A saucy revue - Jonny's take on singed sphincters

[Jonnydread]

Howdy!

I like hot sauce, a lot. I grow my own peppers and make my own fermented sauces, and I dabble in some others (sweet brown, relish, chutney, etc.). For the last few years I have had a subscription to Fuego Box, which is a hot-sauce-of-the-month club. I thought it may be fun to post some reviews of my experiences, along with pictures and such. I'm going to rate the sauce in 3 categories: heat, flavor, and utility. Please note that I am most certainly a heatonist, so some of the sauces I enjoy could be a bit much for the average person's palate.

Reviews and pictures to come. I'm always up for suggestions if anyone is curious about a specific sauces.

Cheers

[Jonnydread]

Here we go babes

Round 1 I am going to review 3 sauces so we can get a nice foundation. If you have tried a particular sauce please comment on the post and let us know your thoughts! It's about to get anecdotal as shit up in here!

#1 - Rhed's(Providence, Rhode Island)



I want to start with a local and this is a nice one.

Heat
The jalapeños offer a bright kick, but carrots keep it mellow enough that the heat level doesn't register on the pain scale. If you can handle basic bitch sauces like generic buffalo or Tabasco this one shouldn't get you sweating too bad and it doesn't linger.

Flavor
It's vinegar based and mildly fermented with a nice flavor from the coriander. It reminds of Tabasco's flagship sauce, but less heavy on the vinegar. I could only taste the dried habanero in the heat index. It's mostly tangy on pepper flavor with mellow onion undertones.

Utility
All in all it's a lovely table sauce - it goes on anything. It's particularly tasty on wings and eggs. It enhances, but rarely overwhelms.



#2 -Volcanic Peppers Caribbean Holiday(Bellevue, Nebraska)




Heat
Caribbean Holiday is intense and chunky (just like me!) and has a potent spicy profile that kicks up quick and dissipates almost as quickly. Go easy if you're not a spice head, it's not super hot, but it ramps up quickly and can sting if you're not ready.

Flavor
The red habaneros are citrus-like, a bit sweet, and has that lovely explosion of spice you get from good habaneros.The garlic is heavy handed with big chunks, man I love garlic.

Utility
This sauce can overpower things so it's best to use it on starchy or more basic-tasting foods where the sauce is the main character. It's a favorite for cheese pizza.



#3 - Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity (Kansas City, Kansas)



Heat
Pepper extract sucks, it just sucks. I love hot peppers, but pepper extracts should be defending your rutabagas against elephants, not for putting in the other end of your butthole. The heat comes in after a few seconds and builds continuously over the next ~15 minutes. This sauce is the reason I think the Scoville scale is horseshit: 135,600 Scoville Units? I've had way more than that in sauces that didn't hurt like this. It stings the tongue and is generally uncomfortable.

Flavor
The chipotles are unpleasantly smoky and the pepper extract is very noticeable, not in a good way. The smokiness of the chipotles tastes burnt and the the sauce imparts a chemically flavor.

Utility
While I applaud Da' Bomb for being the gateway drug to gastrointestinal sin, this is strictly a novelty sauce. Fun to gauge your resilience or chase an endorphin rush, but it tastes like shit.

[FullContactUSA]

I have used da bomb before, just a couple drops in a pot of chili really rachets up the heat. I wonder if they changed the recipes as one of the first ingredients used to be pineapple. Really opened up the taste buds to the the burnies in.

Funny anecdote: the first time I bought it, it was a gift for my dad and the store (in Rehoboth, Delaware) required I sign a waiver that the product was not to be used as a weapon.

[Jonnydread]

Hey folks!

Finally got another one for ya:

#4 - Angry Goat Pepper Co. Demon Reaper(Bradford, Vermont)

Heat
Reapers are one of my favorite 'killer' peppers and this sauce does not disappoint. The heat is intense and immediate, but does not unduly linger on the palate. There's a hesitant sweetness brought on by the roasted onions and sweet potato that provides a nice complexity and balance. Definitely one of the hotter sauces I've had recently.

Flavor
Oftentimes extra hot sauces tend to be kind of mono-flavor, that is, they really only taste like pepper and heat. Fortunately, this sauce does not belong in that category: After the heat passes through you there's a sweet/savory backbone that is reminiscent of autumn and is really quite pleasant. Note that if you use too much in one serving you will lose the flavor profile to the reapers.

Utility
Even with the sweet potato to balance it out this one is a scorcher, recommended for people who like mouth burn or have a high tolerance for heat. Goes great in stews/soups or to perk up pasta gravy (go slow).

[JeeperCreeper]

I've had this before. My brother in law tried to prank me by putting this sauce on some pizza without telling me, but the joke was on him when my reaction was mild and I asked for more. This sauce has plenty of heat, but is delicious.

