Remember that first hot sauce you tried? The one that got the fire burning both physically and mentally. Remember that defining moment when you realized that Tabasco just wasn’t that hot no matter how much more you add to a meal.
Well HSB has been letting you the readers help nominate the sauce for the Hot Sauce of Month. This has been great exposure for sauces that usually slip under the radar. We thought maybe we would mix things up this month and have you nominate the sauce that started it all for you. The sauce that made you see the light and burned out your retinas. The one that kicked your ass twice over but kept you coming back.
Same criteria as before is still the rule. Let’s give some of these veteran sauces some respect!
Written by Anthony
Nick Lindauer founded Hot Sauce Blog in 2004, making it one of the internet's very first hot sauce review sites. After 20+ years of tasting, reviewing, and attending every major fiery foods event in the country, he's back behind the keyboard covering the hot sauce world he helped build.
96 responses to “Hot Sauce of the Month – Defining Moments”
I don’t know if I’d say it burned out my retinas, but the first sauce that really opened my eyes was Melinda’s XXXXtra Reserve. I prefer the Red Savina variety now, though.
BRET’S EAT SHIT AND BARK AT THE MOON PEPPER SAUCE.
CAJOHN’S ( 10 )
question: what was july sauce of month? did you pick august’s yet?i almost hate to admit it but the first hot sauce that really go me going was tabasco jalapeno. don’t like regular tabasco at all but saw the green stuff and tried it. loved it and still keep it in fridge ( next to our own delicious jalapeno sauce of course….). made me think about “hot” sauces and when/how/why to use them on foods.
go bucks! kickoff in 15 days!!!
Marie Sharp’s No Whimps Allowed
BLUES BBQ HABANERO RESERVE………this got me in trouble befor….but I stand by this sauce as all around usable sauce…as far a cooking goes …which no one really can experment with this sauce as I have to the extreme…..Chile Head Ed is at that Chef Level he is qualified…as far as cooking goes I give it a 10…..but what do I know about food …..I’m just a dumb Pollack…….Steve really deserves the Sauce Of The Month
OK to be totally honest the first hot sauce that got me going was Frank’s. I use to buy the mega sized bottles of this stuff! But the truly first gourmet sauce that got my mind moving was our very first batch of Cry Baby. (I know it has been hot sauce of the month before, and doesn’t qualify just talking here.) That opened up a trillion possibilities of what a hot sauce could taste like!
The first hot sauce that really really got me cravin’ mroe and more hot sauce was Hula Girl’s Chipotle Habanero Sauce. I think it was an Scovie or a Fiery Foods award in 2004 or something for best overall, I believe. Saw it on Food Network. So the next time I was Ye Olde Jungle Jim’s, I picked up the bottle. In my opinion, in my fairly short hot sauce career, it is the best I have tasted to date.
I’m still disappointed that SweatNSpice doesn’t carry it and that noone has ever reviewed this wonderful sauce on this site.
[Comment ID #108915 Quote]
I AGREE.
I don’t know which variety it was or if they even make it any more, but the first sauce that I tried that brought a sweat to the brow and tore my attention away from Frank’s Red Hot (which I still love for the flavor) was some strain of Melinda’s Extra Hot. That’s what started me down the path of firey foods at a guess almost twenty years ago. I remember being amazed that you could get a sauce that hot at the local grocery store.
The first sauce to burn out my retinas isn’t worth mentioning. It was insane-o hot, but I can’t say I really liked it. Anyway, the love started with Melinda.
Melinda’s for me.
A girl I worked with was from Texas and put on sauce on EVERYTHING she ate. She had me try it on a sandwich and I was hooked!
Danny Cash’s Bottled Up Anger!
i was really young when i tried this, and its been so long that i cant even remember what it tasts like now but i remember getting a bottle of jamaican hell fire, and thats when i really started getting into more sauces and also buying sauce for there labels. typing this is taking me back and im going to have to go buy a bottle now.
Has anyone determined the outcome on the votes cast for August yet.
