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If you need a sign of how great Jon Mansmith is at creating barbecue sauces, look no further than the 30 or so awards he won from the American Royal International Barbecue Sauce Competition in 1992 and 1993. Another indication? You won’t find awards in the following years because the organizers changed the rules to keep Mansmith from winning everything again.
“I was making my barbecue paste at that time,” Mansmith said. “You can add anything to it. There were seven flavor categories, like fruit or mustard, and a hot and mild for each. So I mixed it up 14 different ways and put them in pint jars with a lids on them.”
It was easy for Mansmith, a former chemist and full-time foodie, to develop the variations.
Mild Mustard? Equal parts of paste, prepared mustard and white wine. Hot Vinegar? Two parts paste, three parts white vinegar, and Tabasco and habanero to taste. Hot Liquor? Four parts paste, two parts tequila, one part lime juice, one part lemon juice, and liquid pepper to taste. South Carolina style? One part paste, one part mustard and one part ketchup.
Intended to showcase the versatility of his paste, mixing it in small batches for the competition backfired when the event organizers insisted henceforth that all entries had to be available in bottle form on store shelves. So, no more on-the-fly Mansmith concoctions…
“Basically,” Mansmith said, “I was taking awards right and left, and they kicked me out of the competition. It said right on the entry form, ‘no pastes.’ It wasn’t until this year that we entered another competition.”
The barbecue paste was a happy accident, created in 1990 after someone forgot the barbecue sauce for the pork chops at an awards dinner for the Future Farmers held at the Hollister Elk’s Club.
“Somebody would bring the beans, and someone would bring the sauce,” Mansmith said. “I was getting ready to do those pork chops and no sauce. So I went into the kitchen and hauled out 10 cans of this, jars of this, and jugs of that. And I put it in a big old pot, probably at least five gallons.”
Mansmith diluted the thick concoction with water and served it with the chops. The resulting sauce was an immediate hit with the crowd.
“When I got home,” he said, “my wife Juanita asked me, ‘What did you use for barbecue sauce? People are calling, wanting to know where they can buy some.’ I thought, ‘I think we’re sitting on something here.”
The next day, Mansmith set out to duplicate his spontaneously created sauce, mixing huge cans of ingredients and jars of herbs and spices in different combinations and, along the way, making a huge mess out of his kitchen.
“I had barbecue sauce all over the ceiling,” he said. “But I found out as we started playing with it that you could mix it with anything. It was just the most versatile thing in the world.”
The product works according to a basic rule of thumb: start with half paste and half pretty much anything else, and you have a perfect sauce.
“You know,” Mansmith said, “you start by using sodas, then you can try beer, wine and hard liquors. You can start throwing jams, jellies, and syrups in it. You can use any liquid to dilute it, and the flavor would be totally different.”
John Mansmith said the sauce used at the roadside barbecue truck now run by his son, Mike Mansmith, had a similar spontaneous start. The recipe was simple, starting with a bucket, barbecue paste, orange juice and apricot syrup. The customers loved it as well.
People said, ‘Oh, you should sell your own sauce,’” Mansmith said. “They didn’t want to go through the trouble of making the sauce from the paste, even though the recipes are in a little booklet right on the lid.”
Mansmith’s granddaughter, Carrie Mansmith, said that as the demand for the sauce grew, bottling it became inevitable.
“They would come to the barbecue and just want extra sauce, extra sauce,” she said. “Finally, Grandpa convinced himself that we have the knowledge, we have the recipe, we have the connections. We know where to get it done. Let’s just do it.”
First bottled in 2024, that sauce is the Original California Style. All that fruit gives the sauce a sweet, citrusy acidity with a modest heat that envelops the taste buds and warms the throat. Throughout, swirling accents come from a complex mix of herbs and course-ground pepper. The sauce is heavy enough to impart a rich flavor but light enough to allow the taste of the meat to come through.
Another new product bottled last year, Sticky Competition Sauce, was entered into the American Royal International Barbecue Sauce competition this year, taking fifth place in the Original Sauce category. Considering the competition, Mansmith is happy with the results.
“You go to that competition,” Mansmith said, “and you see all those other barbecue sauces lined up on tables from here to a block away. So, fifth place is nothing to sneeze at.”
The Sticky Sauce is made with molasses and tomato paste cut with distilled vinegar. It is seasoned with onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, herbs and spices. It has a deep, husky flavor that combines sweet and savory, with enough heat to give it a modest kick. The course mix of herbs gives the sauce an intriguing texture and bright highlights.
The successful launch of the two new sauces is just the beginning of possible product launches for the company as the 80-year-old Mansmith continues to tinker with new ideas.
“I love what I’m doing,” he said. “It’s food involved andI love to eat. And it keeps me busy.”
Mansmith BBQ sauces are sold locally only through Bertuccio’s Market (2410 Airline Highway, Hollister), Windmill Market (301 The Alameda, San Juan Bautista), and the Mansmith BBQ Truck on Airline Highway in Hollister on Fridays and Saturdays. They are also available directly from Mansmith’s and through Amazon.
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.
BenitoLink thanks our underwriters, Hollister Super and Windmill Market, for helping to expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and give our readers the stories that interest them. Hollister Super (two stores in Hollister) and Windmill Market (in San Juan Bautista) support reporting on the inspired and creative people behind the many delicious food and drink products made in San Benito County. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
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