I was really excited when I realized that nobody had reviewed Brian’s newest Hot Sauce, “Seventh Circle Sauce”. Since the only hot sauce in the house is Tabasco and Frank’s, I decided that it definitely was time to expand my horizons.
I ordered a bottle from www.knepperspeppers.com and was quickly given a tracking number via PM from THP. They went out Tuesday evening and I received them Friday. So you cant really complain about the time. They arrived wrapped in bubble wrap tight enough to withstand the abuse of the US postal service.
Starting with the aesthetics. The label is pretty cool. Ok, it is really cool. The graphic chosen sets the mood for a sauce developed in “Hell”. I didn’t LOVE the look of the actual sauce, it reminded me of a cross between a pineapple puree and applesauce. They say you eat with your eyes first, but after you taste the sauce you will definitely forget the way it looks.
The consistency is similar to a typical puree, and it pours very consistently. You will get a nice and thick pour, not overly liquidy. This will make it very easy to pour the sauce on a portion of your meal and avoid it spilling all over everything else.
Taste. The sauce consists of seven ingredients, and you definitely get the pineapple and 7 pot. There is a hint of strawberry, but the pineapple definitely comes through the most. The strawberry ads a small hint of tart, but the pineapple comes back and reminds you this is a fruit based sauce. The 7 pot taste remains with you, and the pineapple/strawberry combination keeps it almost a “cool burn” in your mouth.
The Heat. Overall, I would say that this is not an overly hot sauce. I would lean to somewhere middle of the heat scale. What the Seventh Circle Hot Sauce does great is hit you at the beginning, and remain with you for a while. I felt the heat right off the bat, but the flavor is so good you almost miss the real onslaught. The 7 pot burn hit the throat and didn’t attack the tongue really at all. I did get a bit of heat on the lips after 2 or 3 minutes, and that remained for the remainder of the heat (about 6 minutes or so). I think that this would be a great sauce for someone who hasn’t had or cant handle the full force of supers. You get the taste of the chili, and a fraction of the heat. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t your store bought cayenne sauce.
Applications. Based on the heavy pineapple/fruit forward taste, I would love to throw a big helping of this on some honey ham, Thanksgiving turkey, or grilled chicken. I mentioned a “teriyaki” type application, but I think you may do better to just throw some on your chicken, grill some pineapple slices, and bake a sweet potato.
