If you would like to know what the sauce is before reading through the review, you may skip to the end here

AppearanceReviewer #1: Wherein most cases a nice thick sauce is a positive thing, there was something a bit creepy about this one. It was very dark in appearance but once I removed the packing tape it lightened up. In the bottle it looked glossy but gooey and clung to the sides leaving many tiny seeds and skin behind.

Reviewer #2: Packaged in a typical 5oz. woozie bottle with a black plastic cap, this sauce has a nice deep burgundy red color with little flecks of pepper skins and small reddish-black seeds.

Reviewer #3:At first glance, I can tell you that this sauce is going to have specific uses, but it looks very, very good. It is dark, reddish burgundy, with many, tiny strawberry seeds floating around. Lots of fruit pulp present and some chunks of fruit so big, the bottle actually clogged. No pepper seeds were present, but lots of tiny pieces of red pepper flesh were visible. Overall appearance, 9.5 out of 10

ConsistencyReviewer #1: Once poured on a plate the sauce seemed to loosen up a bit. It reminded me of a stirred jam with a little water added. You can see some tiny diced chiles when you pour it out. These were not clearly visible in the jar. There are a lot of seeds, but not from peppers, I’m guessing strawberry from the appearance. This is a very syrupy sauce with clumpy bits in it. It does not pile up when poured out but it does coat your food nicely.

Reviewer #2: The overall viscosity of this sauce is perfect. It pours nicely from the bottle and isn’t too thick or thin. The producer of this sauce obviously knows what they are doing and they do it well.

Reviewer #3: Perfect. Thick but pourable. Bits of fruit provided texture and strawberry seeds provided a little crunch. I would love to know if the owner of this sauce used pectin as a thickening agent like most jams and preserves use. 10 out of 10

SmellReviewer #1: Somebody hand me some toast! This sauce smells like pure strawberry jam. I can’t detect any other aromas in this at all. Strawberry… That’s it.

Reviewer #2: Cranberries! I love the smell of that firm jellied cranberry sauce out of the can, and this has that same smell and not much more. There is a slight acidic aroma from vinegar, a hint of citrus, but the peppers are a no show.

Reviewer #3: I was really hoping for a huge blast of fruit aroma, and was a little disappointed. My first impression was indeed fruit, but not really intense, like if the sauce had been reduced to really intensify the fruit flavor. This sauce smelled of strawberries, but almost a watered down version. I did not catch any smell of vinegar. Overall Smell 7.5 out of 10

HeatReviewer #1: Heat? Did I miss something? OK, I’ll give it a 1 for heat. If I try real hard I can barely detect a slight glow on the back of my tongue. Did I say glow? Glow might be too strong a word, perhaps tickle…. Yes tickle is better. Unfortunately any food you put this on will overpower the tickle

Reviewer #2: It isn’t often that I say that a sauce wasn’t at all hot, but in this case, it isn’t. In fact, I had my eight-year-old daughter taste it and she wanted to know why it’s called hot sauce if it’s not hot? Kids! After a while however, the heat did intensify after trying it over and over, and my mouth and throat did eventually get a bit warm.

Reviewer #3: I would not want a fruity hot sauce to blister me and this sauce does not. I ate teaspoon after teaspoon after teaspoon ( Cause I like this stuff) and did get heat and a mellow, lingering, mild, burn in my mouth. When I used this sauce on my turkey instead of cranberry sauce, I barely noticed any heat at all. I really don’t want to grade this sauce on a 10 point scale, because it actually has the perfect balance of heat for it’s purpose.

FlavorReviewer #1: Strawberry, that’s the flavor, maybe a little zip of vinegar, it’s hard to say. While even the strawberry flavor seems to be washed out, it’s still enough to bury any other flavor that is trying to get attention. My taste buds are already really tired of this flavor.

Reviewer #2: I also love the taste of that firm jellied cranberry sauce out of the can, and this is very reminiscent of that flavor. The initial sweetness is quickly married with tangy tartness and finished off with a bit of heat. Delicious! I’m not a big fan of fruity hot sauces, but this stuff will definitely find a home in the pantry and get a lot of use.

