Hot n’ spicy.  Mmmm.

Monday, June 2nd marked the first ever company wide chili cook-off here at Stream57, featuring 9 bean-stuffed, veggie-loaded, meat-packed tubs of delicious spicy goodness – enough gas power to fuel a small town.

From Ben’s multi-meat offering to Jim’s veg-friendly feast; Jeremy’s holy-hell-that’s-hot to Daniel’s Indian-influenced stew; the chili’s were quite varied yet remarkably delicious all around.

Our esteemed tasting panel was lead by graphic designer extraordinaire (and resident snack-junkie) Jesse Miksic, a prince of the palatable potencies.  Rounding out his crew of saucy spice-lovers were friends of the Mik-man, Dominic a hockey-playing world-traveling designer from Brooklyn; Anthony, a Boston-based cartoon-costumed wrestler with an appetite; and Johnny, a dumpster-diving ‘Nawleans boy who’s just happy to get a free meal without fighting a raccoon (apparently this “freegan” lifestyle of his is a legit thing…).

The 4-man scoring squad sat sequestered in our lovely conference- slash-dining-room for what seemed like at least 45 minutes before emerging with delicately deliberated scores and results, ranking each pot-o’-fire for complexity and subtlety of the flavor (including any noxious aromas), texture and consistency of the pasty and/or soupy mess, and, of course, the “kick” of the peppers and spices.

Super designer / Siberian superstar Kat once again proved her excellence-in-all-things-awesome with a resoundingly delicious Russian-style chili that utilized whole potatoes and sour cream to distinguish it from its peers.  Her presentation of carefully-design recipe cards and a full-color label only added to its appeal.

Rounding out the top tier was head honcho Ben’s beef-and-beer chili and Daniel’s curry-spiced creation.  Jeremy’s sweet-yet-f@#$ing-spicy chili (which he refused to even taste himself) won the special “hot” prize.

All in all, we were really just treated to a week’s worth of chili leftovers and a whole slew of foreign beers in our fridge.  And we’re all just about as regular as can be.