Salsas, hot sauce, relishes, and spicy mustards abounded at ZestFest 2006, but one outsider caught the attention of Mrs. Adam and subsequently won my heart. The crowd seemed to ignore Heaters, makers of peanuts and spicy peanut brittle. This was a shame, because I think that the Habanero Brittle was one of the most unique products at ZestFest.

Heaters offered up plenty of jalapeno-infused peanuts as well as a red-tinged variety infused with habanero. All were good, but I just didn’t get too excited about it until Mrs. Adam handed me a tiny piece of peanut brittle.

“Try this,” she said, excitement in her voice.

At this point in the day, I had just come off a shot of Blair’s New Jersey Death Sauce plus a dozen or so salsas, wing sauces, and relishes; I didn’t feel anything at first. All I could taste was sugar and peanut through my weakend tastebuds.

“Mmm, that’s OK, I guess.” And then it hit me. A zing went right up my tongue. My eyes widened in surprise as Mrs. Adam nodded in agreement. This brittle was the bomb. The flavor and the heat were staying with me as long as the brittle was wedged up into my back molars.

The brittle itself was everything you could want in a brittle. It was sugary sweet with a hint of peanut butter. The texture was very porous, but it still had that telltale crunch. For the spice, the brittle surrounds a load of Bucka’s Burners Habanero peanuts. I’m not 100% convinced that this is the only way the brittle gets its spice, though. It seemed like they may have added a little bit of oomph to the brittle batter itself.

Overall, the flavor is excellent, and the habanero heat lasts quite a while. Just a while ago, Mrs. Adam and I sat on the couch with our tongues hanging out just enjoying a couple of bites.

I guess the average person normally shies away from anything sweet combined with anything spicy. John Q. Public has been conditioned to believe that spicy things are usually salty and/or sour. This might be why the Heaters booth seemed to be passed by on the whole. But for me, combining sweet and spicy is a wonderful marriage; I love all the spicy jellies, jams, and sweets.

Heaters story is much like a lot of hot sauce and salsa bottlers. It began as a love affair in the kitchen which eventually blossomed into a business. They offer jalapano salted peanuts, habanero salted peanuts and this kick butt peanut brittle.

If you’ve had your fill of the endless parade of sauces, and want something more, I definitely believe the Heaters Peanut Brittle is a must have for all chileheads.

Heaters Nuts
4104 Holland Blvd., Suite 108
Chesapeake, VA 23323
Ph. (757) 485-8688
Toll Free (888) 485-8890

Straight from the Arctic Circle comes a line of hot sauces that you will be hanging up your stockings for. But what? It’s only June. Yes, Virginia, but now is the time to stock up on Santa’s best: a line of hot sauces that could melt the polar ice cap and send Santa’s workshop south for the winter. Until now, only Mrs. Claus knew that Santa liked it hot.

This is Blazing Blitzen, the latest in the line of Santa-based hot sauces straight from the Santa Claus House in North Pole, Alaska. Along with Blizten, there is Screaming Santa, Red Hot Rudolph, and Santa’s Special Blend Extra Reserve.

OK, enough ballyhoo; let’s get down to business. The initial reaction I had when receiving my Blazing Blitzen was a big eye-roll. I figured it was just a marketing gimmick for the Santa Clause House in Alaska. The label is kind of crudely designed, and it looks like it was printed on an ink jet printer.

Ooo, that smell
I have found that the first time you open a bottle of hot sauce, the initial smell is going to be strong with vinegar. Blitzen was no different. I was really suspicious of this vinegar smell because it just reeked of low quality, something I would expect from a marketing gimmick.

But the shocking vinegar scent died down after a little while of breathing. Who knew that a bottle of hot sauce would react the same way as a bottle of wine.

Sights and Taste
The color of Blazing Blitzen is a bright orange-red from the carrots in the bottle. Interestingly enough, the ingredients list is short and does not contain any synthetic product.

