CONFESSIONS OF A CHILI-HEAD

or

Water? What Water?
[Updated August 28, 2009]

 


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CARL'S HARMLESS VICE

One of the few things I inherited from my mother is an acute fondness for hot and spicy foods. This "addiction" is also one of the few things I share with my sole brother. When I was a youth, there was seldom a McCaskey family meal that didn't have a bottle of hot sauce (usually McIlhenny Brand Tabasco sauce) within reach. Now that my brother and I are now on our own, this family tradition continues in both our households.

Today, I am fortunate that I am not limited to just what is available in the local supermarket (although the selection today is not shabby). Many food-related and kitchen-related stores carry a selection of hot sauces, spicy foods and other items of interest to the average and above-average chili-head. Even if a shop specializing in hot sauces is not within an easy drive for you, there are many fine mail-order services and even online services where you can purchase the latest and greatest in sauces, mixes, salsas and other spicy products.

This corner of my homepage is devoted to not only reviews of hot sauces I have personally sampled it also contains my personal thoughts, ideas and just other general babble concerning hot sauces. I also have several links of interest to fellow "pepperheads" that you might wish to check out. Also, if you feel so inclined, send me a sample of your pepper sauce for me to review.

NOTE: Due to time constraints currently ongoing in my life, I am unable to add new reviews for the time being. I want to make it clear that I will resume posting new reviews soon. In the meantime feel free to read what I have reviewed.



CARL'S HOT SAUCE PHILOSOPHY

I never considered it proper just to add hot sauce to any food just to make it "hot." In my humble opinion, if you make something "too hot" (admittedly a completely subjective term), the tongue won't be able to taste whatever food on which you've used the hot sauce. You might as well just have consumed the hot sauce straight from the bottle if heat is all you're after. Personally, I will not add any hot sauce unless it can and will complement the flavor of the food. Admittedly there is no wrong way to use hot sauce (except maliciously) and this is my own personal, subjective opinion, so enjoy your hot sauce in the manner you so choose.


CARL'S HOT SAUCE REVIEWS

The following are my reviews of hot sauces I have sampled and used. These are grouped in two sections; my favorites & everything else. I have tried to described the flavor and heat level of the sauces and hope that my reviews will help you get an idea of what these sauces are like.


CARL'S FAVORITES
(In alphabetical order)

Arizona Gunslinger Smokin' Hot BBQ Sauce
Rarely do you find a barbecue sauce that effectively balances heat, sweet and smokiness, but Arizona Gunslinger Smokin' Hot BBQ sauce does exactly that. With its blend of jalapeno peppers,  tomato concentrate, molasses, corn syrup, mustard, vinegar, natural hickory smoke, salt and other spices, this sauce is a solid medium heat level with an excellent flavor. The heat and flavor complement each other nicely. I highly recommend this BBQ sauce!

Batten Island Gourmet Sauce
This is a nice fruit-based pepper sauce that is readily available in many grocery stores in north Florida and is also available in either hot or mild. University of Florida fans who are chili-heads will also like the gator-chef on the label. I've tried both the hot and mild versions and I recommend both although I consider the hot version to be about medium heat. The combination of raisins, dates, apples, pears, papayas and mangos with habanero and cayenne peppers create a remarkably unique flavor that complements many dishes. I recommend it mostly as a side condiment usable on steaks, ham and other meat dishes. If you like chutney, you will probably also like this sauce.

Bufalo Chipotle Mexican Hot Sauce
I have a fondness for chipotle sauces and this one is definitely one of the best I have found. According to the label this sauce is "Mexico's #1 hot sauces for 50 years." The ingredients are simple with chipotle peppers, vinegar and various spices, but they have managed to blend a wonderful sauce that adds plenty of flavor and a good medium level of heat to any dish.

Bustelo's Chipotle Pepper Sauce
This sauce, a blend of vinegar, garlic, chiles (chipotles, I assume) and salt, is aged for over 6 months in oak wine barrels and has that wonderful smoky chipotle flavor. I bought my first bottle of this and I liked it so much, I had to buy another bottle a couple of days later. The heat is on the low end of "medium" but the flavor is on the upper end of "high." This sauce complements so many foods it's unbelievable. I first used some in chicken soup and it was fantastic. Use it on meats, soups, even seafood. You really have to try it!

Captain Redbeard's Key West Style Chipotle Habanero Sauce
Wow! This thick sauce with chunks of pepper is awesome! The flavor is sweet and smoky at the same time with a good medium level of heat. The folks from Captain Redbeard's  in Florida have concocted an extremely delicious sauce that has a huge flavor. The combination of habanero and chipotle peppers with tomato paste, distilled viegar, onions, salt, chives, sugar, garlic powder and black pepper make for one of the best chipotle sauces I've tried. Although this sauce does contain ground black peppercorns (to use the proper term), it does not overwhelm the flavor as in the case of several hot sauces that seem to think a bucketful of ground peppercorns is what is needed to spice up the sauce. I strongly urge you to seek this sauce out. And get two bottles `cause just one ain't gonna last for long.

