Bonjourno! Like I Said, “Third Best!” Sauce Beautiful Gold Takes Third in “World’s Largest” American Royal BBQ Sauce Contest

Bonjourno! So we did a little thing and entered our brand new Gold Sauce in the KCBS/American Royal “Best Sauce on the Planet” contest and took third place in the mustard based category! The “Best Sauce on the Planet” is an honor given as part of the Annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue® tour and is the largest contest of its kind in the world. It featured nearly 400 entries from 36 states and 8 countries.

Break it Down

Category winners took top honors in five unique categories with an overall winner taking the “Best Sauce on the Planet” overall win. Congratulations to all the winners. We’re honored to be among friends as well as the best of the best. We look forward to seeing you all in the future.

  • Entries were all received by April 26th, 2019.
  • The categories were Mild, Hot, Vinegar, Mustard, and Specialty.
  • Sauces were individually tested in a blind taste test on unseasoned pulled pork.
  • The top awarded sauce in each category was crowned first place in the category where the highest overall score was named “Best Sauce on the Planet.”

 

Category Winners:

HOT TOMATO
1st Place – Pine Ridge Jalapeno Barbecue, Herbadashery LLC – Casper, WY
2nd Place – Q Barbeque Hot Zing Sauce, Q Barbeque – Glen Allen, VA
3rd Place – Meat Mitch Whomp! Competition Sauce, Meat Mitch – Shawnee Mission, KS

MILD TOMATO
1st Place – BONZ Barb BQ Sauce Original Flavor, J Pope Unlimited – West Lafayette, IN
2nd Place – Buckingham, Spicewine Ironworks – Columbia, MO
3rd Place – Triple Crown Organic BBQ Sauce Classic, Acme Organics LLC – Minneapolis, MN

MUSTARD
1st Place – Pine Ridge Sweet Mustard Sauce, Herbadashery LLC – Casper, WY
2nd Place – TD’s Brew & BBQ “Southern Mustard”, TD’s Brew & BBQ – Lovington, NM
3rd Place – Jim Quessenberry’s Sauce Beautiful – Gold, Bluff City BBQ Supply, LLC – Memphis, TN

VINEGAR
1st Place – FireFly Competition Sauce, Firefly Barbecue Limited – Glossop, Derbyshire, United Kingdom
2nd Place – Memphis Mop BBQ Sauce, BBQ Buddha – New Egypt, NJ
3rd Place – Rob’s Sweet Sophistication, Rob’s Smokin Rub & Frog Sauce – Manteca, CA

SPECIALTY
1st Place – BONZ Barb BQ Sauce Bold Flavor, J Pope Unlimited – West Lafayette, IN
2nd Place – JR Okie Smokie Gourmet BBQ Sauce – Chipotle, JR Okie Smokie LLC – Edmond, OK
3rd Place – Raspberry Tequila Lime, New Venue LLC ( Down Under BBQ) – Fridley, MN

 

What it Means to Us

We were thrilled to be a part of history and are even more thrilled to further cement Jim Quessenberry’s legacy in the history of championship barbecue. Using this honor to bolster our fanbase, we intend to continue our expansion of sales with online sales and local grocers. We’d like to take a few minutes to thank our fans, friends, and families for enabling us to grow even as we continue to press on with our busy schedules and day to day lives. It’s truly awesome to continue on with a legacy while paving new roads into the future of barbecue.

Pat Yourselves on the Back

We’d like to thank the following people for their help taste testing, labeling, bottling, mixing, and developing Sauce Beautiful Gold:

 

Product Development and Taste Testers

  • Jeff Marchetta
  • Patrick Wilson-Marchetta
  • Krystal Quessenberry
  • Donna Hill
  • Aaron Houston
  • Amanda Marks
  • Steven Trotter
  • Crystal Phillips
  • Brad Benefield
  • Natausha Light-Benefield

 

Lock ’N’ Load Tailgate Team

  • Jeremy McGinnis
  • Jim McGinnis
  • Jennifer McGinnis
  • Hannah McGinnis
  • Tommy Rohlfing
  • Josh Melton
  • Jeff Chastain
  • Josh Roberts
  • JoAnn Roberts

 

Manufacturing, Packaging, and Fulfillment

  • Delta Cuisine & Arkansas State University Mid-South, West Memphis, AR
  • Packaging Solutions Group, Jonesboro, AR
  • Arkansas Glass Co., Jonesboro, AR
  • Master Print Group, Jonesboro, AR
  • Hays Food Town, Northeast Arkansas
  • Food Smart, Jonesboro, AR
  • Food Giant, Northeast and Central, AR
  • Harp’s, Jonesboro, AR

Thanks to everyone for making this happen!

