BRISTOL, Tenn. — The spices flowed Saturday as crowds gathered to watch six contestants take the stage at the fourth annual Bristol Pepper Fest to compete in both the Ultimate “Beat the Heat” Pepper Eating contest, an all-out pepper eating endurance competition, as well as the Quaker Steak & Lube’s Triple Atomic Wing Challenge.
Before the Ultimate Pepper Eating contest started, Damon Soileau, the owner of Only Burns Twice Chili Peppers, who provided all the peppers for the ultimate pepper eating contest, described how much fun he has deciding what peppers and in which order contestants would face the increasing heat of his peppers.
“I try to just have fun with how to torture people, and I take them on a ride,” Soileau said. “Since the back end is going to be brutal. The intent on those last ones is to just start knocking people out, so the first three or four are all flavor, some heat. If you can’t take the first three, you shouldn’t have signed up.”
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After a hard-fought 10 rounds, Ethan Hargraves, a lawyer from Chattanooga, Virginia, endured the heat and emerged as the victor of the 2022 Ultimate Pepper Eating Contest. In between deep breaths and occasional heaving, Hargreaves explained he had wanted to see how far he could push himself.
“I’m a really competitive guy,” Hargraves said. “I wanted to see how far I could push myself. It was my first time doing it and probably the last time.”
Hargraves, who feels validated in his win, was awarded a variety of gift cards from downtown Bristol businesses.
“Feels fantastic, I gotta tell you it was down to me and that last guy, and I knew I could not eat that platter (of peppers). I just knew if I had a few more bites, I was going to hurl,” Hargraves said. “What I did was I picked up the biggest pepper, and I picked one up on the other hand to try to psyche him out. I don’t know if it worked, but here we are.”
Wes Walker, who organized the Bristol Pepper Fest alongside Believe in Bristol and also served as the master of ceremonies for the Ultimate Pepper Eating contest, highlighted Bristol’s understated love of peppers and described all the contestants as warriors.
“You wouldn’t think that Bristol would have people that are just into the heat like this, but you know we got a trailer full of them,” Walker said. “They are definitely warriors. They just stand up there and just take it.”
Eric Mahala, who missed out on winning the Quaker Steak & Lube Triple Atomic Wing Challenge last year, won the challenge and proclaimed his love of spicy food.
“I had a little hiccup with a wing last year. It brought me from in the lead to third place,” Mahala said. “I love spicy food, and I wanted retribution.”