The anticipation of my latest tasting, Capitol Punishment’s Serra-Tillo Green Chile sauce, left me in a bit of a bind. I have really enjoyed Capitol Punishment’s hot sauces so far. But I have a built in bias against green tomatillo sauces - there are very few I like. Too often, the tomatillo dominates, giving too much acidity and overpowering the peppers, bringing the whole thing out of balance and confusing the flavor of whatever I use it on. But, I tried to approach Capitol Punishment’s offering with an open mind.
On First Taste
My very first taste brought an onrush of tomatillo flavor. “Uh oh,” I thought. “Here we go again.” Not much heat up front, either. But just as I began to despair, a bright light shone through in a mild sweetness coming to the front. A slightly herby wave followed, which was quickly moved aside by an onrush or serrano peppers. Just as the whole assortment was blending into a finely balanced crescendo, the heat came on last with an ample and unexpected burn. Simply delightful!
I tried several more tastes. With the initial flavor in recent memory, each bite made me appreciate the subtle, seamless flavor. The white grape really shines through with it’s mild sweetness, and the sauce has the perfect level of heat. This is a bite that builds, so a novice chilihead can enjoy a mild burn with one bite, and those craving more can achieve a decent burn with increasing quantity.
On Food
Such an unusual flavor combination really got my creative cooking juices flowing. I didn’t have many ingredients on hand, as I expected to use this on a take out burrito (my normal application for the average green sauce.) Though I’m sure it would excel in that task, the flavor profile inspired me to try something a little different, a little adventurous. So I decided to break out a simple staple, pasta with pesto sauce. My pesto isn’t anything special, just garlic, dried basil, dried parsley, salt, oil, a touch of corn starch and water. But I had high expectations that the Serra-Tillo could take it to another level.
I added a little less pesto than usual to the pasta, and back filled with about 1/4 of the bottle of Serra-Tillo. I paired it with a glass of neat Milagro tequila, a fairly clean tasting blanco tequila with strong earthy/mineral tones which goes great with spicy cuisine. The last tomatillo sauce I liked was Blair’s Jalapeno Tequila, so I had a suspicion it would work well.
The herby, garlic backdrop of the pesto provided a wonderful showcase for the peppery, mildly sweet character of the Capitol Punishment nectar. I can’t even say that one flavor shone through - the whole thing blended into a perfectly harmonized, satisfyingly complex and delicious flavor. The heat again took a few seconds to come on, but was more than ample for the dish. The tequila complemented very nicely, adding a colorful backdrop to the spicy main dish.
Conclusion:
Capitol Punishment’s Serra-Tillo Green Chile sauce is a great culinary product - for those who like tomatillo based sauces, and even for those who thought they didn’t. Put it on burritos, tacos, or anything else needing a burst of delectable flavor. Or, get creative and pair it with something unusual - this sauce begs to be played with, and shines with the opportunity.
Bottom line, this is a sauce created by a Chef - and it’s a whole lot of fun for those who wish they were chefs (like myself.)
Overall Rating: 9.3 out of 10
Tags: hot sauces, tomatilloChilehead Comments:
Posted by: John - Categories: Uncategorized
Permalink: Review: Capitol Punishment Serra-Tillo Green Chile Sauce
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20 Comments »
I absolutely love reading your reviews, they are like a short story with so much detail your almost sad when it ends. Great review.
Man, tough to get people to post on your thread when the one above is holding a contest with collectable CaJohn’s as prizes. The next three people to E-mail me their address gets a free bottle of Serra-Tillo. Enjoy!
Gordon on 5/26/2006 at 3:44 pm said:
Man, tough to get people to post on your thread when the one above is holding a contest with collectable CaJohn’s as prizes. The next three people to E-mail me their address gets a free bottle of Serra-Tillo. Enjoy!
Don’t despair- I’m going to try also 
Gordon on 5/26/2006 at 3:44 pm said:
Man, tough to get people to post on your thread when the one above is holding a contest with collectable CaJohn’s as prizes. The next three people to E-mail me their address gets a free bottle of Serra-Tillo. Enjoy!
LOL - true.
Gordon, I would email you…but dont have the addy!
I for a little while had possession of your sauces, I was going to review a couple and Jim’s team was going to review the others. It seemed like better sense to have them all done at once for some reason, so I passed them on to Jim. I like what I read about them and look forward to trying them at Ft. Worth.
Gordon on 5/26/2006 at 3:44 pm said:
Man, tough to get people to post on your thread when the one above is holding a contest with collectable CaJohn’s as prizes. The next three people to E-mail me their address gets a free bottle of Serra-Tillo. Enjoy!
By the way, I had nothing to do with this contest, it came from the Heart of the Jungle…
Gordon on 5/26/2006 at 3:44 pm said:
Man, tough to get people to post on your thread when the one above is holding a contest with collectable CaJohn’s as prizes. The next three people to E-mail me their address gets a free bottle of Serra-Tillo. Enjoy!
NOT FAIR I WAS AT WORK!!!! I CALL A DO OVER!!
CaJohn on 5/26/2006 at 6:50 pm said:
By the way, I had nothing to do with this contest, it came from the Heart of the Jungle…
HEY a contest is a contest and when the prize is something CaJohn….it looks as if the entire blog is all over it…. 
Mrs.Ryan on 5/26/2006 at 7:37 pm said:
HEY a contest is a contest and when the prize is something CaJohn….it looks as if the entire blog is all over it….
I missed out on the email contest stupid work anyway 
Mrs.Ryan on 5/26/2006 at 7:29 pm said:
NOT FAIR I WAS AT WORK!!!! I CALL A DO OVER!!
“Bret you give me the details and I’ll talk about it all night, us west coasties get to stay up late everyone will see it in the morning”
Hmmm, I thought the “west coasties” had the advantage???
Mrs.Ryan on 5/26/2006 at 7:48 pm said:
I missed out on the email contest stupid work anyway
Guess Not!!! ha ha
sorry mrs ryan, had to… 
it’s ok booger….. i can erase your guess from the other contest no big deal :D
Mrs.Ryan on 5/26/2006 at 8:30 pm said:
it’s ok booger….. i can erase your guess from the other contest
??? I didnt have an official guess.
and you won’t either 
ha ha ha hahahahahahahahahahaha
Mrs.Ryan on 5/26/2006 at 8:32 pm said:
and you won’t either
Ok, ok, I see how it is…
I will be back
don’t threaten me 
Hows ever one doing tonight
CaJohn on 5/26/2006 at 6:49 pm said:
Gordon, I would email you…but dont have the addy!
I for a little while had possession of your sauces, I was going to review a couple and Jim’s team was going to review the others. It seemed like better sense to have them all done at once for some reason, so I passed them on to Jim. I like what I read about them and look forward to trying them at Ft. Worth.
Thanks, CaJohn. Looking forward to meeting you there.
John, I need to get with you on doing reviews. Your words flow so elequently and softly tease my tastbuds into a subtle explosion!!!
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John, your a hot sauce wordsmith. I too like this sauce. Nice slow and low burn. There’s a pretty funny story that involves creating an entierly different version of the sauce because of the color, however I loved the flavor so much that there was no way I was not going to fire roast the tomatillos.
There is a rotating fifth sauce in the works, and for local DC fans a Marion Barry Ward 8 Bloody Barry Mix.