Thanks in advance.
[Comment ID #108928 Quote]
BRETรขโฌโขS EAT SHIT AND BARK AT THE MOON PEPPER SAUCE.
Danny Cashรขโฌโขs Bottled Up Anger!
BRETรขโฌโขS EAT SHIT AND BARK AT THE MOON PEPPER SAUCE.
BRETรขโฌโขS EAT SHIT AND BARK AT THE MOON PEPPER SAUCE.
BRETรขโฌโขS EAT SHIT AND BARK AT THE MOON PEPPER SAUCE.
Danny Cashรขโฌโขs Bottled Up Anger!
Danny Cashรขโฌโขs Bottled Up Anger!
Danny Cashรขโฌโขs Bottled Up Anger!
Danny Cashรขโฌโขs Bottled Up Anger!
Danny Cashรขโฌโขs Bottled Up Anger!
Danny Cashรขโฌโขs Bottled Up Anger!
BRETรขโฌโขS EAT SHIT AND BARK AT THE MOON PEPPER SAUCE.
BRETรขโฌโขS EAT SHIT AND BARK AT THE MOON PEPPER SAUCE.
BRETรขโฌโขS EAT SHIT AND BARK AT THE MOON PEPPER SAUCE.
BRETรขโฌโขS EAT SHIT AND BARK AT THE MOON PEPPER SAUCE.
Danny Cashรขโฌโขs Bottled Up Anger
Danny Cashรขโฌโขs Bottled Up Anger
Danny Cashรขโฌโขs Bottled Up Anger
THIS IS TUFF DANNYS OR BRETS
wesley h zebzda
Wes did you get the right email addy
My name is Bret not Jim
the invoice needs to look like a invoice
Bvitek@junglejims.com
Dave’s Insanity!!!
First sauces
CaJohns Talon
Blair’s Mini pack…A Four bottle set including Death sauce, After Death, Jalapeno, and Sudden Death
So there you go…
Wes your still a Dork
So yeah, the hottest thing that ever touched my tongue was the original Insanity Sauce oh maybe 14 years ago at least! -Lars-
I was addicted to the taste of Trappey’s Red Devil. I used to go out and buy a quart of white rice on the way home from a chinese takeout just so I could pour Red Devil all over the rice, several times I might add. It was the king of all cayenne pepper sauces for me, and came in huge liter bottles. It made me sweat a lot, but unfortunately now it lacks any real heat for me. Still has the taste I like, but that is it.
“Wes your still a Dork”
ROFLMAO
While certainly not my first I’ll definitely say that Cajohns 10 was the eye opener for me. It was the first “hot as hell” sauce I’d eaten that didn’t taste like fire infused vinegar.
This whole retro sauce thing doesn’t really make sense to me (no offense Anthony if it was your idea) and seems kind of pointless.
If I was a SNS HSOTM member and I got a bottle of Frank’s Red Hot or Tabasco in my mail box, I’d go ballistic and demand a refund. I’m sure Amir and Nick aren’t planning on doing that, so this seems like a futile exercise to me.
I guess for new chileheads, it’s a valid discussion, but for long in the tooth posters like myself and others there wasn’t that much to choose from back in the dinosaur days for fiery foods.
I know for our members of Uncle Big’s Legion of Pain, we try to give them something new every month, something they’ve never had before, not something that’s been around for 20 years, I mean really, come on.
People comment all the time, “thanks for sending me THT Cry Baby, Cajohn’s Fatalli Puree, Defcon 2, or whatever this month, I’ve never tried it before, I love it, I saw this on HSB, I’ll be ordering it next time, etc.” I doubt that would happen if Frank’s showed up, not to mention I’d NEVER, EEEVVVVVER do that.
HSB is supposed to be cutting edge and insightful as to what’s new in the industry isn’t it? That’s why I like it anyways. I’ve met so many like minded and passionate sauce makers over the years here, and to me that’s the point.
