I found this bottle at the local spice mill. Dr. Rub spice is out of Oxford, Mass.
Code Blue is found in your standard 5 oz woozy but the label lists it as 5.2 oz.
Ingredients:
Roasted red peppers
Water
Cider vinegar
Fresh habanero
Thai Chili peppers
Brown sugar
Salt
Garlic
Spices
Cayenne
Ghost chili pepper
Claims:
Dr. Rub's Code Blue blend will fulfill your desire for intense hear without sacrificing your need for flavor.
Heat index indicates that Code Blue is at the top of the meter, a notch above ICU
Notable features:
Pleasant aroma of red peppers and vinegar
No use of a stabilizer, the product separates easily after a few hours of standing
Maroonish color with flecks of spices and seeds.
Easy pour
Texture:
Just like most Louisiana style sauces the pour is looser than chunkier sauces. The mouthfeel is light and watery.
Taste:
Definate roasted red peppers are in both the nose and body of this sauce. Almost immediately the 'heat' pops into your mouth. This seems to be a prominantly habanero burn, but with far less bite and doesnt last more than a few seconds before dissipating. The end note is smooth but awkwardly confusing. The various dry spices tend to linger beyond the habs.
Heat:
As mentioned before, the heat is claimed to be a 10/10, as indicated on a heat index. Well over the 'original' and "ICU" which i can only assume this references the intensive care unit, aka pain.
On a scale of 1 ~ 10 of habs where 10 would be full red hab mash, i would rate this about a 4/10, the sparkly heat is extremely short lived but the habs do bring some heat up on the back end. There arent many seeds so i can only conclude that habs are in the minority or were largly deseeded first.
What I tried it on:
Grilled cheese, a spoon, ritz crackers, BLT
Cost:
I paid 5.99 from the local store, about average for 'gourmet' hot sauces
Verdict:
The sauce had promise. I wasnt too keen on the stability issues, and the claims don't live up to it's boast of intense heat warnings. The listing of pepper types are largly lost in the red pepper and hab blend.
It would be tasty on bread or other types of food where you can soak the sauce into.
Would i buy it again? Probably not
Would i recommend it? Probably not
My conclusion: average hot sauce but does not reach its claims. Medium heat flashes and doesnt linger.
There appears to be a line of BBQ or hot sauces but the store only had the one hot sauce available at the time.
More info from their site can be found here:
Http://Drrubspices.com
