The first time Sarah and Joseph Stanoch hosted a “Hot Ones”-inspired party in 2017, they debunked the theory that milk is the best way to extinguish a spicy mouth.

After watching one of their friends chug a gallon over the sink and then proceed to puke, the couple was grateful they stuck to beer.

“I used to work at Anheuser Busch, so we actually had the party in my office on a Saturday, and it was just four of us, but they had a bar in the office with unlimited beer, and I feel like light beer really helps with the heat,” Sarah said. “Milk is clearly not the way to go, and water just exacerbates it because it swirls the heat around your mouth.”

“Hot Ones” is a popular YouTube series that host Sean Evans started in 2015. He interviews celebrities while they eat their way through chicken wings with 10 increasingly hotter sauces. Evans uses hot sauce as a way to disarm his guests, asking them more personal questions as the spice level heats up. And Colorado’s had a few features in the lineup over the years, including Boulder-based Seed Ranch Flavor Co.’s Hot Thai Green sauce in season 11, Fort Collins-based Burns & McCoy Exhorresco sauce in season 7 and Mezcaline Oaxacan sauce in season 18, as well as Denver-based Sauce Leopard’s The Seventh Reaper sauce.

Joseph and Sarah Stanoch’s hot sauce collection at their home in Denver on Friday, June 21, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

During that time, hot sauce culture has become its own beast. Evans’ painful interviews have inspired masochists like the Stanochs, to convince their own friends to gather around a table and cry, sweat, vomit and suffer together. Baere Brewing Co. in Denver even hosted its own hot wing challenge on June 22, using the “Hot Ones” sauce kit.

“My husband and I are big heat thrill seekers, but it’s just a fun summer activity to get to know your friends more that’s pretty low budget,” Sarah said. “And hey, you get to reuse the sauces after.”

For the Stanochs’ second “Hot Ones” party in February 2022, Sarah decided to challenge herself and go without any liquid relief. She was inspired by the singer Lorde’s impressive interview. “I was so proud of myself but then of course, the next day, my esophagus was just on fire,” she said.

“Hot Ones” premiered its 24th season at the end of May, and after watching it the other day, Sarah has a new idea in her back pocket. “If I do it a third time, I think I’ll try using ice cream to help with heat after watching Will Smith on the new season,” she said.

But it’ll be a while before the next party, since “I’m pregnant right now, and that’s probably not good for the baby,” she laughed.

For your own “Hot Ones” party, here are some tips from the fire-breathing experts:

How to convince your friends

Not everyone has to be a hot sauce connoisseur to join in on the searing fun. The Stanochs bribed eight of their friends with a pony keg of Oskar Blues pilsner, and even made seitan wings for the vegetarian attendees. Four of the six guests completed all 10 of the wings, and two folded at sauce No. 8. “We made bets beforehand, trying to guess who was most likely to rub their eyes,  who would drink the most beer, who was most likely to finish or vomit,” Sarah said.

Lexi Omholt and her fiancé, Jack Verschleiser, on the other hand, just moved to Denver a month ago, and used the “Hot Ones” challenge as a way to get to know their new next door neighbors. The couple are longtime fans of the YouTube series and just the other week bought the official “Hot Ones” kit (a full 10-pack is $120) with the lineup of sauces featured in season 23.

Their next-door neighbors in Denver’s Highland neighborhood, Courtney Peter and Hayden Davis, were over for an introductory dinner when they spotted the kit. The group decided to spice up their second double date and attempt “the gauntlet,” Omholt said.

“It wasn’t your typical formal dinner party with the four of us practically dying in their kitchen,” Omholt said. “We spent two hours together, crying, bonding, and getting closer.”

The couple now plans to reuse the kit, and this time they’ll get to know the whole neighborhood at the upcoming block party. “I don’t know if I’ll be passing around Da Bomb, though,” Omholt said.

Give fair warning for Da Bomb

The main reason to secure an official “Hot Ones” sauce kit is to ensure a taste of Da Bomb, which is the only sauce that has consistently remained in every season’s lineup because of its ferocity. Da Bomb, which hails from Kansas City, is made with habanero peppers and chipotle puree. Actor Jason Sudeikis, a Kansas City native, called it a “disgusting sauce that hurts your mouth,” last season.

“Hot Ones” uses the Scoville scale to measure the spice level, and Da Bomb measures 135,600 Scoville Heat Units. Da Bomb is strategically placed at No. 8 in the lineup to make the final two sauces manageable.

