You can blame the creation of Reevo’s Hot Sauce on the 2008 Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.
Reeves Callaway, 28, was 13 when his dad let him visit the Smokers Anonymous barbecue team at the Memphis in May competition.
Callaway watched a guy make hot wing sauce. “I guess it was a competition for hot wings,” he says. “I see this guy putting all these things in a bowl.
“I’m seeing grape jelly and orange juice and all these different kinds of spice blends. You see all these things individually. And I thought ‘Holy, shit. There’s a great sauce.’”
Callaway went home and tried to recreate what he witnessed. “I had grape jelly and orange juice.” The result? “It was absolutely terrible.”
Undaunted, Callaway kept trying. “Seeing a sauce come together with all those bizarre ingredients really made me want to try to do that.
“I got a generic Tabasco and cayenne pepper mix. I just started simple. I kind of added a little bit of sweet teriyaki flavor. Some sweet and garlicky flavors and kept it simple instead of the whole pineapple, habanero fruity hot sauces.”
When the next Memphis in May festival rolled around, Callaway was ready. “As a cocky 14-year-old, I said, ‘If I can cook a better wing, then I’m the wing chef this time.’”
His wings came in first place in a blind tasting among team members, and he became the team’s wing chef.
Those wings came in the top 25 that year. “I was addicted after that.”
Callaway, who remained the team’s wing chef, didn’t do much sauce tweaking over the years. “I kept it the same. I just changed how long I would cook the meat. Sometimes I would marinate it longer, maybe sprinkle a little celery salt on it. But the sauce always tasted the same.”
“Look,” he adds, “this sauce is not meant to hurt you. This is not one of those asshole kill-your-tongue hot sauces.”
But, he says, “It’s definitely a savory tang and it’s a growing heat. The first bite is pretty mild. And your seventh and eighth bite, it’s getting hot.”
Callaway decided to take his sauce to another level the year it reached sixth place at the Memphis in May competition. In 2019, Callaway, who graduated in marketing and advertising from the University of Memphis, decided to sell his sauce commercially. He named it Reevo’s Hot Sauce after himself. “I’ve been called ‘Reevo’ by my parents since I can’t remember.”
Reevo’s Hot Sauce is now sold in Memphis establishments, including Cordelia’s Market, King & Union Bar Grocery, Ben Yay’s, and Triangle Meat Market. Callaway makes smaller batches in his kitchen. He uses commercial kitchens for larger orders.
He also makes a local honey hot sauce, which, for now, is only available online at askforreevos.com. “Regular hot sauce with honey added. It delays the heat.
“That honey makes it sweet on your tongue. And the heat slides down the back of your throat. So, a little more flavor and sweet on top on the first bite and the heat builds on the back end.”
As for future products, Callaway says, “I’m kind of open to see where it goes. I’m not really quitting my job to see how big I can make it right now. I’m really enjoying it being a fun thing on the side.
“Maybe a barbecue rub, hot wing spice or something down the line, but nothing in the works right now.” Callaway’s day job, by the way, is perfect for somebody who makes hot sauce. “I work at Shambaugh & Son selling fire alarm systems.”