Reviewer #3: Very good. Not intense just like the smell, but just rich enough. Strawberries as well as cranberries are perfect on turkey. It imparted a sweet accent that allowed me to taste turkey and fruit at the same time. It was a perfect compliment. This sauce would be great on vanilla ice cream. 9 out of 10

OverallReviewer #1: Initially I paired this sauce with pork chops. There is probably no other meat that is as bland and ready to accept fruit flavors as readily as a pork chop. Unfortunately, this sauce was not even bold enough to stand up to the pork chop. I used about half the bottle and found that the flavors were just lost in the shuffle. I did however find a use for this sauce that brings out its full potential; peanut butter on a Ritz cracker. The crispy buttery cracker topped with the smooth, creamy, peanut butter paired well with this sauce and really featured its strawberry flavor. I think I’ll stick with Smuckers!

Reviewer #2: Wow! I wish I’d opened this sooner and had it around for the holidays. It would have been terrific on a roasted turkey breast sandwich with a little hot stuffing. Although I haven’t tried it on food yet, I do think I’ll be making a grilled pork loin for dinner tonight. This sauce will be excellent on it. I can also imagine it going great with chicken, drizzled over cream cheese with crackers and poured all over a bowl of vanilla ice cream. If you are a fan of the cranberry and are looking for something different in a hot sauce, give this stuff a try. You won’t be disappointed.

Reviewer #3: I really like this sauce . It has specific applications like ice cream, turkey etc, but I most definitely will buy a bottle to keep on hand, once Nick reveals the name. For what it is designed for, it gets a 9 out of 10

Curious to know what sauce it is? Information on the sauce is available below the fold (more…)

Warning: This is a fairly long review - if you can’t wait until the end to find out what the sauce is, just skip to the end here.

First Impression: Reviewer #1: First of all, I’m Brendan, and I was reviewer 1 for the review of sauce #102. “Hi Brendan!” I decided to come forward with my story to end the speculation, end the constant personal torment I’ve been living with over this, and help others who have also struggled with anonymous hot sauce reviewing to reclaim our lives. The hot sauce community can and must heal together over the deep wounds that anonymous reviewing has inflicted. Or we can continue doing anonymous reviews; that would be funny too.

Appearance: Reviewer #1: This sauce is a little darker than brick red, with a pretty smooth texture that holds together soundly. Once thinned out on a plate, small chunks reveal themselves. Then there are microscopic dots of matter that are a slightly darker color than the sauce itself. It runs slowly, like, like a- oh I don’t know, a slow dog. Are you bored yet? Okay, fine, I thinned it out even more and thought it would make an interesting wall paper design, and now I’m thinking that some lucky entrepreneur who is reading this is going to steal my idea and come out with an entire line of hot sauce-inspired paints and wallpapers.

Reviewer #2: Brick red, presumably a tomato base, with visible flecks of dried red chile, some spices (maybe cayenne and others), and seeds. Has somewhat of a “gritty” look to it. 8/10

Reviewer #3: Deep, crimson red spotted with pieces of red chile (looks like the skins), and what looks like garlic powder or small rehydrated pieces. Actually, a very nice sauce to look at, but nothing that suggests the wheel has been reinvented. 8 out of 10.

Consistency: Reviewer #2: More thin than thick. Would coat something. Meant to be splashed on your food. “Pleasantly gritty”. You can actually bite into some of the spices and ground chiles. 8/10

Reviewer #3: Like ketchup was blended with vinegar-thick enough to control from the woozy bottle mouth, but not too thick to cover the target food. 8/10

Smell: Reviewer #1: Well, first, I’ll tell you about a peculiar thing I heard when I opened the bottle. It was ever so faint at first, but when I put my ear up to the opening, I’ll be damned if there wasn’t an entire mariachi band in there! Seriously, is Taco Bell bottling their Fire Sauce now? This sauce is Mexican to max! Or perhaps Mexican-American. Or maybe just what one American associates with Mexican food. I’m assuming that that very distinct smell that reminds me of tacos is chili powder, although part of me wants to say curry is in there too. Or maybe chili powder is kind of like the Mexican culinary equivalent to curry. It smells and looks a lot like Tapatio, which I have right here as well.