Meghan Keelean and Austin Thornburg hosted eight of their friends at Thornburg’s apartment in Washington Park last year. “It was a mix of people that I know are die-hard fans of hot sauce and spicy food, and people that just like to go to parties,” Thornburg said.

“Consent was king. No one had to eat the wings if they didn’t want to,” he added.

Out of the eight attendees, two folded ahead of Da Bomb “because they knew what was coming next,” Thornburg said.

Thornburg has always sought out spice, ordering El Jefe wings from Fire On The Mountain by choice and eating raw hot peppers straight from the garden. But even Da Bomb gave him pause. “As somebody that has an entire side of his refrigerator dedicated to hot sauces, it’s not great,” Thornburg said. “It’s extremely hot but doesn’t taste very good. I’ve tasted the full line of three or four seasons worth of the show and Da Bomb is always markedly hotter in the lineup.”

Keelean, who is more reluctant when it comes to spicy food, made it all the way through the lineup, even Da Bomb, but not without heading to the sink to pour milk over her tongue. “You just have to ride it out,” she said. “At one point, I just went outside and breathed in the cool air.”

Make your own wings

Thornburg has hosted two “Hot Ones” parties and cooked his own wings both times. Both were during cold weather so people could find some relief outside. Most recently, he grilled 100 wings, seasoned them with salt and pepper and sauced them as they went. “It’s best to pre-cook the wings and let them cool down, so they don’t break the sauces when you toss them,” he said. “And only toss as many wings as will be eaten. You don’t need extra Da Bomb pieces.”

Thornburg offered to-go boxes for the leftover wings, and let each of his guests take home their favorite sauce from the “Hot Ones” kit.

Offer a variety of quick relief methods

While milk is the obvious choice – and the one most often featured on the show – it’s not the only one. Gordon Ramsay famously brought Pepto Bismol, donuts, lime and lemon juice and a whole bag of tricks to his interview.

“It honestly wouldn’t have occurred to me to have any sort of relief if I didn’t watch the show,” Thornburg said. For his “Hot Ones” party, he made horchata and virgin pina colada mix for the table. There were also some cheese and crackers, plus a gallon of milk, which they ran out of towards the end. Instead of drinking it, Keelean preferred swishing it around in her mouth.

“The prize was an ice cream cake,” Thornburg said.

Others, like the Stanochs, made sure to have wet wipes to avoid any hot-sauce-in-the-eye incidents.

Get the scoop on your friends, like host Sean Evans

Nils Thorson invited three friends to attempt the “Hot Ones” challenge” during the pandemic to pass the time. “Maybe if I had asked them to do the same thing today, their answers would be a little bit different,” Nils said. “But it’s not like you’re going to consume Da Bomb once a week after this, so we were able to check that off the box.”

His wife, Olivia, who has a degree in broadcast journalism, decided to act as host Sean Evans and ask the group surprising questions while they suffered their way through each wing. They filmed it and posted it on YouTube, so they could show other friends and family stuck inside.

“When we host something, we don’t half-ass it,” Nils said. “We hosted a Harry Potter party a couple of years ago and sorted people by house. …If we’re going to do something, we go all out anyway, so if I’m going to ask my friends to come over, and I know there’s a guarantee of pain, then I want to bring as much fun, intrigue and excitement to the experience as I can. “

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The official “Hot Ones” kits don’t come with question prompts, but they should. Olivia called each of the participants’ wives to get some out-of-left-field prompts for her questions, like a story about how one husband rang up a huge bill calling the Miss Cleo Psychic Hotline one summer when he was younger and had to paint houses to pay for it.

While trying to just catch a breath after Da Bomb, she asked them what their favorite things about their wives were.

“Truly taking on the format of the show allowed us to get to know each other more vulnerably and deeply,” Olivia said. “We got to develop the friendship in a new way by asking surprising questions and also watching how people react.”

Poonkulali Thangavelu | Bankrate.com (TNS)

By 2027, worldwide e-commerce sales are expected to reach $7.96 billion — an increase of about 61% over e-commerce sales since 2021, according to a 2024 report from eMarketer. As this trend of internet and phone shopping keeps growing, so-called “card-not-present” (CNP) shopping activity (which are transactions where you don’t physically swipe your credit card) continues to grow with it.

