• This is the place to discuss all spicy commerical products, not just sauce!

hot-sauce Hot Sauces - Your Opinions?

I am pretty well convinced that people need to go through an evolution with hot sauce. Get the "what's your hottest" stuff out of the way, and then come back for the flavor of all the others. At least that's how it was for me.

Thats exactly what i went through. Bought every Hot, Hotter and Hottest sauce i could find. Now my fridge still bares remnants of these bottles that no longer get used, but the fridge space is constantly getting filled with sauces that are FULL OF FLAVOUR that i can finish in almost a week.
 
Wow, I'm quite surprised the topic ended here. Honestly.

Surprised because why exactly? Your rebuttal of the frat house super hot crowd was well intentioned and worded. Most that I know who grow and cook with and breathe fire agree with your assessment that flavor trumps heat. We all want to have that 'reach in the back of the 2nd shelf 3yr old mostly full bottle of napalm', but the flavorful fire - that's the one you keep buying. ;)
 
Maybe this crowd is little more seasoned in hot sauce than that one. I mean, the occasional newbie aside, most of these folks on this site have been eating hot sauce for years if not decades. We are here because we love hot stuff, not to impress someone.
 
Maybe this crowd is little more seasoned in hot sauce than that one. I mean, the occasional newbie aside, most of these folks on this site have been eating hot sauce for years if not decades. We are here because we love hot stuff, not to impress someone.

I was trying to impress people.
:(

fail.

(queue sad trombone...)

Seriously - I think you're spot on Jay. Most of the folks in the Hot Sauce forum are talking about making flavorful recipes - I hardly ever see anyone discussing the nuances of making pepper spray in there. It's all mango this and pear that and flavor flavor flavor.

I think that's a good thing.
 
I have a dream.

That one day the hot pepper world will speak purely of flavor instead of "stunt eating" side shows.

One day people will seek out "notes" in their hot sauce - fire will be an obvious afterthought to "how does it taste?"

One day hot sauce makers and the products that they lovingly create will achieve the same level of credibility that artisan mustard, olives, pickles, etc have in the artisan food community.

Alas - this can only happen once we move past the "hold my beer and watch this" phase of the industry. There are sparks of hope - but they seem to be fleeting.

Until then, the entire industry will suffer from the "Bubba" judgement of those serious foodies. In their eyes we all throw a thousand peppers into a vat and make something that could be used to subdue a rioting crowd at a Def Leppard concert, and that is all our products will ever be to them. They are not a "serious" food - they are something to win a bet with, or to piss off your hated brother-in-law. They are something to gasp at the stupidity of mankind over, or something to peel the paint off of that '70 Camero on blocks in your front yard, while you pick your remaining teef and comb your mullet.

I have a dream that one day hot sauce will usurp the sugary and overpowering ketchup as the people's condiment of choice.

One day....one day.
 
There's hope. Salsa sales eclipsed ketchup sales somewhere in the mid-90's. Salsa can be served for school lunches, ketchup can't.

It's an uphill battle, and it doesn't help when supposedly knowledgable TV chefs say brilliant things like "the heat of the chile is in the seeds". :banghead:
 
I have a dream.

That one day hot sauce makers and the products that they lovingly create will achieve the same level of credibility that artisan mustard, olives, pickles, etc have in the artisan food community.

That day is coming (I see it on the horizon). Think of how far BBQ has come in just the past 5 years! Firey foods and their makers are on the cusp. Keep the faith bud.
 
[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]I've been through all the Heartbreaking Dawns sauces he mentioned and I agree that the original 1498 Trinidad Scorpion sauce and the 1841 Ghost Pepper Sauce have great flavor but could use some more heat but to say the Mauvis Sang isn't all that spicy is just ridiculous. It's definitely one of the hottest all natural sauces I've ever tried but I guess if you're the type of person who won't eat anything less than 5,562,134 Scoville units it's a tame sauce.[/background]
 
Honestly, its Franks for me.

My wife loves Frank's Hot Sauce. We have a bottle in the fridge right now. I like it too, but I have found so many other sauces with more complex flavors... Lucky Dog Hot Sauce, RedHawk Peppers, Heart Breaking Dawn's, etc. Give them a shot, and you will probably find yourself reaching for them instead of the Franks before you know it.

I don't have to have a super-hot sauce. If it has great flavor, and not quite enough heat, a few drops of pure evil will liven it right up. ;)
 
In their eyes we all throw a thousand peppers into a vat and make something that could be used to subdue a rioting crowd at a Def Leppard concert, and that is all our products will ever be to them.

Def Leppard? Their fans are probably too old to be rowdy enough to riot these days. Maybe Slipknot.... ;)

Anyhoo, all kidding aside, the best, most flavorful sauces I've ever tasted have been in the medium heat range. The ones I polish off bottle after bottle have had tremendous flavor and a heat level that barely coaxes a sweat under my eyes. If I have to limit the amount I put on food to a couple of drops just to keep from rendering the whole plate inedible, then there's no enjoyment in that. As a fledgeling sauce maker trying to figure out recipes, texture and flavor are my main focus. If you want it superhot, why bother with a sauce? Just chop up a scorpion pepper and lace your food with it. I also want something that me, my kids, and my fiance can eat together and enjoy. Sauce shouldn't seem like a threat to those you present it to.

Try Iguana habanero sauce and Tropical Pepper Company's Scotch Bonnet Sauce. Both delicious and safe to enjoy without destroying your guts the day after

I have some ideas for this year's crop, and I'll be looking for reviewers later in the year.
 
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Well, I've worked my way through all my HBD sauces and loved them all with the ghost pepper one being the best and the chocolate habanero one the, erm, 'least best'. I now have the DEFCON 1 and 2 wing sauces and whilst they're definitely tasty, I was expecting a more smoky BBQ taste.

I've also just ordered CaJohn's Trinidad Hot Sauce, CaJohn's Fatalii Fire Hot Sauce, Raw Heat Vintage 69 Hot Sauce and CaJohn's Holy Jolokia Hot Sauce. Does anyone have experience with any of these?
 
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