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We were raised in wide open spaces, educated by agriculture and treated as one of our neighbors own. It’s our upbringing that has influenced the style of our hospitality and the flavors we hope to pass on.
Dad raised cattle. Not just for a good steak or a Sunday pot roast dinner but also for the best sloppy joes ever.
Seeing Mom bounce across the pasture while we were putting up hay or pull up to the corral at branding time
in her station wagon was always a welcome sight. The tailgate buffet had arrived. And those delicious memories of getting off of the bus after school, knowing there would be a treat on the counter from a hand me down recipe or clipping from the local paper was waiting.
Today we don’t cook anything particularly fancy but we have learned our menu very well.
Tom has enjoyed a 27 year career in veterinary pharmaceuticals as a beef territory manager.
His travels have taken him to meetings across the country and allowed him to enjoy some of the very best steakhouses the United States has to offer.
Customer appreciation is always a priority for Tom. Bringing donuts and coffee or ordering a sub sandwich for the office crew was the normal protocol for a sales rep. Tom’s idea of appreciation was to grill a steak. His passion for grilling grew during these years as he grilled from the tailgate of his truck.
A wife and a mother first, Brandi has spent some great working years, at a vet clinic, vehicle sales, checking groceries and 9 years in real estate. Territory realignments with Tom’s job have landed them in Thermopolis, Wheatland, Cheyenne and Torrington.
Wyoming is literally one big family and one big business. Hospitality isn’t just for the home or restaurant.
We believe it’s the core of doing all business. People still do business with people.
It was fair time 2004. Our daughter Rockie showed 4-H steers. Her invitations to the Junior Livestock Sale were always handmade and included a beef recipe for prospective buyers. Rockie has always had a brave flavor profile, an appreciation for all types of food and can put together an impressive plate of something even when the cupboard seems empty.
Up until this time Martha Stewart had been Brandi’s home kitchen mentor. Then came Bobby Flay, the grill and green chilies'! Together they decided on a grilling recipe for the invitation. The search through the collection of cookbooks for a grilling spice had become monotonous. Nothing seemed to be the recipe we wanted to pass on.
So as inspiration should prevail, we took a little of this recipe and some of that recipe and made our own. Coffee seemed to be a novel ingredient and logically seemed compatible with the expected ingredients. The idea of adding brown sugar brought images of melting the spices together and creating a subtle sweetness that you couldn’t put your finger on. Experimenting with sweet and savory flavors together was intriguing and becoming a thing.
“Blackening” was still a fairly new technique in Louisiana. It hadn’t made its way to Wyoming yet. It does not mean to burn black, but to create a dark crust and earthy flavor using spices, sugar, and butter to cook in a cast iron pan. Well, if you can do that in a cast iron pan then you should be able to do that on the grill right? There is the original version of the recipe.
Late spring 2009 the company that Tom was working for announced that they were merging with another company. The surprise announcement caused us to react very quickly. We listed the house and remained homeless for a few months while we figured things out. Moving to Torrington seemed to make sense. We knew people, the schools were reputable, and after all, it's an ag community, we’ll figure something out.
Yoder, Wyoming. Population 169. The town hall, a post office, a community center, and a small school across the highway. Once destined to be the county seat, full of hustle in the 1920s, is now just foundations of history along the three-block main street. All that is left standing is a closed-up bar and an old filling station that was falling down. We considered the bar option but it was worse than the falling-down filling station and we really didn’t want to run a bar but serving a good burger was appealing. We bought the old filling station and a heck of an experience.
After a complete remodel of the filling station and building a small house behind the restaurant, wanting to please the whole community and draw the passersby. We had ambitious visions. A breakfast menu, “panini” sandwiches, soup and side for lunch during the week, an espresso menu, burgers on Friday night, steaks Saturday night and a liquor license.
And then Tom got hired with the merged company and was back on the road. Needless to say the menu got whittled down pretty quick.