Century Hot Pepper Sauce
The flavor from this thai and cayenne pepper-based sauce is outstanding. A combination of those peppers with vinegar, tomato sauce, tomato paste, seasoned salt, garlic and other ingredients are delightfully blended into this sauce that has about a medium level of heat. I definitely suggest this sauce for your pantry.

The Cheech Gnarly Garlic Habanero Hot Sauce
Another hot sauce in the "Cheech" sauce line and once again another excellent blending of flavor and heat this time with habanero peppers, garlic, carrots, onions, lime juice, vinegar and salt. Another sauce I highly recommend.

The Cheech Smokin' Chipotle Hot Sauce
This hot sauce, with a caricature of actor Richard "Cheech" Marin on the label, is a wonderful blend of flavor and heat combining red tabasco peppers, jalapeno peppers, habanero peppers and cayenne peppers with molasses, cane vinegar, lime juice, papaya, passion fruit juice, garlic, salt, smoke flavor and rum. This sauce uses a pepper mash technique to get a delightful level of medium-high heat while retaining an excellent flavor. I highly recommend this sauce.

Cholula Hot Sauce
A very good, multi-use hot sauce that I highly recommend keeping on your table. A nice solid medium to upper-medium heat level created by a simple yet effective blend of vinegar, red peppers, piquin peppers, salt and spices. The flavor is also extremely good, quite smooth and it also has a small similarity (at least in my opinion) to spicy V-8 vegetable juice. Although it is vinegar based, it does not have an overwhelming vinegar taste. Also the heat has a quick bite that remains as a warm glow and is not overwhelming (unlike a lot of the extreme hot sauces on the market). This is one of those sauces that should be on every hot sauce lover's essentials list and is usable in many recipes.

Colorado's Hotlips Ten Pepper Nectar Hot Sauce
There is an old saying "Too many cooks spoil the broth." I wonder if too many peppers spoil the hot sauce? In this hot sauce, the answer is a resounding no. The ten peppers in this sauce (anaheim greens, pasillas, habaneros, chipotles, New Mexican reds, cascabels, cayennes, fresnos, pequins & tabascos) blend with tomatoes, tomatillos, vinegar, apple juice, onions, apricots, pomegranate juice, garlic, ginger and salt to make an excellently flavored sauce that keeps the heat level a solid medium that has a slow build-up. The heat does not overwhelm the tastebuds and the sauce's flavor is complimentary to most foods. I highly recommend this sauce.

Corsair Pepper Sauce {Hot A Lot}
This vinegar-based sauce from Pass Christian, Mississippi is an interesting blend of cayenne & jalapeno peppers, onions, carrots, garlic, lime juice, cilantro and other spices. Even though labeled as "Hot A Lot" (e.g. - the hottest level) the heat is medium level. However the flavor is quite good and the peppers, onions and carrots are somewhat chunky and crisp. This is a good sauce to have especially in seafood dishes as well as dips.

Coyote Cocina Prankster's Red
Deliciously smokey sauce with a warmth coming from its combination of New Mexico Red, chipotle and chiltepin peppers. This sauce's flavor is awesome even though its heat level is quite low. The label states: "Pour over tacos; Add to soups, stews and other dishes for traditional Mexican flavor." I concur. I also suggest adding this to dips, casseroles and just about any dish you wish to prepare.

Lottie's True Bajan Premium Hot Pepper Sauce
I have developed a fondness for mustard-based sauces and was informed recently that a similar sauce that I enjoy actually created its recipe as a rip-off of Lottie's. This intrigued me so much that I bought a bottle to try. Now I understand why. Lottie's is a well-balanced blend of mustard, hot peppers, vinegar and other spices that adds flavor to foods without overpowering them (however the sauce is quite fiery). This NIFCA award winning sauce is a delicious thin sauce with small chunks of peppers (reddish in color) that add not only heat but also a nice color. Even though this sauce does include vinegar, there is no noticeable vinegar taste. If you have never tried a mustard-based hot sauce, I heartily recommend this one.

McIlhenny Co. Tabasco Brand Sauce
Without a doubt, my all-time favorite hot food product is the McIlhenny Co. Tabasco Brand Sauce which I have enjoyed pretty much all my life. Whether used in some of my dad's world-famous gumbo (well it SHOULD be world-famous: it's that good), in scrambled eggs or in any number of dishes, McIlhenny's tabasco sauce adds a unique flavor and a goodly amount of heat to anything without overpowering the food. However because McIlhenny's tabasco sauce is a pungent sauce in terms of "heat" use it sparingly if you're unfamiliar with it.

