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Gerry Forbes isn’t a hot sauce producer. He is a radio DJ based in Calgary. You can find him every morning on Forbes and Friends from 5:30am - 10:00am on CJAY 92FM in Calgary or at www.cjay92.
**UPDATE**
There is a 15% discount for HSBer’s when purchased from the link below. Good chance to stock up for a great cause! Just mention you saw them on the HSB!
Gerry Forbes commissioned this sauce to help out his charity the Gerry Forbes Secret Wish Fund which helps out families in need. Within 3 months Gerry has been able to over $3000.00 from proceeds on sales of both of these sauces. Regardless of how they taste, this is a great cause. I am big fan of philanthropy no matter how big or small. So Gerry you automatically get a 10/10 on that front.
See these sauces know how to market themselves. They can be borderline gimmick but they are playing off a radio personality. They don’t have a ripped, bleeding ass on the front or someone telling you to eat feces.
The added bonus is that they are manufactured by a respected maker so I know I am going to get something of quality. So far so good!
So how do they taste.
Well first up we have Gerry Forbes Smart Ass Hot Sauce. In a nut shell, it tastes good. I put it just above average for a cayenne, vinegar based sauce. The added touch of honey is what really helps here. It is a little liquidy but I come to expect that from these types of sauces. I tried it on some wings and it was a very good match.
Ingredients: Cayenne Pepper, Vinegar, Lemon Juice, Garlic, Honey, Salt
Packaging 7/10 - good for what it is
Aroma 8.5/10 - Vinegary with a nice peppery hint
Appearance 6.5/10 - Basic vinegar cayenne appearance - not great but not bad
Taste 8/10 - Tastes great - I have tasted better but it does the job
Heat 4/10 - Medium at best but that that is what it is supposed to be
Overall 7.5/10 - For the sauce
10/10 - for the Concept
Next up is a scorcher - Gerry Forbes Sore Ass
So people are buying these for charity. They may not even care about the sauce. I think that the manufacturers have gone a little overboard on the heat with this one and I am sure it has probably fallen into the hands of someone who gets enough heat from Tabasco. (That would be funny to see). But seriously, this is hot. They claim it to be 600,000 SHU but I am going to say it is a little less than that. At that heat level does it really matter though? This sauce reminds me a lot of the Eruption Hot Sauce I recently reviewed in terms of heat, colour and consistency. Since it comes from the same manufacturer that shouldn’t be too surprising.
If only it was just a little tamer. I think with the impressive ingredients list they could have left out the extract. The peppers in it are enough to raise some serious heat. That aside there is nothing new here. A super hot that tastes great. If it wasn’t for the fact that this was for charity I would say that you can skip on this if you already have a super open in fridge. If you are looking for one though, you can’t beat it and the cause is great.
As for the field test - this one also found its way onto a wing. I only needed a small sample to get the idea of this sauce. Once I gave it a good try I went back to the Smart Ass sauce.
Ingredients: Hatari, habanero, scotch bonnet, peri peri, piquin, tepin, birds eye, cayenne peppers, natural African oleoresin, molasses, tomatoes, lemon, lime and ornge juice, vinegar, garlic, sea salt, onion, herbs, spices and honey.
Packaging 8/10 - good presentation
Aroma 8/10 - it smells hot but not chemical like
Appearance 8/10 - Sauce looks great - great texture - visible pieces
Taste 7/10 - Tastes wonderful for a super hot
Heat 10+/10 - 600K maybe not but it is up there - be careful
Overall 7.5/10 for the sauce
10/10 for the Concept
Made to Entice by
Fire N Spice
Calgary, Alberta
1-866-540-1818
403-228-4556
Chilehead Comments:
Posted by: Anthony - Categories: Uncategorized
Permalink: Review: Gerry Forbes Smart Ass & Sore Ass Hot Sauce
One year ago: Pepper Pictures
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12 Comments »
We just got a call from Gerry, and he wanted us to comment on his behalf.
He’d like to thank HSB for the review and thought it was super fair, especially the 10/10 for the cause (thats why they’re doing it)
People around Calgary are loving it and buying tons.
Thanks Everyone,
Gerry
Great review Anthony, which is par for the course for you buddy.