 

Lee and Michael Quessenberry

Life Happens: And Sometimes it’s Good

Hey guys! Lee and I have been meaning to continue our blog, but things have been really busy… in a good way.  We have been busy making, distributing, and demoing our products. This weekend was a bit of a break for me, as I have been smoking Boston butts almost every weekend.  I catered a friend’s wedding, then I smoked up some butts for our demo. We double teamed the demo weekend. I set up in Harrisburg at the Edward’s Food Giant, and Lee and Jeff set up at the Edward’s Food Giant in Bryant.  If you have never been to the one in Harrisburg, you should go.  They have groceries, supplies, guns, and awesome BBQ sauce.  I know where I am going if there is a zombie apocalypse… Anyway, the manager of the Bryant, AR store saw our display in Harrisburg a few weeks back and loved it. So we now have our products in Bryant as well.

On top of all the busy BBQ things we have been doing I also got a new day job. I put in my notice at Rural Sourcing, and started at E.C. Barton and Company as a software developer.  Leaving Rural Sourcing was tough, I worked there for 8 years. I have made lots of friends there, and learned a lot.  I still plan to have lunch with my former coworkers pretty regularly. I also look forward to getting to know my new work family.  I can already tell that everyone seems to jive pretty well there.  On my second day at E.C. Barton’s Lee and I catered BBQ for the Independence Day work lunch.

This weekend I didn’t cook anything. But, it too has been a little busy. Jeff and Patrick are on vacation, and Jeff normally does all of our online order shipping. Well no sooner than he went on vacation we got 3 orders from our website, and 2 from Amazon.  So, I have been trying to gather shipping supplies and get those out.  Isn’t that how it typically goes? lol  Like if you are working retail and you send someone home because your labor is getting high, then you get busier than ever. I’m not complaining… I enjoy having the sales, I just think it’s funny.

Stay tuned we will be posting pretty regularly again…

Day 4: 55 Racks of Ribs for A Good Cause

 

Michael Quessenberry and the Northeast Arkansas Legal Support Professionals Raise nearly $1,400 for NEA families.

Michael Quessenberry and Amelia Harris worked together to cook and sell 55 racks of Jim Quessenberry’s Rub and Sauce Beautiful candied ribs in order to help the Northeast Arkansas Legal Support Professionals Group assist with their regular philanthropic events. The group aides with scholarships, donations, and other assistance alongside CASA and other family assistance groups throughout the Northeast Arkansas region.

Michael cooked all night on Wednesday April 25th and through the morning of April 26th in order to present the ribs to each of the donating members of the fundraiser. The ribs will be delivered at 5pm on April 26th.

The Arkansas Trav’ler Championship Tradition

The Arkansas Trav’ler BBQ Cooking team has historically provided catering services in official and some not so official capacities for over 35 years. When Jim started the competitive cooking team he had already been cooking and providing for those in need for several years. His big heart and bigger head paved the way for his sons, Lee and Michael, to carry on a tradition of giving back to the community.

For inquiries about how we can help your next fundraiser, give us a shout or email us at sales@bluffcitybbqsupply.com.

Grill Masters Club: January 2018 VIP Jim Quessenberry BBQ!

What Is the Grill Masters Club?

The Grill Masters Club is a “flavor of the month” monthly subscription box that is sent to members once a month containing niche and prize winning barbecue and grilling products. It’s the perfect way to sample a broad range of uniquely crafted products that you would have normally never had the opportunity to sample. For us, it’s a unique way to introduce our products to hundreds of new people.

