Ingredients: Tomato concentrate made from Red Ripe Tomatoes, Distilled Vinegar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Salt, Spice, Onion powder, Natural Flavoring. All with a Drip Free Valve!

I used to teach high school history, so when I was walking by this bottle in the grocery store I just stopped: Here was a sauce that’s been made since 1869, a piece of Americana, so I just had to grab it. I’ll admit I was more drawn to the deep red color of it, and the handy convenience of a “drip free” valve (a genius innovation whose time is way over due). But I have to tell you, after so much anticipation and getting this sauce home, I was more than a little disappointed.

When I got home, I took out me trusty tasting spoon and just poured it on. This sauce is thick, thick like mustard, and it held well to the spoon. The first whiff I got when I smelled it was a combination of sugar and vinegar. Skeptical, I poured on, taking advantage of the Stay Clean Cap/Drip Free Valve. Now here was a shining light: You can use this cap to write messages, or draw funny faces to entertain your kids. But the real beauty of this cap is that with the right amount of pressure you can send streams of this sauce up to eight feet long. Which is what I found out after I tasted this stuff.

If you’ve ever read my reviews in the past then you know I’m a Hardened Habbie Head, the guy who once ate a fresh habanero for a jar of mayonnaise (don’t ask, alcohol was involved). Long story short, I like my sauces hot. This sauce wasn’t the case. True traditional ketchup (kats-up, or sometimes spelled cats-chup) is a tomato based, heavily seasoned sauce that is thought to have originated from India. The initial flavors that I got from this were tomato, then sugar, then vinegar, with a hint of salt. So I took another taste of my spoon and tasted, again, tomato (though more ripe), sugar, vinegar, and followed by salt. No onion, and certainly no spice, as listed on the label. What the Hell?

Now I understand that some producers are out there making milder sauces for the hot sauce newbies, but this is a step beyond ridiculous. Granted, this did taste ok on French fries, and pretty good on onion rings, but I had to add other hot sauces to this just to get a meager kick from it. What are they trying to push here? I don’t know, but my kids put this stuff on just about everything, and my wife says it tastes pretty good on hash browns. I guess each their own (but that doesn’t always make them right). So on to my Five Point Scale.

Appearance: 4-Certainly a good looking sauce in a nice, very squeezy plastic bottle. Again, with the right amount of pressure you can get streams of up to (but not limited to when using a Ford Taurus) eight feet. I also like the blood red color.

Aroma: 3-Almost like tomatoes, except I smell a lot of sweetness also. There is lingering vinegar when I sniff really hard. Oh wait, scratch that one. We just had our kitchen cleaned (tomato stains).

Taste: 3- If it wasn’t for the ingredients list, I’d swear I was tasting just tomatoes and sugar. Albeit red ripe tomatoes-look at the color again-but a little too sweet for my veteran palate.

Heat: 0-I try took look for an upside in everything, even the Police Academy movies, but I’m sorry, this sauce sucked for heat. My two year old daughter often enjoys a little taste or two of hot sauces, but this one she just ate up like it was nothing. What does that tell you? I’d get more heat if I were to lick an ice cube.

Overall: 3.3- For a sauce that’s been around since 1869, you would think these people had a clue as to what they were doing. But they don’t. It’s a decent sauce, for what it’s worth ($1.89 for 20 ounces), and you can buy it anywhere. I guess this would be the ultimate sauce for newbies. And contrary to popular belief, the “57” that adorns this bottle is not the 57th attempt at making it. No, the truth in the matter was in 1870 Heinz founder H. J. Heinz predicted that there would someday be 57 states in America that his sauce would be sold and bought in. Little piece of trivia for ya. So until next time, treat every meal like it was your last!

H.J. Heinz Co., L.P.
Pittsburgh, PA. 15222
www.heinz.com

BLAIR & ZAKK WYLDE!

Dear ChiliPal,

So many things have been going on in Death Sauce Land over the last few months.
So much in fact that I could not explain everything in just one e-Mail. Over the next couple of weeks I will be sending out several additional messages covering many exciting topics.

Today I want to announce that Blair’s and Zakk Wylde have partnered in a unique line of “Berserker Brand” Hot Sauces. As I am sure many of you know Zakk Wylde has been The lead axe man With Ozzy Osbourne for almost 20 years and has an incredible following of millions of fans from around the world. I am very honored to be working with him directly on this project and was psyched to learn he has been a long time Death Sauce fan, not to mention a fellow Jersey boy. We will be launching 4 unique sauces in June 2008. These sauces will be available via www.extremefood.com and www.zakkwylde.com, Ozzfest, As well as many other major retailers around the globe that will be announced soon.

Take a look at the prototype of the label below as well as a message directly from Zakk. Again this is a very exciting event for Blair’s and we look forward to millions of new chiliheads joining us in using and collecting both Zakk’s sauces as well as my reserves. Enjoy the ride!

FEEL ALIVE!

Your ChiliPal,
PS: Please note it has just come to my attention that several hundred emails have been sent to me and were buried in my spam folder. If you did not get a response, please send and questions or comments to blair@extremefood.com and I promise to respond.
FROM ZAKK WYLDE:

“When it came time to choose a company to introduce a recipe of flavors geared towards my fan base, the Berserkers, only one company was considered: Blair’s.
So I made the call right away.
Blair¹s Death Sauce has taken first position in my rack of flavors for sometime, and it¹s been my go-to sauce for anything I’ve cooked, grilled or recently killed that needs that extra punch. The thought that I could build on that Blair’s tradition, and bring it to my audience is huge. And it’s getting bigger since we decided one flavor is not enough- so we’re going with 4 flavors to launch.”

ABOUT ZAKK WYLDE:

Zakk
Wylde’s tenure as Ozzy Osbourne’s axe slinging side-kick has brought him fame in front of a large audience over the past two decades. However, it’s Wylde’ rock band Black Label Society (BLS) that has brought him notoriety amongst a hard core crowd of music lovers known in Black Label’s world as Berserkers. The fans, who have Black Label Society chapters around the globe, wear their BLS colors with great pride. A musical gang of beer drinkers, they rally under the mantra SDMF, which means Strength Determination, Merciless, Forever. “It’s a tribute to family and God” according to Wylde. From 1999’s “Sonic Brew” album to the current “Shot To Hell” release, one thing is certain- Black Label Society’s recorded output has never disappointed rock loyalists.

Look for a new BLS album in 2009.

For additional information on Black Label Society please see:
www.blacklabelsociety.com

for
additional information on Zakk Wylde, see: www.zakkwylde.com

Black Label
Society is:
Zakk Wylde
Vocals, Guitar, Piano

Nick “Evil Twin” Catanese
Guitar

John “JD” DeServio
Bass

Craig Nunenmacher
Drums
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Extreme Food
PO Box 363
Highlands, New Jersey 07732