I read a review of Tahiti Joe’s Ahi of Kahuna sauce, on this blog a while back and have wanted to try his products ever since. And after having the Kumawanakilya sauce I really can’t wait to try his other stuff. This sauce has a very complex flavor that comes from a fairly long list of ingredients.
Ingredients: habenero peppers, apple cider vinager, crushed tomatoes, key lime juice, clam juice, worcestershire, honey, carrots, fresh garlic in water, fresh onions, spices, corn starch.
The good thing about it though is that they all come together very nicely and give it a great original flavor that is hard to distinguish any single ingredient. The worchestershire and clam juice give it a slightly smoky flavor and aroma, although the overall aroma is more habanero. The apple cider vinegar is there, but it is not overpowering, there is just enough vinegar and lime to really bring out the other flavors and give it a little extra bite.
The aftertaste of this sauce leaves my mouth watering in between every bite. There isn’t really any flavor that stands out in the aftertaste more than while eating it, but the habanero burn lasts a little longer than the rest. And like any good habanero sauce, it gets hotter as you eat it. I ate all but a small amount of this sauce before reviewing it, trying to focus on each individual ingredient and the heat builds nicely. Even for someone who eats a lot of extract sauces, I can say that this isnt super hot, but it has decent heat.
Kumawanakilya has a flavor that can be used on a large varity of foods, the first picture is eggs, and the second is a close up of a quesadilla. The thickness and consistency are good, with small bits of seeds and peppers in it. This sauce is thin enough that it could fit through a drop top, but isnt so thin that it needs a drop top. All in all I enjoyed this sauce, and will most likely purchase more sometime in the future after I eat what I have. I will definitely pick up a bottle of Ahi of Kahuna, if it’s even half as good as this one it will be worth buying.
Smell: 8/10
Taste: 8/10
Thickness/consistency: 10/10
Heat: my first impression was low, but after taking swigs from the bottle while writing this I realize that it really builds a lot more than I first thought. Keep in mind that I eat a lot of extract sauces and my heat level will probably be different than people who don’t, I want to give it a rating that will be useful to everyone, and of all the non-extract sauces I have had I would say that this is about a 6/10.
Overall/recommendation: Overall I would give this sauce a 7.5/10, and recommend it to others, as well as buy more myself.
Tahiti’s Hot Sauces
(561) 439 – 7832
Fax (561) 965 – 4909
4310 State Drive
West Palm Beach, FL 33406