Mo Hotta-Mo Betta Chipotle Adobo Hot Sauce
Ever since trying my first chipotle pepper, I have enjoyed several sauces which utilize the smoked pepper. I discovered this sauce in a small specialty grocery store called Modica Market in Seaside, Florida and tried it immediately. I was floored by it's unique combination of chipotles in adobo, orange juice, garlic spiced cider and other ingredients. It's a mild sauce, but the flavor is outstanding and every chipotle lover needs to get more than just one bottle this because once you start, you won't be able to stop using it in and on so many foods. One things to note; this sauce is pretty thick so it makes a great basting sauce as well a wonderful substitute for the usual steak sauce.

Pele's Hawaiian Rainforest Herb Sauce
A wonderfully delicious, albeit mild sauce from Hawaii made from a blend of eschallot, celery, thyme, onion, garlic, sweet peppers, basil, parsley, vinegar and salt. Even though there is no bite to this sauce, the flavor of this sauce is outstanding and will complement most any dish plus it will add zest and flash to bland foods as well. One suggestion is adding this to simple white rice which enriches the flavor greatly.

Pepper Ranch Aged Gourmet Hot Pepper Sauce
Probably one of the best Louisiana-style pepper sauces out there.This one is a simple blend of peppers, vinegar and salt but the flavor is outstanding. The type of peppers are unamed by the label shows the fiery pequin peppers ripe on the plant so I think it's safe to assume that's what is used. Made by the Lee Bass Company from Lutz, Florida, this sauce is a thin sauce with a solid wallop of heat (nice upper medium level). If you can find this one, don't just buy one, buy several because before you know it, you'll be needing more.

Pili Hot Pepper Condiment
This condiment (rather than a sauce) was recommended to my wife when she was shopping at a hot sauce shop. She was looking for a few surprises to present me with and the proprietor recommended this. Apparently Pili (pronounced pee-lee) hot pepper condiment won the 1995 Hot Foods Competition held in New Orleans, Louisiana. After trying it, I can understand why. This condiment is just flat-out GOOD. It is concentrated so only a little is needed, but I put just a bit in some tuna salad and was completely blown away at how well it complemented the flavor of the tuna salad. Since then I have used it in other foods and recipes with wonderful results (try adding a bit to ordinary ketchup). Even though its chief source for heat is the infamous habanero pepper, the burn is not overwhelming, but instead is a nice slow burn that never overwhelms you.

Raw Heat Vintage 69'
Hot! Definitely hot! Habanero and chipotle peppers combined with onions, garlic, cumin, tomatoes, vinegar and miscellaneous spices make this sauce awesomely hot with a hint of smokiness. The flavor will accent many foods, but use sparingly; the heat will get ya!

San Angel Chipotle Salsa
Ever since reading how delicious chipotles were I had always wanted to try something made from them. This salsa proved to be quite an enjoyable surprise. The heat is good, but not overwhelming and the flavor, a mixture of chipotle peppers, fresh cilantro, fresh garlic, sea salt, etc., is smokey and hot at the same time. I find it interesting that consistency of this salsa is not nearly as liquid as many commercial salsas. This salsa is officially my all-time second-favorite salsa.

Santa Barbara Olive Co. Roasted Garlic Salsa (Chunky Olive)
I was hooked on this particular salsa immediately after trying it for the first time and will go out of my way to find it. The combination of green chilies, jalapeno peppers, black and green olives, garlic and other ingredients makes this one of the most flavorful salsas around without being too hot. In fact, one local shop (now defunct) that carried this salsa told me it is their most popular. Not surprising.

Santa Fe Ole' 3 Pepper Hot Sauce
This nice, yet fairly fiery pepper sauce manufactured in Santa Fe, New Mexico not only effectively blends chipotle, red chili and red jalapeno peppers (the 3 peppers in its name), but also uses cumin for a hint of barbecue flavor that makes the sauce unique. It has a heat level which I consider to be on the borderline of "medium" and "hot" but don't think for a moment this sauce is "wimpy" -- it does a bit of a bite so use sparingly at first and add extra if you want more fire. It should also be noted that there is no oil or sugar in this sauce and only a trace of salt so it is usable in many restricted diets.

St. George Island Peach 'N Pepper Hot Sauce
Very few instances occur where I sample a hot sauce straight from the bottle and decide instantly that it's outstanding, however this sauce caused such a reaction from me. This is a mild, yet flavorful sauce that is extremely versatile. It contains green jalapeno peppers as well as cayenne peppers so the heat level is low. It also adds sweetness with peaches, Vidalia onions and cane sugar. Those ingredients along with red chili puree, vinegar, salt and dehydrated tomato make for a fantastic sauce. Being that it is low in heat, it's great for beginners and those with a tender palate but experienced pepperheads would be foolish to pass this sauce by. This sauce is highly recommended.

Stairway To Hell Smokin' Habanero Pepper Hot Sauce
The label on this hot sauce warns you that it "burns twice." In my case, the second burn never showed up because the first burn lingered so nicely. Although it utilized the habanero pepper, I didn't find the heat to be overwhelming. Rather it comes on quickly and stays with you for quite a while. I place it on the upper level of medium but if too much is added, it will take you over the border to a high level of heat. What I find most enjoyable about this sauce is the remarkable balance between heat and flavor. Neither overwhelms the other. The habanero & pasilla peppers are blended with tomatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, cilantro, oregano, lime juice, salt pepper and mesquite smoke flavoring to create a smoky flavor with a hint of sweetness. It is fairly thick and works quite directly well on grilled meats as well as an additive to soups, chilis, etc. It is a natural to use it as a "secret ingredient" in homemade chili. Overall, this is a hot sauce worth seeking out.

