Three Hot Tamales: Smokin Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Posted March 21, 2006 by Adam

Everyone: This is Mad’s first review for the HSB, so please give him a warm welcome. Great stuff Mad! ~ Nick

Well after a hard day drinking beer and being dragged to Sears to buy a microwave ($59.00 – not bad), I decided to do some serious cooking. The first thing I was dying to try was the Smokin Chipotle BBQ Sauce from the Three Hot Tamales.

I got the bottle at the Fiery Food Show in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I wanted to make a simple dish that we would be able to taste the sauce in its pure form. I didn’t want to contaminate the sauce with a bunch of other ingredients. The obvious choice was chicken, plus, it was also on sale.

Looking at the bottle I could see all the fresh chunks in the sauce. With my mouth watering, I started to read the ingredients which are ketchup, water, onion, brown sugar, chipotle peppers, apple cider vinegar, garlic, onions, and canola oil. No, that is not a typo, onions are listed twice on the ingredient label. I actually can see why, this sauce is chunky! The first impressions when I opened the bottle were just yummmmmm! You can smell everything, the chipotles, the brown sugar, the garlic, and, of course, the onions.

Full of excitement, I poured some out. The sauce was thick and chunky, just how a barbeque sauce should be.

It was time for the moment of truth, the taste test. Smokin Chipotle BBQ Sauce is everything I expected and then some. It was awesome! I probably could’ve eaten the whole bottle just by itself. The first thing I tasted was a smoky sweetness. Then it was followed by the garlic and then all those onions. And finally, the bit of the bang, the sauce had a little kick to it. This sauce had great, great taste and a little heat too. I gave a spoonful to my test subject, my wife, and she was pleasantly surprised as well. This sauce is defiantly a two thumbs up so far. So now it was chicken time. As I said before, I wanted to keep this simple. I just coated the bottom of the pan with the sauce, put the chicken in the pan, and just liberally coated the chicken.

I wrapped the pan in foil and threw in a 360 degree the oven. I let it cook for about 45 minuets before I removed the foil and gave the chicken another coat. I threw the chicken back in the oven uncovered for another 20 minuets. While we were waiting for dinner I started to make my kitchen sink chili. I’ll talk about that later. Finally, Walla, dinner is served.

I made a side of rice to scoop up all this good sauce as well. The chicken was excellent. The sauce had brilliant flavor. My wife was also very pleased.

This sauce is a winner in my book. Three Hot Tamales – great job! Here’s what I think in a nutshell

Packaging 7/10 – I don’t put too much weight on how the label looks. The label is simple white with black and red lettering as with the rest of the Three Hot Tamale line. I think seeing all those chunks floating around in the bottle speaks for itself.

Consistency 10/10 – Thick, thick and chunky just how a barbeque sauce should be. This sauce sticks right on the chicken

Color 10/10 – Deep dark red, hence the catsup

Flavor & Taste 10/10 – Can I say more, I’m hooked

Heat 5/10 – This sauce has a little bite. If you’re looking for tongue searing heat, throw in some Death Rain Nitro.

Overall, I’m going to give it 9/10. I really like this sauce and I plan to be experimenting with it in the future. This sauce is perfect for using on chicken, beef, pork, although it might be a bit heavy for fish. I can’t wait to try this sauce on ribs! After writing this review I’m so hungry now. I should have bought some more (beer too)!