I received a handful of small packets of Nando’s Hot Peri Peri sauce to review. It’s definitely a different way of packaging hot sauce, but it’s actually rather convenient. Though you can’t see what it looks like before opening a packet, the product comes out fresh. And, it’s easy to bring with you to restaurants or out of the house – definitely a bonus.

Ingredients: Water, White Vinegar, Lemon Puree, Onion Puree, Salt, Serrano Peppers, Sunflower Oil, African Birds Eye Peppers (Peri Peri Pepper), Cayenne Pepper, Garlic Pieces, Xantham Gum, Paprika, Propylene Glycol Alginate

On First Taste:
Nando’s Hot Peri Peri has a nice texture and thick but pourable consistency. The primary taste is acidic, and the lemon flavor comes on strong and early. The sourness of the lemon takes over the taste, and is followed by a tasty pepper flavor that I’m not familiar with – must be the Peri-Peri. The flavor is very robust, and pretty good. It’s quite unusual for a hot sauce, and immediately struck me as a good marinade for either chicken or fish. It would also be great as the sour base mixed with some fruit juice for a sweet and sour sauce.

On Food:

I marinaded some chicken breast in Nando’s Hot Peri-Peri, and let it soak in for a few hours. I then threw the chicken on the grill and served it with some wild rice.

Nando’s gave the chicken a very nice flavor. The sauce really tenderized the chicken nicely, and it complemented the simple dish with understated and zesty flavor. The heat didn’t come through too strongly, but taken uncooked, the heat is sufficient.

In Conclusion:
Nando’s Hot Peri-Peri sauce is probably a niche sauce for me – good on the grill, and a great replacement anywhere you’d use lemon juice, but a bit too sour for consumption on things like breakfast foods. None the less, this is a tasty, well crafted sauce that should be welcome in any kitchen.

Packaging – The packets are surprisingly handy. 8.5 out of 10.0
Aroma – Strong aroma of lemon and peppers. 8.2 out of 10.0
Appearance – reddish orange and thick. 8.3 out of 10.0
Taste – Lemony-citrus. 7.9 out of 10.0
Heat – Heat is there, but not a burner. 5.0 out of 10.0

Overall Rating: 8.1 out of 10.0

Nando’s USA
1041 18th W. Ste. A205
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
Tel: 1-888-625-2657
Fax: 949-722-0102

A few months back, I did an interview with Gordon Cameron, the proprietor of an up and coming, Washington DC-based line of hot sauces called Capitol Punishment. The sauces (Roasted Red Gar-banero, Must Have Mango, Smokey Sear-Acha, and Serra-Tillo) were fantastic, and are still some of my current favorites.

After not hearing from Capitol Punishment sauces for a while, I decided to check up with Chef Gordon and see how things were going. Turns out, life as a fledgling Artisan Hot Sauce maker isn’t easy when your identity gets stolen, leaving you to foot a large bill for taxes in a state you’ve never lived in, complete with a lien on your checking account.

In the words of Chef Gordon, “I have a court date for September 7th. This is unfortunately conflicting with the Zest Fest weekend, I was looking so forward to meeting fellow manufacturers and HSBers. This issue has really impacted Capitol Punishment, not to mention my personal life. It has cost me two events this summer, I can’t use my bank, buy raw materials, damn it even cost me a low number Firecracker 500!”

This is an unfortunate blow to all hot sauce lovers who value good heat, perfectly balanced flavors, and high quality ingredients. Hopefully fortune turns around soon for Chef Gordon, so we can get back to enjoying his fine line of sauces again.

Chef Gordon’s take on the situation? I still have a huge habanero for a heart that pumps capsicum into my blood, so it’s will take more than this issue to keep me out of the biz. So when the smoke clears, we will rally to get everything back on track with a vengeance.

My bottle of Mad Anthony’s Extra Hot BBQ sauce came out on a perfect day for grilling – sunny and 80 degrees, low humidity, and not a cloud in the sky. Simply the ideal setting for trying out a new barbecue sauce!