I was not prepared for the wallop that Blitzen packed. It packs a huge punch. It is hot … very very hot. And the ingredients list does not give away the exact heat-producing method. It just says “fresh, hot peppers.” I’m guessing that Santa can get the best stuff.

I tried Blazing Blitzen on all sorts of foods: chips, pizza, burgers, eggs, macaroni, steak, chicken, and egg rolls. It was all good. The flavor was typical for a simple sauce such as this: vinegary with a hint of carrot and pepper. But it wasn’t overpowering, which allowed me to pour it on to my mouth’s desire.

I wouldn’t consider this to be an outstanding award-winning masterpiece of culinary creation, but it is good. It’s a sauce that I would love to keep handy in the fridge whenever I need a blast of heat on my food.

Overall rating: 6.5 out of 10

Sounds omnious, doesn’t it? Tomb Hot Spice. Tomb … death … fire … HOT! Right? Maybe.

Wewoff is the company that makes this spice that comes in interesting plastic resealing packets. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the packets do have a fair amount of usability compared to the typical shaker bottles. This is one new spice that really needs to be used in moderation. Not because it is hot, but because it is rather salty. I actually enjoyed the Tomb Hot Spice, but I found that it cannot be used in copious amounts due to the salt content. I tried it first on grilled chicken and pork, which fared well with a little bit of scrutiny

Lightly brush meat, poultry or fish with oil, then coat with Tomb before cooking. But don’t stop there. Sprinkle it over salads, egg dishes, soups and spreads.

Following the directions on the packet, I rubbed the meat with a little bit of olive oil and sprinkled some of the spice on, then hit the grill right away. I did not “coat” the meat with the mixture as the packet suggested, rather, I sprinkled it on. I knew that by the raw taste of this spice, the saltiness would be too much for “coating.”

And now for the truth. We all want to know if a produce called “tomb” and “hot” is actually hot. And the answer is no. It is not hot. It’s spicy, but not hot. Cayenne pepper is the heat-making ingredient for Tomb Hot Spice, and it falls last on the list. That’s a shame because I think that Tomb has the potential to be a top-notch product.

I know this sounds all very negative, but I really did like Tomb Hot Spice. It’s is a very interesting blend of black pepper, paprika, and New Zealand Sea Salt. I managed to get some good use out of it on grilled meats, sprinkled in canned vegetables, and one that I truly loved … spicy cheese scones.

As I’m writing this review, I am thinking Tomb Hot Spice would be excellent in deviled eggs and sprinkled on top.

I give Tomb Hot Spice a 3 out of 5 starts in overall quality in flavor, but only one-half star in the heat category.

Greetings chileheads! I recently approached Nick on the idea of doing an audio review of a hot sauce. He was keen on the idea, so I couldn’t help but oblige. So here we go. I now present to you the audio hot sauce review of LocoLuna’s suite of Lava sauces. I had a really good time putting this together, and TheWife and I enjoyed doing a live taste testing.

Please pardon the chip crunching and smacking; it goes with the territory, I suppose.

The review lasts about 10 minutes, and the file is about 6 MB in size. Please right-click and “save target as …” or “save link as…” if you are using Firefox.

hsb_lava_sauce_review.mp3

Oh, Shit. Dan’s done it again. Just when you thought it was safe to use seasonings with no profanity on them, it comes. From the makers of Special Shit All-Purpose Seasoning comes a seasoning so hot, so spicy that it will dare you to speak its name. Say its name! Say it! Aw Shit.

Big Cock Ranch is the official “company” behind the line of Shit products, but it is single-handedly run by Dan Martin, cattle baron and all around kickass fellow. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to beta test the Aw Shit along with its other brother, the Good Shit. In my house, where there are two children under the age of 4, we have learned to replace the “shit” with “stuff.” Either that, or we shorten it to “Aw,” “Special,” or “Good.”

Aw Shit is specially blended for those who want to put a little zip in their doo-da. With a hot combo taste of Mexican meets Cajun, this seasoning profices just the right amount of kick to make you say “Aw Shit!”