We decided that our seasoning was going to be the way to make this work. After all Tom had gotten rave reviews from his customer appreciation cookouts when he grilled steaks. To coordinate our schedules we agreed to just become a Friday and Saturday night supper club by reservation and cater. At 12 years old Clay was our head waiter. He knew all of the customers, he knew what was going on from the front of the house to the back and kept things running smoothly. On occasion, a customer would ask for steak sauce. Clay would politely tell them “You don’t need sauce for my Dad’s steaks” and walk away. The surprising comment didn’t ever deter anyone from coming back. Tom was on the grill and Brandi at the bar. Our menu was limited to ribeye steak or filet mignon, choice of a house or seasonal salad, baked potato or sweet corn pudding. Dinner included choice of crème brulee, grasshopper, mudslide, or on occasion, Clay’s sugar cookies and coffee.
Appetizers were either two Maryland blue dungeness crab cakes or citrus-grilled shrimp. The bar featured one of the best selections of bourbon, scotch, and wine in the state. Everything was made from our own recipes. Tables were always set complete with a personalized place card and a hand-poured candle. We perfected our menu drawing standing reservations from a 150-mile radius. What an oasis!
The logistics and expense we went through for this production did not make good business sense. We were beginning to infringe on Clay’s sports weekends and didn’t feel like we could ever substitute anyone to replace our family serving your family.
We endured it for three years because of our emotional attachment to our customers and the building. Our guest book is filled with rave reviews and was encouraging. The one comment most made was “That was the best steak I’ve ever had!”
Since then we continue to cater our steakhouse fare. We are now able to focus and grow the seasoning business. Our family recipe is meant to become your family recipe.
The flame remembers when…
Candles on a birthday cake, dinner candles, a fireplace, and the backyard grill give us all delicious memories.
WYO HISER Signature Seasoning is that unforgettable flavor you’ll remember on a great steak grilled over a hot fire. It’s our first ingredient that creates our magic; our coffee. Coffee is not generally used in a grilling or baking recipe for coffee flavor. Coffee has a much greater purpose than that when it comes to meat. It is essential as a natural tenderizer. It also harmonizes very well with the brown sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, and other spices that we have chosen for our recipe. The ingredients together will create a light crust sealing in all of the juiciness that you anticipate. There are a lot of “coffee” rubs out there, but we believe that we’ve come up with the perfect coffee rub recipe to create that perfect flavor every time you use it. Our reputation is built on using this recipe on BEEF, especially our steaks. Once you’ve experienced this savory, caramelized flavor, you’ll trust using it on all of your grilled and smoked meat. It’s excellent on chicken, Thanksgiving turkey, a Christmas prime rib, an Easter ham, ribs, brisket, hamburgers, grilled tuna, asparagus, brussels sprouts, grilled portabella mushrooms, root vegetables, baked potatoes, in gravy and sauces, as a dip or sandwich spread, and yes, even tofu. Can one seasoning really do all of this? Yes, it can.
If the flavor of coffee dissipates when used in a grilling or baking technique, then why would we go through the effort to have our own signature blend of coffee? Because when not grilling, we enjoy brewing a really good cup of coffee and sipping it by the fire. Our coffee is locally roasted here in Torrington, Wyoming by Janus Coffee Roasters. The Bates Brothers were very patient and invested a lot of beans and a lot of time to create “our” ideal coffee flavor. A blend from Peruvian and Honduran beans, roasted just dark enough, for an extremely smooth, rich, full-bodied cup of coffee. It is available in Whole Bean, Ground, and Cold Brew grind. It is proving to be as consistently delicious as our seasoning.
Though it wasn’t around when we created our recipe, we believe that it does bring an appealing texture, color, and aroma unlike any other seasoning on the shelf.
Yes, at this time we are still making every single batch of seasoning just as we did the very first recipe. With our same measuring cups, measuring spoons, and mixing bowls. Tom and I in the kitchen mixing batch by batch until we get a bucket full to bottle. We log each batch, weigh each bottle and hand label. It is very time-consuming. But there isn’t a satisfaction quite like making something for another to enjoy. Am pretty sure that you can see, smell and taste the patience we put into every single batch, every single time.
We do not change our ingredients or suppliers. We make our seasoning in a licensed and inspected kitchen downtown Torrington, Wyoming. Will our Mom & Pop approach ever change? We are aiming to scale up because we think more people deserve to get the most flavor out of their meal as they can. We’ll run across the right opportunity at the right time. All of you who use our seasoning, who share our flavor with family and friends are part of the flavor trail that we're on. Thank you so much for keeping us in the kitchen!
