Local chili chef, T-Rev, winner of this year’s DC101 Chili Cookoff, decided to take on the world on Oct. 9 through 11 at the ICS World’s Championship Chili Cookoff held in Charleston, WV. The fierce, hotly competitive event was held at Appalachian Power Park.
After all was said and done, and tasted and after the fire extinguishers had extinguished the flames, T-Rev’sStiff Willi Chili took first place in the People’s Choice category over 160 other crowd pleasers. This was the first time in 43 years the ICS World’s were held east of the Mississippi.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t fare as well with the judges for the ICS Red competition, but that’s how it goes. It’s pretty much luck of the draw with regard to the judges you get on the preliminary tables,” said T-Rev. “I was told by one judge who stopped by my tent after we turned in our competition batch that he would’ve put me in his top three of the 22 entries at his table, but obviously the handful of judges I drew didn’t feel the same way.”
T-Rev feels that the ‘ball’ probably bounced his way at the DC101 chili cookoff, but he admitted was nevertheless very happy with the way his competition batch turned out. “It was as good as I could’ve hoped, and we had a great time, as 25 of my friends and family showed up to support me.”
The afflable chef feels that winning People’s Choice will ultimately be just as good for marketing his Stiff Willi Chili Spice Mix as winning the whole thing could have been. “I made it with my spice mix. Actually, I used the exact recipe from the back of my bottle and everyone loved it. So I’ll take the word of ‘the people’ over a handful of judges anyday.”
T-Rev has started his marketing campaign in earnest and already has his spices carried in a number local and regional stores including: Woodburns, McKay’s, Smokey Joe’s BBQ, Quality Street Kitchen and Catering, Cecil’s Old Mill, and Apple Basket. “Also, Peppers of Key West, a very cool novelty shop carrying over 500 types of hot sauce, is carrying it so it’s starting to branch out of Maryland as well,” beamed T-Rev.
In addition to having fun at competitions, Stiff Willi Chili Spices have a great internet presence (http://www.stiffwilli.com/) and some chili cheerleaders in the form his Chili Chicks that he uses to help spread the word about the spice mix rapidly becoming famous (www.chilichicks.com.).
The T-Rev also has his blog where he updates his readers with new recipes in addition to promoting Stiff Willi Chili. Check out http://bothwell.typepad.com/stiffwillichili/
In the coming weeks, T-Rev will be demonstrating his product line with lots of fun. “I will be doing “First Friday” in November at Quality Street Kitchen, where I’ll be giving out free samples of chili during their wine tasting. And, folks will want to look for me on weekends at the various grocery stores, where I’ll be promoting the spice mix consistently.”
When asked how he came up with the name for his product, T-Rev smiled and said, “We were brainstorming over some adult beverages and at some point I blurted out the name ‘T-Rev’s Stiff Willi Chili,’ mostly because it rhymed, but also in part because I’m a little warped and I thought it was appropriate to throw my boy B-Rich a little love and revitalize a nickname that saw me through some of the best times of my life.”
It may be some more good times are ahead.
