Welcome to the 3rd Annual USI Vinegar Competition
The First US International Vinegar Competition Where All The Judges Are Real Trade Buyers Judging The Samples By Category & Price. Judges Will Be Judging As If Buying For Their Business
Open To All Commercially Produced Vinegar. It Does Not Have To Sold In The United States To Be In The Competition
Competition Being Held Week of May 29th, 2026
Awards announcement week of June 28th, 2026
3rd Annual USI Olive Oil Competition
May 29th 2026
The only international olive oil competition where all the judge are real trade buyers. Judging the olive oil by category and price. Open to all commercially produced olive oils around the world. The olive oil does not have to be sold in the United States. Held at the same time as the USI Vinegar Competition and you may ship your olive oil and vinegar samples together to the competition
Enter Your Beer to the 12th Annual Berlin International Beer Competition February 27th 2026
Only Real Trade Buyers From Around Europe Judging The Beers & Ciders & Hard Seltzers By Category & Price. Open To All Commercially Produced Beers, Ciders and Hard Seltzer From Around The World Top Winners Showcased At Our Booth At Prowein March 2026.
2nd Annual USI Chocolate Competition
May 29th 2026
The only international chocolate competition where all the judge are real trade buyers. Judging the chocolate by category and price. Open to all commercially produced chocolate products from around the world. The chocolate does not have to be sold in the United States.
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The Vinegar Professor
Thank you for taking this journey with us as we want this to be the class you always wanted to take! We started this as a collaborative effort of passionate people with a few professional writers mixed in to keep us honest. We launched this site to be informative for the trade and the consumer who strives to know more about the wonderful world of Vinegar. More importantly, we write articles about topics we care about and that we would want to share with our friends and fellow Vinegar lovers. So please feel free to contact us with any new topics or trends or products you are seeing.
In Bad Taste: Vinegar Valentines Sting
New York Public Library Digital Collection
Vinegar stings — it’s historically been used as a styptic during wartime and even in sterile surgical settings, and while it’s wonderful for wound care, the reputation of acetic acid burning beyond the battlefield.
A mid-19th century sensation called Vinegar Valentines satirizes the hallmark cards of the actual holiday. What began as Victorian era expressions combined with unflattering portraits and sharp, cutting quips, were antithetical, lampooning Valentine’s loving theme, thus became an acerbic sensation. What began in Britain in the mid 1800’s, came overseas and was onto by American greeting card companies in the 1930s, creating a category of messages, many of which were sent anonymously, which mocked people’s looks and lifestyles, poking fun at their personalities.
Bill Watterson
There are slanderous subgenres of sousing spouses, snide suffragettes and more — aka, the original trolling. Even as a kid I remember this kind of character-bashing comics; in Bill Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes, Calvin, the main character writes his neighbor, Susie Derkins, what some may call “hate mail,” which, at least for them, masked their true feelings. That is not the case for Vinegar Valentines: they were often brutally honest.
Missouri Historical Society
Not to say all relationships should rely on Vinegar Valentines to suss out their differences, but as ample amounts of anti-romance continues, maybe Vinegar Valentines should revive these sour lemons, ahem, acetic acid-like advances.