Trappey's Hot Pepper Sauce
McIlhenny's long-time chief competitor, Trappey's also has a Louisiana-style tabasco pepper sauce (actually a blend of tabasco and cayenne) that is quite good. Although not as hot as McIlhenny's Tabasco sauce, Trappey's sauce has a wonderful flavor which accentuates the flavor of many foods. I suggest having this sauce onhand for cooking as well as adding to soups, sauces, etc.

[NOTE: This sauce, with its distinguishable green label, is not to be confused with Trappey's Bull Sauce or their other sauces {several of which are mentioned below}.]
[EXTRA NOTE: I have been informed that in 1991, McIlhenny Company bought out Trappey’s products (according to Erinn Joyce, the company’s creative services director). Then in August 1997, McIlhenny sold Trappey’s to B & G Foods, a multibrand food company based in Roseland, N.J. And unfortunately in the shuffle most of the Trappey's line of hot sauce products fell by the wayside.]

Two Cats Sauces
These sauces is all extremely good. None are very hot but all have excellent flavor.
Two Cats Autumn Sauce

This sauce is the sweetest and quit mild in regards to heat. Its ingredients include pears, tomatoes, cranberry-grape juice, hot chiles, sweet red peppers, onions, vinegars, carrots, pumpkins, yams, raisins, brown sugar, garlic, "Duplin" wine, lime juice, olive oil, herbs and spices.
Two Cats Spring Sauce
This sauce is a 1999 Fiery Foods Challenge winner and is the hottest of the set. Even though it is the hottest of the set the heat level is on the lower end of medium. Its ingredients include pears, tomatoes, peach-grape juice, hot chiles, sweet red peppers, onions, vinegar, carrots, apples, yams, raisins, brown sugar, garlic, "Duplin" wine, lime juice, olive oil, herbs and spices which give it a sweet flavor.
Two Cats Summer Sauce

This is also a 1999 Fiery Foods Challenge winner and it is a delicious sauce that has a bit of a bite to it as well as a sweet flavor. Its ingredients include pears, tomatoes, pear-grape juice, hot chiles, sweet red peppers, onions, vinegar, carrots, mangos, yams, raisins, brown sugar, garlic, "Duplin" wine, lime juice, olive oil, herbs and spices which give this sauce a complex flavor with just a touch of heat.
Two Cats Winter Sauce
This a delicious sweet sauce that is the mildest of the set. Although the label claims it has hot chiles in it (none specified) its ingredients (which includes pears, tomatoes, raspberry-grape juice, sweet red peppers, onions, carrots, apples, yams, raisins, brown sugar, garlic, "Duplin" wine, lime juice, olive oil, salt and herbs & spices) make for a delightfully complex taste. Some of the ingredients are quite unique, but they blend well in this sweet yet only slightly warm sauce.

Valentina Salsa Picante
A delightful sauce simply consisting of chili peppers (unspecified), vinegar, salt and other spices. It is mild in regards to its heat level, but the flavor is wonderful. This Mexican hot sauce definitely adds flavor to any dish and I strongly urge everyone to try this as soon as possible.


 

OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING
(In alphabetical order)


Alabama Sunshine XXX Hot Special Black Label Red Savina Hot Sauce
This sauce is a very hot vinegar based sauce that will definitely light up the tongue. Only a few drops will be enough to add heat to most dishes. Its blend of red savina peppers, vinegar, garlic, olive oil, tumeric and alum make for a unique, slightly tart flavor that works well in foods. Try this sauce if you find it.

Alabama Wild Fire Hot Sauce
The label on this hot sauce says it is "extra extra hot" which is definitely truth in advertisting. This sauce is on the high end of the heat scale as well as the flavor scale by combining habanero peppers with vinegar, garlic, salt and other spices. A very solid and good sauce.

Amazon Pepper Fiery Green Sauce
This light-green colored pepper sauce packs a pretty good wallop both in terms of heat and flavor. However the flavor is just a bit bitter due to the green amazon peppers, but not overwhelmingly so. The ingredients are nothing fancy (green amazon peppers, vinegar and salt) but if you use this sauce sparingly, it actually is pretty good in soups, sauces and dips.

Amazon Pepper Fiery Red Sauce
This pepper sauce also packs a pretty good wallop both in terms of heat and flavor. The ingredients are nothing fancy as well (red amazon peppers, vinegar and salt) but if you use this sauce sparingly, it is pretty good in soups, sauces and dips, too.