Reviewer #2: Initial nose of vinegar and hints of a blend of spices common to “chili powder”, i.e. cayenne, cumin. Maybe a hint of smoke, suggestive of Ancho or Chipotle in the batch. 7/10

Reviewer #3: Vinegar, garlic, onion, and some cayenne-type chile. Nothing in itself over-powering nor exciting. Reminds me of a Taco Bell sauce. 4/10

Taste: Reviewer #1: Once again, I’m going with “solid taco accoutrement”. Or any Mexican-type food, for that matter. It’s sweet, with some tang after a few seconds. The chili powder or curry (whatever that is) is clearly if the defining ingredient of this sauce, although I’m going to say some garlic is in there as well, and allow for the possibility of a fruit of some sort, pineapple maybe. Real Taco Bell Fire Sauce is on my good side, especially now with those wise-cracking little packets, and this sauce does taste a lot like it in my opinion. However, I think this sauce tastes fresher, and magnifies the distinguishing flavors more effectively. Although I’m sure one could probably find some other things to do with it, I may just have to bite the bullet and call this a “specific application sauce” for Mexican dishes, with the caveat that almost all hot sauces work well on pizza and eggs. But you all know that.

Reviewer #2: Tasting by itself, an expert balance of vinegar, sweet, salt and heat, followed by a slightly smoky aftertaste. Poured on top of my chili-mac, it was the perfect complement. Even with all I have going on in my chili recipe, this sauce added another dimension. Somehow it made it taste richer. 9/10

Reviewer #3: By itself this sauce was vinegar and garlic with an almost chemical flavor to it, kind of like they went overboard on the preservatives. But on food, for example flank steak tacos (I was inspired) the rest of the flavors came out, and the heat was more “there”. Garlic developed more with the heat of the target foods it was applied too (especially eggs, scrambled or fried). 5/10

Heat: Reviewer #1: Yeah, mild. A very dull, middle of the tongue sensation that never gets out of hand, never even comes close. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with mild, and on tacos, for some reason I don’t usually want it crazy hot. In fact, the only issue I ever had with Taco Bell’s Fire Sauce (I swear this is the last time I mention them) is that they call it “Fire Sauce,” when there is really no heat to scream about.

Reviewer #2: Initially burns the roof of the mouth, then all around the mouth. In sufficient quantity, it produces a good sweat on the skull and forehead, and a runny nose. This was labeled mild, but I peg it more medium – a 6/10 on the HSB scale. In some ways, behaves like cayenne, but in other ways, has a quicker effect like some other pepper is predominant.

Reviewer #3: Initially there wasn’t detectable heat, but the more and more I had right out of the bottle the more the heat was actually building. On food the heat was also more pronounced, and, strangely, lingered. Again, it reminded me of Taco Bell.

Chipotle Tacos

Chili Mac

Skirt Steak Tacos

Overall: Reviewer #1: Good. It will definitely be my go-to sauce for Mexican food, as friendly as the sombrero-ed Tapatio man appears (watch this is Tapatio). I don’t really know what they could change. The sauce has a very clear vision, Mexico, and I think it accomplished what it had set out to do. I bought some Chipotle to put it on for dinner, and it was very good, not to mention classier and tastier than Taco Bell (oops, I did it again). Chipotle (the restaurant chain) is actually a relatively new thing here in New York, and everyone is pretty crazy about it. I think it’s overpriced, but clean and well-managed. However, this is neither here nor there. Enjoy your food, and if it’s Mexican, enjoy this sauce on it.

Reviewer #2: I would buy this by the gallon to add tang, spice and a richer flavor to chili, soups, stews, bloodys, scrambled eggs, you name it. 8.5/10

Reviewer #3: This is not a sauce I would buy. It’s not a terrible sauce, don’t get me wrong. It’s just too much like a sauce you would find at a fast food place, like Taco Bell or Wendy’s: Hot for the Non-hot Crowd, but nothing really to offer the rest of us. 5.2/10.