Let me say as a former Calgarian, Gerry Forbes is a complete idiot. His morning radio show is hands down the funniest thing on free radio. He’s won on air personality awards by the dozen and it actually makes getting up in the morning bearable.
His Forbes Secret Wish charity, as Rick commented above, does almost make a grown man cry, even Uncle Big. He takes the corporate and private donations to his fund and uses them to help out the underpriveliged people in the Calgary area.
The usual scenario is a single mother with X number of kids, or a low income couple having trouble making ends meet, of course with kiddies in the mix as well. These types of people do exist, even in BoomTown (Calgary) Alberta and Forbesy sends one of his little elves to give them grocery coupons, gifts for the kiddies, and usually like $1000 cash to get them through. The response from the unknowing recipients always manages to choke me up. Real life stories like those really hit home with me, because I have been there myself.
What can I say about the sauces? I have tried both, as well as the Smart Ass BBQ sauce (not reviewed here) and they are all quality sauces and I thoroughly enjoyed them all.
The Sore Ass is a super duper hot one, but I think Forbes is using that one as a**hole repellent at his pub, Forbes Neighborhood Pub and as a screamin’ hot wing concoction.
I think the charity thing is the most important aspect of the sauces. How can you go wrong really? You’re helping out those less fortunate than you and at the same time getting a quality Canadian made hot sauce in the bargain. It’s a win win baby!
Good on ya Fire N Spice for starting the ball rolling on this project and best of luck with the new store location. I hope you guys kick some serious ass. Keep spreading the word about the necessity of hot sauce in people’s lives!
Take care,
-Big
(PS: The new retail store construction (brick and mortar) in Saskatoon is coming along nicely. We’re hoping to open the doors on Droolin’ Devil Fine Foods on September 18th. Keep your fingers crossed for us, and thanks everyone for the kind wishes.)
I,ve resently moved from winnipeg to calgary and the talk of the town was about a hotsauce store called fire and spice well I was floored when I ingolfed a mouthful of gerry forbes barbeque sauce it was the best thing i,ve ever tasted since mom,s apple pie ,well i was so inpressed i tried them all smart ass,sore ass and gerry forbes smoken hot chipotle nuts they were all amazing.
To all HSB readers,
15% DISCOUNT WHEN YOU MENTION YOU SAW US ON HSB.
PHONE ORDERS & WEBSITE
Rene’ @ Fire n Spice on 9/6/2006 at 7:22 pm said:
To all HSB readers,
15% DISCOUNT WHEN YOU MENTION YOU SAW US ON HSB.
PHONE ORDERS & WEBSITE
Wow - great deal - thanx! And all for a great cause!
I could never pass up a sauce that has flames shooting out of a donkeys butt….that rules
fire…fire(beavis and butthead)
eman on 9/6/2006 at 7:53 pm said:
I could never pass up a sauce that has flames shooting out of a donkeys butt….that rules
fire…fire(beavis and butthead)
hughhh hughh, he said butt ( B&B)
eman on 9/6/2006 at 7:53 pm said:
I could never pass up a sauce that has flames shooting out of a donkeys butt….that rules
fire…fire(beavis and butthead)
Oh yeah, forgot about the donkey butt!
Thanks for the feedback Uncle Big,
Lets make the HSB readers aware these sauces are also availiable on you site http://www.unclebig.com
Good luck with the new store, We’ll stop in on one of our road trips to winnipeg.
R&R
Fire n Spice
600,000 for a promotional type sauce? You guys went all out. Props.
Wait a minute…they make a sauce called “Eruption” also? So does Catch-a-Fire hot sauces in Florida. And donkeys with fire coming out of their botts in cool indeed!
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I’ve tried both of these sauces, and there excellent!!
The smart Ass is perfect on wings. Had a party and they were the first flavour of wings to be eatin.
The Sore Ass is to hot for me to put directly on any food, but I used it as an additive for a couple of dishes and it gave them a very nice heat with great taste!
I’ve listened to Gerry’s show through cjay’s website and have heard what they do with the secret wish fund, (It can bring a tear to a grown mans eye) What a GREAT CAUSE!!
Keep up the good work Gerry.