I received this bottle of Trinidad Habanero Pepper Sauce and have been carrying it around with me all over the country for weeks. I finally cracked the lid at a Tijuana Flats restuarant in Daytona Beach.

I love the label. Bright, festive and it keeps putting Jimmy Buffet tunes in my head. One thing that caught my eye was the “best if used by July 14, 2008″ stamp on the bottle from the co-packer. The label itself has a “use by Jan. 2011″ on it. I don’t really see any contradiction in the two dates. Certainly, you can have a best if used by date and a dispose of date, but it would be a shame to print upwards of 40 or 50 thousand labels at a time, like a lot of owners do, and then have to throw them away if business is less than expected. Just a thought. The label also boasts of winning “Best Hot Pepper Sauce” at the National Fiery Food Show. It does not list what year.

I will apologize in advance for the photograghy in this review. My daughter usually takes the pictures but since I’m in Daytona and she’s home in North Carolina, I did the best that I could.

Ingredients: Onions, Habanero Peppers, Vinegar, Green Peppers, Celery, Mustard, Ginger, Garlic, Salt, Thyme, Basil, and other fine herbs unique to Trinidad.

Aroma: Very complex. Initially, I get hit with vinegar. Not bitter or hot to the nose like a strong whiff of white vinegar can do to you, but a mellow vinegar tamed by the smell of onions and the sweet smell of basil and ginger. A fair description of this smell would be to compare it to dill pickle juice laced with basil. I like this smell. 9 out of 10

Appearance: I lean more toward red hot sauces, but this green sauce is absolutely perfect in appearance. You can see specks of Thyme and basil with scattered bits of red Habanero flesh and seeds. The basis for this sauce is onion and there is a lot of them in. it. The sauce is thin, but pours well and sticks to food perfect. I have nothing negative to say about appearance or consistency. 10 out of 10

Heat: I did not expect this sauce to be hot and I was dead wrong. You immediately get hit with an entire mouth burn that lingered on me for at least 10 minutes after I had finished dinner. My 4 friends that accompanied me, can’t handle any heat and I thought one of them was going to pass out. I think the heat level was perfect for me and I would not want a hotter sauce. I will give this an 8 out of 10 on the HSB scale. Pretty hot for a non extract product.

Flavor: I used the Trinidad Habanero Pepper Sauce on chicken and steak quesadillas. What a perfect combo, especially on the chicken. The spices from the sauce brought out the flavor of the chicken without overpowering the dish. The picture doesn’t show it, but I poured about half the bottle on my plate and used the quesadillas as a mop. You can taste virtually all of the ingredients, including the celery in this sauce. Nothing is overpowering. This is great blend of ingredients that that are just meant to be together. Caribbean flavor and heat.

Overall: I recommend that everyone get this sauce. I was pleasantly surprised with this sauce and have just ordered a bottle from Hot Shots. 9 out of 10

Caribbean Basting Sauce

5 oz. Trinidad Habanero Pepper sauce. 10 oz. Soy Sauce. 1/2 stick butter. Heat together on low. Let cool and use as a basting sauce or as a marinade.

Caribbean Chili

Using your favorite chili recipe, add a 5 oz. bottle of Trinidad Pepper sauce for every 1.5 pounds of meat.

Distributed by: Trinidad Traders, Inc. Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250. 904-821-1105. trinidad@bellsouth.net. Hot Shots 888-248-5159. hotsauces@bellsouth.net.