I’ve never swapped posts with Reckitt Benskiser about AirWich, Electrosol, Lysol or Veet, or more to the point, Frank’s Red Hot here on HSB and never will. I think this forum should benefit those that make it what it is. To me, this industry is about the passion for flavour and the search for the ultimate burn, which I hope will never end.
Put it this way, because of HSB we’ve added/are adding the following to our line card: THT, Cajohn’s, Loco Luna, Defcon, Green Bandit, Baboon Ass, Fired Up Foods, Fat Kid Sauces to name a few, the list goes on from there including a couple of HSB HSOTM winners from this contest.
I’m starting to forget why this has got me so PO’d, so I’ll stop now.
My choice for HSOTM is Fat Kid Sauces Medium (for the mass appeal) because Huv is a good sh*t and he deserves the exposure.
Ok, I’m done now.
UB…you took the words right out of my mouth…when is the babby expeted date ??..did you get my package ??
UBK, i am waiting for you to make me something that will burn my mouth. ๐
[Comment ID #108942 Quote]
Well said. I just didn’t want to come out so strong. I rather see a product win that I never tried before. For this I nominate a hot sauce I loved as soon as it hit my taste buds…Droolin Devil Garlic Chili Sauce. GO UB GO!
[Comment ID #108944 Quote]
General, you hid it well, but either you hit puberty (again or for the first time?) when DK video taped you sampling the Serial Killer, but as your voice cracked and your eyes started to water, I know you felt the PAIN.
It’s ok to admit it, you’re among friends. ๐
Freakin Dennis the Menace….lol
My mouth would burn every time I ate your Serial Killer! That’s why I came back for a big boy bottle ๐
“Pure Habanero” first opened my eyes – but as far a actual flavor – it was “Ring of Fire” (X-tra hot)
Tuong Ot Sriracha was the one that really got me going. I do however agree with Uncle Big. Let’s continue on our adventure through the world of truly gourmet hot sauces. The run of the mill comfort food throw back is something for those with a less discerning palate. I would like to nominate Captain Thom’s Dia De Los Muertos Piquine Tequila Pepper Sauce.
No offense meant Anthony. I think it is a great topic. It’s just that many of us loved hot sauce before hot sauces became a work of art.
I would say Cape Fear Chipolte which is featured in the Short Bus sauce or CAPE FEAR Red Savina which is featured in the Mac & Cheese sauce… These fine sauces can be found everywhere… JJ’s has a large supply… Or several on-line sites carry them also.
[Comment ID #108955 Quote]
THE SHORT BUS SAUCE CAN OHLY BE FOUND AT JJ’S. THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Green El Yucateco Pure and simple helped me jump up to the straight chiles level.
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
SHORT BUS SAUCE
IT’S REAL GOOD EVEN ON THE WINDOWS
WES WAY DID BLANE CALL YOU A DORK. I THINK HE THINKS YOUR MY BROTHER. DO YOU LOOK LIKE BUBBA
THAT NOT NICE BLANE. BUBBA LOOKING FOR YOU
ONLY at JJ’s?
[Comment ID #108958 Quote]
I have several at home…
Thanks UB…. and it just so happens I have TONS of sauce in stock now ๐
How’s the mrs? Hope all is well!
blain thanks the short bus sauce signed by the three of you…. put a smile on Dennis’s face…thanks again
Cape Fear Pepper Company Red Savina
[Comment ID #108972 Quote]
GOdd stuff that Cape fear Red SAvina…
[Comment ID #108968 Quote]
The missus is eating my Smarties right, everything is cool.
She’s full term as of today. Due date is September 12th. Not long now.
[Comment ID #108970 Quote]
SSHHHHHHHHHHHH…. Someone will think I was nice or something… ๐
[Comment ID #108975 Quote]
Nah…. your and A$$ – LOL ๐
[Comment ID #108976 Quote]
OK…. should have read “Your an A$$” Going back to sleep now.
The first hot sauce I tried that woke me up was Spontaneous Combustion. It came in a goofy printed box. It was pretty damned hot at the time. I don’t even remember what it taste like anymore.