Ingredients: Ketchup {Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Distilled Vinegar, Corn Syrup, Salt, Less than 2% onion powder, Garlic Powder, Natural Flavors}, Molasses, Cider Vinegar, Fig Concentrate, Brown Sugar, Garlic, Water, Orange Juice Concentrate, Dehydrated Onion, Distilled Vinegar, Spices (including Chipotle Pepper, Ancho Pepper, Habanero Pepper), Salt, Natural Hickory Seasoning.

That is one long and complicated ingredients list – not to mention confusing! The double parenthesis had me wondering for a while, so I added my own curly bracket {} here to try and clarify. At first, in my state of ingredient disorientation, I was disappointed to see HFCS as one of the main ingredients. But then, I realized it was a sub-component of the ketchup, and the primary sweeteners were Molasses and Brown Sugar. Though I’d rather see my food HFCS-free, I’ve got to give props to Mad Anthony for not skimping on his ingredients, and instead putting in loads of high quality stuff.

On First Taste
Mad Anthony’s Extra Hot BBQ Sauce is pourable but richly thick, with some chunks and a dark brown color that screams of molasses. It’s the perfect consistency to brush on cold – easy to spread, but with plenty of gumption.

The taste is pleasantly sweet, with rich molasses sweetness accented by strong hickory notes, and a citrusy-sweet background where the fig plays harmoniously with the orange. Eaten cold, the flavor lingers and develops into a rich cacophony of individually bursting flavors. The heat come on quickly, with a noticeable fire that would get the average palate burning, but is more than manageable for the well seasoned tongue.

On Food
There’s no meat quite like pork for a sweet sauce. So, I grabbed a few pork chops on the bone and got to work. I seasoned the pork with salt and pepper, grilled on each side for about 3 minutes, then added Mad Anthony’s Extra Hot to each side and let it brown on for an additional 4 minutes per side. At the same time I grilled some poblano, serrano and Anaheim chiles, mushrooms and a Roma tomato. I served the peppers and mushrooms chopped with a touch of olive oil, and the tomato with melted emmental cheese on top. A side of mashers finished the plate.

With the added heat, the Mad Anthony’s caramelized beautifully and evolved into an almost ethereal flavor profile. The sweetness toned down a bit, as did the heat, but the sauce blended into a unified, harmonious and rich taste that went perfectly with the fresh peppers and potatoes. I could find nothing to complain about in this sauce – it’s an ideal companion for pork, and serving it heated brings out its best character. I even mixed an extra shot in with my potatoes, and I think I found myself a clever and tasty new barbecue side dish!

In Conclusion:
If you like sweet barbecue, you have to try this sauce. Even if you don’t, give it a try anyhow – it may change your mind. This sauce goes great with pork, and would work perfectly with chicken. In my opinion, if you are going to do sweet, you simply have to go with high quality ingredients to get a good flavor – and Mad Anthony’s Extra Hot BBQ Sauce is a shining example.

Packaging – Bright and attractive, a bottle you can (and should) leave on the table. 9.1 out of 10.0
Aroma – Intriguingly sweet, nice hickory. 8.2 out of 10.0
Appearance – Thick and chunky, looks like homemade. 8.1 out of 10.0
Taste – Perfectly sweet, great complexity. 9.2 out of 10.0
Heat – Evident, less significant when served hot. 6.0 out of 10.0

Overall Rating: 8.6 out of 10.0

A mustard yellow label with a rather ring-worn looking habanero in boxing gloves greets you from the bottle of Habanero Punch. Creative, though a little unsettling. The sauce itself has a very sweet, vinegary aroma and a strangely thin-but sticky consistency. There’s also a pretty decent smokey [tag]habanero[/tag] aroma that comes through.

Ingredients: White distilled vinegar, garlic, corn syrup, honey, roasted habanero peppers, kosher salt, liquid smoke, xantham gum, red and yellow food coloring.

I’m disappointed to see food coloring used – I much prefer products that walk the less processed route. And the corn syrup instead of additional honey is a letdown, but at least it’s not HFCS.