Even the most … ahem .. seasoned of chileheads just might say those words after trying out one of the latest seasonings from Big Cock Ranch, makers of the infamous Special Shit. The Aw Shit, packaged in the familiar 14oz. plastic bottle sports a dark green label and seasoning with a brick-red hue. The particles of the Aw Shit are noticeably finer than that of the Special Shit whose grains are large and perfect for rubbing into grilling meats.
Knowing some inside information about this, the Aw Shit was ground finer, not only to encourage sparing usage but also to enhance the heat of the ancho chile powder used. It makes sense, you know. The finer the particle, the more that can attach to your taste buds and cause you to say those words.

The Aw Shit is a lot like its brother, the Special Shit in terms of versatility. Sure, the Aw Shit packs a powerful punch, but it still goes great on a myriad of foods. Steaks, pork, chicken, and ribs are the obvious choice, but I also like to dust vegetables such as green beans or corn. It also goes great inside of scrambled eggs or breads.

As the label says, Aw Shit will get you reaching for the nearest beer, but without having to “bite the bullet” the next morning. This seasoning has a unique ability to be as hot or cool as you like but still retain a decent flavor. If you need just small amount of heat, lightly dust your meat with it. Or, if you like your mouth burnt, you just might want to slather it on. Either way, the flavor of the Aw Shit doesn’t get over or under powering.

Yes, I know the name is a little bit unique, perhaps a tad bit profane, but I gaurantee you will enjoy using this product on all the foods you make at home.

Everyone: This is Mad’s first review for the HSB, so please give him a warm welcome. Great stuff Mad! ~ Nick

Well after a hard day drinking beer and being dragged to Sears to buy a microwave ($59.00 - not bad), I decided to do some serious cooking. The first thing I was dying to try was the Smokin Chipotle BBQ Sauce from the Three Hot Tamales.

I got the bottle at the Fiery Food Show in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I wanted to make a simple dish that we would be able to taste the sauce in its pure form. I didn’t want to contaminate the sauce with a bunch of other ingredients. The obvious choice was chicken, plus, it was also on sale.

Looking at the bottle I could see all the fresh chunks in the sauce. With my mouth watering, I started to read the ingredients which are ketchup, water, onion, brown sugar, chipotle peppers, apple cider vinegar, garlic, onions, and canola oil. No, that is not a typo, onions are listed twice on the ingredient label. I actually can see why, this sauce is chunky! The first impressions when I opened the bottle were just yummmmmm! You can smell everything, the chipotles, the brown sugar, the garlic, and, of course, the onions.

Full of excitement, I poured some out. The sauce was thick and chunky, just how a barbeque sauce should be.

It was time for the moment of truth, the taste test. Smokin Chipotle BBQ Sauce is everything I expected and then some. It was awesome! I probably could’ve eaten the whole bottle just by itself. The first thing I tasted was a smoky sweetness. Then it was followed by the garlic and then all those onions. And finally, the bit of the bang, the sauce had a little kick to it. This sauce had great, great taste and a little heat too. I gave a spoonful to my test subject, my wife, and she was pleasantly surprised as well. This sauce is defiantly a two thumbs up so far. So now it was chicken time. As I said before, I wanted to keep this simple. I just coated the bottom of the pan with the sauce, put the chicken in the pan, and just liberally coated the chicken.

I wrapped the pan in foil and threw in a 360 degree the oven. I let it cook for about 45 minuets before I removed the foil and gave the chicken another coat. I threw the chicken back in the oven uncovered for another 20 minuets. While we were waiting for dinner I started to make my kitchen sink chili. I’ll talk about that later. Finally, Walla, dinner is served.

I made a side of rice to scoop up all this good sauce as well. The chicken was excellent. The sauce had brilliant flavor. My wife was also very pleased.

This sauce is a winner in my book. Three Hot Tamales - great job! Here’s what I think in a nutshell

Packaging 7/10 - I don’t put too much weight on how the label looks. The label is simple white with black and red lettering as with the rest of the Three Hot Tamale line. I think seeing all those chunks floating around in the bottle speaks for itself.