I say nominate the Golden Chile winner “Bucky Goldstien’s Hot Sauce” or I’ll punch your monkey and steal your ipod!!
Ron Levi
Innuendo Enterprises LLC
[Comment ID #108974 Quote]
Good to hear!
BTW… I agree 100% with your comments….
Uncle Big’s Serial Killer
FKS Hot (I like the extreme)
CaJohn’s 10 no naga
[Comment ID #108981 Quote]
Thanks Parker, the Serial Killer is a little pricey for HSOTM, I’m sure, but I appreciate the sentiment. ๐
Cajohns magma? LOVE so much for some odd reason.
*how about a really cool looking bottle???
Bret is such a big part of our futures and has be such a wondeful host!…. maybe BRETรขโฌโขS ESABMS.
I’d have to say “Lizards On The Bayou–Gila Venom”. When I first tried that, I was hooked and had to try more brands, and more, and more.
Then I started brewing my own.
Cape Fear Red Savina
I had some Cape Fear Red Savina in chicken salad yesterday for lunch, solid in my book.
Looks like the Cape Fear sauce is a lock….
Thanks for all the comments – I just ordered 2 bottles of the Cape Fear Red Savina.
รลกรยพรยผรยฟรยฐรยฝรยธรย รลธรยตรโฌรโ รยฐ รลพรยฟรยฐรยรยตรยฝรยธรย รลรโนรยรยฐ รลกรโฌรยฐรยรยฝรโนรยน Savina
Blue’s Habanero Reserve
Ya Know…I just made a KICK ARSE PASTA PESCATORI, with BLUES BBQ HABANERO RESERVE….If I still owned a restaurant I would buy it by the GALLON’S
And if you two lived in the same town you would be called a couple…. Whats your point?
DK’s Russion comment translates as : The company of Pepper of Fear of Cape Red Savina – funny
[Comment ID #109054 Quote]
Hey Blane;
Don’t know the history here, but please leave me out of it. I just happen to own a hot sauce company that happens to be growing rapidly. My wife and kids help me do reviews here and I would like to keep this site family friendly.
Thanks in advance.
Steve
Blue’s BBQ, Inc.
[Comment ID #109056 Quote]
Steve,
My comments are directed towards Wes, Glad your wife and kids help you with reviews and I’m the first to say family first…
So I’m going to help you out…. I’d make sure they stayed clear from the thrread for awhile because I’m really pisssed about some issue’s with Wes right now, that might spill over into this site…. I’d say it will go rated R real quick.
Good luck in your business.
I apologize in advance to any bystanders that may be offended.
[Comment ID #109047 Quote]
DK, you speak Russian?
CaJohn’s Bourbon Infused Hot Sauce.
In a word, it’s heaven in a bottle.
Oh hell, I got it all wrong and thought it was a typical run of your mill Hotsauce of the month thing.
Since we’re going retro, I’m going with El Yucateca. My two fav’s that I still buy to this day and use a ton of, green and the Caribean.
Honorable mention for yet another old sauce and still great on sandwiches….Cholula.
Damn it, I’m tired and my apologies. I’m still going with the above since they’re one of the few old sauces I still use weekly at least. Neither is hot to me, but very little is. I’ve always for some reason had a high tolerance level and without going extract level nothing really burns like a mofo.
[Comment ID #108942 Quote]
Hey Big,
I see your point from the seasoned chili-head side of things. But many HSoTM subscribers get these as gifts. So throwing in a sauce that has withstood time can be a great thing for someone just getting into it. With so many new sauces bombarding the market I think it is refreshing to take a step back and see where and why things came from.
Just like the reason there are retro nights. We go back to the things that we love and remember. I am sure you still pick up that old CD from way back when just cause it was good and it brings back memories. Now put your self in the spot of someone just getting into hot sauce. They may be up to date on what is current, but its good to let them know what has influenced hot sauce to come so far. They may pass that Cajohn sauce that has been around for 10 years and is in all our fridges at home for another sauce that has a toilet dangling on it or has an expletive in the name.