Curious to know what sauce it is? Information on the sauce is available below the fold (more…)

Warning: This is a fairly long review - if you can’t wait until the end to find out what the sauce is, just skip to the end here.

First Impression: Reviewer #1: Wow, blind tasting. Without a label to make fun of, I’ve lost a significant amount of potential material. I guess I could call out Nick’s tape job, or his handwriting, but they are both pretty solid. I chose the one labeled hot for tonight, wanted to give myself a good kick in the pants after a long week. Since I was buying the food before tasting the sauce or seeing the ingredients, I knew I had to keep it simple. This leaves the hot sauce taster with 3 reliable options: eggs, pizza, or pasta. I decided to go basic as possible and try it on an egg sandwich type deal. Looking at the sauce while it was still inside the bottle, it reminded me of the sauce called Scorned Woman, which I never really liked, but I forget why.

Reviewer #3: It was a day like any other day: the sun was out, the air was cool, and the breeze was brisk. A package arrived at the door, and inside was a masked bottle. My mission, should I have chosen to accept it, was to do a blind review of this mystery sauce. So when I came back from Fantasy Land there was a package from Nick, and the bottle was taped up so I wouldn’t know what it was. I really like this idea; Cigar Aficionado and Wine Spectator magazines use this “blind” method, and they are the leaders in their respective fields. So I’m excited about this, and you, Dear Reader, will have to suffer knowing that my life is a tad more exciting than your’s. Sorry, but, ha ha!

Appearance:Reviewer #1: Dark orange, prominent black flecks, perhaps pepper? Looks like a certain variety of pasta sauce. After pouring it, I am relatively sure it is not of the Scorned Woman line. It pours very slowly, to the point where I had to bang on the bottle a little, shake it, and wait for stuff to come out. Do I have a Heinz on my hands? Will good things come to me, who waits? I actually had to clear some stuff out of the neck to even be able to pour anything. It’s grainy and course, a rigid texture.

Reviewer #2: Twirling the bottle around, it looks like it’s mostly ground chiles, pretty thick, with small flecks of red and white and large flecks of black pepper. Pouring it out on the plate, it is reddish-orange, thick, gritty and menacing. 7/10

Reviewer #3: The sauce itself is dark orange with flecks of black. It’s fairly thick with a consistency of ketchup, and pours well out of the bottle. Deep and rich orange, thick and deliberate. Black pepper through-out.

Smell: Reviewer #1: It smells like a classic sweet habanero sauce, like a Busha Browne’s Pukka or a Melinda’s, or a Tropical Pepper Co. It tingles your nose, but the scent alone is not a harbinger of insane heat. There is a moderate garlic nose and notes of something else. Because the sauce is orange, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that it’s carrots.

Reviewer #2: All I can smell is fresh Habanero, or maybe Scotch Bonnet. Can’t smell much else. The bridge of my nose glistens at the very anticipation of tasting this sauce. 8.5/10

Reviewer #3: Fresh habanero smell with a hint of garlic and citrus, but strangely smells processed. The aroma is a combination of vinegar and citrus, leading me to think this is a habanero sauce with possibly Serrano chile blended in. There is a very faint hint of garlic, but over-all a very nicely balanced smell.

Taste: Reviewer #1: There is a sweetness that just settles in there for a good 4-5 seconds before a very gradual, but consistent build of heat. I think the black spots are black pepper, because I got a strong peppery palate just before the heat really started to kick up. There is a little garlic, but it is overwhelmed by a remarkable tanginess that comes out of nowhere. The problem is, there is no distinguishing flavor that the tanginess alone serves to justify. It could just be vinegar accentuating the peppers.

Reviewer #2: Pure Habanero, mostly in the aftertaste, once the heat subsided enough for my tastebuds to return. One can take comfort in the fact that if you O.D. on this sauce, as you lay dying, you will at least have a pleasant flavor of Habanero on your tongue before you leave this world. 7.5/10

Reviewer #3: A balanced combination of chiles and black pepper, but that’s over shadowed by the heat. If the heat could have been held off a little longer, the flavors could be sublime.