Although consumers are becoming more comfortable with these types of transactions, there are still various concerns to consider. For instance, whenever you make a credit card purchase online, certain types of data are stored. But is it safe to give your credit card number over the phone? While it may make it more difficult for a company to store your information, how is that information actually handled?

Phone sales are risky for merchants

Phone and internet sales present more risk for merchants than sales where a card can be physically swiped. In fact, eMarketer expected CNP transactions to account for 73% of all credit card fraud losses (totaling $9.49 billion) in 2023. That’s why merchants pay more in swipe fees to accept card-not-present transactions.

Considering this risk, and also because they can’t see your card, merchants involved in phone transactions are likely to ask you for card details when completing a transaction. For instance, they may want to know:

—Your full credit card number

—Your name as it appears on the card

—The card’s CVV (card verification value) or security code

—The expiration date on the card

—Your billing address with zip code

—Your phone number

They may even ask for information that would be on a driver’s license, such as your date of birth and license number.

In spite of the risks of card-not-present transactions, merchants continue to conduct business over the phone — mainly because it also offers some benefits. For instance, some customers might prefer to conduct business with a human who can answer their questions, while others may not have a physical storefront to conduct business.

Security standards for credit card transactions over the phone

While paying over the phone with a credit card means you won’t physically swipe your card, these purchases differ from in-person and online purchases in other ways, as well. For starters, you are conducting the transaction with a human agent — which leads to some additional security concerns. There is a possibility that the agent could compromise your data, either intentionally or unintentionally, or your data could be intercepted by a third person while you are on the call. That’s why the calls should always be conducted over secure networks.

Major card issuers have set up the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council that maintains a Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) governing how merchants should deal with customers’ card information that they receive. The PCI DSS also lays out how to protect information gathered through phone-based transactions.

The PCI standard says that merchants should not retain your card’s CVV or other sensitive authentication data after use (unless there’s any government regulation that supersedes the PCI standard). Also, whenever possible, they shouldn’t store your full primary account number. If storing your full number is necessary, businesses should not store it without taking adequate protections (such as making sure it cannot be read). They can store other input such as your name and the card’s expiration date.

Guidelines for recordings

The PCI standard says that merchants should not record sensitive details you give them over the phone. If a call is being recorded while you deal with an agent, as it might be for customer service purposes, the recording should be paused while they gather that input. This precaution would prevent any interception by a third party that searches a recording. Another way to prevent recording would be to input the details on the phone’s keypad.

In case the recording cannot be paused while you are providing sensitive card authentication information, the agent should delete the information after the transaction is authorized. If the information cannot be erased, the merchant should have adequate security protections in place to ensure that outsiders cannot search for and retrieve this sensitive information.

For instance, they should only allow essential personnel access to the data and the information should be encrypted or otherwise rendered unreadable.

How to protect yourself

Having your credit card information stolen isn’t just annoying, it can also be dangerous. Although not all instances of credit card fraud can be prevented, here are some tips for keeping your card details safe while making over-the-phone transactions:

—Ensure you’re dealing with a legitimate company. Prior to making a credit card payment over the phone, be sure that you’re dealing with a reputable business. Get recommendations from friends and family, visit the company’s website and read online reviews about the company prior to engaging in a transaction.

—Only provide your card details if you called them. Never make a credit card payment over the phone if a company calls you unexpectedly. Scammers attempt to steal your personal information by calling you and posing as a legitimate business. Once you’re ready to make a purchase, be sure that you call the company directly. Should you receive a call from a company that you’re considering doing business with, ask to call them back on at a phone number that you have confirmed is legitimate.

—Use a credit card when paying over the phone, not a debit card. In general, credit cards offer much better fraud protections than debit cards. Although debit cards offer some protections (depending on when you report the fraud), you will likely still be liable for some — if not all — of the fraudulent charges made on your debit card. Most credit cards offer “zero liability” protection, which makes them safer for payments made over the phone.

—Confirm the amount of the charge and get a confirmation number. Before you get off the line, be sure you double-check how much you’re being charged by the vendor. Write down the amount of the charge and your confirmation number. Store them both in a safe place in case you need it later.

—Monitor your account for fraudulent charges. As always, it’s important that you regularly check your credit card accounts for fraudulent charges. If you see any suspicious activity, be sure to report it to your card issuer immediately.