With 12 months in the year and 12 sauces to give out, I think there is plenty of room in the market to bring out one tried and true sauce.
[Comment ID #109101 Quote]
I rather have a retro sauce list in the boiler room than on sauce of the month. I thought that was what the boiler room was for. If you can’t find Franks’ Hot Sauce, you shouldn’t be here to begin with. I want to learn because I haven’t been on this hotsauceblog for too long. It is from the hot sauces mentioned here that I travelled to Pepper’s in Delaware and JJ’s in Ohio with list in hand. It is from this list that I ordered from Nick’s Sweat n Spice store.
I appreciate your idea Anthony and you mean well with it, I just don’t like it in this format. Let us have a top 10 list for our retro favorites in the boiler room section and leave this to hot sauces that are trying to make a name for themselves. Let us support the makers that are trying to make it, not the ones that all ready have. Not to say I won’t vote for an Oaxacan Taco Sauce by Cajohn or a Muarte Hot Sauce by Blair, but to vote for a hot sauce that has been around since I was a kid, nuh uh.
Amen!
I have to say I disagree Buddah. I think it is very interesting to see what turned everyone on to hotsauce. For me it was Dave’s Insanity. (which shows my age in the hobby/obsession) I am surprised to see all the relatively new sauces that people are mentioning. Which shows me that we are looking at a new breed of chileheads. I do love all the new stuff for sure but it has been a fun transformation for me from the time when a drop or two of Dave’s was enough to burn my tongue on a dozen wings to now when I can eat them coated in it. So….since this is a retro nomination Dave’s Insanity it is for me. That being said I would like to nominate Defcon’s 1 Sauce and Danny Cash’s Naga Sabi for the next eleven months.
[Comment ID #109101 Quote]
Anthony,
You reinforced my point (kind of) regarding what the members of HSOTM are looking for in a product.
Look at it from a different product point of view and use music as an example. Let’s say someone has just discovered the Blues as a new favorite genre of music because of a movie or an oldies station on XM Radio.
Wouldn’t it make sense that they already have already gone out and bought BB King, Miles Davis, Eric Clapton, etc because they see it everywhere including WalMart’s 99 cent bin?
Then they discover a new Blues focused website that has info on all of the newest artists like John Mayer, Kenny Wayne Shepard and the like and want to get their hands on a CD. I know with the internet everyone can access music, so it’s a crappy comparison, but it’ll work for this example.
Therefore extrapolating that logic forward, it’s up to people like us the “seasoned” people to give them advice on how to grow their collection or in this case palette, with what’s new and hip in the Blues world.
So instead of rehashing the old school players (unless they are putting out new and relevent music) they search out new information on new and upcoming musicians in the same genre, does that make sense?
I see this on a daily basis at the store. People walk in and it’s as if the scales have fallen from their eyes and their interest in reborn as they were never aware of the fact that there were more than 5 hot sauces in the world, most of which were mentioned here already. That’s why we sample product in the store, people are so set in their ways because they haven’t been afforded the exposure to new products, until now. My Dave’s Insanity shelf doesn’t turn nearly as fast as my Cajohn’s, Blair’s, THT and Droolin’ Devil and there’s a reason for that…it’s called evolution.
Of course this industry needs to remember it’s historical roots and give credit where credit is due, and I’m not denying anyone of that, but I just see the present and the future of this industry as the most important and exciting aspect of it. It’s what makes me get out of bed in the morning and want to go to work.
We need to constantly strive to seek out new products, qualify them and nurture them or the industry and the consumers desire for something new will stagnate.
As HSOTM is given as a gift, for the most part, people that receive it most already have an interest in hot sauce and have more than likely already tried Dave’s, Frank’s, Tabasco, El Yucateco as they are all readily available at your local grocery store, hell you can buy Frank’s at a gas station for that matter. Would you want to receive it as the sauce of the month? It doesn’t feel that special to me.