Heat: Reviewer #1: This heat builds and builds and builds, especially if you are tasting it straight and need to keep going back to try to discern flavor. It burns middle tongue, chest, and stomach if you haven’t had much to eat beforehand. I am actually suffering a bit right now and it’s a bit hard to concentrate on writing. The stuff is inducing a very slow breathing pattern that is making me quite lightheaded; believe it or not, I am borderline endorphine rushing. It’s just a pleasant headrush and some light numbness in my core. I am not kidding. The weird thing is, part of me doesn’t even consider it that hot. The heat has staying power. I am straight-tasting now, but I had eggs with it a little while ago (see below) and while the real intense part wore off after about 6 minutes, it took more than 15 to bring it down to acceptable levels, and it was still lingering a bit. I also noticed after the eggs a heat that chose to burrow itself under my tongue. I never really thought about all the different kinds of heat until I started doing these reviews, but different sauces choose different mouth locations to attack. The heat even has a bit of a nasal burn effect, though I may have mistakenly picked my nose, I don’t remember. The build of the heat was the most intriguing thing for me, and I’ve never had such long, gradual creep of intensity before. I’m wondering if perhaps this is the fabled jalokia, which I still have yet to try, but maybe this is just wishful thinking.

Reviewer #2: I am not an “extreme” chile taster, so for me, the heat level is nothing short of “devastating”. I dip the tip of a knife in the sauce and taste it without food. It attacks me straight away, with all of the powerful effects of a Habanero. Instant runny nose. Full mouth and throat burn. Instant activity in all sweat points. I am wondering if the naked Habanero can do this much damage without the help of something more concentrated. While I ponder that, I make a fatal mistake. I don’t wait for the initial effects to present themselves fully and I forge ahead with the tasting on food. I coat the end of my fork and mix it in my Jambalaya. It imparts that wonderful Hab character, but burns like hell. The only things that alleviate the burn are the salty ham in my Jambalaya and lashings of cold apple cider. Then, I double the dose. I’m instantly in trouble. Constantly wiping my eyes and nose, which are running uncontrollably. Serious mouth damage, to the point that I take sips of hot water in an attempt to release the oils. Extremities tingling, heartburn. I’m starting to worry that I’m at home alone, tasting this “bottled death”. 30 minutes later, my mouth is still numb. 5 hours later, my lips are still burning. 15 hours later, I am awakened out of a sound sleep by an endorphin rush. 24 hours later, well…suffice to say that I danced with the devil and the devil came to collect the next day. 10+/10

Reviewer #3: This heat is my kind of heat: Says hello right away, makes you take notice, and then takes it’s time to leave. Excellent back of throat burn that lingers.

Overall: Reviewer #1: It was good on eggs, and good old faithful eggs did an admirable job, considering what we were dealing with, in quelling the burn a little. I also had some shredded cheese in there, which also probably softened the blow. I wasn’t terribly crazy about the flavor because I didn’t feel there was a huge amount there, but I’ve also never been a huge black pepper fan, and that was the one thing I thought was pretty pronounced before the heat set in. This all being said, I am sometimes willing to overlook these subjective flavor discrepancies in the interest of heat. This is definitely the case here. The intensity of the heat impressed me, but what I found the most compelling and just downright neat was the calculated method by which the heat reached full capacity. It was a strong heat with very unique character. It’s a clever little heat. Plus, it almost sent me to the ER (endorphine rush, if that isn’t hot sauce slang already it should be). So overall, this sauce is fine by me. I think it would be good in moderation in a meaty pasta sauce. For some reason I want to put it on shrimp or crab, just a light dusting, but I think that is merely a visual association.

Reviewer #2: For the average hot sauce lover, I would say 7.5/10. For the serious heat-seeker, it has to be a 10/10. I hope for everyone’s sake, this sauce carries a warning label. It owned me.

