As promised, my Unofficial Review. First of all, thank you to PepperLover and PexPeppers for including me in this experiment. I am happy to provide my thoughts. For the purposes of this review batch #1 is the dry and batch #2 fresh
I
ngredients: 7-pot Primo Peppers, Pineapple, Salt (I am sure some vinegar or citrus juice for ph, but I don't know for sure)
In following this thread, I have seen that Pex made batch #1 with two cups of dried and ground peppers. Batch #2 was three cups of fresh peppers. Both batches are fermented with pineapple.
Batch #1 - Dry
The appearance is a deep reddish orange. The consistency is a nice medium, pourable sauce. I see lots of flesh sticking to the sides of the bottle. From the aroma I can tell that this sauce was fermented. It has a hint of tobacco smell to it. This I expect from dried peppers. It is kind of Earthy. I do not smell the pineapple. In tasting the sauce it has a slight bitterness to it. It is definitely Earthy and complex. I do not taste the pineapple at all.The Primos dominate the overall flavor, but not immediately. This sauce could benefit from something sweet to balance it out. The heat is very pronouced, but slowly building. It hits hard in the throat and keeps hitting.
Batch #2 - Fresh
The appearance is a bright vibrant orange. The consistency appears to be a little on the thin side, but not as thin as a Tabasco type sauce. The aroma is that of bright fresh peppers. Smells like it was just picked. I can get a pretty good whiff of the pineapple as well. In tasting the fresh, I am immediately hit with salt much more salt than the Dry. It has a bright pungent fruity fresh pepper taste, but I do taste the pineapple. The Primo is a very strong fruity tasting pepper. I do not taste vinegar. The heat is pretty stong, and building. It is not immediate at all. The heat on the fresh is not quite as intense, but it does still pack a punch.
In summary, I amazed at how different these sauces are given that they are made with the same components. A few differences that stand out: The color right off the bat, the fresh is a much brighter color. I can taste the fermentation more in the dried. The heat is a little slower to hit, but it is much longer lasting. I am guessing because 2 cups of dried is more capsaicin than 3 cups of fresh. The flavor of the dried is much more complex as is the aroma. The dried is more earthy while the fresh is more, well.. fresh. The one thing that has me puzzled is the upfront bitter taste in the dried one. I am also interested in the role the pineapple played. I can taste and smell it much more in the fresh. Overall, they are very different. Both could be made into very good sauces with a little tweaking. Like I said, I would add something sweet to the dried one to counteract the bitterness, and way less salt in the fresh one. Cool experiment and thanks for letting me be a part of it.