—Consider using an identity theft protection service. In addition to signing up for account alerts from your issuer, consider using an identity theft protection service. These services monitor your personal information and help protect you from fraudulent activity. Many of them also provide identity theft insurance and other assistance in the event your information is stolen by criminals.

The bottom line

As internet and phone shopping becomes increasingly popular, card-not-present transactions have also grown. Unfortunately, that increases security concerns for consumers, as well.

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So, is it safe to give your credit card number over the phone? The card industry has security standards on how merchants should deal with the information they collect over the phone so that customer security is not compromised. This standard prohibits the storing of authentication data and limits the storing of other card data.

With that in mind, phone calls can be recorded, and your data can be stored if it is essential. Merchants should have adequate protections for stored data in order to stay compliant with the Payment Card Industry standard. In such transactions, it seems you are more at risk from a rogue agent writing down your card details than the safety of your stored data.

(Visit Bankrate online at bankrate.com.)

©2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

One of the many things that make seven-time Olympic medalist and 2016 Olympic all-around champion Simone Biles so great is the incredible difficulty of the skills she performs.

Watch the broadcasts of the U.S. Olympic Trials for gymnastics happening at Target Center in Minneapolis this weekend, and it should be obvious even to the casual observer.

Her speed, strength and mental acuity, along with superior technique, make it possible for her to do the skills and do them very well, giving her higher difficulty marks than many others.

But she’s far from alone in pushing that envelope.

Gymnasts in the Elite ranks do harder skills every year, and that rise has been exponential since I competed in the 1976 Olympic Trials in Los Angeles at the age of 14.

Some of this rapid ascent is due to better coaching and better tools to learn skills, such as foam pits and rod floors that save wear and tear on joints.

Specific drills allow a gymnast to break a skill down into multiple parts, learning each part properly before doing the whole thing for the very first time.

Growing up in Dickinson, North Dakota, our gym didn’t have a foam pit.

Trying to learn a double back, for instance, required two coaches standing on either side of the gymnast and “chucking” them around.

In addition, competitive gymnastics equipment itself has evolved dramatically, becoming safer, springier and generally better for the athlete.

Back in the day, competing on vault meant going over a smooth, kind of slippery leather-covered rectangular “horse.”

Today’s vault is a padded “table” with a much wider surface area, covered with a textured material.

This has allowed many more gymnasts to perform the Yurchenko entry to the vault, which is a roundoff onto the springboard, back handspring onto the table, with flips, twists or both afterward.

Biles can do a double pike Yurchenko, flipping twice when others flip once. She’s the only woman to do it, and the vault will be named after her if she performs it successfully at the Olympics.

A safety-zone mat that surrounds the springboard is required for that Yurchenko style of entry and gives an extra measure of safety.

The uneven bars in my day were situated much more closely together, with the supports held to the floor by sandbags or weights.

On wrap-around skills, the base of the bars had a tendency to lift up, which was scary.

In those instances, teammates would sit on the weights to help out.

The bars themselves were a strange oval shape; they gradually became rounder and smaller, and easier to hang onto.

Wearing grips with wooden dowels, like most gymnasts do today, also keeps them more secure while circling around the bar.

Also, the bars are now situated much farther apart, allowing for big swings and release moves between them, and are attached by cables to the floor.

The balance beam, too, has changed. When I first started gymnastics, my dad built me a wooden beam for the backyard, and its edges were quite sharp.

The manufactured beams we used in the gym were obviously better but still made of wood and painful if you came down on them awkwardly.

We wore special socks on our feet and ground them into a wooden box with rosin for a good sticky feel.

Today’s beams are padded and covered in a material that’s a whole lot more comfortable than wood.

It still is only four inches wide, though, and that will probably never change.

As for floor exercise (my favorite), wrestling mats were what we tumbled and danced on first, and I’m pretty sure they didn’t get wiped down after the wrestlers used them.

Eventually, there was a floor system manufactured with vinyl covering, which wasn’t great.

At international meets, we used a floor that was essentially plywood sheets covered with a thin layer of carpet.

It had a small amount of “oomph” to it, but was a far cry from the springy floors of today, which are layered with metal springs, plywood, styrofoam and carpet.

All of these factors have come together to keep gymnasts safer, but also allow for increased difficulty, which is inherently riskier and more dangerous.

Here’s wishing all of the athletes a safe and successful competition at Target Center as they vie for a spot to represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games in Paris later this summer!

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The Olympics are more than fun and games. They’re a billion-dollar business with political overtones