Reviewer #3: I prefer to use pasta with sauces I’m totally unfamiliar with because the starch tempers the heat while retaining the original flavor. I made linguini with a bacon-cream sauce, and put the hot sauce into the bacon-cream sauce, then drizzled the hot sauce on top of the finished product. In my experience, or tastes really, there can never be too much hot sauce in any finished product. The first taste I got was pure heat, which I really don’t mind. Again, there was a lemon/lime flavor, and now the black pepper really came out. What impressed me was that the sauce, while retaining its heat, retained its flavor-nothing broke down or came apart during the cooking process. And this sauce really complimented the over-all dish. I experimented with other foods; fried chicken, pizza, and chili, and the sauce really delivered a much needed capsaicin kick. Good, good stuff.
This is a sauce that has a lot going for it, but the heat dominates the overall package. That’s great if you’re searching for the heat, but unfortunate because there are other flavors in there that are wasted in effort. Still, this is a sauce that I would keep in the pantry because of the all-around construction. Good stuff.

Curious to know what sauce it is? Information on the sauce is available below the fold (more…)

The first ‘blind’ review to be published here on the HSB - though we did start the sauces at #101. These reviews take a bit more time to get together as multiple reviewers have to give their opinions, hence the out of order posting. Now on to the reviews:

Ingredients: Aged Cayenne Pepper, Black Pepper, Red Pepper, Garlic, Vinegar, Salt, Potassium Sorbate as a preservative

Appearance:
Reviewer #1: This sauce is deep red to almost brownish. There is a lot going on with this appearance. Lots of big pieces of cracked black pepper with tiny pieces of red pepper flesh. I can see a few seeds in the bottle but the “shaker” type top prevented them from pouring out onto my plate. 9 out of 10

Reviewer #2: Beautiful! This sauce has a nice deep red-orange color with little flecks of seeds, blackened skin, black pepper, and chile pepper pieces mixed all around. It comes in a standard 5oz. woozie bottle with a black plastic cap and a nice gold shrink band. I would like to know what the label looks like to see if it compliments and finishes the bottle well. All in all it’s a really nice looking sauce.

Reviewer #3: I was immediately drawn to the appearance of this sauce. The deep red color makes me anxious to taste it. The sauce is somewhat thick and glossy with lots of little bits suspended in it. There are little black bits that are either charred pieces, black pepper or both. I see a few chili seeds and a variety of other tiny particles that have been process into an unidentifiable condition.
8/10 – Deep Red

Consistency:
Reviewer #1: Thin like a pepper sauce but not overly processed like most “tobasco” type sauces. Lots of pepper skins and black pepper. Pouring this sauce out on a plate lets it spread out just like water would. This appears to be the intent of the manufacturer. 8 out of 10

Reviewer #2: The top of the bottle is plugged with an orifice reducer and I’m not sure why. Considering that the sauce has lots of seeds, blackened pieces of skin and bits of pepper mixed through, one would think that a reducer isn’t necessary. Yes, it is a thin sauce, but not that thin. Maybe the manufacturer likes to spend money on not essentials? I had to pull the reducer out in order to get a good pour. Once I did it spilled from the bottle nicely, but did not stick well to anything I put it on.

Reviewer #3: 7/10 – Restrictor Blocks Flow

Smell:
Reviewer #1: Pungent from white vinegar, smokey and a slight sweet smell from what I believe is butter. I detect another smell that I do not like. It is a spice with an allspice smell or similiar to the smell of cloves and black licorice. I can’t get past this smell. 3 out of 10

Reviewer #2: Vinegar and smoke are the first two things to hit my nose. The smoke aroma is one that I’m not very fond of and I unfortunately find sauces from time to time. It seems to distract from everything else that’s in the bottle. I think it’s from aged peppers, in this case I’m guessing Cayenne? Aside from those three things, I really don’t detect much more than a bit of garlic, and that’s all. From the smell alone, ‘m thinking that this stuff would probably be pretty good in a Bloody Mary.

Reviewer #3: This sauce has a very familiar aroma. It reminds me of the smell of straight red jalapeño mash. There is a slightly fermented scent and the tanginess of vinegar comes through at the end. The aroma seems balanced and no one element overpowers the nose.
8/10 – Balanced

Heat:
Reviewer #1: Identical in heat to Texas Pete or Frank’s red hot 5 out of 10

Reviewer #2: This sauce is not that hot, probably about a three on the HSB scale. I’d equate it to the heat level of Tabasco™ or Crystal™ hot sauce. It doesn’t slap you around or even cause a slight sweat, but it does leave a nice long mild burn in your mouth and throat.

