A billion years ago when I was in high school, mullet and all, my best friend Robert Miller introduced me to the wonderful world of hot sauce. Rob was no joke when it came to spicy. We’d hit the local pizza joint and he insisted on jalapenos on it. And then he’d add his own hot sauce that he carried wherever he went.
Back then, kids, there was no Ed Currie with his Carolina Reapers or even Ghost Pepper sauces. No, we had to make due with Tabasco Sauce, uphill in the snow, both ways. And we liked it.
Really, we had no choice. It’s not like some guy in Slovakia dreamed up a heavy duty shaker small enough to fit on a keychain. No, that didn’t happen until very recently, when George Svec founded Keygoes just for that purpose.
His product is like a pill carrier only made of brushed steel, with a plastic tube full of mild, medium, or hot chile powder in it. The Keygoes looks sharp, holds plenty of chile powder for your personal needs, and even has a sight gauge on the side to let you know when you’re running low. You can order refills from George’s company, including empties so you can carry your own blend. I picked George’s noggin for a little more info on Keygoes. Here’s what he had to say.
How did you come up with the idea?
GS: In my previous job I had few colleagues who grow their own chile peppers, dried them, blend them and brought them in small pharmacy bottles so we can carry them to cantine or restaurant for a lunch. It worked great for us. At that time I came up with idea of nice metal keychain for the chile powder.
What’s it made out of?
GS: I decided to make the keychain from really durable material so it won’t become scratchy after a few days/weeks while carrying it all day alongside your keys. Keygoes is made from stainless steel with a brushed finish.
What do you like the most about the product?
GS: I love the taste of meals with some chile powder, so keygoes:chili is part of my life. As keygoes:chili founder I really like the testimonials and nice feedback from customers we receive. Customers are coming back to us for more keychain and refills (as presents for relatives and friends) and this is perfect. Thanks!
Tell us about your own history with chile peppers.
GS: I think I am still a novice with no significant chile peppers history, but I am learning and trying new and new chile products, peppers itself.
What other new pepper products do you have planned for the future?
GS: I am coming from Slovakia, heart of the Central Europe and currently we are going live with e-shops dedicated for Slovak-Czech market (www.chillimarket.sk), Hungarian market (www.chilimarket.hu) and Polish market (www.chilimarket.pl). We offer our keychains, hot sauces, chile powders and now we are adding whole dried chiles (mostly Mexican peppers, which are great for home cooking). So we will try to bring new flavours to our local cuisine. Secondly we are going to widen our keychain portfolio with keygoes:stevia and keygoes:salty.
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