Amazon Pepper Hot N' Sweet Sauce
A remarkably flavorable sauce consisting of habanero and amazon peppers blended with  mango, sugar, passionfuit, lemon, salt and other spices. This mixture is balanced beautifully with an even mixture of sweet and heat. Even though this contains habanero peppers, the heat level is fairly mild. I recommend this sauce and one interesting use I have made is mixing it in with cream cheese for a sweet treat with a little tang.

Arizona Gunslinger Smokin' Hot Habanero Pepper Sauce
"Smokin'" implies an smoldering fire and unlike many habanero sauces that hit you upside the head with the heat, this sauce smolders on the tongue delicately building up to a "hot coals" level that will delight the hot sauce lover. The simple list of ingredients (fresh ripened habanero and jalapeno peppers, vinegar and salt) is skillfully blended to offer both a quality flavor with a nice heat buildup. It also manages to balance the flavor of the peppers without overwhelming it with a strong vinegar taste. This is a fairly thick sauce compared to most vinegar based sauces and one that would make a nice addition to your cupboard.

Arizona Gunslinger Smokin' Hot Jalapeno Pepper Sauce
A nice medium level of heat combined with a good flavor (from a simple blend of red ripened jalapeno peppers, vinegar and salt) make this sauce quite enjoyable.

Around The World Hot Sauce
I imagine most people have heard about food that "sticks to your ribs." Well this is a sauce that will stick to the taste buds. This one is a scorcher. And if you use too much at once, it will take your kicking and screaming on what feels like a rapid epicurean trip around the world. The heat is mostly from the famed red savina habanero pepper (in this case it is apple smoked) which is blended with chipotle peppers, ground Jamaican allspice, curry powder, horseradish, ground ginger and ground annatto. A curry flavor is definitely evident, but not overwhelming (you can also smell the curry in the sauce since it is notoriously pungent). This is definitely not a hot sauce for the faint of palate but a good sauce nonetheless. You want an interesting taste adventure, get this sauce.

Ass In The Tub Hot Sauce
Ass In Space Hot Sauce

Sometimes a pepperhead purchases a sauce because of a unique or humorous label and/or name, takes it home and is pleasantly surprised to find that it is quite good as well. However, with these sauces, this is not one of those times. These fiery sauces, with their unique names, each have equally unique (as well as humorous) labels, but their flavors are quite unpleasant. The ingredients contain just enough of the bare essentials to allow the company to call it a hot pepper sauce, but both sauces are extremely bitter and actually take away from the flavor of foods. If you are a person who collects pepper sauces for display purposes only, these two sauces would make good additions to your collection. But if you purchase hot pepper sauces to use and enjoy, skip these sauces and go on to something better.

Ass Kickin' Roasted Garlic Hot Sauce
This Glendale, Arizona sauce is on the low end of high heat and is to be used a little at a time to avoid overwhelming the palate with its swift and sudden kick. It contains habanero & jalapeno peppers along with roasted garlic, tomato paste, vinegar, salt and onion powder. The flavor is also quite decent coming from the roasted garlic and onion powder. Definitely something worthy to wake up the tastebuds of a true pepperhead.

Atlanta Burning Sauce
The first thing that intrigued me about this sauce was the suggestion on the label to use this sauce on shrimp as well as ribs, wings and cocktails. Not too often is such a suggestion made to use directly on seafood. I decided to try this sauce. The first noticeable point about this sauce is that it is thick. I mean THICK. Expect to expend a little more time and effort when pouring this sauce as compared to other sauces. The second noticeable point is the flavor. With ingredients such as peppers (not identified except for extracts of tamarind), various vinegars, paprika, onion and garlic combined with corn syrup and brown sugar as well as smoke flavor, this sauce is quite a unique, but typically southern product. It is a sweet sauce, similar to a barbecue sauce, but with major differences in flavor. Plus the thickness of the sauce does lend itself to be used directly as a cocktail or steak sauce (only if you are adventuresome). Which leads me to the third noticeable point; the heat. While the first thing you taste is the sweetness, it slowly transforms into an increasing heat which make your whole body warmer and your face glow. Mind you, this is not the hottest sauce on the market, but it is definitely not for the person with a flammable palate. Use with caution and add sparingly until you reach the desired level of heat. A little of this will go a long way. One interesting suggestion (particularly for we southerners), try dipping slices of country sausage in a little of this for breakfast.

Aunty Soon's Hot Sauce
This sauce from Hawaii has one of the most unique flavors of any hot sauce I have tried. It really is hard to describe how it tastes, but it is pretty darned good with soy sauce undertones. The heat level on it is on the low end of medium but the flavor more than makes up for it. The label lists the ingredients as hot pepper paste (sweet rice powder, red pepper powder, soybean powder, malt powder, water and salt), vinegar, Hawaiian chili water, molasses, soy sauce, fresh garlic and sesame oil. It's a rich red color with a somewhat thick and coarse consistency. Definitely something different to try.