On First Taste
The sweetness comes through strong, though it is definitely a corn syrup sweetness with a touch of honey in the background. The vinegar is pronounced. Smoke and habanero hits next, leaving a mild burn that passes quickly.

On Food
I had house guests, and whipped up a nice breakfast of French style omelets with mushroom, onion, poblano peppers, tomato and emmental cheese. Oven baked bacon and toast made up the sides. Habanero Punch [tag]hot sauce[/tag] was served as the topping of choice.

The sauce was passable, but not spectacular with breakfast food. The overt candy sweetness was at odds with the eggs. It wasn’t bad, but not ideal, either – a bit surprising to me because I generally like sweet sauces on breakfast foods, and I particularly like the taste of honey.

I really think that the over the top, artificial tasting sweetness was just too much for my taste. The honey, garlic, smoke and habanero peppers are a great combination, but the corn syrup throws the entire flavor profile out of whack. It’s kind of like tossing a tablespoon of sugar on top of your hot sauce and eggs, and that’s just not right, especially when honey is one of the primary ingredients and should provide the perfect amount of sweetness by itself.

My friend who was staying liked the sauce pretty well, though he also though it was a bit too sweet and didn’t have the heat he was looking for. The label touts this sauce as having “a sweet punch”, so it does give a fair warning of it’s intent. But it’s also rated on a pictured scale between medium and hot, which is definitely an overstatement.

Habanero Punch would be much better used as a grilling sauce, on something that goes well with heavy sweetness. It’d be great on chicken, pork, and especially duck. Plus, cooking it over flame would do a great job of caramelizing the sugar content, highlighting the smokiness of the roasted peppers while teasing out the honey flavor.

In Conclusion:
Habanero Punch offers a lot of promise, if used in the right spots. It’s a grilling sauce all the way, and would excel in that role. If used cold, just keep it off anything you wouldn’t want the sweetness of Log Cabin syrup on.

Packaging – The boxing pepper scares me. 6.5 out of 10.0
Aroma – Excessively sweet, good smoke. 7.1 out of 10.0
Appearance – Thin and sticky looking. Points off for artificial coloring. 4.9 out of 10.0
Taste – Very sweet, lots of smoke. 7.1 out of 10.0
Heat – Mild but detectable burn. 3.5 out of 10.0

Overall Rating: 6.7 out of 10.0

The Savory Hot Sauce Co.
Mariposa, CA 95338
savoryhotsauce@sti.net
Phone: (209) 742-5215
FAX: (209) 742-5216

Palo Alto Firefighter Lee Taylor has been growing peppers in the station backyard since 1994. After each harvest he would make his famous and zesty pepper sauce – which quickly became a hot commodity. Previously only available to firefighters in Palo Alto – now you can enjoy the fiery taste of Lee’s pepper sauce. All proceeds go to charity.

Ingredients: Chili peppers (chili peppers, citric acid and/or distilled vinegar) sugar, spices

The Palo Alto Firefighters hot sauce has a thick, dark red texture that has good body but pours easily. The smell has a distinctively smokey, peppery aroma. It actually smells like a good hearty chili, minus the beef and beans.

On First Taste
I gave the Palo Alto Firefighter’s sauce a try on a tortilla chip, and many additional samples rapidly ensued. The flavor is terrific. The pepper varieties aren’t given on the label, but serrano pepper stands out among what I’d guess are plentiful red jalapenos and chipotles. The balance of flavor is excellent. The vinegar is well used, light and adding richness to the background. It’s a tasty, well balanced sauce that puts the pepper flavor first – just the way I like it. There is some heat, but it’s by no means a scorcher. This is a sauce for anyone who likes a light burn.

On Food
The Palo Alto Firefighter’s [tag]hot sauce[/tag] seemed a perfect companion for breakfast food, so I heaped it on a sausage and egg breakfast sandwich. It stuck nicely to the food, added a terrific flavor – unquestionably a winner.

The texture and taste would be just ideal with chili, as well. It’s so good, and with just the right texture, that you could easily use this as a base for chili. Just mix in beans, onions and ground been, and it’d be good to go.

