The package starts out:

“Preacher’s wife Dixie Earline never did nothin but cook. Used the #4 in her potluck, plus paired it with extra lard for signature flavor on cover-dish Sundays. Most figured she cooked extra out of commitment to the community, Ones who knew better said she kept cooking to keep her husband eating. That was she didn’t have to hear him running his mouth.”

Since Torchbearer rates their sauces from the hottest at #42 to the mildest at #1, I wasn’t anticipating much in the way of heat. But looking through the ingedients gave me a lot of hope for good flavor. Carrots, onions, tomato concentrate, mandarin oranges, garlic, habanero peppers, salt, chili poweder, black pepper.

On First Taste

I gave the #4 a try on a tortilla chip, and was very pleased with the flavor. The sauce has the consistency of a jam, and spreads very easily. The orange flavor is very pronounced, and the sweetenss of the carrt is evident. The heat level is reasonably low, but it sticks around for a good period of time. This sauce is much different from those I usually have, and it was a very welcome change.

This sauce fits in best when used as a condiment, liberally applied. Any place you’d use jam, Torchbearer #4 would make a nice spicy upgrade.

On Food

I decided to try Torchbearer’s #4 sauce on toast for breakfast. I spread it liberally around, and ate it quickly. The flavor was nice, with low heat. Again, the heat stuck around in my mouth for several minutes, which is unusual but rather pleasant. I think it would also be great on any sort of dessert, and maybe even used on a peanut butter and hot sauce sandwich.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10