At the time of writing, this is the most recent post on my blog but, later tonight/first thing in the morning comes my recipe of the month, meaning you'll be just a little bit behind again. Sorry.
Anyway, here goes:
Hey everyone, we're looking at the Screaming Chimp again.
This sample's of another smokey sauce, meant to combine the heat of their Stinger with the beautiful flavour of the last one we looked at, the Vic's Ol' Smokey.
How that will work, however, is a little unclear when there's not even a smidge of paprika in here but, before we get into what's replaced it, let's take a look at what's changed about the bottle.
We see their signature chimp logo take the front and centre position oncemore and again, we see that its skin is made up of the parchment pattern that forms the label's background.
This time, though, we see a different brown behind its “Chimpotle” name. An orangey one to contrast with the purple of its milder counterpart.
And the rating above that name is their full four chillies. Hardly surprising when it has the highest chilli content of any of their sauces.
Four percent of that chilli content is here for the firepower but, while that may be a little lower than what we saw in the Stinger, another 1.6% of this sauce is its namesake chipotle. A chilli thrown in for its popular smokey taste but not without a little kick of its own.
I don't doubt that this one can reach the same strength as the company's hottest but will that chipotle be enough to match the flavour of their mildest?
Let's find out!
Its colour and texture both match the Vic's Ol' Smokey, with it taking on a thick, darkened red appearance, but the tiny flecks that gather at the edges of my spoonful betray its much greater red chilli presence.
Yet, as can easily be seen from how not-brown this sauce looks, its tomato base remains unchanged. Well, mostly unchanged.
While everything we've seen from the Screaming Chimp has used the same fruity simmered tomato base, with hints of onion and lemon juice, most have included a minor tweak or two in the form of vinegar, honey and/or orange juice. This one is no different.
For the Chimpotle, they have added the same orange juice we saw in the Original and the Stinger but also a heavy helping of maple syrup. An addition immediately obvious in how much sweeter and darker the taste of that base has become. It's not the molasses we tend to see in barbecue sauces but its effect isn't too far off.
Then, as the heat soon starts to build, so too does the smoke and the slight sour notes I get from their chilli blend begin to lower the level of sweet, until eventually the sauce has become almost savoury.
It's a journey that starts with a tiny tingle and works its way up to a roaring
[SIZE=300%]4.5/10[/SIZE]
[SIZE=300%]Heat[/SIZE]
that, again, isn't quite on par with your average ghost pepper sauce but really isn't too far from it.
It strikes me entirely at the upper back of the mouth and ends with an interesting combination of soft afterglow and mild hints of that stinging habanero burn, both of which linger for quite a while.
Aside from that sour note that comes in with the heat, I'd say that this is a great sauce. It's definitely not the hotter version of their Vic's Ol' Smokey that the company billed it as but it definitely is a nice, mildly chipotle and noticeably mapley take on their hottest.
And, like that hottest, while the particular pepper flavour of the smoked paprika is nowhere to be found, there is just a little hint of the peppers that this one does feature. Primarily scorpion and ghost, I believe.
[SIZE=medium]In the end, it's its own thing and for that, as well as the fact that the maple helps lessen the touch of sourness, I definitely prefer this one to the Stinger. If you feel like getting one of their hottest, this is the one I would recommend.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]I see it primarily as a sauce for milder flavoured meats and tofu but I'm sure that there are many other options for this product that I simply haven't had chance to try out.[/SIZE]
Anyway, here goes:
Hey everyone, we're looking at the Screaming Chimp again.
This sample's of another smokey sauce, meant to combine the heat of their Stinger with the beautiful flavour of the last one we looked at, the Vic's Ol' Smokey.
How that will work, however, is a little unclear when there's not even a smidge of paprika in here but, before we get into what's replaced it, let's take a look at what's changed about the bottle.
We see their signature chimp logo take the front and centre position oncemore and again, we see that its skin is made up of the parchment pattern that forms the label's background.
This time, though, we see a different brown behind its “Chimpotle” name. An orangey one to contrast with the purple of its milder counterpart.
And the rating above that name is their full four chillies. Hardly surprising when it has the highest chilli content of any of their sauces.
Four percent of that chilli content is here for the firepower but, while that may be a little lower than what we saw in the Stinger, another 1.6% of this sauce is its namesake chipotle. A chilli thrown in for its popular smokey taste but not without a little kick of its own.
I don't doubt that this one can reach the same strength as the company's hottest but will that chipotle be enough to match the flavour of their mildest?
Let's find out!
Its colour and texture both match the Vic's Ol' Smokey, with it taking on a thick, darkened red appearance, but the tiny flecks that gather at the edges of my spoonful betray its much greater red chilli presence.
Yet, as can easily be seen from how not-brown this sauce looks, its tomato base remains unchanged. Well, mostly unchanged.
While everything we've seen from the Screaming Chimp has used the same fruity simmered tomato base, with hints of onion and lemon juice, most have included a minor tweak or two in the form of vinegar, honey and/or orange juice. This one is no different.
For the Chimpotle, they have added the same orange juice we saw in the Original and the Stinger but also a heavy helping of maple syrup. An addition immediately obvious in how much sweeter and darker the taste of that base has become. It's not the molasses we tend to see in barbecue sauces but its effect isn't too far off.
Then, as the heat soon starts to build, so too does the smoke and the slight sour notes I get from their chilli blend begin to lower the level of sweet, until eventually the sauce has become almost savoury.
It's a journey that starts with a tiny tingle and works its way up to a roaring
[SIZE=300%]4.5/10[/SIZE]
[SIZE=300%]Heat[/SIZE]
that, again, isn't quite on par with your average ghost pepper sauce but really isn't too far from it.
It strikes me entirely at the upper back of the mouth and ends with an interesting combination of soft afterglow and mild hints of that stinging habanero burn, both of which linger for quite a while.
Aside from that sour note that comes in with the heat, I'd say that this is a great sauce. It's definitely not the hotter version of their Vic's Ol' Smokey that the company billed it as but it definitely is a nice, mildly chipotle and noticeably mapley take on their hottest.
And, like that hottest, while the particular pepper flavour of the smoked paprika is nowhere to be found, there is just a little hint of the peppers that this one does feature. Primarily scorpion and ghost, I believe.
[SIZE=medium]In the end, it's its own thing and for that, as well as the fact that the maple helps lessen the touch of sourness, I definitely prefer this one to the Stinger. If you feel like getting one of their hottest, this is the one I would recommend.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]I see it primarily as a sauce for milder flavoured meats and tofu but I'm sure that there are many other options for this product that I simply haven't had chance to try out.[/SIZE]
