A long way from home, fellow Floridians Lizards on the Bayou were a pleasant surprise at the Zest Fest this year. Ok, with a name like Lizard Spit some would question the logic- until you taste it. This All Natural sauce comes behind a fairly simple label, with some basic design work and lets the taste do the talking.

“As a hobby, we grew a variety of peppers, jalapenos, habaneros among others, to cook with. But one year we had more peppers than we knew what to do with. We had bags and bags of peppers in our freezer. So, Liz began to experiment and came up with a blended hot sauce that we now call “Lizard Spit”. Each year, our friends would patiently wait for the next batch, some even supplying their own bottles. After several years of bottling this habanero sauce in our kitchen, and along with the encouragement from our hot sauce followers, Lizard’s on the Bayou, Inc. became a reality. We are happy to say that our sauce is produced using all natural ingredients and without preservatives, artificial colors, or flavors. Enjoy!”

Ingredients: Water, Fresh Onions, Distilled White Vinegar, Minced Garlic, Combination of Jalapeno, Habanero, Cayenne and Serrano Peppers, and minimal Salt added.

2006 ZestFest’s PEOPLES PREFERENCE HOT SAUCE AWARD WINNER! Placed 3rd on its first time entered. The aroma when you crack the seal is amazing, fresh would be a word that sums it all up, it smells fresh. The Vinegar is there at first and then dissipates some behind the Peppers,the Onions, and the Garlic. It show back up when you taste the sauce, Lizard Spit is a very thin yet chunky sauce, if that makes sense. I shook it up pretty good like the bottle says and the first pour looked like water and poured quick. Duh, the first ingredient is water. You have to keep shaking to blend it well, because behind the thinness are some yummy goodies. Lots of seeds, Minced Garlic, Onion pieces, and pepper pulp- good stuff!

“Spit is our medium-hot habanero sauce. You will enjoy this on practically everything, from eggs to pizza to blending it with ketchup or other sauces. It likes Bloody Mary’s too. Its versitility will surprise you.” I think that hits the nail on the head, Lizard Spit is at best a high end medium. The Habs give this sauce a satisfying warmth, the heat lingers nicely. Overall it is balanced well.

I tried Lizard Spit on some Eggs made over-easy with Toast and Bacon, thanks to Blane! The breakfast was very good, and Blane’s bacon rocked. It had that wonderfully distinct flavor of FREE, not much tastes better then that. Anyway the Spit added a lot of flavor, I used a ton of it. If I had to complain, it would be that due to the watery base of the sauce, overall it made the plate watery, but nothing the toast couldn’t take care of.

Conclusion: These nice folks from Florida have produced a very tasty, Southern Style Sauce. Lizards on the Bayou got this one right in my books, the flavorings blend and compliment each other well. The heat is ok and it warms up your mouth nicely for awhile- it does what it’s supposed to do. If you like this type/style of sauce, you will enjoy Lizard Spit.

Packaging/Label: 6 out of 10
Aroma: 9 out of 10
Taste: 8 out of 10
Heat: 6 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10

Lizard’s on the Bayou
P.O. Box 1705
Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32549