Here are a few past examples including our friends at Big Bob Gibson in Decatur, AL.

Preparing the Unprepared.

Jim Quessenberry BBQ Ships a Ton of BBQ Sauce
This is literally a ton (2000 lbs) of BBQ sauce with a whole lot of spice on top.

Several months ago we reached out to The Grill Masters Club to break the ice and get involved with them as a potential outlet for our products. They asked us to send some samples and wait for a response. We sent them our original Sauce Beautiful and original Rub Beautiful in their packaging and held our breath. After putting them to the back of our minds and focusing on other opportunities, we nearly forgot that we reached out to them. Then with the weight of the holiday season bearing over everyone, we got an email from The Grill Masters Club requesting 500 of each product. We prepared for the cook and got the ingredients ready to go for 500 units to complete the order, or so we thought. As soon as we were ready to finish bottling the last bottle of each product, The Grill Masters Club contacted us requesting 700 units total. During our initial run of 500, we reached out to John Auker of The Delta Cuisine in West Memphis, TN to schedule another cook for the following weekend. We scheduled the cook and prepared for an additional 200 units each. I jokingly replied to the email and suggested that they order 1,000 altogether!

After a few days, we got another email needing 100 more units for a total of 800. At this point, 1,000 wasn’t a joke anymore. I suggested an additional 50 units be tacked on just in case there was an increase in sales for Christmas, and we agreed to 850. The weekend was scheduled and we continued to produce what was asked of us.

But Wait! There’s More!

We bottled, packaged, and wrapped 850 jars of sauce and 850 bottles of spice and put them on a palette to pick up so that they could be delivered to The Grill Masters Club warehouse in Greenville, SC. Literally as soon as the palette was picked up by our delivery contractor, another email came in requesting 100 more units! It was pure madness and we loved it! Luckily we bet on the strategy to produce 1,000 units and the product was ready to go. The only drawback was that we ran completely out of labels for sauce! We usually purchase labels in bulk but this was a single 1,000 unit hit and the better part of the roll of labels we had left! In fact, we had to get a short run two days before Christmas of 100 labels. Thankfully Art Advertising in Jonesboro, AR was able to grant our Christmas wish and the scramble to label the last 100 jars of sauce was in the bag.

 

Jimq Label Design 2018
We have a slightly updated new label design for 2018. It was rushed into production because we ran out of labels!

Clown Car To The Rescue!

So the old saying goes, “That ship has sailed,” and so it had and was on its way to South Carolina, albeit 100 units shy of 950. Luckily for us, our trusty clown car was fresh off of an oil change and looking for a new purpose in life. Jeff and Patrick loaded up the clown car with the last 100 jars and bottles and took a trip across Northeast Mississippi to see family and then on to South Carolina to deliver the final payload. We’re thankful for their last minute Hail Mary pass completion and determination to succeed in fulfilling the seemingly never ending demand set forth by The Grill Masters Club.

Special Thanks

Thank you to Aaron, Steven, Tom, Brandon, Gil, Wesley, and Kayla for your contributions in making this order happen.

January 4th is The Cutoff for Jim Q Fans

Be sure to put your order in before January 4th for a chance to become a member of the Grill Masters Club January 2018 Box. There are no obligations and you can cancel at any time. Our box will ship out on January 7th. After Jan 4th, subscriptions will start in the February shipment.

We Haven’t Blogged In A While, But You Probably Didn’t Notice.

Hello! Yes, I know it’s been a while and I am sorry for the delay in posts. We’ve been extremely busy the last several months and most of you have kept up with us on Facebook, which would have me worrying about you all if we were only getting single digit likes and shares, but there are people that enjoy a good introspective look into our barbecue business through our blog, so I thought I would give you all a nod and say thanks. Thanks.

Let’s see, what have we done since July 4th? Well we won third place in chicken in the Downtown Jonesboro State Championship BBQ Contest and sold a couple hundred gallons of sauce and rub. We clowned around, promoted Patrick, bought some Maypop tires for the clown car, prayed for Lynn and Ryan during the hurricane that hit the Florida Keys, listened to the new Flatland Funk Donors album, dropped the old radiator out of the clown car, drank a few beers, watched football, shot rifles at the range, made hundreds of gallons of bbq sauce, sold some sauce to some friends and family, made our youngest of fans happy, played stupid games, won stupid prizes, and worked our normal jobs.

