people came out. I was sampling like crazy for a while...sweet.
The highlight of Saturday came when a group of guys stopped by and told me how much they liked the sauce. The first one stopped and tried out our Hot & Spicy and immediately went and grabbed his buddies. After trying all the sauces they let me know they were a new competition bbq team and their first event would be next weekend in DE. I'll be keeping my eye out for Jeremy Newton and Fatheads Food Competition BBQ team!
I also had the pleasure of meeting the last butcher in A.A. County. I'll be touching base with him this week to see about getting our sauces in his shop. He loved it too! All in all I had a great time and will be back next year. If you didn't get the chance to come out to Naptown, we'll be at Swinetastic BBQ Festival in Frederick next month. Come out for the fun, food and to benefit a great charity (proceeds benefit American Cancer Society). Hope to see you there!
Upon arrival at the stadium I approached the gate, told the attendant why I was there and was waived through. I parked close to the vendor area and grabbed the nearest Naptown official I could find and he kindly showed me to my space. After returning to get my truck, I pulled up next to my spot for the festival and began setting up.
This was actually a quick process at Pork in the Park, but Jo was with me there and here I was flying solo. Setting up the tent isn't so much the problem, it's the other things, but either way, I emptied and moved my truck back to the lot.
I returned to my tent and started finishing the details. Setting out sauces, the hand washing station, icing the sample bottles, and then hung my banner. Then, I sat down and waited for the health dept. to come by for inspection. Just before the festival opened, the gentlemen stopped by, we chatted for a few seconds, he looked over my set up and handed me my license, wished me luck and was on his way.
The day was overcast and gray but not too chilly, so people started coming out. I had a few people stop and try out the sauces. All good reactions, some people took my card, some said they'd be back later (a few actually come back) and I made a few sales. As the night moved on not many more people came but it looked like rain and was getting chillier.
The highlight of Friday came when a pair of KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society) judges came by and tried my sauces and told me they were excellent. One turned out to be Mark Simmons, who's on the KCBS Board of Directors. He went over to the KCBS tent and grabbed me an application, told me to be sure to put his name as the referral and was overall a really nice guy. I submitted my application online, still making sure to include his name, and am now a member of the KCBS. Mark also told me about American Royal in KC and the sauce competition they hold annually...I'll be entering all three sauces!!
After a few more sales, Friday came to a close. I sealed up the tent and made my way around the festival grounds (for the first time) and stopped by to see my friends at Local Flavors Catering. After talking with them for a few minutes I headed home for the night.
Saturday morning I headed back down to the festival grounds and opened up, ready for the day. It was still a little overcast and it actually started to rain. It actually rained pretty hard for about 20 minutes then it cleared up. The rest of the day was alright and a lot of people came out. I was sampling like crazy for a while...sweet.
The highlight of Saturday came when a group of guys stopped by and told me how much they liked the sauce. The first one stopped and tried out our Hot & Spicy and immediately went and grabbed his buddies. After trying all the sauces they let me know they were a new competition bbq team and their first event would be next weekend in DE. I'll be keeping my eye out for Jeremy Newton and Fatheads Food Competition BBQ team!
I also had the pleasure of meeting the last butcher in A.A. County. I'll be touching base with him this week to see about getting our sauces in his shop. He loved it too! All in all I had a great time and will be back next year. If you didn't get the chance to come out to Naptown, we'll be at Swinetastic BBQ Festival in Frederick next month. Come out for the fun, food and to benefit a great charity (proceeds benefit American Cancer Society). Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
What is "Q" Sauce good on?
Ok, I wanted to put out this little post to try and answer the above question. I get asked this a lot. Also, what do you recommend I use it on gets asked a lot. I really have trouble answering these questions on the spot without sounding generic or stupid. I think the main reason I find it tough to answer those questions is because I haven't tried our sauces on anything that it didn't taste good on.
Over the years that I've been making "Q" Sauce, my family, friends and I have tried it on so many things and in so many ways. I've decided to give a list of all the ways I know (from personal experience or 2nd hand) that "Q" Sauce has been used.
We've used it as a steak sauce, dipping sauce, sandwich spread, wing sauce, hot sauce, etc. BBQ with it, grill with it, bake, cook, stir fry. Add it to sloppy joes, potato salad, egg salad. Beef, pork, chicken and seafood...including shrimp, catfish, salmon, trout, sword, tuna, orange roughy and more. It's been tried on Bison, venison, quail and pheasant. I'm sure there's more but right now, I can't think of them...If you can leave a note here or post it on our facebook page..."Q" it up!!
Over the years that I've been making "Q" Sauce, my family, friends and I have tried it on so many things and in so many ways. I've decided to give a list of all the ways I know (from personal experience or 2nd hand) that "Q" Sauce has been used.
We've used it as a steak sauce, dipping sauce, sandwich spread, wing sauce, hot sauce, etc. BBQ with it, grill with it, bake, cook, stir fry. Add it to sloppy joes, potato salad, egg salad. Beef, pork, chicken and seafood...including shrimp, catfish, salmon, trout, sword, tuna, orange roughy and more. It's been tried on Bison, venison, quail and pheasant. I'm sure there's more but right now, I can't think of them...If you can leave a note here or post it on our facebook page..."Q" it up!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)