I received this bottle of Trinidad Habanero Pepper Sauce and have been carrying it around with me all over the country for weeks. I finally cracked the lid at a Tijuana Flats restuarant in Daytona Beach.

I love the label. Bright, festive and it keeps putting Jimmy Buffet tunes in my head. One thing that caught my eye was the “best if used by July 14, 2008″ stamp on the bottle from the co-packer. The label itself has a “use by Jan. 2011″ on it. I don’t really see any contradiction in the two dates. Certainly, you can have a best if used by date and a dispose of date, but it would be a shame to print upwards of 40 or 50 thousand labels at a time, like a lot of owners do, and then have to throw them away if business is less than expected. Just a thought. The label also boasts of winning “Best Hot Pepper Sauce” at the National Fiery Food Show. It does not list what year.

I will apologize in advance for the photograghy in this review. My daughter usually takes the pictures but since I’m in Daytona and she’s home in North Carolina, I did the best that I could.

Ingredients: Onions, Habanero Peppers, Vinegar, Green Peppers, Celery, Mustard, Ginger, Garlic, Salt, Thyme, Basil, and other fine herbs unique to Trinidad.

Aroma: Very complex. Initially, I get hit with vinegar. Not bitter or hot to the nose like a strong whiff of white vinegar can do to you, but a mellow vinegar tamed by the smell of onions and the sweet smell of basil and ginger. A fair description of this smell would be to compare it to dill pickle juice laced with basil. I like this smell. 9 out of 10

Appearance: I lean more toward red hot sauces, but this green sauce is absolutely perfect in appearance. You can see specks of Thyme and basil with scattered bits of red Habanero flesh and seeds. The basis for this sauce is onion and there is a lot of them in. it. The sauce is thin, but pours well and sticks to food perfect. I have nothing negative to say about appearance or consistency. 10 out of 10

Heat: I did not expect this sauce to be hot and I was dead wrong. You immediately get hit with an entire mouth burn that lingered on me for at least 10 minutes after I had finished dinner. My 4 friends that accompanied me, can’t handle any heat and I thought one of them was going to pass out. I think the heat level was perfect for me and I would not want a hotter sauce. I will give this an 8 out of 10 on the HSB scale. Pretty hot for a non extract product.

Flavor: I used the Trinidad Habanero Pepper Sauce on chicken and steak quesadillas. What a perfect combo, especially on the chicken. The spices from the sauce brought out the flavor of the chicken without overpowering the dish. The picture doesn’t show it, but I poured about half the bottle on my plate and used the quesadillas as a mop. You can taste virtually all of the ingredients, including the celery in this sauce. Nothing is overpowering. This is great blend of ingredients that that are just meant to be together. Caribbean flavor and heat.

Overall: I recommend that everyone get this sauce. I was pleasantly surprised with this sauce and have just ordered a bottle from Hot Shots. 9 out of 10

Caribbean Basting Sauce

5 oz. Trinidad Habanero Pepper sauce. 10 oz. Soy Sauce. 1/2 stick butter. Heat together on low. Let cool and use as a basting sauce or as a marinade.

Caribbean Chili

Using your favorite chili recipe, add a 5 oz. bottle of Trinidad Pepper sauce for every 1.5 pounds of meat.

Distributed by: Trinidad Traders, Inc. Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250. 904-821-1105. trinidad@bellsouth.net. Hot Shots 888-248-5159. hotsauces@bellsouth.net.

Rancho Bravo is a leading Peruvian and international producer and distributor of agricultural products. Their focus is on fresh tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables including carrots, corn, eggplant, green beans, zucchini and onions. What does this mean to you and me? I can tell you hands down that these folks make the best Salsa Picante that you will ever taste.

The label is good. Typical colors for a salsa label, but not bold or festive like most U. S. made salsa’s. At first glance, I immediately know this salsa is not a product of the United States. My only complaint is the print is so tiny, the ingredients and description were almost impossible to read.

This review is very basic. Blue corn chips and Rancho Bravo’s Salsa Picante “Extra Hot”. Add this to other snack foods and my family is set for a quiet New Year celebration at home.

Ingredients: Fresh Tomatoes, Fresh Tomato Puree, Red Onions, Peruvian Limo Peppers (Aji Limo), Red and Green Bell Peppers, garlic, Red Wine Vinegar, Cilantro, Selected Spices.

