With the Super Bowl almost here (the Pats are BACK baby!), conversations around our office have naturally turned to the important things – where we’re watching, what we’re eating, and how many wings is too many wings (if there is such a thing). Which brings me to a recent office moment that is very on-brand for football season.
For weeks, I had been talking about a hot sauce I tried called Da’Bomb Beyond Insanity – the infamous sauce from YouTube’s Hot Ones, the show where celebrities answer interview questions while slowly losing their composure over increasingly spicy wings. I did my best to describe the sensation around the office, but words like “intense,” “lingering,” and “you’ll regret it almost immediately” only got me so far. Last week was my birthday, and despite our office tradition of celebrating with top tier cupcakes from Konditor Meister, I made a quiet executive decision to trade buttercream for what can only be described as a controlled burn.
To be fair, I was also the only person who knew exactly what everyone was getting into. The rest of the team? Confident. Curious. Possibly overestimating their spice tolerance. The first bites were met with a brief and very misleading calm… followed almost immediately by chaos. There was coughing. Nervous laughter. Someone went sprinting for anything dairy-related. A few people started pacing the office like movement alone might extinguish the fire. I’m fairly certain I saw one person silently questioning their life choices while staring out the window.
And then there was Adam… completely unfazed. No panic, no pacing, barely even a reaction. Honestly, it was a little unsettling.
What makes this sauce legendary on Hot Ones isn’t just the heat, it’s how quickly it humbles you. One minute you’re chatting, the next you’re negotiating with your taste buds and wondering why your ears are ringing. Once everyone recovered (eventually), it became one of those moments we couldn’t stop laughing about – the kind that turns an ordinary lunch into an instant office story. So as you prepare your Super Bowl menu (whether you’re hosting, attending, or just showing up for the snacks) consider this a friendly piece of advice:
Respect the hot sauce.
Start mild. Work your way up. And if someone casually says, “this one isn’t that bad,” you may want to ask a few follow-up questions. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be adventurous… but it wouldn’t hurt to keep a cupcake nearby. Just in case.
Enjoy the game, enjoy the food, and hopefully your Sunday is memorable for the right reasons.
