Hot Boi Chili Oil started with a dream.
A literal one.
Before we had a brand, a business plan, or a jar on a shelf, I took a nap after making a batch of chili oil that tasted… not great. In that dream, I saw crispy fried garlic floating through the clouds—cut exactly the way we still cut it today.
I woke up, ran back to the kitchen, and kept experimenting.
That dream eventually became Hot Boi: golden garlic crunch, warm aromatics, and enough heat to make your food feel alive.
So it makes sense that our newest flavor also came from a slightly chaotic moment.
The batch that changed our plans
During one production run, the chili flakes we received were much milder than expected.
We had made roughly 1,000 to 1,500 jars’ worth of product. The crunch was still there. The flavor was still there. But the heat was not what people expected from our Original jar.
We did not want to sell it as Original and quietly change a product people already love. But wasting that much product was not an option either.
Then we remembered something important: people had been asking us for a mild version for a long time.
At pop-ups, someone would always ask, “Do you have anything mild?”
For years, the answer was, “Not yet.”
Suddenly, we had a chance to change that.
A café in San Diego and a risky decision
After Lunar New Year Festival in San Diego, I sat in a café with my laptop open, trying to figure out what we should do.
Launching a new product is not a small decision. It means new labels, new inventory, changes to production, team training, and figuring out how it fits into our local pop-ups—all while we are focused on scaling Hot Boi’s operations.
It felt risky.
But so did letting a good product go to waste. And so did ignoring what customers had been telling us all along.
So we moved quickly. We redesigned the labels, brought MILD to pop-ups, and gave people a chance to try it.
The response told us what we needed to know.
Same loud crunch. Less heat.
Hot Boi MILD is not a watered-down Original.
It is still packed with the golden garlic crunch that makes Hot Boi what it is. Still rich, savory, and aromatic. Still made for spooning onto noodles, eggs, dumplings, rice bowls, pizza, and whatever needs a little more life.
It just brings gentler heat.
MILD is for anyone who has wanted the full Hot Boi experience without the fire alarm going off in their mouth. For the spice-curious. For the heat-sensitive. For the friend who always says, “I love the flavor, but I cannot do spicy.”
Nobody should feel left out of the table.
Staying quick on our feet
One thing building Hot Boi has taught us: not every good idea arrives perfectly packaged.
Sometimes it comes from a dream.
Sometimes it comes from a batch that forces you to rethink the plan.
The important thing is staying quick on your feet, listening to your customers, and being willing to make something meaningful out of the unexpected.
That is how MILD came to be.
Same crunch. Full flavor. A little more chill.