[Jonnydread]

JeeperCreeper Agreed! It's def. spicy if you're used to Frank's, etc., but for the pepperheads it's not bad at all. I probably used half a bottle on my tacos before Kristen had to take it away from me.

[A.Greenleaf]

Cool, are you going to do sauces of all heats or just going to try and blow out the ballon knot?

[Jonnydread]

Cool, are you going to do sauces of all heats or just going to try and blow out the ballon knot?

I'll do all heats. I'm partial to the painful ones, but I like all forms of sauces. I always have rooster sriracha & Frank's on hand at all times

[Rainmaker]

I may have to send you some things...

[Jonnydread]

Rainmaker I'm always down for things!

[BLachance75]

MMM, sweet brown

[Jonnydread]

I'm getting low on my backstock of that one, but I'll save a jar for your and Mr. Hick

[Mr. Hick]

please do, I'm out from the last stash you sent me. I LOVE THAT SHIT!

[JeepDVLZ45]

The perfect hot sauce burns just as much coming out as it does going in….just my contribution. Looking forward to this thread

[ketzer7]

Taking requests?

Da' Bomb (as seen on Hot Ones) You must for science

[Jonnydread]

My brother and I have done the Hot Ones challenges two years running now so I already have a bottle of Da' Bomb. I will sample it again, for science.

[Alexndl]

I was about to suggest that one too to see where your pain endurance level is...
I tried it and did not liked the experience and since there is plenty other bottle to try, have no plan to try it again

[JeeperCreeper]

I was going to suggest da bomb for heat.

Some of the tastiest sauce I've ever had was from an authentic Mexican restaurant in Williamstown Coyote Flaco. Next time I'm there I'll see if I can get some to go. It was like smokey and savory with habenero peppers. Not a bad kick (I asked them for the hottest they got) So friggin good

[A.Greenleaf]

You going to do the pappys moonshine madness I gave you?

[Jonnydread]

oh sweet summer child that is long gone

[A.Greenleaf]

You need or want more?

[Jonnydread]

A.Greenleaf Thanks for the offer homie! Right now I am up to my knees in sauces so I want to knock down a few more bottles before I get another infusion. That sauce was solid though, some tendies and chili and it was gone-zo.

[Jonnydread]

ketzer7 Alexndl JeeperCreeper - Thanks to you 3, I was motivated to make my first review post. Thank you.

Da Bomb is an unpleasant sauce. It's not the hottest I've had, nor the most painful, but it certainly is one of the grossest.

[JeeperCreeper]

And what's the afterburner report?

[Jonnydread]

JeeperCreeper Not as bad as anticipated, but the chemical smell remains with the deposit. I think my other experiences were far worse, but it's hard to tell because I was consuming tons of other mega-hot sauces at the same time. Still I decided to work from home today just in case.

[AnarchicArctic]

Nice review. You’re like a hot sauce sommelier. I can almost taste your descriptions. Pepper extract does indeed suck, and I will forever regret ingesting it on a dare. Love of hot sauce ruined forever by liquid capsaicin. Oh well, guess I’ll just have to live vicariously through your reviews.

[Jonnydread]

Thanks man! I have loved spicy stuff from a very young age and years in foodservice allowed me the opportunity to try all sorts of different things. I try not to be too douchey about it, but I find the more descriptive a flavor profile the better you can decide what's for you or not. How much or how hot was your consumption? Extract is fucking debilitating man, it's a weapon not a condiment.

[AnarchicArctic]

Three fat drops of 1 million Scoville to the tongue. Spun my head, spit fire, turned me white when it hit my guts, sweat bullets, untethered my soul upon the porcelain throne, swam through the cosmos…came to soaked and parched, burning at both ends basking in the sulpherous stench of my own explosive emissions

[Jonnydread]

AnarchicArctic JEEZUS that's too much man. Those extract sauce are dangerous, especially since Scoville Units are intended to measure the hotness of fresh peppers, not sauce.

[TouchofGrey]

I got some home brewed stuff for you to try at Slim's game. Not too hot. I use it to make habanero margheritas. Nice kick.

[Jonnydread]

Hell yeah man! We can trade, I'll bring you a jar or two of last year's harvest sauce.

[Jonnydread]

Got some new X-hot sauces en route, will post up another review this week!

[JeeperCreeper]

Can't wait! This is the hottest thread on MCB

[Sbrannam]

Try some of this. 3 drops in a bowl of chili is awesome. 4 drops is a little too much

[Jonnydread]

Thanks for the rec man! I'll check it out. Also thank you for bringing this thread back to my attention. I have work to do, damn ADHD.

[Sbrannam]

Just don't try mixing it with a shot of 190 ever clear. Looks like fish eggs sitting on the bottom. People see it coming