In Conclusion
Firefighter Lee Taylor has certainly created a fantastic sauce. Light in heat, but bursting with flavor, his Palo Alto Fire Fighters Pepper Sauce will leave your mouth feeling good. And you’ll feel good, too, knowing you’re supporting a good cause.

Packaging – Clean, classic, appealing. 8.9 out of 10.0
Aroma – Smokey, peppery goodness. 8.5 out of 10.0
Appearance – Dark red, good consistency. 8.1 out of 10.0
Taste – Great chili flavor. 8.8 out of 10.0
Heat – Low, but sufficient in quantity. 3.5 out of 10.0

Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10.0

“Enjoy the bounty of the Chesapeake Bay! The sweet flavor of the blue crab combined with fresh ripe vegetables makes for an exquisite salsa. Use it as a dip or to enhance seafood dishes, omelets, salads and grilled meats.”

Pepper’s Original Blue Crab salsa has a very smooth, finely blended texture with visible strands of crab meat. It looks heavy on tomatoes and light on peppers, and smells strongly of crab. In fact, the smell is very similar to cocktail sauce.

Ingredients: Diced tomatoes, pasteurized crab meat, Diced green bell peppers, lime juice, chili peppers, natural flavors, a special blend of herbs and spices, salt.

On First Taste:
The first taste brings a strong wave of crab flavor, and follows with a saucy flavor that taste uncannily like cocktail sauce. It’s a nice, classic blend that goes together very nicely. Though, it is a little bit odd on a tortilla chip – not much like a salsa at all. There was no perceptible heat. And the taste of the peppers are very,very understated. Pepper’s Blue Crab salsa is a condiment that begs to be used with food, rather than eaten on its own.

On Food
I chose to use Pepper’s Original Blue Crab Salsa to accent a seafood dish. I took some mahi mahi, seasoned it with salt, pepper and a bit of white wine and broiled it for 7 minutes a side. I then added a spoonful of Brie to each fillet, and topped the whole thing with several spoonfuls of the salsa.

The flavor was excellent. The fish provided a mild, flavorful backdrop as the crab, tomato and brie blended sensuously. The Blue Crab salsa also excelled being warm; it brought some nice herby notes to the front. There was still no heat to speak of,the but flavor more than made up for it. If I had it to do over again, I’d probably add a touch of horseradish to the dish as well, since nothing goes better with cocktail sauce and crab than fresh horseradish.

I also tried Pepper’s Blue Crab Salsa on crackers with cream cheese, and it was fantastic. It would make a wonderful and simple appetizer to top some cream cheese with the blue crab salsa and serve with crackers.

In Conclusion:
Pepper’s Original Blue Crab Salsa brings the flavor, but leaves the heat behind. It’s not your run of the mill salsa, but it performs admirably in adding a great seafood flavor to dishes.

Packaging – Solid and attractive. 8.2 out of 10.0
Aroma – crab and cocktail sauce. 7.7 out of 10.0
Appearance – Thin, with visible crab meat. 7.6 out of 10.0
Taste – Strong crab flavor. 8.3 out of 10.0
Heat – Undetectable. 0.5 out of 10.0

Overall Rating: 7.8 out of 10.0

I’d been thinking of how best to use my tiny bottle of Georgia Peach and Vidalia Onion Hot Sauce for several days, until the perfect opportunity appeared. After a good training run this morning, and the wife water skiing at her parent’s house, I decided to reward myself with a nice pancake breakfast at my favorite breakfast place down the street. And the Vidalia onion and peach combination sounded like a great substitute for maple syrup.

Of course, I didn’t think of the pandemonium that was ensuing due to Father’s Day brunch, but fortunately there was a single open spot at the counter so I didn’t have to wait. I did get some very odd looks from the cashier as I took pictures of my breakfast, but that’s okay – odd looks are worth bearing for a quality hot sauce review.

Ingredients: Water, cane sugar, red chili puree, peaches, vinegar, green jalapeno peppers, salt, vidalia onions, dehydrated tomato, red pepper, xantham gum, erythorbic acid, polysorbate 80, capsium oil. 13% vidalia onion by weight.