Consistency 10/10 - Thick, thick and chunky just how a barbeque sauce should be. This sauce sticks right on the chicken

Color 10/10 - Deep dark red, hence the catsup

Flavor & Taste 10/10 - Can I say more, I’m hooked

Heat 5/10 - This sauce has a little bite. If you’re looking for tongue searing heat, throw in some Death Rain Nitro.

Overall, I’m going to give it 9/10. I really like this sauce and I plan to be experimenting with it in the future. This sauce is perfect for using on chicken, beef, pork, although it might be a bit heavy for fish. I can’t wait to try this sauce on ribs! After writing this review I’m so hungry now. I should have bought some more (beer too)!

Three Hot Tamales, LLC
33 Shaw Street
Garfield, NJ 07026
Phone: 862-686-0533
Fax: 888-3-HOT-TAM

I should hope that Dorsey’s Reserve is not a limited time offer because I think that Longbranch has perfected a great sauce here. I always had my … ahem … reservations about the quality of the Salsa Rio Verde. Something was lacking in that sauce, something just not right that I could never place my finger on. I had described it as a bitter flavor, the only thing my conscious mind could come up with for its description. A conflicted mind I have about the Rio Verde. I think it’s a good sauce, but I really didn’t feel drawn to it for slathering purposes. I never desired to put it on my food. There was always something else better in the fridge.

But Dorsey’s Reserve fills that void in my heart and heals the division in my head. This stuff tastes great and it is hot, hot, hot.

Officially this sauce is called Dorsey’s Reserve: Salsa Picante 8 Pepper Blend. Those peppers are Manzano, Jalapeno, Habanero, red Serrano, Chile de Arbol, Chipotle Morita, Habanero, and Serrano. Did you count all eight? Kind of an odd list, but the label indicates those last two are dried peppers. And you just have to love a sauce that gets its reddish-orange hue from the peppers and not added carrots or tomatoes. You won’t find carrots or tomatoes in this sauce.

Tasting this sauce, one becomes aware of all eight peppers, but the taste also hints to Longbranch’s dedication to higher-quality, and sometimes fancier ingredients. Apple cider vinegar, pumpkin seeds, sea salt, and roasted pine nuts are all part of the list, a factor that does not surprise.

I tried Dorsey’s reserve on a Jalapeno and Hominy Frittata which looks like this:

On food - It sure worked well on eggs as well as the mac and cheese. Those two are always my baseline for a hot sauce test, so I can definitely see this one working well on a myriad other foods, including sandwiches, grilled steak and pork, burgers, and pizza.

The heat - During my frittata test, I had previous knowledge that Dorsey’s Reserve is a hot hot sauce. I had licked a little bit off my finger to get a feel for what I was about to partake of. The first helping of frittata and the hot sauce set my mouth afire in a very pleasant way. On the second helping, I must have accidentally brushed some sauce past my chapped lips, an act I never wish to repeat.

Aside from the burning, bleeding chapped lips incident, one thing is for certain. I desire to slather this on everything, but not in such great quantities that I burn my lips off.

Longbranch has outdone itself this time. Dorsey’s Reserve is exactly what should be expected of a hot sauce, a high-end hot sauce, and most importantly, a quality product.

Longbranch Trading Co.
6285 E. Spring Street #319
Long Beach CA 90808-4000
Tel: 562 421 8371
Fax: 562 425 2818

Master! Master! Peppermaster. That’s a bold statement. It’s Canadian, eh? When this itsy-bitsy jar showed up on my front porch, a feeling of trepidation crawled down my spine. Why is jar so small? Does it whup that much ass? Will I burn my mouth just by looking at it too long? Good things in small packages? Terrorists?

The real reason I felt so much trepidation is because the jar looks like something you might get at a Texas roadside gift shop along with the inevitable jalapeno jelly and chili mix. You know the kind. It usually has some caricature of Billy Bob the cowhand with flames coming out of this mouth and droplets of sweat shaking out from his face. You know the one.