Reviewer #3: 2/10 – Very Mild.

Flavor:
Reviewer #1: Here is where I have a problem. This sauce has a complexity to it but I can’t get past the clove/licorice/allspice smell. It tastes like it smells. I’m sure this is very appealing to most people, but I just can’t eat it. It appeared to have wing sauce all over it so I put it on a dozen naked wings and could only eat 2 of them. See picture. I just couldn’t stomach any more of the sauce to be objectionable with my review.
2 out of 10

Reviewer #2: Holy crap this stuff is salty! Salt is the first thing that hits you and the last thing left on your tongue, even after the so-so heat. The salt is followed-up by the vinegar, and then the peppers. That’s too bad. If this stuff had it’s flavors in reverse order and less salt, it may actually be good. Based on the flavor, I’m still guessing that the peppers are aged cayenne. It definitely tastes better than it smells, but unfortunately the overpowering salt just wrecks this stuff.

Reviewer #3: Welcome to vinegar world! The first flavor to hammer your tongue is the vinegar. It seems to calm down after the initial mouth slam and some of the other flavors kick in. Garlic and or onion seem to be the next flavor to hit the pallet. The garlic lingers on your tongue after the other flavors have subsided. There is a restrictor orifice on the neck of the bottle that seems to keep the particles from flowing out. This may be restricting some of the flavor as well. Off it comes.
6/10 – Tangy

Overall:
Reviewer #1: I really liked the appearance and color and consistency. If it wasn’t for that smell/taste I would’ve given this sauce at least an 8 out 0f 10. I guess some people like brussel sprouts, liver and broccoli and some don’t. 3 out of 10

Reviewer #2: You won’t see me doing cartwheels over this stuff, and once I find out what it is, I certainly won’t be buying it. There are a ton of other sauces on the market that are very similar to it and much better. So without any unique characteristics to set it apart from the rest of the pack, it just falls into that less than memorable category and will be forgotten about before I can open another bottle. They say looks can be deceiving, and in the case of this sauce, that couldn’t be more true.

Reviewer #3: Salsa marinated rotisserie chicken was a great medium for this sauce. The tangy tartness cut through the richness of the rotisserie chicken. The sauce itself is quite mild so I ended up using about a quarter of the bottle. I suppose I would have used more if it were not for the tart flavor and I did not want to completely bury the mild flavor of the chicken. Overall sauce #104 MILD is a nice addition to your pantry. The tangy flavor makes it a good sauce for richer foods that need acid. While it is not a particular exciting sauce, I am looking forward to trying it on some eggs or an omelet. 6.2/10 – Average

So what did you think of this review style? Curious to know what sauce it is? Information on the sauce is available below the fold (more…)

Behind the scenes on the HSB, a lot of attention has been paid to reader feedback and outcrys. Chris K suggested the idea of “blind reviews” to me over 2 years ago and after much discussion and many ideas getting tossed around, we’ve finally come up with a process. The idea behind this project is to make the reviews on the HSB as objective as possible.

To start, I bought all of the sauces that will be reviewed in these first rounds. I didn’t want someone who had sent in a sauce for review to see their product up on the HSB with the label ripped off & taped over. For each sauce ‘blind’ reviewed, 3-5 reviewers will provide their thoughts, review and pictures. Each reviewer has been instructed to consider the following points on each sauce:
- Appearance (the sauce, not the bottle – because, well, wrapped in brown tape, they’re all going to look ugly)
- Smell
- Heat
- Flavor
- Consistency
- Overall

1st Round of Blind Sauces to be Reviewed

As we move forward and evolve this process, I’d love for manufacturers to submit sauces without labels (so we don’t have to remove them) - but that information will be sent out later after this first round is completed and the kinks are worked out. Reviewers will change (it won’t always be the same 3) and the only thing they know about the sauce when they get it is: Mild, Medium or Hot.

I’m sure there’s more information that I’m leaving out - but I want to get onto the review. Check out the first HSB Blind review here.