We also upped our supply at Cregeen’s, collaborated with Travis McAlister, and put some new dishes on the menu for you all to enjoy if you’re in Jonesboro. For real though, go eat the Quail Sliders there. My god man. They’re insanely tasty and are paired with our Alabama style white sauce.

All in all it has been a pretty good summer and we’re happy to continue making our great products with you all. Now here’s a picture of Michael hanging out with Alf for all of you to collectively say “awwww” to yourselves. Enjoy.

Celebrating Amerexit 241! Happy Birthday USA! Free Samples Update!

We ran out of free samples again! This time we limited our engagement to the United States only because our friends from across the pond got a little too excited and nearly put us in the poorhouse to cover shipping of the 75 whopping orders to the UK! Thank you to all who participated. We are currently developing some ideas on freight shipping via ocean transport that may be slower, but ultimately more cost efficient to get our goods across the pond.

This time we had nearly 600 people sign up for free samples! We can only realistically cover about 200 of those in the near future with 50 being our short term goal in the coming week. Samples will be packed and shipping out on a first come first serve basis as early as this weekend and we will continue to ship in groups of 10-20 each month until we get each and every one of you something to taste. You can bet your bottom dollar we won’t be opening ourselves up to another large free sample campaign for at least a year or more, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a good deal on our products!

Use the code AMEREXIT at checkout and get 20% off of your entire order!

While our friends across the pond settle into their newfound independence via BREXIT, we are here to remind them that we will be celebrating our exit from the British Empire for the 241st consecutive year with copious amounts of alcohol, fireworks, and barbecue. We hope that each and every one of you has a safe holiday and we look forward to supplying you at least for the rest of the summer with the best barbecue sauces and rubs!

SHOP NOW

2 Years of Putting the Q in BBQ

Last month we celebrated the two-year anniversary of our company, Jim Quessenberry BBQ.  For me that was the beginning of my journey with Jim, although fans know Jim Quessenberry’s BBQ sauce has been around for over 30 years.  My adventures with Jim have seen a lot of ups and downs the last two years, but I can easily say the good times have far outweighed any bad times.  The stories told by Jim’s sons, Michael and Lee, and Jim’s many acquaintances have provided me with enough pieces for me to create an image in my mind of the man and the legend.  I am also pretty confident the apples didn’t fall too far from the tree.  A few weeks ago I was going through my camera looking at the pictures stored in it.  I picked some pictures which best capture the last 2 years to share with you as we celebrate our anniversary and look forward to many years ahead.

~Jeff Marchetta

 

SAIICE BFATIIITIIL

9/11/2014   SAIICE BFATIIITIIL.  Enough Said. Check out that Shrink wrap!

2

2/2/2015   “You just got to get it in their mouth…..” @ Charlies Meat Market

3

4/5/2015 Duct Tape, Card Table, Sauce, and Lee at Hays on Gee St.

Family

10/17/2015   Making sauce becomes a family affair…. like everyone.  Love these kids!

BC4000

11/16/2015  The One and Only BC 4000

Demo Wset Memphis

6/2/2016  Hello West Memphis!

Clown Car Walnut Ridge

8/5/2016  The Clown Car Rolling through Walnut Ridge

Similarity

8/16/2016  I kind of see the similarity

It goes where we go

9/21/2016  I do talk to it occassionally

Try Samples of Jim Quessenberry BBQ This Weekend!

JugLargeWe’re on the road again! Meet the boys of Jim Quessenberry BBQ at Hays Supermarkets in Walnut Ridge, AR with Lee Q in attendance!

Want more Q in your life? Come to Hays Supermarket in Blytheville,AR and meet Michael Q on Saturday from 10:30a-4pm on Saturday.

Enjoy some free pulled pork samples  prepared by chef Michael with Jim Quessenberry’s sauces and rubs. Don’t worry we will have plenty of products on hand for purchase and don’t forget about our JUGS OF Q for $24.95!