That picture there is one I crafted with my very poor shot of the jar. I didn’t realize until days after I threw away the empty jar, that I had taken a picture of the FRENCH! side of the label. Wait, isn’t this product Canadian? It can’t be French … they couldn’t handle this heat.

Au Poivron Jerk means Jerk Curry. This Peppermaster blends is a curry-based jerk grilling slather. That’s it, end of list. And what a good slather it is. As is par with the course, I tested this jerk slather on some grilled chicken breasts. It’s one of my favorite ways to try grilling sauces. It’s easy and usually comes out tasting pretty good.

The Peppermaster brushed well onto the chicken. It wasn’t too thick, so the sauce didn’t goop up on the grill grates, nor was it too thin and slide off the chicken to die a horrible death on the holy fires below. The smell was a wonderful blend of jerk spices with a hint, nay, an afterthought of curry. Goldilocks could say the consistency was juuuusst right.

The Heat: This stuff is hot. Just hot. I would rate it B+ on heat. For us chileheads, it’s just hot. It’s a good heat, a dry heat. It’s a heat that slowly fills your mouth up and gives a pleasant capsaicin buzz by the time that last bit of chicken is done.

My father, who did eagerly try the jerked chicken, had to take a few breathers during the meal and exclaim, “Oh man, this is hot!” Heh. He once taught me all I knew about spicy foods, and now the student has become the master.

I could find nothing wrong with this sauce other than the fact that there was so little. The tiny jar this sauce came in only was able to cover about 3 large chicken breasts. I think that was being pretty skimpy.

After doing an exhaustive search on Peppermaster, I couldn’t figure out if the Jerk Curry was available in any size other than micro. If they did bottle it in larger jars (and get a better label) I could see this one sellling big, and I could see myself buying a lot of it.

Heat Rating: 5 out of 10 chiles.
Overall: Two thumbs up.

Brooks Pepperfire Foods Inc.,
26 St-Jean Baptiste, E
Rigaud, Quebec
J0P 1P0
phone: 1-866-451-6770 (toll-free)

My report on Tepin peppers here at HSB has received quite a bit of attention in the global community. Some german blogger even got a hold of it, not to mention Melissa De Leon writing for Global Voices. Melissa, who runs CookingDiva.net, challenged me (in so many words) that the Tepin, or Pequin, pepper was definitely hotter than the Habanero, and that I should try her Nicaraguan Insanity Peppers. Ok, so she didn’t say “Insanity,” but the sentiment was implied.

So I took the bait. Never once did I really think that Melissa, who lives and works in Panama, would be able to get produce through U.S. Customs. Then one day, I received an email from her stating that she had been to “the farm” and would be vacuum-sealing a pack of peppers for me straight away. Ha ha, I thought. It’ll never get here.

Then one day, a Fedex envelope shows up at my doorstep oozing with vibrations of fire. I thought, “Oh, God. This is really gonna happen, isn’t it?” My mind had visions of that Simpsons episode where Homer trips out on too many Guatemalan Chile Peppers. My package, which included a hand-written letter, looked like this:

The package included 2 vacuum-sealed packs: one was very ripe peppers which Melissa suggested I not eat and save for planting, and the ready-to-eat green pellets of fire.

I received this package on the day of the Rose Bowl, where my Texas Longhorns became national champions after putting the hurt on an arrogant USC team. TheWife and I were recording an episode of the Men in Aprons Show and I decided to try the pepper live while recording. She took some photos of me in my progression from happiness to pain while I horked and coughed and spat out the loads of saliva in my mouth.

The official judgment on Melissa’s Nicaraguan Insanity Peppers is that they are hotter than the previous peppers that reside in my freezer. These things are hot, hot, hot. The same effect was noticed about them, as they only burned the places in my mouth where the pepper and juice touched. This was mainly my tongue. What amazed me was how much the pepper made my saliva glands overproduce. Every couple of minutes, I’d have to spit in the sink to empty my mouth of the pool of spit that had built up. There was NO way I was swallowing that saliva with all the pepper juice. The bum-hole must be protected.

In the end, I will say that the Tepin peppers rival or surpass the Habanero in terms of pure Scoville Units. The Habs, however, still have that ability to completely fill up your mouth with fire and not let go. Props to Melissa De Leon for the goods, and the soil of Nicaragua for making some mean-ass peppers.

I think it appropriate to review both sauces at the same time because they are, in a way, a point and counterpoint to the strange idea of putting figs into a barbeque sauce. When I received the sauces, I was honestly intrigued by the idea of figs. Being a good southern boy, a do love figs like I should, especially the candied and jellied kind that goes well on toast.

JD’s South Philly Hot Sauces makes a line of barbeque and hot sauce products that feature figs in the ingredient list.

The first, and mildest of the sauces is JD’s South Philly Figgin’ Hot Grilling and Dipping Sauce. It is important to note at this point that Figgin’ Hot is not figgin’ hot, nor is it a barbeque sauce. In fact, I’m not really sure what it is.

Figgin’ Hot is a figgin’ sweet. It’s a very sweet sauce that might work well served atop a block of softened cream cheese with crackers. It might do well mixed into a fruit cake or added to some holiday cookie dough. This might actually taste good added to some salsa and spooned over roast chicken. I did partake of the “dippin’” part of the sauces claim, and I wasn’t really impressed.

The one thing that Figgin’ Hot does not work well at, is a barbeque sauce or grilling sauce. Ironic, isn’t it? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the Figgin’ Hot doesn’t have it’s place in the kitchen, I’m just saying that it won’t work well mopped over grilling meats, and it definitely cannot be a featured sauce. After tasting the Figgin’ hot on many different foods, I came away with any uneasy feeling, a confused feeling. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew there was something not right about it.

Figgin’ Hot’s cousin in the South Philly Family is the Xtreme XXX BBQ Sauce. The XXX sauce definitely ventures into the realm of hot where the Figgin’ was afraid to go. My mouth did have a little bit of a hum after eating this sauce. However, I’m not conviced that the XXX deserves its triple X name. Maybe, maybe not. In the scope of the sauces produced by JD’s South Philly, XXX is at the top of the list, but the heat doesn’t really deliever the amount of heat one might expect for the name triple X.

The taste is tangy and sweet, much like a regular barbeque sauce. The texture is not really barbeque-like, nor is the overall palette. This one could be classified in it’s own category called “tangy with a crunch.”

The crunch that I refer to is that tell-tale sign of fresh figs: the seeds. All fig lovers are aware of the seeds, so it’s no surprise. However, the crunch is not something that’s usually expected for a grilling sauce or barbeque sauce.

I tried this one on grilled chicken and on some mammoth hot dogs. It tasted pretty good on the dogs and as a sauce for dipping french fries, but still something was sticking in my craw about the whole experience.

After waiting a while to make my judgments on these two sauces, it finally dawned on me what the confused feeling was that I had been feeling: the figs. I’m sorry to say that these sauces feature an ingredient that is their downfall. Figs just don’t have a place in barbeque sauce. I’m sorry, but it’s true. That unmistakably unique flavor that figs carry just doesn’t work well with barbeque or grilling sauce.

The general populace, myself included, expect a tangy and tart sauce that is very smooth. JD’s seems to buck this trend with it’s thick and lumpy sauces.

The Figgin’ Hot Grilling Sauce seems to have the most promise as a product, but the Xtreme XXX BBQ Sauce doesn’t really know what it wants to be. A barbeque sauce, a hot sauce, or a all purpose slather?

I can appreciate a sauce bottler to want to stray from the basics and make something original, but perhaps JD has gone a little too far out into space with the figs.

JD’S SOUTH PHILLY HA-HA-HOT SAUCES
PO Box 54879
Phillidelphia, PA 19148
(215) 778-1890