Product Name: High River Sauces Hellacious Hot Sauce
Style: Chipotle
Manufacturer: High River Sauces
Country of Origin: USA
Website: http://www.highriversauces.com
Ingredients: White Vinegar, Hab Mash, Agave, Chipotle Powder, Red Pepper, Minced Garlic, Lime Juice
Label/Packaging: The label features a nice montage of skulls, vines, with a great choice of font and it looks simply evil. Could easily be used on an album cover!
Appearance/Aroma: The color of the sauce looks darkish amber with a slight red hue. A quick shake allowed the nice thick chunky bits and pieces of the sauce to stick to the side of the bottle. After opening the bottle and taking a quick wiff I immediately got a nice sweet smoky flavor followed by a hint of spice, vinegar, and sweetness. This sauce smells as if it has a good amount of vinegar in it, but it didn’t have a sour vinegar smell like some sauces. Instead I found the smell very appealing.
Body of Review:
What a great name and great label, but is it a great sauce?
I could smell a nice lightly aged vinegar scent with a sweet draw. White vinegar is actually made from fermented white wines and really helps balance sauces without overpowering them. I always have a bottle in my cupboard and prefer to use that whenever I marinade or make a sauce. A note to other saucemakers, if you've never tried an aged white vinegar do yourself the favor and get a bottle that has at least seven years of age. You will find yourself in for a nice treat.
I would categorize the sauce as a sweet and smoky sauce. As I poured a nice spoonful of sauce I was surprised to see it wasn't as thick as I first thought it would be. It poured great and smooth, but still had a nice sticky texture to it. Usually a sauce is either chunky or thin and this was right in the middle of both. The macro shot of the sauce really showed off the deep bold color and oil bits and pieces of goodness in the sauce. As I leaned the spoon slightly to one side I could really see the oils that remained on the spoon as the sauce slithered from one side to the other. The first dab screamed chipotle, but shortly after I got a nice sweet zesty pinch on my tongue from the habs. Then I picked up a quenching mouth watering sensation that followed from the vinegar. The heat wasn't too aggressive or overpowering, but was a nice cool burn. I took a quick follow-up taste now that my taste buds were alive and I really felt a bit more hit this time around. Again a nice medium-high burn that wasn't too mild or too aggressive.
I decided to go with some marinated grilled pork chops for with this sauce. I basically marinate the chops in a mesquite citrus over-the-counter marinade, but I add some 7Up and vanilla rum to the mix just to spice it up a bit. The chops came out great and most of the marinade caramelizes from the sugars in the sauce to give them a nice dark rich taste. Although the chops are pretty good on their own a second bite with Hellacious Hot Sauce really wakes up the flavors quit a bit. The profile changed from slightly sweet grilled chop to a rich, robust smoky, zesty chop. The vinegar twang really wasn't as obvious when the sauce was presented with food, but you can still get a great follow-up zesty twang on your palate. It's amazing how a sauce can change the flavor of foods and how foods can change the flavor of a sauce. This pairing was right on as the tangy, zesty flavor of the sauce really complemented the mesquite flavor of the chops. The hab burn again was not too harsh, but not too mild. You can easily enjoy a dab of sauce on every bite without reaching for a tall glass of milk every other minute and this sauce would probably complement just about any meat and most hardy fishes as well.
Well the question has been answered and this is a great sauce and not just a great name and logo. Looking forward to enjoying the rest of my bottle as I've planned to see how it will taste with some pulled pork tacos I have planned for this weekend.
Heat Level: 7.5
Applications: The product is balanced and flexible enough to use on just about any meat and most fish.
Appearance Score: 5
Aroma Score: 4.5
Taste Score: 5
Mouthfeel Score: 4.5
Heat Accuracy Score: 4
Overall Score: 4.6
Notes: Sauce is very well balanced and has a great sweet aroma with a nice mild vinegar twang.
Style: Chipotle
Manufacturer: High River Sauces
Country of Origin: USA
Website: http://www.highriversauces.com
Ingredients: White Vinegar, Hab Mash, Agave, Chipotle Powder, Red Pepper, Minced Garlic, Lime Juice
Label/Packaging: The label features a nice montage of skulls, vines, with a great choice of font and it looks simply evil. Could easily be used on an album cover!
Appearance/Aroma: The color of the sauce looks darkish amber with a slight red hue. A quick shake allowed the nice thick chunky bits and pieces of the sauce to stick to the side of the bottle. After opening the bottle and taking a quick wiff I immediately got a nice sweet smoky flavor followed by a hint of spice, vinegar, and sweetness. This sauce smells as if it has a good amount of vinegar in it, but it didn’t have a sour vinegar smell like some sauces. Instead I found the smell very appealing.
Body of Review:
What a great name and great label, but is it a great sauce?
I could smell a nice lightly aged vinegar scent with a sweet draw. White vinegar is actually made from fermented white wines and really helps balance sauces without overpowering them. I always have a bottle in my cupboard and prefer to use that whenever I marinade or make a sauce. A note to other saucemakers, if you've never tried an aged white vinegar do yourself the favor and get a bottle that has at least seven years of age. You will find yourself in for a nice treat.
I would categorize the sauce as a sweet and smoky sauce. As I poured a nice spoonful of sauce I was surprised to see it wasn't as thick as I first thought it would be. It poured great and smooth, but still had a nice sticky texture to it. Usually a sauce is either chunky or thin and this was right in the middle of both. The macro shot of the sauce really showed off the deep bold color and oil bits and pieces of goodness in the sauce. As I leaned the spoon slightly to one side I could really see the oils that remained on the spoon as the sauce slithered from one side to the other. The first dab screamed chipotle, but shortly after I got a nice sweet zesty pinch on my tongue from the habs. Then I picked up a quenching mouth watering sensation that followed from the vinegar. The heat wasn't too aggressive or overpowering, but was a nice cool burn. I took a quick follow-up taste now that my taste buds were alive and I really felt a bit more hit this time around. Again a nice medium-high burn that wasn't too mild or too aggressive.
I decided to go with some marinated grilled pork chops for with this sauce. I basically marinate the chops in a mesquite citrus over-the-counter marinade, but I add some 7Up and vanilla rum to the mix just to spice it up a bit. The chops came out great and most of the marinade caramelizes from the sugars in the sauce to give them a nice dark rich taste. Although the chops are pretty good on their own a second bite with Hellacious Hot Sauce really wakes up the flavors quit a bit. The profile changed from slightly sweet grilled chop to a rich, robust smoky, zesty chop. The vinegar twang really wasn't as obvious when the sauce was presented with food, but you can still get a great follow-up zesty twang on your palate. It's amazing how a sauce can change the flavor of foods and how foods can change the flavor of a sauce. This pairing was right on as the tangy, zesty flavor of the sauce really complemented the mesquite flavor of the chops. The hab burn again was not too harsh, but not too mild. You can easily enjoy a dab of sauce on every bite without reaching for a tall glass of milk every other minute and this sauce would probably complement just about any meat and most hardy fishes as well.
Well the question has been answered and this is a great sauce and not just a great name and logo. Looking forward to enjoying the rest of my bottle as I've planned to see how it will taste with some pulled pork tacos I have planned for this weekend.
Heat Level: 7.5
Applications: The product is balanced and flexible enough to use on just about any meat and most fish.
Appearance Score: 5
Aroma Score: 4.5
Taste Score: 5
Mouthfeel Score: 4.5
Heat Accuracy Score: 4
Overall Score: 4.6
Notes: Sauce is very well balanced and has a great sweet aroma with a nice mild vinegar twang.