Bad Bandito's Old No. 9 Barbecue Sauce
An interesting and very tangy vinegar-based barbecue sauce which can also be used as a marinade. Even though this sauce is loaded with dried hot peppers (specific variety unknown), it is not overwhelmingly hot, but just warm enough to be addictive. Nicely balanced with a flavor derived from a blend of peppers, red wine vinegar, tomato paste, corn syrup, honey, dehydrated onions, dehydrated garlic, brown sugar, hickory smoke seasoning, basil, powdered mustard, salt and pepper. Nothing in the ingredients stands out in the taste, but rather the complex ingredients give it a well-rounded flavor. The consistency is slightly thick but dense with bits of black pepper, garlic and onions (maybe some basil?) which makes it ideal for a marinade as well. Quite tangy but a tad hot which makes it not your typical barbecue sauce. Definitely one to try.

Bad Girls In Heat Papaya Pumpkin Habanero Hot Sauce
As far as I can remember, this is the first hot sauce with pumpkin that I have tried. This is definitely a fruity sauce with papaya, raisins, pumpkin, lime juice, ginger, parsnip, apple cider vinegar, spices and habanero peppers. Even though its name features papaya and pumpkin, the predominant fruit flavor is from the raisins. The heat level is on the medium end of the scale, but does not overwhelm its fruity flavor. A pretty interesting sauce to try.

Bada Bing Bada Boom Hot Sauce
The "Official Hot Sauce of the Meadowlands" is an interesting mix of heat and flavor coming from roasted and crushed red peppers, smoked chipotle peppers, tomato juice, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, vinegar and other spices. The heat level is solidly medium and the flavor is not overpowering, but quite complementary. Overall a pretty good sauce.

Bandana's Serious Habanero Pepper Sauce
The label for this sauce has the following warning: "Warning!! Not recommended on breakfast cereal (grits excluded, of course!)" Now I've tried hot sauces on some interesting and unique foods, but BREAKFAST CEREAL? I guess you have to be seriously addicted to hot sauce to put it on some Captain Crunch With Crunchberries. However with that being said, this very thick & chunky sauce consists of habanero & scotch bonnet peppers along with a blend of apple & white vinegar, carrots, onion, carrot juice, and garlic. The carrots reduce the heat from the habanero and scotch bonnet pepper but this isn't a wimpy sauce. I put the heat level at a solid medium bordering on upper-medium. It has an interesting tartness to it that isn't bad nor conflicting with the ingredient. Overall a very good sauce.

Bandana's Seriously Cilantro Pepper Sauce
The ingredients for this sauce are identical to their habanero pepper sauce: apple & white vinegar, carrots, onion, carrot juice, habanero & scotch bonnet peppers & garlic. But they add cilantro to it. If you're a cilantro fan, you'll probably like it but being one who finds the flavor of cilantro to be that of soap, I had trepidations. I am one of those rare individuals that has a gene which causes cilantro to taste like soap. Both my wife and I both taste cilantro the same way. However the cilantro is barely noticable and overall this sauce is just about identical in every way to their habanero sauce listed above.

Barracuda Bite Hot Sauce
Inspired by the legendary "Marathon Barracuda", this hot sauce is a combination of habanero and chipotle peppers as well as garlic, key lime juice, tomatoes, brown sugar, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and other spices. And it is HOT! However the heat does not overwhelm the unique and tantalizing flavor. This sauce originates from the Barracuda Grill in the Florida Keys and is definitely worth the time and effort to add it to your pantry. But beware, use a little at a time or the sauce just might bite your tongue clean off!

Batch #37 Garlic Hot Sauce
With a picture of a screaming man on the label and a seal on the bottle cap which reads "Pain Is Good" one would expect a hot sauce that will open your sinuses and make you sweat. And with this sauce from Original Juan Specialty Foods you are definitely not disappointed. The habanero peppers in this sauce makes it very, very hot cut only slightly by pureed carrots as well as lemon juice & lime juice. Plus it has garlic. Lots of garlic. The ingredients list minced garlic, garlic puree AND garlic powder as well. Garlic lovers, this hot sauce will definitely make you vampire proof. And it that were not enough, this sauce also contains mustard seed, onion powder, olive oil, tumeric, distilled vinegar as well as some unnamed spices. So basically you have a hot sauce that is well rounded, full bodied and will make ya sweat! Dense with bits of pepper and garlic with an orange hue, it is one well worth trying.

Bayou Viagra Louisiana Pepper Sauce
This sauce (whose label proclaims "Not Just For Men") is an interesting sauce consisting of cayenne and habanero peppers mixed with minced garlic, onions, vinegar sea salt and other spices. The heat level is solidly medium and does not have an overwhelming vinegar flavor. Although the label is amusing and will be a good collectible for hot sauce bottle collectors, this sauce's flavor is worthy of addition to anyone's pantry.

