About a mile south of Lake Providence, Louisiana on the east side of Highway 65 is a sign that looks like a bottle of hot sauce – and we were sitting in a Days Inn motel in Dumas, Arkansas going through pics that night and realized that neither one of us had taken a picture of it – just wow . . . regardless – about a quarter mile off the highway sits a real nondescript group of buildings – Folks – I’M HERE TO SAY IF YOU ARE A FOODIE THAT LOVES HOT SAUCE – IT’S LIKE MECCA TO THE MUSLIMS – SALT LAKE CITY TO THE MORMONS – THE VATICAN TO THE CATHOLICS – Oh My My / Oh Hell Yes . . .
As you go through the front door – on the wall to the right is a picture of the family that made all this delight to your palate happen . . .
This next group of pics is the showroom – and what a showroom! – these are SOME of the “private” label brands they bottle . . .
And SOME of their stuff . . .
And more . . .
These folks even have T-Shirts and stuff – I bought an apron – I’ll get to the stuff we got after a bit – and I seriously thought about handing them my debit card and telling them “Give me one of everything!” – but I didn’t feel like getting slapped upside my head by my Blushing Bride . . .
We headed to “the back” where the magic happens with our guide – a really nice guy named Chance Yates – the plant manager – Ready? – Here we go!
My Blushing Bride and Chance – she was mean to me and made me back up when I asked Chance if I could borrow a fork lift for a minute or two – I wanted to put this in the back of my truck . . .
If I could have gotten a hold of this pallet it would certainly have made Christmas gifts easy this year – just saying . . .
Stuff to make the magic happen? These folks have it by the pallet load . . .
The big cardboard box on a pallet thing on the right in this next pic ? – it has a plastic bladder in it that can be filled with your choice of sauce and then shipped to YOU – and no – the wet blanket my Blushing Bride wouldn’t let me get one ( FILLED of course! ) . . .
And now you folks get to see “The Magic” . . .
The pepper base or “slurry” is pumped into these tanks . . .
Gets all the various magical “stuff” added to it – blended – and . . .
Then it heads out here to where it’s bottled – 3 lines of goodness – lines 1 and 3 are straight bottling lines – at full speed they will EACH do about 200 bottles a minute! – line 2 (which was running when we were there) is a “hot” line – BBQ sauces and stuff with a high sugar content have to be heated and then bottled while hot – think pasteurization . . .
The bulk of their production – like 95%+ – is making sauces for other companies – here’s some getting ready to ship . . .
And another pallet of sauce getting labels . . .
And this gal makes labels by the hundreds AND hand packs the gift boxes and individual orders when folks like YOU order stuff from Panola <<< HERE >>>
And she’s getting ready to pack another order – Is it YOURS??
She even has a rack of bottled magic with the most popular items on it – all ready to lovingly pack and ship to YOU!!
And a shout out to an unsung hero – they are just about wearing this guy down to a nub – but he’s hustling every day to get YOUR order in the truck and on the way to YOU!!
The box of Magic . . .
I suppose y’all wanna see what’s in it?? – Ok, here we go . . .
Chipotle Mustard . . .
Coronet Bay White Lightnin’ pepper sauce – a private label brand . . .
And the one that started all of it – Grady “Bubba” Brown started out in the early 80’s making this recipe for friends and family – and the rest – as they say – is history!
And they even sell breakfast food – and I am not saying nothing about you folks that drink straight vodka for breakfast – no sir – no judgement here!
And a private label BBQ sauce – J. Lee’s
And a 4 pack . . .
For those times when you just can’t decide . . .
And our very own lovingly hand packed gift box – Have YOU ordered YOURS YET ?!?!?
And the #1 must have item – The perfect for Grilling – BBQ’ing – Bedroom MUST HAVE item . . . ( hey now – what you folks do in the privacy of your home with aprons and BBQ sauce and spatulas is none of my concern – no judgement here! – LMAO! )
If you go road tripping on Highway 65 in the neighborhood of Lake Providence Louisiana – stop and say Hi to the folks at Panola Pepper Company – YOU will not regret it!!
And if you can’t make it anytime soon? <<< CLICK HERE TO GO THERE >>> Go check them out on the web! – and for the sake of YOUR palate – check out the recipe link on the site – get over there and get your very own “Magic in a Bottle” on the way !!
Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!
Guns, Fun, Food and More 