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heat Flavor vs. Heat in Sauces

Crispee-FL

Crispee-FL

Just curious where everyone stands on this... I had this debate with some good friends last night that came over dinner, all of which love hot food and sauces in varying degrees. One guest preferred the scorch my taste buds so I can't taste anything approach (more the endorphin high, than taste-ability?) while most chose a more flavor but still hot and can still taste the food approach. I tend to go with still being able to taste what I am eating in the next bite.
 
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I'm something of a sensation seeker there. I like it hot and do appreciate my own upper limits. Perhaps even pushing them. I also appreciate things that hit me in new and different ways like popping candy, wasabi extract or szechuan peppercorns.
Yet, while heat is a definite part of the enjoyment and I do enjoy a lot of it, the flavour and texture of food is also very much part of the experience so giving up the ability to appreciate that just for more of the heat seems crazy. Why only have a small part of the meal?
 
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Hawaiianero said:
Love the heat but flavor is the key.
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^This.....
The Hot Pepper said:
There's also those that appreciate a balance of the two.
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^This.....
Muckyai said:
Taste and heat BOTH.....the food has got to taste good!
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^and this :)

Balance is the key, IMO. I can eat the heat all day long, but if it tastes like shit, I'm not going in for a second bite ;)
 
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20 years of selling salsa says....
 
25% of the market eats 0 heat....yes...ZERO
50% eats heat 3/10
25% eats 7/10
 
 
 
 
and then there are those 2-3 people out of 120 people that eat Scorcher (7+/10)
 
Pick your market~
 
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I find it alarming that so many people avoid any heat at all, but it´s true.  There are ppl who consider ANY heat to be intolerable.  I can decide whether it´s biological, or philosophical-- or both. (Perhaps, something else?)
salsalady said:
....
25% of the market eats 0 heat....yes...ZERO
....
 
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My thoughts on the OP´s question...
I don think a significant number of ppl would say they want a sauce that is hotter´n hell, but tastes shitty.  Some folks might prioritize heat over flavour but thankfully, these aren´t mutually exclusive qualities.  No matter the heat, there can still be strong flavor characteristics in any sauce.  Depending on one´s tolerance, you might begin to ignore the flavour as the heat comes on stronger, but heat does not somehow ¨scrub away" flavour.  
 
I just had a similar discussion with a local guy who makes hotsauce (and other sauces/condiments) on a small-scale commercial basis.  Oddly enough, he doesn´t appreciate actual hot food.  I asked him if he ever made any sauce with Bonnets, and he replied that they´re WAY too hott, and that he ¨want(s) the customer to taste the flavour.¨ My contention is, the customer is going to taste it regardless, and that Scotch Bonnets aren´t very hot, but they´re incredibly flavourful, but heat is not a flavor. He seems to think anything hotter than a Serrano will shut one´s taste buds down, but i can taste every bit of garlic, herbs/spices, onion, vinegar, etc in a sauce, no matter how hot it is.
 
Now, if one decides to use a nasty ingredient for heat, or if one neglects to make a tasty, flavourful sauce with a recipe that compliments the chiles used, that´s another thing entirely.  
 
 
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I like hot but try a sauce like BLiS Blast or Marie Sharps Special Edition and its obvious that sometimes mild can be very enjoyable too. Its nice to have a hot sauce you can use like ketchup and not break out in a sweat. Really hot i have to use in moderation.....Im not very good with self moderation. :D
 
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PS- we also buy 3-4 CASES a year of SeaFire Gourmet's Sweet Spicy Girl hot sauce made with cherry peppers and red serrano peppers.  I'd give it a solid 4-5/10 for the GenPop, and a 3/10 for us crazy chileheads here on THP.   When ordering from other sauce companies I get their mild sauces and we usually love that level of heat. 
 
 
We LOVE a bit of spice, flavor, the way different sauces work with different foods, but we don't enjoy the blistering heat the way some do.  It's kind of funny how so many extreme chileheads find there way here to THP.  Sometimes I think people get a skewed view of the actual palate of hot sauce eaters when browsing forums like this one.  People think that all hot sauce eaters are in that extreme stratosphere, when in reality, 98% of hot sauce eaters are 0-6/10 level. 
 
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Is that term inappropriate?  What is the proper term for "general population" of non-criminals?
 
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