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review Official Review: Red Hawk Premium Peppers Grounds for Divorce XXX

Product Name: Red Hawk Premium Peppers Grounds for Divorce XXX

Style: Sriracha style table sauce

Manufacturer: Red Hawk Premium Peppers

Country of Origin: USA

Website: http://www.redhawkpeppers.com

Ingredients: Water, sweet onion, cayenne & Thai peppers, vinegar (rice and white) Fresno peppers, yellow bhut jolokia peppers, garlic, tomato paste, sugar, kosher salt, soy sauce, chives, olive oil, citric acid

Label/Packaging: This is an area that this sauce is severely lacking in. I have spoken to Dan and he is working on professional labels.

Appearance/Aroma: The appearance of this sauce is awesome, kind of thick and smooth ketchup but a little more pourable. A beautiful bright orange color. The aroma is garlic garlic garlic and a little tomato paste and vinegar. The peppers don't jump out at you, they are a little overshadowed by the garlic.
 
So what kinds of things might be grounds for divorce? Adultery? Drunken behavior? Gambling addiction? Money problems? Irreconcilable differences? How about a GARLIC HOT SAUCE!

Body of Review:
After eating Grounds for Divorce (the regular one) in about two sittings I was excited to try the XXX which is supposed to be hotter. I am a bit biased towards sauces like this as sriracha is one of my absolute favorite sauces on the planet, so this one better bring it. I have to say that I am blown away by the flavor of this sauce. It is an explosion of taste that has all my senses tingling. It has a sweetness, a nice subtle heat, and a serious garlic kick. It had me a little worried when I saw water was the #1 ingredient, but it turned out perfect. I tasted the cayenne and thai peppers, but I think the bhuts must be lost in there somewhere. I didn't taste them.
 
That brings me to the heat. I have to say, it is a little hotter than the original, but I was expecting a little more heat. This has what I would call a mellow heat. It is there, and as you eat enough of it, it does bring on a little bead of sweat, but for a chilehead to eat an entire spoonful and have the heat barely register on the throat pain-o-meter I think it could be hotter.
 
What I love the most about this sauce is that it is like a sriracha, extremely versatile. Let's see how it works with food.
Heat Level: 2.5

Applications: This is good on ANYTHING. I love it on pizza, cheesesteaks, Mexican, burgers, chicken. Pretty much anything goes for this sauce.

Appearance Score: 5
Aroma Score: 4.5
Taste Score: 4.5
Mouthfeel Score: 4.5
Heat Accuracy Score: 2.5

Overall Score: 4.2

Notes: The only flaw I see with this (besides the homemade label) is the lack of heat. It says XXX. It's maybe an X and a half. C'mon Dan, ramp up the heat!
 

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Good review as usual. The flavor is spot on but the heat and label leave something to be desired. But hell, that's all just fine tuning. I think it would be cool if he had a one to three X system, with the XXX bringing the pain.
 
Glad you enjoyed the sauce! I agree with the heat and that was my intention for this product. I still didn't want this sauce to be overwhelmingly hot at the expense of flavor. Maybe the 'XXX' designation wasn't the best move. There is another much hotter version of the sauce planned but not in the books for this season. Will advise...
 
I used the hot pepper rub in a marinade today - teryaki steak & grilled pineapple - soy, rice wine vinegar, honey, coleman's dry mustard & about 1 Tbsp of the hot pepper seasoning - was *awesome*.

Can't wait to try the XXX Redtail!
 
Thanks man! I'm sure you will enjoy the XXX. Just to clarify (again), I wanted to make this version just a little hotter than the original without sacrificing the flavor but adding more heat. There name 'XXX' should have been dulled down to maybe X-tra hot but I liked the way the label looked. I'm still at the point where I'm making small batches of sauce to maintain the quality I expect. We are going to be stepping up our labels as of this season but if lame labels is our only complaint. . . . . I can live with that!
 
Great review and I enjoy the regular, but seems like the XXX still needs more heat.
It is what it is, a hot garlic sauce with great flavour. I don't think Dan wants it to be a contender for a really hot chilli sauce, that market is too crowded anyway.
My Mrs who doesn't like a lot of chilli sauces or products still got hooked on the original, and now that's empty has grown to like the XXX version, she just uses less of it. So it's great that we can both like the same sauce.

edit: So what it needs then is just bigger bottles as she is now using up my sauce!
 
Thanks Mr. & Mrs. Pablo! I really have been considering making 10 oz. bottles and probably will offer them when this season's crop comes in. I'll let you know if / when they are available.
 
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