Skip to content
 Holler at Us
The crew

Two cooks. One pit. Zero chill.

Tipsy Brisket is Chris and Noella Olds, a husband-and-wife competition BBQ team out of Dripping Springs, Texas. He runs the fire and the big meats. She runs the chicken, the salsa and the bar. Between the two of us, nobody leaves hungry or thirsty.

See where we're cooking Book us for your event
Chris and Noella Olds at the Tipsy Brisket tent with the cow cutout between them
Chris, Tiffany the cow, and Noella. Only one of them is sober.
2018 Lit our first competition fire
4,000+ Jello shots made every year
3 AM Brisket wake-up call on cookoff weekends
1 Tiffany, our cardboard cow. Never misses a cook.
The hardware

Trophies, ribbons and one very fancy margarita

Hit play. These are straight off our Instagram, sound and all.

Founders Day Cook-Off · 2023

A shelf full of wood

  • 1st Chicken
  • 2nd Brisket
  • 4th Pork Ribs
  • 7th Chili
Buck's Backyard BBQ · 2023

Fiesta in a watermelon

  • 1st Margarita
Meet the crew

The people behind the smoke

Chris Olds at the Tipsy Brisket tent Pit boss

Chris Olds

Head Cook & Pitmaster

Chris runs the fire and the big meats: brisket, ribs, chili and whatever else the contest throws at us. If it's smoked low and slow, injected or trimmed, it went through him first, usually at 3am with a drink in one hand and a probe in the other.

  • Signature Brisket, ribs & chili
  • Can't cook without A Thermapen and a good playlist
Noella Olds raising a Dripping Springs Vodka cup Flavor boss

Noella Olds

Sous Chef & Chief Cocktail Officer

Noella owns the chicken and the salsa, keeps the station running, and stocks the cooler with whatever jello shot she dreamed up this week. Her cocktails are the stuff of cookoff legend, and she's the reason the "Tipsy" in Tipsy Brisket is not a typo.

  • Signature Chicken, salsa & jello shots
  • Can't cook without Dripping Springs Vodka
How we got here

From backyard to hardware

We went from just enjoying the BBQ scene to scoring some hardware, including a few grand champion titles. Here's the short version.

  1. 2018

    First fire

    We start cooking competition BBQ, learning the hard way what judges want in a turn-in box.

  2. May 2022

    Tipsy Brisket goes public

    Tipsy Brisket hits Instagram with a smoker, a logo and a plan to share every cook, good or ugly.

  3. Nov 2022

    1,000 followers

    We beat our own goal by five months, swapped a lot of stickers and made a lot of BBQ friends.

  4. 2023

    A full season on the circuit

    IBCA, CBA and KCBS contests from Buda to Cuero, including the Cuero VFD State Championship and the Hill Country Rally for Kids.

  5. Every year

    Home-town regulars

    Every Hill Country Rally for Kids, every Dripping Springs Founders Day, and BBQ for Texas Independence Day at Dripping Springs Distilling.

Sliced competition brisket with a deep smoke ring
What we bring

Smoke in one hand, a drink in the other

  • Competition meats Brisket, chicken and pork ribs, cooked to the judges' standard, every time.
  • Beans and the extras Jackpot beans, salsa and whatever side category the contest throws at us.
  • The tipsy part Vodka jello shots and cocktails, served responsibly and with zero shame.
  • Recipes we actually use Everything that works at a cookoff ends up in the recipe index.
Running a cookoff or throwing a party?

Put Tipsy Brisket on the roster

Cookoffs, festivals, fundraisers and distillery parties. If there's a pit and a cooler, we're in.

Holler at us Follow @tipsybrisket