Taste and Heat

How do these compare on taste and heat??

Dave's Insanity
Hurricane Mash
Mega Death
Defcon 1 or 0

I was given a taste of Da Bomb, Ground Zero, the other day and found I like this stuff. Liked it so much, the jokster gave me the bottle. Now, I'm experimenting and looking around.
Feel free to add others to list.
And what is hottest non-extract sauce? Thanks, Frank

That's a tough one. I like DEFCON 1 (0 is more of an additive than an actual hot sauce, according to the creator) and I like Hurricane Mash.
I think DEFCON is more of a wing-type sauce, and Hurricane mash is more of a spreadable sauce (not a runny, pour-out-of-the-bottle sauce). There are many types of sauce that suit many types of purposes. That is probably why the door of my fridge is full of different sauces. Dave's is a good sauce as well. Which is best is truly in the eye of the beholder.

Josh

tinner666 said:

How do these compare on taste and heat??

Dave's Insanity
Hurricane Mash
Mega Death
Defcon 1 or 0

I was given a taste of Da Bomb, Ground Zero, the other day and found I like this stuff. Liked it so much, the jokster gave me the bottle. Now, I'm experimenting and looking around.
Feel free to add others to list.
And what is hottest non-extract sauce? Thanks, Frank

Click to expand...

I didn't see the end of your post. Which is the hottest non-extract sauce? I would say any sauce that is basically a habanero mash (just peppers and enough vinegar to keep the pH level down....is that right, Tina and John?)

In this category, you could put Hurricane Mash, Matouk's Flambeau Sauce, Madam Delight (from Aruba, using Madam Jeanette peppers), and any other sauce of this ilk. I believe that once you get to a certain level of heat, the shades of gray are just that....the lines to dim too notice if you crossed them. If you can handle any of the above, and I assume you can by your list, levels of heat really cease to be of importance....except perhaps on the low end. I am sometimes disappointed when I try a hot sauce and....nothing. Not one little pinprick of heat. Nada. Something like Texas Pete.
Of the true sauces, (excluding extract sauces, though I have tried a few of them as well) it is nice to be able to handle the heat.....it increases the numbers and types of sauces that I am willing to try. It removes the fear factor, too....unless you're getting ready to pour a little DEFCON 0 all over your juevos rancheros.....

(That's for you, John)

Josh

LOL!

Actually, a straight habanero mash will give you only what the pepper contains, diluted in the peppers natural juices (sugar & water) and also by with whatever you use in addition to it (vinegar, etc). To go above the habanero's straight heat, distillation (of any form) is needed, so as to concentrate the capsaicin. Hence the reason Blair was able to come out with the pure 16 million crystal (which my wife was kind enough to get me for my last birthday). Our refining (distillation) methods are simple compared to the big players, but as you can see by the little blue bottle, it doesn't take thousands of dollars in lab equipment to arrive at a good heat above and beyond that of a habanero.

tinner666 said:

How do these compare on taste and heat??

Dave's Insanity
Hurricane Mash
Mega Death
Defcon 1 or 0

I was given a taste of Da Bomb, Ground Zero, the other day and found I like this stuff. Liked it so much, the jokster gave me the bottle. Now, I'm experimenting and looking around.
Feel free to add others to list.
And what is hottest non-extract sauce? Thanks, Frank

Click to expand...

I just received a shipment of Defcons this morning, and I've tasted them, but not used them yet. So, stay tuned for my review of them, and take what I say here with a grain of salt.

John and Josh are right about the mash. The maximum heat of a pepper will depend on what's in the jar. We designed our mash to impress people with the pepper, not with the heat. Of course, the heat is still exceptional, these are extreme peppers. But still, without doing something to concentrate the capsaicin, it's not possible to get it hotter.

That said.

and I'll taste as I write so as to get an immediate response....

I don't find Dave's insanity hot at all. It burns my lips for a good 10 minutes, but otherwise, inside my mouth; it's not hot. I still haven't figured out what that's all about.

As for Defcon compared to Hurricane Mash... hmm, here goes

Defcon 3 John was wise not to send, he said it was for the masses and (my words not his) thus, wimpy. lol

Defcon 2: registers about a 5 on our Pepperfire Scale which makes it even with our Roasted Garlic Chili Chipotle sauce.

Defcon 1: registers about a 12 or a 13 on our scale which makes it definitely hotter than the Hurricane Mash, but and this I found interesting, it's got a definitively metallic feeling to it which is only tasted next to the Hurricane Mash. I suppose the fresh peppers next to the extract show it off more, but am not sure. I'll note though that it doesn't have that nasty acetone taste that I always expect from nail polish remover or paint thinner.

Solvent based hot sauce, this isn't. John, I really hope these sauces do well at the Scovies, especially in the wing category, because compared to most of the extracts out there, this is the best I have yet to taste.

I hate to disillusion anyone though, even though I like Defcon 1 and it is a bit hotter than Hurricane, Hurricane still has that sweet fresh pepper flavour that can't be beat.

T.

Thanks for your answers. I'm new to REAL hot sauces. I was pouring a dollop of Ground Zero on each of my Jalepeno Nabs and thinking I need something that will light up some chili this weekend.
We're having a chili cook-off at White-Tail Park. My wife is cooking. I usually season to my taste later. I want to keep the flavor and then have some heat come forth.
On hand, I only have the usual suspects, such as Texas Pete, Tabasco, etc. and I was able to get some Ground Zero, Final Answer, Sudden Death and Mega Death. Was just sampling the last 2 from the bottle as I type. The Mega does build up some, but I'll admit, I don't know what I'm doing.
Plan A is in progress. If I get desperate and work down to plan F, ( which is Pour them all in! ), I'll be a sad puppy. Frank

Speaking of Ground Zero:
When I initially tried Dave's Insanity, it was one of the hottest sauces I had tried at that point, although the flavor wasn't to my liking; while it still packs more heat in my mouth than Tabasco (or even some things slightly above that), I don't get as much of a thrill from it now. I moved up to Da Bomb: Beyond Insanity, which was hotter but I still didn't care much for the taste. I then stepped up to Da Bomb: Ground Zero and discovered a good blend of flavor and heat. As for hotter sauces, I've haven't tried everything, of course, but I've tasted some and have mixed opinions about them. I've decided, though, that the real reason I stick with Ground Zero is not just the taste and heat, but the reasonable price; if I were a rich man, perhaps I would own bottles of ALL of the hottest commercially available hot sauces, but alas...