Seeing as this is a specific thread for an old school favorite, I will stop posting on this and let people make their choices from the past.
All I know is, I’m tired of getting the same pair of socks for Christmas every year. Changing it up with a new color or style would be nice now wouldn’t it?
Well, I’ve just been eatin’ hot sauce so long, and so many different ones, that there’s no way I remember WTF my retro choice should be! LOL1 So i’m stayin’ with CAPE FEAR PEPPER COMPANY RED SAVINA for at least the next 11 posts. ๐ ๐
Unless my grandpa’s pickled cayennes on the dinner table count. But I’ll bet that one’s gonna be hard to find on the shelf! Now THAT’s retro! ๐
[Comment ID #109133 Quote]
DK, you eat hot sauce?? The heck you say!!
Got your email by the way. WTF? Wow, I’m speechless and that’s not easy to do.
Now you all going to make me come out and Defend the retro sauce. They been around a long time and will be around longer then most sauces on the market now. They all have there place
[Comment ID #109137 Quote]
No need to defend Bret, they are what they are good, bad or ugly.
Not knockin’ the retro, I just have a different opinion of what new chileheads are looking for based on my customers, that’s all.
No hatin’ involved here, it’s all about the love.
I don’t stop ’round here much, but to tell the truth, the first sauce that got me fired up for all things firey was one called Velvet Elvis. I got it as a gift and that little bottle of sauce got me where I am today.
[Comment ID #109138 Quote]
PEACE ,LOVE AND ALL THAT STUFF. WHEN THAT LITTLE PEPPER DUE
First good burn-Jamaica Hell Fire, Doc’s Special. Still use it, and trust me I have a large selection to choose from.
Second good burn-Blair’s Possible Side Effects. This stuff just made me more of an angry person than I already am. If it should win you can keep it. What flavor.
[Comment ID #109144 Quote]
09/08/07 ETA for Baby UBK.
[Comment ID #109161 Quote]
GOOD LUCK MY JEDI ….HeHe
UBK Kids are a great thing in your life. My Daughter the Oldest is married 2nd one is in school my 3rd leaves Aug 23 for the Military my 4th starts collage in Sept and my 5th starts 8 grade Tuesday. I would start over again if I could not sure about the wife..
[Comment ID #109185 Quote]
Holy carp, five kids?? You’re still a youngish man aren’t you? What the hell, did you start making babies when you were 12?
I’m sure after 5 kids, Mrs. Bret is ready to tap out!
We’re looking forward to it, just about ready for the arrival.
[Comment ID #109186 Quote]
Noting like it in the world My friend. Good luck to all 3 of you.
What I don’t miss. Going to MacDonald’s and spending $55.00. Hell going out to a nice place would set me back about 150.00 oh what fun.
Please stay on topic people. ๐
I nominate babymeansnosleep hot sauce.
[Comment ID #109189 Quote]
Back on topic – Cape Fear Pepper Company Red Savina. ๐
[Comment ID #109188 Quote]
150?
[Comment ID #109192 Quote]
LOL HeHe
Retro? In this business that means anything over about 10 years old ๐
On that score, I’d say Original Death or Road to Hell. Road to Hell was probably my first introduction into the hot sauce world that existed beyond Tabasco. Still one of my favorite sauces. I ought to check if they’re still around.
Is this it, Jim?
http://www.salsasetc.com/catalog/h-1116.html
[Comment ID #109196 Quote]
Hey Jim, I’ve got a bottle or two, of course they’ve been around awhile now! ๐ They were sitting right next to your old bottle! LOL!!! ๐
Hey all you crazy chileheads…….You guys rock…..I have a few favorites I would like to add to the list…..Rasta Fire, Ruths (mango is really good), Crazy Jerry’s mustard gas is a fun one….
Well, whatever you guys choose, I’ll be the first to check it out and if we don’t carry it on the site, we will…….
Thanks for all the votes…..Can’t wait to find out who wins……
Rock on everyone………..