That’s one heck of a long ingredients list!

On Food

The color of the Georgia Peach and Vidalia Onion Hot Sauce is a dark reddish brown, and it pours similar to warm molasses. The vidalia onion dominates the aroma. The flavor is very sweet, again with the vidalia and cane sugar dominating. The peach flavor is very understated, but that was not a problem. The flavor was terrific. There was very little heat, a mild tingle at best. This is a sauce that even the most novice of hot sauce tasters could handle.

I soon wished I had more, as the flavor was great, but the pancakes were just too dry for my taste. So, I added syrup on top, and the flavor blended in very nicely, making for a very enjoyable breakfast.

Conclusion: The Georgia Peach and Vidalia Onion Hot Sauce, though lacking heat, provides a good tasting and unusual flavor that will complement any meal that wants some natural sweetness. It’s great with breakfast, would be a good ice cream sauce, and would give a great flavor to pork or chicken on the barbecue.

Packaging – Attractive, eye catching. 8.2 out of 10.0
Aroma – Sweet, dominated by Vidalia. 7.8 out of 10.0
Appearance – Dark, thick and unassuming. 7.0 out of 10.0
Taste – Sweet and tasty. 8.5 out of 10.0
Heat – Very Minor. 2.5 out of 10.0

Overall Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Buckshot is a coarsely ground jalapeno powder produced by Wilderbs. It has the consistency of a ground spice, and packs a nice aromatic punch. Taking a big, deep sniff yields a good amount of nasal cavity tingling, which is a very good sign of things to come. No ingredients are listed on the packaging, so I’m not sure if it’s pure jalapeno powder or there are additional spices mixed in.

On First Taste
Buckshot has a good, true jalapeno smell that has seems to have some heavy smokiness to it. The taste is quite good, and it packs a reasonable punch. The heat is nowhere near extract level, but for a [tag]jalapeno[/tag] product, it has reasonable kick.

On Food

I tried using buckshot to season some broiled tilapia. I rubbed the fish with a bit of salt and pepper, then with some buckshot. Into the broiler for 5 minutes a side, and it was ready to eat.

The flavor was very, very good. Unlike a typical finer power, which I’ve had less than ideal results with using as a cooking seasoning, Buckshot stuck nicely and evenly to the fish, very akin to using black pepper. That’s important, because the flavor is consistent with each bite. Buckshot is a great replacement anywhere you’d use black pepper, but want an extra kick. A recommended use is as a seasoning for a bloody Mary, and I’m sure it would excel at that.

Packaging – Clean, crisp, simple, functional. 8.0 out of 10.0
Aroma – Pungent and aromatic. 7.5 out of 10.0
Appearance – Appealing and spice-like. 7.7 out of 10.0
Taste – Strong jalapeno with smoke to spare. 8.2 out of 10.0
Heat – Low level burn. 6.5 out of 10.0

Overall Rating: 7.6 out of 10

BUCKSHOT Powdered Hickory Smoked Jalapeños is an intense concentration of the wonderful flavor of hot jalapeño and hickory smoke. Approximately 1 pound of fresh peppers equals 1/2 ounce of BUCKSHOT! The peppers are hand-cut, hickory smoked, dehydrated and milled into a course powder. Do not underestimate the heat of BUCKSHOT; this stuff will fire you up!

Wild ‘Erbs Specialty Foods
3145 Sulky Lane
Evergreen, CO 80439
phone: 720.320.3929

Chile Traditions Original New Mexico Hot Sauce comes in a bright, attention grabbing yellow bottle. The bottle looks like it’s almost bursting with cayenne peppers – it’s a bright, fresh looking sauce that I couldn’t wait to try. Plus, it lists the peppers first, which is usually a good thing. The website advertises it as “our answer to Tabasco.” I won’t hold that against them. Yet.