Beastly Hot Sauce (Charleston Hot Pepper & Flaming Habanero Fire)
I'm not familiar with Charleston hot peppers (a type of cayenne) but according to the label they have a "smooth flavor." This sauce has a very strong kick to it coming mainly from the habanero peppers yet it has a slightly smoky, slightly sweet flavor created by the remainder of the ingredients (sweet potatoes, onions, lime juice, vinegar, salt and unspecified spices). It is a thin sauce with bits of pepper in the mixture. Definitely a high heat sauce but not overbearing. Overall a tasty sauce with some subtle undertones. Give it a try.

Beer Barrel Embalming Fluid Hot Sauce
The label on the bottle makes the claim "world's hottest all natural hot sauce." Well, if there is something hotter out there that's not an extract, a concentrate or crystalline then I don't know about it nor have I tried it. I'll warn you right on the outset, this is definitely NOT a hot sauce for beginners and most novices (unless those novices are truly adventuresome). The formula for this sauce is simple: habanero peppers, vinegar, onion & garlic powder, salt plus select micro-brewed beer. The sauce's flavor is fairly straightforward which makes it quite versatile but due to the intense heat, you only need to use a little so it really won't alter the flavor of the food. But if you use too much at one time, you won't be tasting much of anything for a bit while your tastebuds recover. A nice sauce to have onhand for the extreme pepperhead.

Beyond Smoked Bones Hot Sauce
This Delaware produced hot sauce consisting of ground habanero peppers, ground red peppers and aged cayenne peppers sauce gives your tongue quite the burn. The flavor is quite tart (possibly from the aged cayenne peppers?) and if overused in a dish will overwhelm the food's taste so use sparingly. However the heat is such that if you overuse it in a dish, you'll have smoke coming out your ears as well.

Big Georgia Red
A simple yet delicious "spicy condiment" is  a delightful blend of habanero peppers, red peppers, sugar, salt and (unamed) spices. The sugar gives it a somewhat sweet flavor and cuts the habanero heat to a good medium level. The sweetness is balanced well with the other spices and the unamed red peppers. It has a rather thick consistency with an ample amount of small bits of pepper pulp. If you like an all-purpose with a unique flavor, get Big Georgia Red. Overall, this is quite a good sauce from Whigham, Georgia.

Big Island Hot Sauce
According to the label, this sauce is "A Lehua Honey Habanero Pepper Sauce with other flavors from Hawai'i". It contains ginger juice, plum sauce, soy sauce, lehua honey, Hawaiian sea salt, Chinese five spice, red habanero peppers which makes for a very sweet sauce with Oriental undertones. With so much sweetness, the heat from the red habanero is cut quite a bit giving it a low heat level. If you like sweet sauces to try and you're not wanting something very hot, this is the sauce for you.

Billy Bob's Blazing Trail Hot`N Smoky Habanero Very Hot Pepper Sauce
A fairly simplistic sauce (vinegar, onions, carrots, tomatoes, lime juice, habanero peppers, sugar and salt) but truthful in it's descriptive title. This sauce is smoky and very, very hot, but has a very good flavor to match (although if you add to much, that heat will completely obliterate the flavor temporarily). This is a good sauce for experienced pepperheads and especially those pepperheads who enjoy smoky sauces. I personally find this to be a great additive to chili.

Bite Me Hot Sauce
The key ingredients for this sauce are chipotle peppers and roasted garlic. Of course, having habaneros, tomatoes and onion doesn't hurt either. As far as habanero sauces go, this one is pretty tame, but you should really consider the flavor of this sauce rather than trying to find something that will melt your dental fillings. Its heat isn't something to be ignored eithers. Although not the hottest sauce around, it does pack a nice slow burn that lasts without ever being overpowering. A very nice balance of flavor and heat.

Blair's After Death Sauce with Chipotle
In this day and age of companies having the "hottest sauce" on the market, this award-winning sauce definitely ranks up there as one of the hottest. To be honest, if this sauce contains chipotle peppers, you'd be hard pressed to taste it. A drop or two in a dish is plenty to add ample heat. Any more will simply overwhelm everything. It is unfortunate that the heat tends to overwhelm the flavor since the ingredients include red and orange habanero peppers, cayenne peppers, chipotle peppers, smashed garlic (smashed?), lime juice, cilantro, vinegar and fresh herbs and spices. I imagine the flavor would be quite good, but unfortunately it is so hot I can't taste it. If you like extreme sauces, this is one to add to your cupboard.

Blue Crab Bay Co. Sting Ray Hot Sauce
This sauce, produced in Virginia, is a "smooth mildly-hot condiment" that is definitely for seafood lovers. With its blend of unnamed peppers, tomato paste, ocean clam juice, lemon juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, onion, salt and other spices the sauce has a very unique flavor albeit extremely mild. The clam juice and horseradish are evident in its flavor while the heat level is barely apparent. This sauce would be extremely good in any seafood dish as well as many other dishes where a distinct flavor is needed.