What an all-star lineup. No water, no sugar and fresh everything. I’m not familiar with Peruvian Limo Peppers, but wow, this stuff is hot…….Read on.

Rancho Bravo’s line of products include ready to eat sauces and salsas totally free of preservatives, stabilizers, artificial colors and flavor additives. Their 5 salsas begin with mild and end with extra hot.

Appearance: Awesome! Thick, chunky, colorful. All you see is vegetables. This salsa is not over processed. You can easily pick out every ingredient listed including the cilantro. A perfect 10

Aroma: Awesome! A good whiff and I can literally smell every ingredient in the jar. There is something about fresh sweet bell peppers, fresh onions and fresh garlic that just sets me off. Add fresh cilantro (a taste that I just recently acquired) and you have a mouth watering concoction that begins with your nose. I also get a throaty type aroma from what has to be the Limo Peppers. I must say that these peppers smell just like a habanero. You can’t really smell heat, but I can tell you from this aroma, this salsa will be hot. A perfect 10

Heat: This is the hottest salsa that I have consumed to date. Keep in mind that I can’t handle extracts or munch on fresh habs. I initially got hit with a tongue burn that stayed with me while I consumed the entire 14.1 ounce jar. After about 10 bites my nose started to run and my tongue kept burning. I equate this burn to a cayenne burn that stays on the tongue as opposed to a habanero burn that hits my throat. The heat disappeared about 10 minutes after the jar was gone. I’ll give the heat a 7 out of 10 on the HSB scale. My personal scale would rate this hotter.

Consistency: This goes hand in hand with appearance. The texture is perfect. The thickness and ratio of ingredients is perfect. A perfect 10.

Overall: I have found my perfect salsa. We eat a lot of salsas in my house. Types include the normal Chi Chi’s, Tostito’s, Peppers Blue Crab, Marco’s Salsa’s and even Sam’s Choice Black bean and corn. Rancho Bravo’s Salsa Picante ” Extra Hot” goes to the top of my list. Once I started eating, I could not stop still it was gone. Overall a 9.25 out of 10.

There is one problem with this salsa and that is availability. There is nothing worse than having a great product and not making it available to the masses. It cannot be purchased from their site either. www.ranchobravo.com. It is distributed by:

RB Distributers, 6132 Maxie Street, Houston, TX, 77077. I have emailed them at ccu@ranchobravo.com, but have not heard back. If anyone has information on where to buy their products, please post. I’m gonna buy a case.

Somewhere in Mckeesport, PA, larks Stu Wilson, the mastermind of BBQ Stu’s BBQ sauces. Their web-site states that they currently sell 2 sauces: “Original” and “Steel City Blast Furnace”. The web-site also states that “Rasberry Chipotle” and “Carolina Mustard” are coming soon. The label states that these other sauces are currently available, so I am a little confused. The label itself is average. What is important here (marketing 101) is that you should be able to look at the bottle without turning it and know what it is. This label does do that. I am not at all confused by the “taste and see” across the top. I’ll crack that code for you shortly.

Well, there are a gazillion barbecue sauces available, so how does BBQ Stu’s “Steel City Blast Furnace” stand up to the competition. Let me start by saying that this is much better than most commercially available bbq sauces. Before we get to the sauce, let me step out on a limb. I feel that the name itself, targets a Pittsburgh audience. The folks of old, remember the days that Steel flourished in Pittsburgh and Allegheny Airlines ruled the Western PA skies. Now let me explain the “taste and see” on the label.

Psalm 34:8 The purpose of Psalms in the bible was to provide poetry for the expression of praise, worship and confession to God. Psalm 34:8 states “taste and see” that the Lord is good. I have not spoken with the owners of this sauce, but I am sure this is the intent of the label.

Ingredients: Tomato Puree, (Water, Tomato Paste), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Vinegar, Molasses, Sugar, Pineapple Juice Concentrate, Salt, Modified Food starch, Natural Smoke Flavor, Garlic, Onion, Mustard Flour, Spices.
As much as I dislike breaking down all of the ingredients like Molasses (water, sugar), the label has to be consistent and it’s something that now has to be done.

Aroma: Very rich, sweet with a mild hint of smoke, pineapple and tomato. No signs of vinegar. You can sense a little heat in the aroma but no hot ingredients are listed.

Consistency: Stick to your ribs thick. Perfect and not over processed.

Heat: The name implies heat. The ingredient list does not. The web-site states that this sauce is not for the weak hearted or soft tongued. The web-site says the mystery heat comes from cayenne peppers. Folks, you just can’t have mysteries when it comes to FDA guidelines. Did I find heat? Yes, but not much. Cayenne hits me instantly and litterally drinking spoon fulls produced a slight and I mean slight burn. I’m not really into heat when I barbecue, so I have no complaints

Overall: I would recommend this bbq sauce over most large commercial sauces. It accented and helped my pork chops without overpowering the meat. There was no heat when it was diluted with the chops. Great flavor, great texture and all around a bbq sauce that I would buy if it was local. Their web-site sells 20 oz. bottles for $4.99 plus $3.00 shipping. If I were king for the day, I would re-work the ingredient list and check the shipping price. $3.00 to ship is extremely cheap and you certainly don’t want to lose money selling sauces.

BBQ Stu’s
P.O. Box 111
Mckeesport, PA 15134
421-673-6457
www.bbqstus.com

A brief update on a charitable cause that many manufacturers are participating in.

Hi Steve,
I hope you’re doing well, and selling lots of sauce. Since Blues Habanero Reserve is in the most popular Operation Sauce Drop gift box (and featured in the second photo on the following link), I thought you’d enjoy reading the thank-you notes and seeing the photos from troops who are enjoying their sauces: http://carolinasauce.com/OSDfeedback.htm. Feel free to pass that along to anyone who might be interested, or anyone who might consider making a donation to Operation Sauce Drop. The official page for the program is: http://carolinasauce.stores.yahoo.net/opsadr.html. The waiting list for gift boxes has grown to 92 troops, so any and all donations are greatly appreciated (and desperately needed in order to send out more gift boxes)!

Thanks very much, and best regards,
Gloria Cabada-Leman
Carolina Sauce Company, Inc.

The mission of Operation Sauce Drop is to deliver great-tasting sauces to US military personnel stationed abroad, free of charge. Why are we doing this? Because we would like to thank our brave troops for their sacrifices with a small token of our appreciation, and perhaps a taste of home. We have assembled seven different themed gift boxes of sauces, from mild and zesty to hot and fiery, from which any serviceman or servicewoman stationed at an APO or FPO address may choose, and we will ship their choice of gift box to their APO or FPO address at absolutely no cost to them whatsoever.

The average cost to purchase and ship (with insurance) a gift box is around $20.00. You can contribute to Operation Sauce Drop directly through PayPal by clicking here.
You can also contribute to Operation Sauce Drop through our online store using MasterCard, Visa, Discover Card or PayPal, by clicking on the “Contribute Here” link below and selecting a contribution amount. If you prefer to contribute by phone, simply call us at 919-765-0143 and we can accept payment using Visa, MasterCard or Discover Card. To contribute to Operation Sauce Drop by mail, please send a check or money order payable to “Carolina Sauce Company”, include the notation “Operation Sauce Drop”, and mail the check to our address shown on the Info page.

If you are a member of the armed forces and have an APO or FPO address, or if you would like a member of the armed forces with an APO/FPO address to receive a gift box, just click on the “Military Sign-Up” link below to select a gift box and enter the shipping address. Gift boxes will be shipped once a week on a “first come, first serve” basis, or as sufficient contributions are received to cover the cost of the gift box and shipping via USPS Priority Mail Insured. Please select only 1 gift box per recipient, so that as many military personnel as possible have a chance to receive a free gift box.

Although contributions to Operation Sauce Drop are not tax-deductable (the amount of red tape, paperwork and expense (e.g., CPAs) involved in trying to obtain tax-exempt status is prohibitive to a small family business like Carolina Sauce Company), ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of all contributions are used SOLELY to pay for the gift boxes *at cost* and ship them to our troops. We are not doing this to make money - in fact, we donate a portion of the cost of each gift box. We are doing this merely to thank our troops and make it easier for them to add a little zestiness to their meals. Please consider making a donation, no matter how small, especially as the holidays approach and military personnel will be away from their families and the flavors of home. If you are unable to make a contribution at this time, but want to do something to help, then please tell your friends about Operation Sauce Drop, post the link on your blog or website, and help spread the word so that we can send free sauce to as many military service personnel as possible. Thank you!

Statistics as of 11/7/07
Number of Contributors: 45
Number of Gift Boxes shipped: 67
Number of Pending Gift Box Requests: 92
Most Requested Gift Box: North Carolina Gift Box

Before I go any further, I must say that I like this sauce. I believe it has specific applications, but that’s OK. Not every sauce is good on everything.

Labeling- California Habanero Blends has three sauces: Ginger Garlic, Habanero Garlic and Chipotle Sweet and Smokey. All three labels are almost identical, which is awesome for marketing or “shelf Appeal”. Imagine all three sauces lined up side by side, 10 deep in a grocer. At first glance, you will see these over anything else. The label is good. No gimmicks and actually lets you know what you can expect. There is no trans fats information on the nutrition label, so I assume the manufacturer still has a supply of old labels.

Ingredients- Sugar, Orange Juice, Pineapple Juice, Soy Sauce, Garlic, Habanero Peppers, Ginger, Key Lime Juice, Vinegar, Salt, Spices, Xanthan Gum.

Aroma- First and last impression, Awesome! Immediate hard hit of garlic married to the ginger and pure pineapple smell. No hint of vinegar. Even though the garlic and ginger are not listed as dominating ingredients, they are just stronger in nature and overpower other ingredients. I heated up a small sample and then and only then did I get a hint of soy. I missed the Key Lime aroma, but on flavor, it was the after taste. The best way to describe the aroma is to think of freshly stir fried General Tso’s chicken.

Consistancy- This sauce is thin, but not in a bad way. You’ll find many bits of Habanero seeds, garlic and bits of ginger floating around. Overall color is pineapple/orange. Xanthan gum provides just enough viscosity to make the sauce work. If you want to think “Duck Sauce” with attitude, then think California Habanero Blends Ginger Garlic.

Heat- Mild, just like the label says. It has a very small bite to it and only when you hit on a habanero seed. I would not hesitate letting your 3 year old try this.

Flavor- Now to the most important part.

California Habanero Blends Ginger Garlic was awesome on the grilled Tilapia Filets. Simply salt and peppered fish on a hot grill. I accompanied this dish with a mild Sedona Shrimp Salad with some Garlic Ginger sauce added for flavor.

This sauce provided a great sweet flavor on a very mild fish. I couldn’t tell where the garlic began or the ginger ended but the combination accented the fish without overpowering. Somewhere, I had the hint of peanuts, but this had to come from the ginger, garlic. Fresh and light. This dish has become my new “Thai Fish” recipe. In fact the flavors of this sauce would be killer on duck, any white fish, chicken or just about any dish that would call for a duck sauce.

Overall, I recommend this sauce to anyone and everyone. Definitely different, definitely good.

California Habanero Blends
www.californiablends.com
P.O. Box1134
Chico, CA 95927
530-228-6386

I’ve been a buffalo chicken wing freak ever since the days of The Airways Hotel in Buffalo, NY. Seems they stumbled upon a hot wing sauce by accident and the rest is history.

Chances are, if you don’t reside in Colorado, you probably haven’t heard of the Captain Sponge foot Trading Company. Their sauces have been handcrafted there, since 1995. Shame on this company for not marketing and targeting the rest of the country. Their Original-Wing Sauce is as good as a wing sauce can be! With a little marketing, their products could be everywhere and trust me, they would sell.

Lets take a look at packaging. Their 2 bottle Colorado gift pack consists of a 5 oz. bottle of Chipotle-Table Sauce and a 5 oz. bottle of Original-Wing Sauce. Notice how the “CO” (Chipotle and Original) on the labeling stands for Colorado. Coincidence? I doubt it. The labeling is extremely good, in fact, has won several awards.

After a little research, we learn that this gift set won 1st place in the Scovie Awards for full product packaging and 3rd place for product label for the Chipotle-Table Sauce. (I will review this sauce at a later date). Both awards were in 2005.

Very impressive labels. Good quality, non-gimmicky and all around just plain good.

Captain Sponge Foot’s motto is “fry or bake, sauce and shake”.

Ingredients: Cayenne Pepper, Sriracha Pepper, Chipotle Pepper, Water, Vinegar, Clarified Butter, Salt, Sugar, Garlic, Natural Flavors and Spices, Corn Starch.

I really like this line up of ingredients. My first aroma after opening this sauce up was from the smoked Jalepeno’s or Chipotle peppers. Smokey, with a hint of garlic (probably from the Srirachi pepper). I found that Srirachi is actually thai chilies mixed with garlic and sugar. It is named after Sriracha Harbor, the largest private port on the Eastern Coast of Thailand, not far from Bangkok. I did notice a hint of tang, but not really from vinegar. It was mild and mellow.

Using Clarified Butter in the ingredients is brilliant. Clarified Butter doesn’t burn easily and really adds sweetness and texture.

I prefer to very lightly dust my wings with flour, but it would not be necessary with The Original-Wing Sauce. The consistancy is quite good and would stick without any cooking medium.

As you can see, the appearance of The Original-Wing Sauce is a deep red, with bits and pieces of peppers visible. I get a feeling that there is some tomato in this sauce but it is not listed. The texture is perfect. I’ve added just 1/2 tablespoon of real butter to the sauce and once the wings were done, tossed them in the sauce and served them with celery and blue cheese dressing.

Folks, I’ve got to tell you. Captain Sponge Foot Trading Company has a great Original-Wing Sauce. The taste is better than the original Airways Buffalo Wings. Spicy heat, about a 6 on my scale and true chipotle flavor with garlic and some sweetness. It is all there. Come on Captain Sponge Foot, take your Original-Wing Sauce and set sail farther East. We need ya.

Packaging 10
Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Taste 9.5
Heat 6
Overall 9.5

Captain Sponge Foot Trading Company, Inc.
2222 County Road 57
Granby, CO 80446
970-887-1043
www.captainspongefoot.com

My 13-year-old daughter takes the pictures for me when I do reviews so you can imagine my astonishment when this sauce arrived in the mail.

I would imagine the name is intended to get the consumers attention and it does do that. The label is paper and doesn’t appear to have any type of coating to prevent staining or ink run off. The label itself is not bad but just plain. I guess the name of the BBQ sauce makes up for that. There is no bar code.

Ingredients: Tomato Sauce (water, tomato paste, salt, high fructose corn syrup, citric Acid, garlic powder, spices) Brown Sugar (sugar, molasses) Honey, Vinegar, molasses, Spices and Coloring, Worcestire Sauce (vinegar, Molasses, high fructose corn syrup, anchovies, water, onion, salt, Garlic, tamarind extract, cloves, natural flavorings, Chile pepper extract,Hydrolyzed soy and corn protein) Soy Sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, Salt, sodium benzoate: less than 1/10 of 1% as a preservative) liquid smoke,(Water, natural hickory smoke concentrate) salt, granulated garlic, xanthangum, lime juice (water, lime concentrate) lemon juice (water, lemon juice concentrate)

The list of ingredients is rather long due to in part listing the ingredients that are within ingredients. Notice that the common denominator in all of these ingredients is sugar. Whether its’ called corn syrup, honey or molasses, it’s still sugar and lots of it.

The sauce itself is really not bad. The aroma matches the taste. What I mean is that by smelling the sauce, you just know how it will taste. The thickness and color are good.

A couple racks of baby back ribs, a hot grill and my secret Blue’s BBQ way of cooking ribs and Dinner is served.

Better Than Bad Sex BBQ Sauce comes in a generous, 12 ounce bottle, with a nice large lid that pours well. This sauce could be used on just about anything that you would normally use a barbecue sauce on. It worked well on the ribs.

Appearance: 8/10

Smell: 6/10

Taste: 6/10

Label: 5/10

Heat: not applicable

Overall: A lot of times I find that keeping things simple is better. I have had some extremely good Barbecue sauces that had very few ingredients. I personally don’t want complex sauces to alter the meats that I am grilling. I liked this sauce, but I think some adjustments to the ingredients could really make this sauce a winner. 6/10

Rick’s Test Kitchen TM
1415 S. 11^th St.
Lincoln, NE 68502-2203
Rick@rickstestkitchen.com

As a former Hoosier, I’m always looking for anything Indiana, especially sauces. Hot Doc from Anderson, Indiana makes “Some Call it Hot” BBQ Sauce.

Here is a list of ingredients taken straight from the most basic of labels: tomato paste, spices, onions, garlic, vinegar, hot peppers (mostly habanero), vegetable oil, water and sugar.

The appearance, color and texture of Doc’s “Some Call It Hot” BBQ Sauce is very good. Obviously, fresh ingredients and no overprocessing goes on with this sauce. I enjoy a sauce that is not your typical mass produced, mass marketed run of the mill sauces.

The aroma and quick spoon full, told me I would be using this sauce on chicken. A little seasoned salt, garlic, wooden skewers and a hot fire was all that was needed.

A good barbecue sauce to me should be thick, not overly sweet and should help bring out flavors of the foods, not overpower them. Doc’s BBQ sauce did just that. The heat was there but not too hot for a barbecue sauce. Actually, it was just right. The smell of the sauce matched the flavor: smokey and peppery, The tomato was definately the base of this sauce and just a hint of garlic. I noticed no vinegar at all, which is good. I was concerned that the small amount of sugar in the sauce would make caramelization on the grill dificult, but as you can see from the finished product, the chicken browned up nicely.

Overall, I really enjoyed Doc’s BBQ Sauce “Some call it Hot”. It is a breath of fresh air to try new BBQ sauces that don’t fill the shelves of every grocery chain. It seems that a few barbecue sauces rule the world and I would really like to see Doc’s sauce be more readily available. You can give the doc a shout at www.hotdocs-hotsauce.com to order. Be sure and tell him Steve sent you. By the way, the doc is a real doc.

Several weeks ago, a few of us sauce crazies were asked via email to try a yet to be named, prototype mango habanero sauce and provide some helpful criticisms in the development stages. I’ve always liked contrasting flavors such as a sweet heat and looked forward to the challenge and of course the samples. My first sample arrived simply canned and labeled Mango #1.

Like a kid on Christmas, I jumped right in. Initially, I was greeted with an extremely rich yellow color and a delightfull Habanero smell. Starting with just a spoon, I burned thru most of the jar. When I say burned thru, I mean it literally burned thru me. This sauce has the perfect heat level, but not for the weak or timid. It truly is hot. No extract here and still a 9 out of 10 on heat.The balence of Habanero heat as well as Habanero flavor was perfect but it needed more Mango flavor and sweetness. My recommendation was to add fresh peaches to bring out the Mango flavor and the manufacturer agreed. In just a few days, sample number 11-M arrived.

Ingredients: Mango’s, Georgia Peaches, onion, leeks, yellow Bell Pepper, Orange Habanero’s, White Balsamic Vinegar, fresh Ginger, salt, Mustard, Sugar, red Bell Pepper, fresh Key Lime Juice, fresh Grapefruit Juice, Jalepeno Pepper and white Wine.

This is really where the review begins. Folks, I have travelled the country for 18 years. I have had about every kind of sauce, from all corners of the planet. I have my own line of sauces under the name of Blue’s BBQ, Inc. I feel qualified to make this statement: I have to tell you, this sauce, which has now been named MANGO PARADISE is, hands down, the best I have ever had. Being critical, I’ve tried to find problems with the sauce. I can’t. Never thought I would give a perfect 10 out of 10, but I have no choice. I’m now hooked and need a 12 point program and counseling to kick the Paradise Mango habit.

Check out the rich mango color and perfect texture.

One would think that a Mango Habanero would be a specific application sauce or SAS as Nick would put it, but not so here. I’ve put it on everything from toast to turkey to Mahi, made dips with it. Heck, I even made an ice cream shake with it. I don’t get carried away very often, but my absolute favorite is Mango Paradise Roasted Pork.

Paradise Mango with Pork

The only question I still had while writing this review was about packaging. A canning jar just wasn’t going to work. Well, about an hour ago, the finished product arrived via overnight courier. Guess what, another 10 !

Paradise Mango #4

Packaging 10/10
Aroma 10/10
Appearance 10/10
Taste 10/10
Heat 9/10

In closing, I don’t know of too many individuals that have the background, culinary skills, knowledege of flavors and fortitude to pull off the perfect sauce. It has been done right here. I may never get the opportunity to review a sauce this good again. My hat goes off to Master Chef Wes Zebzda. A job well done!