Ingredients: Cayenne Pepper, Water, Vinegar, Salt, Modified Food Starch, Garlic

On First Taste
Chile Traditions pours out a little bit thin, and is a little messy to deal with. The cayenne flavor comes through strong and proud, and the garlic is highly prevalent. The vinegar is well used, apparent but not overpowering. The heat is a little bit on the low side, hotter than tabasco but not a serious burner. Overall, this is a very well constructed sauce that brings out the best in all it’s ingredients. There’s not much subtlety – it’s all about the cayenne peppers, and that’s fine with me.

On Food

I used Chile Traditions Original New Mexico Hot Sauce on a sausage and egg breakfast sandwich. It didn’t stick to the food quite as well as I’d have liked, but it mopped up with the croissant just fine. The flavor is perfect for eggs – a strong chile flavor with just the right amount of spice. This is a very solid cayenne sauce, and it will be taking a frequent place in my usual breakfast rotation.

Conclusion:
Chile Traditions Original New Mexico Hot Sauce may not be spectacular and awe-inspiring, but it is a very solid, true to the pepper cayenne sauce for people who like a tasty, balanced pepper first flavor in their sauce. Chile Traditions didn’t just answer Tabasco; they thoroughly dominated it.

(A Quick note, I am changing my ratings slightly to provide a more thorough, commonized approach.)

Packaging – a little too bright. 5.0 out of 10.0
Aroma – All cayenne, all the time. 9.0 out of 10.0
Appearance – Nice color, but too thin. 6.3 out of 10.0
Taste – Pure pepper flavor. 8.7 out of 10.0
Heat – Minor tingling. 5.0 out of 10.0

Overall Rating: 7.7 out of 10.0

After a major spate of envy after reading Nick’s review of Defcon’s Habby Horse, I jumped at the opportunity to pick up a jar of my own. I have a love of horseradish rivaling my love of hot sauce, and the though of the Creator’s demented mingling of those two burns was something that I’ve been eagerly anticipating since I first caught wind that such a project was in the works, many months ago.

The Habby Horse arrived at my doorstep nestled amid bottles of Defcon 1, 2 and 3, in an old fashioned canning jar. I could almost smell the vapors through the jar.

In my feverish rush to break open the Habby Horse, I thoroughly destroyed the handwritten message from the Creator, and instead got a healthy dose of silver marker all over my hands. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture until after I tore into it. Oh, well, this baby was meant to be an eater and not a collector.

On First Taste
I took my first taste of Habby Horse on a cracker, half expecting combustion to occur in my nasal cavities. Instead, I found a mellow, pleasant horseradish burn that was up front, clean, and crisp. Initially surprised at the mellowness, I quickly got a heavy punch in the back of the throat that took me by surprise, courtesy of the habaneros. The heat came on quickly and intensely, lighting a nice sized blaze all the way down my throat that I could feel clean into my stomach. It kept a healthy burn going for several minutes. Habby Horse won’t ignite your nose hair, but the burn sure won’t leave you lacking for burn. The flavor is great, a perfect blend of freshly ground horseradish and quality habanero flavor.

On Food
Habby Horse practically begs for a good steak. Fortunately, I had just the thing on hand – a half a Delmonico steak left over from my anniversary dinner at the Capitol Grille in Troy the day before. If only I’d had this stuff in time for the first go round!

The Habby Horse was quite simply perfect. It’s hands down the best horseradish sauce I’ve ever had. With the level of anticipation I had coming into this trial, I seriously risked disappointment simply by expectation. Instead, Defcon’s Habby Horse exceeded all my elevated expectations. Creator, please, please bring this to market!!! I won’t have this jar for long.

Conclusion:
Defcon’s Habby Horse is a truly exceptional product. With good fresh horseradish taste and habanero burn to spare, it’s a must try for any horseradish lover. Even though the burn is significant, I would actually love to see even more heat – mixing this with a vial of Defcon Zero would be even better.

Packaging – I dig the retro look and personal signature. 9.5 out of 10.0
Aroma- Horseradish and Hab, aka heaven. 9.9 out of 10.0
Appearance – Interesting salmon color, great texture. 9.0 out of 10.0
Taste – Pure decadence. 9.9 out of 10.0
Heat – Minor nasal burn, major heat. 9.0 out of 10.0

Overall Rating: 9.5 out of 10.0