We sat, sweat beading and minds racing. Today was the day.  We were about to go to war. Not with another person nor country, but with something that has always posed a threat to our health and safety. It’s there. It always has been. That six letter word that sits a top of the menu, staring at you, challenging you. Blazin.

  The six letter word on the menu at Buffalo Wild Wings. The one with the highest spiciness rating. Yeah that. We were about to go to war with that.

  The task was simple: Eat an entire Blazin wing from Buffalo Wild Wings. As easy as that sounds, many go into this challenge and underestimate the power of the Blazin sauce. Between the three of us, we consider ourselves complete rookies when it comes to spicy things. The Blazin’ wings from Buffalo Wild Wings are iconic for their ability to prove the strongest of people to be complete wusses and send them begging for a glass of milk. This will be a test to see if we have what it takes to master one on the hottest sauces on the face of the planet.

  With minds focused and taste buds ready to be destroyed, we accepted the challenge. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s about to get hot.  

Travis

Prediction:

 Spicy food has not been a huge part of my life. I have tried various hot sauces and put the crushed red pepper on my food, but I have never experienced any amount of heat that I couldn’t handle. I am confident that I will be able to eat the entire wing and I believe I can talk myself through the pain. I think the heat will strike immediately when the wing hits my tongue and spread to my lips and throat. I hope the chicken part of the wing will mask some of the heat and make it less hot. Once I become consciously aware of the real intensity of the heat, I believe my mouth will be in a state of temporary paralysis and extremely uncomfortable.

Reality:   

 Whether is winning a game or a championship, Buffalo Wild Wings has always been a place of celebration and relaxation.  However, this time it felt completely different.  

  As I walked into the restaurant, the large television screens towered over me in intimidation and the smell of crispy wings smacked me in the face. Without being able to see the blazin’ wings yet, I could feel their presence, they were here, and they were waiting. I looked at the chocolate milk I brought, I was going to need it.

  After ordering, ten minutes remained until I was going face to face with one of the hottest wings around.  The countdown had started….ten minutes, nine minutes..  

  After the wait, there it was, bright red and slobbered with an unhealthy amount of blazin’ sauce. I lifted the wing to my mouth and it seemed to be staring deep into my soul. After taking a deep breath to relax the nerves, I threw the whole boneless wing in my mouth and began to chew frantically. At first, the chicken was delicious, and the heat was undetectable, but then the heat hit, and it hit hard. These wings were no joke and definitely live up to their name. Before I knew it, my mouth flared up and I felt like I had thousands of scorpios stinging my tongue. The heat spread all around my mouth, down my throat, and even on my lips. The first minute was unbearable. I found myself scrambling for a drink of chocolate milk, and although it helped a little, it was not a permanent solution. With my mouth on fire, I tossed and turned without knowing what to do.  My tongue felt swollen and fuzzy and anything that touched it afterward felt like an electric shock. I began to sweat uncontrollably and struggled in discomfort for nearly 20 minutes.

  After drinking an entire quart of chocolate milk, I could declare that I had defeated the Blazin’ wing and won the challenge. Although I had defeated the wing, the wing had severely damaged my mouth and left me in discomfort.

 This was a horrible yet terrific experience and I definitely would recommend it to anyone who wants a challenge. If you want a chance to prove yourself worthy of conquering the Blazin wings, try them, I dare you!

TJ

Prediction:

Personally, I believe that I can handle the intensity of the sauce. I believe that it is going to be extremely hot and very uncomfortable; however, my experience with other hot substances will provide a backbone into conquering the Blazin wings. My best guess is that the wings themselves won’t be good. In fact, I think the hotness of the sauce will completely ruin the wings and the deliciousness the meat usually brings. I’m excited to destroy my innocent taste buds with the murderous Blazin sauce. I’m ready to blaze it.

Reality:  

I placed the boneless wing in my hand. The smell from the sauce wafted into my nose, the intensity already making me nervous. I looked at the little wing, closed my eyes, and popped the sucker in my mouth. At first I thought I had it. I really did. I chewed and looked up and thought to myself, “Wow this isn’t that bad; I have to get these more often.”

That’s when it hit.

That’s when I thought my mouth was legitimately on fire.

There are few words to accurately describe the intensity of the heat in the Blazin sauce. The heat was overwhelming. The insides of my mouth were burning. We both brought a quart of chocolate milk with us to help with the heat. Although the milk did help, it was only a temporary solution. The same overwhelming heat came back each and every time I took a swig of milk. It took a solid 20 minutes before I was able to regain my mouth back to its normal state. The 20 minutes consisted of heavy breathing and constant chugging of chocolate milk. Travis and I looked at each other and both exclaimed “wow.” We were not prepared for the punching blow the Blazin wing had just gave us. However, we refused to give up and kept battling through the pain. Eventually, we made it. We survived. The pain subsided; but, that was only one wing, and there was no way I was eating the rest. All in all, I highly recommend trying the wings for the experience, but I will never order them as a meal itself.

Caroline

Prediction:

One time, I got a burrito and Qdoba with mild queso, and I left with my eyes watering. Another time, I got orange chicken at Panda Express, and I couldn’t finish it because it was so hot. In other words, this may be one of the roughest experiences of my life. I am expecting to leave Buffalo Wild Wings crying. I believe the wings will be incredibly hot; probably the hottest thing I have ever tasted because I steer clear of anything and everything hot. They will probably be disgusting because I will have to chase them with so much milk, and from my experience milk and chicken do not go well together. Despite my weak and sensitive taste buds, I’m ready to blaze it.

Reality:  

My experience differed a little from the boy’s because I ate my hot wing at home. The guys had brought home a wing for me.  I drove over to Travis’ house expecting him to tell me that the wings were not that bad. He told me that they were the spiciest things he had ever tasted. I’m not one to get very nervous for things, but by the time I got home my palms were sweating with anxiousness because I HATE spicy things and I HATE feeling like my mouth is on fire.

  I poured myself a big glass of milk. I also hate milk, so this was about to be an awful experience. I took the wing out of the Buffalo Wild Wings to go box and placed it on a paper plate and in the microwave.

  I grabbed the wing out of the microwave and moved my glass of milk closer to me. I took a bite of the wing and immediately thought: “This isn’t as bad as I thought.” Then, it hit me.

  I felt pain in my mouth that I had never before. My eyes were watering, my nose was running, and I was legitimately sweating. The wing was SO hot. My first thought was to get it out of my mouth, so I spit it out and began chugging my glass of milk. I ran over to the sink and tried to wash my tongue off before I gave up and poured myself another glass of milk.

  After a couple of minutes, the bulk of the pain subsided and I was left with a dull searing in my mouth. I continued to drink milk and ice water for about 20 minutes before the pain completely went away.

  When my mouth was finally feeling normal again, I drafted myself a contract that I would never eat a hot wing again. Just kidding. But I did vow to never eat a Blazin wing EVER again. I do not understand how someone would willingly put themselves in a situation to be that uncomfortable. I’ll be sticking with my mild sauces from now on, thank you.