Salsa Search – Step 1

As a long time consumer of hot foods, I’ve often bought specialty salsas from hot shops across the country and I’ve always felt the salsas had reached their shelf life long before I opened the jars. This is the primary reason why I’ve held off on carrying salsas for Sweat ‘N Spice, they just don’t hold up as well as hot sauces or BBQ sauces. But, due to customer demand, I’m opening up to the idea and have begun the first round of product tasting.
But things are not going as well as I would have hoped. In the last week I’ve sampled Blair’s Death Salsa, Scorned Woman Salsa and Fredericksburg Farms Watershed Ranch Smokey Chipotle Salsa.

Blair’s Death Salsa – Death Salsa with Ginseng
The World’s Most Deathlicious Salsa On The Market Today. Made From Fresh Tomatoes, Bermuda Onions, Lots Of Cilantro And, Of Course, Our Signature Of Red Habaneroes.

I had the good fortune of product testing this salsa with a large group and while the overall consensus was that the flavor was excellent without too much heat, it as a little too chunky. Most tasters had difficulty getting the large chunks onto the chips. The ginseng does give this salsa a very unique and appealing taste.

Scorned Woman Salsa
Hell hath no fury like a scorned woman! A tomato based salsa with a great taste from the combination of peppers that range from bells to habaneros. Great for dipping or whatever else strikes your fancy!

The same panel that taste tested the Blair’s Death Salsa, taste tested Scorned Woman Salsa and the reviews we mixed. As a longtime consumer of Scorned Woman Hot Sauce, I was personally disappointed by the lack of black pepper flavor that I’ve grown used to with the Scorned Woman brand name. Other reviewers were concerned that the consistency was very similar to basic tomato sauce and were not visually attracted by the lack of coloring within the salsa. But the heat was mild and the salsa did work with the large group atmosphere, since everyone could eat it.

Fredericksburg Farms Watershed Ranch Smokey Chipotle Salsa “Rather than attempt to pronunciation “chipotle”, some of us just say “roasted jalapenos” at the ranch. The only salsa with our namesake, we are proud of this very popular part of our salsa family. “All natural: Roasted jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, onions serve with your favorite tortilla chips and your next Tex-Mex meal medium heat.

Now, this salsa has held up well, since I purchased it a little over 2 months ago in New Mexico. At the Fiery-Foods show, I was impressed by the flavors in the salsa and picked up a few bottles. This salsa was a little thin and there was more separation then I personally like to find in any product, but it was still a good consistency overall. The chipotle flavor is not new to salsa, but Fredericksburg Farms crew does put a unique spin on things.

When looking for a pre-made salsa what do you look for? Any favorites?