Posted June 14, 2006 by Jim in Reviews

Review: Spice It Up! Sampler Pack Volume 2

Welcome to the second half of my review of the Spice It Up! [tag]hot sauce[/tag] line. As a reminder, each sauce was first tested on a saltine cracker for flavor, then on a bite of grilled chicken for consistency and strength. And away we go!

Spice It Up! Mean Green Seafood Sauce
Ingredients: Jalapeno Peppers, Anaheim Peppers, Wasabi, Water, Salt, Lemon Juice, Spices, Garlic, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate.

Label: Mean Green is a hot and tasty green sauce with the taste of the Orient. Wasabi, garlic, and lemon make this an awesome seafood sauce. Great on seafood, whether broiled, fried, or steamed.

Appearance: This sauce is a beautiful green color! It’s a little stout, and it pours a little slow as a result. Not a bad thing at all, just something to be aware of.

Smell: The wasabi dominates this sauce’s aroma. You can also smell the pepper, which melds nicely with the heady horseradish.

Taste: This is probably my favorite sauce of the bunch. The wasabi isn’t fully overpowering in this sauce. In fact, I think it could have used a touch more, but I’m a little weird like that about wasabi. The pepper lends a nice bite. Well, not really a bite, more like a nip, but it’s a cute nip, like a puppy delicately gnawing on your toes.

Conclusion: This would be perfect on any seafood, sushi included. This wond be wonderful on broiled fish, but I’m afraid it might lose some of its potency when used with fried seafood, due to the general heaviness. I’m going to have to pick a larger bottle of this up for oysters on the half! It truly is a great seafood sauce!

4.8 out of 5

Spice It Up! Tropical Storm Gourmet Sauce
Ingredients: Tropical Fruit (Papaya, Pineapple, Guava, Banana, Water, Sugar), Peaches (Citric Acid), Jalapeno Peppers, Spice, Salt, Garlic, Ginger.

Label: This sauce will give your food a taste of the Caribbean. made with papaya, pineapple, guava, and bananas, Tropical Storm is a wonderful blend of fresh fruit, garlic, and ginger.

Appearance: Like a Blizzard at Dairy Queen, you can turn this open bottle upside down, and the sauce doesn’t flow out. It takes some serious shaking to dislodge it from this bottle.

Smell: Very fruity. The banana tends to stand out a bit, but that’s possibly because I’m not a huge fan of banana. It doesn’t overpower the other smells, though, it’s just a bit stronger.

Taste: This reminds me of some grilled mahi-mahi I had @ Mama’s Fish House in Paia, HI, a few years ago. Sitting back, dringing in the the view, and enjoying grilled mahi-mahi seasoned with pineapple, papaya, and guava. One of my favorite memories, and this sauce brought it right back! A nice, light flavor, though a bit more fire would be appreciated. Nonetheless, a really good sauce.

Conclusion: A perfect sauce for putting out the fire from lunch. This would pair wonderfully with pretty much any white meat or fish, with a nice glass of white to wash it down. Pretty good, though there’s really no heat to speak of.

4.3 out of 5

Spice It Up! Flaming Fiesta Grilling Sauce
Ingredients: Pineapple, Peaches, Pineapple Juice, Jalapeno Peppers, Honey, Garlic, Spices, Salt, Ginger.

Label: Flaming Fiesta is an exciting blend of pineapples, peaches, jalapeno peppers, and spices. This fruity sauce is packed with flavor and a sweet touch of heat.

Appearance: A nice chunky sauce, with spice flakes afloat. Again, pretty thick.

Smell: The peach hits you first, its cloyingly sweet smell sticking to your nostrils like syrup. Once you pull it away, you’re hit with the pineapple, a nice soft note after the peach. Nothing else really seems to come into play.

Taste: A nice, light sauce. It would go wonderfully with pork chops or grilled or broiled fish fillets. I can see this working nicely with pan-seared scallops, one of my faves. Hmmmm… I think the “flaming” in Flaming Fiesta must come from the “Grilling”. There’s no flame here (pepper-wise) to speak of. Because I like this sauce so much, I decided to give it another chance, by pairing it with Blair’s Possible Side Effects.

As you can see, it wasn’t an even matchup, but the flavors worked well together! The PSE added a much-needed boot in the tail to an otherwise great sauce.

Conclusion: The light flavor worked wonderfully with the grilled chicken, though I couldn’t find the flame anywhere. Great taste, otherwise!

4.5 out of 5