Bo Bo's Bajan Hot Sauce
On one hand the label says that it's "straight from Trinidad" while on the other hand it also says that it's "Fresh From Florida." Confusing? Is there a Trinidad, Florida of which I am not aware? I am partial to mustard based sauces like this one so I eagerly anticipated sampling it. Not only does it has mustard for part of its base, it also has habanero peppers, onion, garlic, key lime juice, salt, [unnamed] spices, and vinegar. I expected a hotter sauce than it is. The heat sneaks up on you but never rises into the medium range. It's quite the chunky and flavorful sauce that is good for beginners.

Boiling Point Hot Sauce
When I sample a sauce for the first time, one of the first things I check is the list of ingredients. I include them in my reviews. When I read the ingredients on this multi-pepper sauce, one of the ingredients caught my attention: natural butter flavor. Now I've sampled hundreds of hot sauces in the past 20 or more years and have never seen "natural butter flavor" listed as an ingredient in a hot sauce. So I was immediately intrigued to see just how much it influenced the flavor. I was surprised somewhat that that butter flavor is indeed evident but also it seems to enhance the smooth consistency of this sauce. I would describe it as approaching thickness but not quite achieving it. That butter flavor combined with cayenne peppers, habanero peppers and crushed red peppers (also with distilled vinegar and salt) give it ample heat (a solid medium) along with a nice overall, somewhat tangy flavor. There's enough uniqueness about this to make this sauce stand out in the hot sauce market and if you happen to run across it, I suggest picking up a bottle to try.

Boss Man Hot Sauce
Although the label calls this a hot sauce, it's really nothing more than a seafood cocktail sauce. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you. However as far as hot sauces go, you might want to pass on this one. BUT, as far as cocktail sauces go, this sauce is quite good. The ingredients are listed as tomato ketchup, hot sauce (unspecified), horseradish, black pepper, green peppers and other unspecified spices. Interestingly, this is the first hot sauce I have ever purchased that was autographed by its originator (I believe his name is Brad Knighton - the autograph obscured the name so I'm not sure if I have spelled his name correctly). This sauce has been produced since 1972 under the watchful eye of Mr. Knighton and if you love oysters as much as I, then use it on your next dozen or so.

The Brutal Bajan Hot Habanero Sauce
I have found that any pepper sauce that is very fiery needs some sort of pungent flavor in order to mirror the level of heat. After all, one only needs a little bit of the sauce to give the food some heat, but if the flavor isn't there, the food only becomes hot and is not enhanced in any interesting way. Fortunately, the Brutal Bajan Habanero sauce uses mustard which not only gives it a unique deep yellow hue, but adds an interesting flavor which allows you to add only a few drops to increase the heat and enhance the flavor. This habanero sauce effectively blends mustard, garlic, onion, tumeric and other standard hot sauce ingredients into a pungent sauce worthy of experienced pepperheads. Rookie pepperheads, use carefully.

Bufalo Picante Clasica Mexican Hot Sauce
More salsa like than a hot sauce. This sauce from Mexico is a very simple blend of chile peppers (the label is not specific as to the type of peppers), vinegar, water and salt. The label says it is hot, but the bottle I tried is actually pretty mild with a distinct vinegar flavor. The sauce is very thick and takes a little effort getting it from the bottle. An average sauce overall.

Busha Browne's Pukka Hot Pepper Sauce
Definitely a good all-purpose hot sauce on the high end of medium heat. Scotch bonnet peppers give this sauce a good heat boost with added flavor from cane sugar, salt and approved spices (I haven't a clue as to the qualifications for approval). Recommended for the experienced palate.

Busha Browne's Spicy Jerk Sauce
Somewhat thick resembling a steak sauce more than the typical hot sauce. The ingredients listed include hot peppers (unspecified - scotch bonnets perhaps?), vinegar, cane sugar, tomato paste, scallions, thyme, salt and spices. Even though it's not very hot, it's still a decent jerk sauce.

Cafe Louisiane (Hotter`n Hell Sauce)
This sauce was given to me as a present and I am glad I have such thoughtful relatives. This sauce is a very unique blend of red peppers, vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, etc. which gives it an interesting sweet, yet spicy flavor and a medium level of heat. This is the only hot sauce I have tried with cinnamon. It works for me.

Cafe Tequila Cayenne Red Hot Sauce
A very interesting sauce produced in San Francisco made with cayenne peppers, water, vinegar, salt, garlic juice and tequila. The cayenne peppers give it a bit of a bite and are complemented by the garlic juice and tequila. Overall it is not a very hot sauce but quite flavorful which could be added to many dishes without overwhelming it. The cone shaped bottle also makes it visually distinctive as well. Try it.

Cajun Power Garlic Sauce
Not a hot sauce but a very nice garlic sauce made from squeezed garlic, vinegar, tomatoes, cayenne pepper and other spices. I only list it here because of the cayenne pepper. It isn't hot at all, but VERY flavorful. Give it a try.

Captain Bob's Jet Fuel (Chile de arbol Hot Sauce)
This simple sauce (red chile peppers, vinegar, garlic & water) has a very good medium heat level as well as a basic vinegar-based flavor. However unlike some vinegar-based sauces, there is no overwhelming vinegar taste. