Initial Thoughts: Thanks to Jim’s Mild to Wild Pepper Co. Red Savina Flakes for healing some of my winter ailments, I was feeling in the mood to do some cooking tonight! When I go to Marshall’s retail store I always check the food and cookery section to see if there is anything that strikes my attention. They alway seem to have a few items on the shelf and it varies from month to month it seems. Last week I did some shopping and I came across Asbirin Extra Strength. I remember a year ago I used regular Asbirin on some wings that I made on a BBQ grill at my sister’s friends house. They came out well but I do remember adding another sauce to them after I used Asbirin as the grilling sauce. I like to do wings on the grill using a thin consistency sauce as they cook to give it some flavor and then as they are almost done I will add a thicker sauce to them.
I remember that Asbirin did give them a good flavor but they weren’t all that hot. So when I saw Asbirin Extra Strength Hot Sauce, I had to grab this item off the Marshall’s shelf. For $3.99 for a 9 oz. bottle I said “Heck, this isn’t really a bad deal at all”. I did look at the bottle and was thinking it would be just as good as the original Asbirin I had, if not better. However, I thought that since I am much more of a pyromaniac now than I was last year, this sauce really wouldn’t be too hot for me even though it claims itself to be “Extra Strength”. It did look hotter than original Asbirin since it was thicker. I was hoping this was due to the fact that there would be more pepper content. In the end though I left Marshall’s feeling very excited to have grabbed this sauce! Often I come across many sauces but somehow I will forget about them as time goes on. I never get a chance to try them again or forget to purchase them for the first time. I think a good way to beat this is just to keep a notecard in my wallet. If I ever get arrested can you imagine the officer opening my wallet and reading hmmm, “See Dick Burn, Buttplug Relief, Smack my Ass and Call me Sally, etc”! (lol)
Ingredients: Habanero Peppers, Carrots, Onions, Garlic, Key Lime Juice, Vinegar, Salt, Xanthan Gum.
Visual: Asbirin Extra Strength comes in a 9 oz. bottle. I am always glad to see that some companies will offer more for less! Theof the bottle is pretty cool. The label is red and it has a white cross on it with a red flame within it! This label is great because it looks like this bottle just came out of a hospital or from the American Red Cross! In black text is ASBIRIN. Their logo line is “For those times when regular strength Asbirin won’t do”. Well I am hoping that this is as hot as some of the other natural pepper sauces that I have had the pleasure to try recently. The label also claims it should be used “For the relief of bland foods”. I am sure this is the case and of course you won’t find any real acetyl salicyclic acid in this sauce! For those of you wondering what the heck is that, well it is the ingredient used in Aspirin not to be confused with ASBIRIN.
The sauce itself is a reddish orange color. Moving the bottle around sloshes the sauce around indicating it is not super thick. However it does move freely and it is clear that this is a pulpy sauce, not a fully puree one. Full seeds are visible and also some pieces of red skin pepper flesh. I am unable to see any garlic in it, but if I look close enough I can see some onion in it.
Aroma: Well before I take my medicine I always want to smell it first. For example, whenever there is a new Robitussin or NyQuil I always have to act like a 6 yr. old and give it a whiff before I consume! No difference with any hot sauce that I try. Well I shake the Asbirin around and twist off the cap and this child is really really happy to be able to take some medicine tonight! All you can smell is this great fruity sweet flavor of fresh habs and carrots also. Similar to some of Marie Sharp’s products but there is some difference to it. I am unsure as to exactly what it is. I guess we will just have to wait until I take my oral exam!
Application: I decided that my medicine would be administered to myself on some pasta noodles, scallops, veggies, and some chicken. I was in the mood for some asian stir fry fetish so I looked around what I had that I cook quickly throw in the steamer and off I was! I think I got into this mood or something because Karate Kid 2 was on earlier and Mr. Myiagi inspired me! When I had added ASBIRIN into my dish and stirred it around it looked great. The colors all matched up perfectly. The reddish orange color of the sauce added some artwork to the bland looking pasta noodles. I don’t think it would have been to attractive to add some dark chocolate looking sauce to the mix. I mean not that a kid doesn’t like candy or anything but I think we will leave candy for another review!
When I dug into take my medicine I was really happy with the flavor and heat that this sauce added. It was just right. The scallops are a petite entity and to really scorch their souls with some extract wouldn’t have been right. Shellfish are beautiful looking creatures and as evil as I can be, I am not into blistering them with extracts. However some great natural tasting pepper pulp is really what they call for straight from the sea it seems. The flavor I thought just had one small flaw. I thought it had just a tad bit too much of salt. I think this is the difference from some of Marie Sharp’s carrot based sauces. The vinegar, lime, garlic, and onion concentrations I thought were excellent. Personally I know the salt zing attracts some people but I rather have less salt if any. For those of you who love salt try J.L Sardines Blazzin’ Saddles. The Asbirin Extra Strength flavor however went excellent with the chicken and veggies as well as the pasta noodles and scallops. I was very pleased to have a medicine that I could do an abundance of without having to worry about any negative affects resulting from an overdose!
Some of you are amazed how much hot sauce I consume. Well here is a 9 oz. bottle that didn’t make it past one meal!
Final Thoughts: This is a sauce that I was pleased with. It doesn’t make my top 10 list but it is something I would recommend to those who like natural pepper sauces. If any of you like Marie Sharp this is something worth trying. It does have a little too much salt for me but overall it is not that overbearing. The heat is perfect for those of you who don’t crave anything more than natural heat. The label makes this a nice addition for those of you who like to collect and save an unopened bottle. The price is right for the quanity that you get. Overall, Asbirin Extra Strength is for those of you who need a higher recommended doseage than what original Asbirin provides.
Packaging 9/10
Aroma 7/10
Taste 7/10 (just a little too much salt)
Appearance 8/10
Heat 7/10
Overall 7
***Please note that a 7 on my scale is not equivalent to like a C in school. A “7” is a pretty good sauce. I try to use an exponential rating scale, not a linear. The difference between an 8 or 9 is more than the difference between a 6 or a 7.