Website: http://www.pepperpotions.com

Ingredients: Mangoes yellow mustard (disilled vinegar, mustard seed, salt, tumeric, spices), red habanero peppers, distilled vinegar, brown sugar, seasonings, spices, citric acid, xanthan gum, kosher salt.

Packaging: Palmetto Pepper Potions’ Molten Golden comes in an attractive, colorful 5.7 oz flask with a white cap.

Back Label: “A Caribbean treasure bursting with fresh mangoes, cumin, and curry in a mustard brew. Great on chicken, beef, barbecue, ham, sausage, hot dogs, burgers, seafood, vegetables, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, pasta salad and sandwiches.”

The story: “Abundance was the mother of invention. Palmetto Pepper Potions hot sauces began the year we landscaped with chile pepper plants. A friend had planted too many hot peppers and offered to share. We eagerly planted them all over our yard, along the driveway and among the wildflowers. We experimented with peppers, herbs, seasonal fruits, and fresh vegetables to create a rainbow of vibrant, fresh-tasting sauces. Friends, family, our favorite bands, and a surprising number of strangers clamored for more.”

Color: Orange, with darker specks of seasoning.

Smell: Buttery, cumin scent, with a hint of citrus. Vinegar is non-descript.

Consistency: Medium consistency, pours readily.

Taste: Palmetto Pepper Potion’s “Molten Golden” is a sauce that defies easy description. Off of the spoon, you get sweetness balanced by the tartness of fruit. These sensations are followed immediately by a smooth - almost creamy - cumin wave. Molten Golden worked surprisingly well with every food I tried it with. Eggs, chicken, meatloaf, even french-fries. Normally when trying a new sauce, I’ll pour a portion on the side of my plate and dip things in as I go along. After a moment or two with Molten Golden, I was pouring it liberally over my food - it’s just that tasty.

Texture: Smooth, with the occasional bit of vegetable or pepper seed.

Heat: A good solid punch, the habaneros come through nicely. On a heat scale of 1 to 10, I rate Molten Golden a 5.

Overall Impressions: I initially had my doubts about this one. I wondered if the initial citrus tang would overwhelm the experience and reduce this sauce to a niche player…something that only really worked well with particular kinds of food. Those concerns were soon dispelled, as Molten Golden’s flavor proved to be a wonderful compliment to anything and everything I threw at it. The heat delivered by this sauce is moderate, and entirely complementary. I’m still trying to figure out just what it is that gives this sauce it’s creamy, buttery flavor, it’s sublime and addictive!

I’ll definitely be buying this sauce again, and in the end that’s the highest bit of praise I can think of. Good stuff.

Palmetto Pepper Potions, LLC
P.O. Box 6126
Forest Acres, South Carolina 29260

phone/fax: (803) 782-8020

Previous Reviews:
- Molten Golden
- Daily Red Hot Sauce
- Larynx Lava
- Larynx Lava II

Capsicum annuum var. glabrisculum, also known as Chiletepin, Tepin peppers or “bird’s eye” peppers are supposedly one of the hottest peppers in the world. Some chile enthusiasts argue that the Tepin is hotter than the habanero or Red Savina. These tiny peppers are about 3/8″ round to slightly oval, and are found in the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Northern Mexico. The word “Tepin” comes from the Nahuatl Mexican word meaning “flea”. In 1995, Texans named the Jalapeno pepper the official pepper of Texas, but two years later, the Tepin was named the official native pepper of Texas.

Tepins are extremely hot, measuring between 50,000 and 100,000 Scoville Units. In Mexico, the heat of the Chiltepin is called arrebatado (”rapid” or “violent”), which implies that although the heat is great, it diminishes quickly.

You probably have never heard of the Tepin pepper, and probably would disagree that these tiny peppers could rival the heat of the Habanero or Scotch Bonnet. You may be asking why I’m bringing all this up. This is why:

A few months ago, my mother-in-law brought me a bag of tiny green pellets and said, “This guy at the office grows these and says they are hotter than habaneros. When he makes a batch of chili, he only puts on pepper in, and that’s all he needs.”

I couldn’t believe it. One tiny pepper? Hotter than a Habanero? How come I had never heard of this micro-monstrosity? Who’s been keeping this information from me? Is it terrorism? What’s our terror alert level!? Just look at the size of this thing:

Not one to be intimidated by such a small terror, I had to see for myself if the violent arrabatado was, in truth, a hotter burn than the infamous Habanero. I made plans for how I would test the peppers. To the Men in Aprons Laboratory! I devised three tests: 1.) the tongue touch, 2.) the beef taco test, and 3.) the eat whole thing and pray to Itzpzpaltol that I would live, or at least not crumple over in pain.

First up was the tongue touch. I cut one pepper in half and touched a half to the tip of my tongue. It was instantly lit afire. But, as suspected, the fire was abated in under a minute with no external milk interference. Judging by this lack of hellfire and brimstone, I decided to put four of the Tepin peppers (show above) in withe my taco meat. I made some quick smoky chili con carne tacos with 4 of the peppers chopped and thrown into the mix. The result: Nothing. Not a hint of heat whatsoever. In fact, I had to break out more Chipotle Tabasco just to bump it up a bit.

Finally, I did the eat-the-whole-pepper thing. Saying a quick Hail Mary, I popped the pepper in and chewed my way to glory. The heat was briefly intense, much like a serrano pepper. But there was a curious phenomenon. I only felt the heat on the places in my mouth where the pepper had physically touched. It was not like a Habanero, where your saliva helps the fire spread all over the inside of your mouth and throat. I figured that maybe since I had them in the freezer, the heat must have subsided somehow.

My other thought is this: since the Tepin peppers are so tiny, they actually have less capsaicin. A smaller size means smaller membranes which means smaller amounts of capsaicin.

In conclusion, I think the idea that the Tepin is hotter than a Habanero may be true in terms of pure Scoville Units. But in overall heat, mouth and butt-burning capability, and the amount of time the heat lasts, I still give Habaneros the award.

Sources: SGH Resources, Cornell Plantations: A Plethora of Peppers, Ecoseeds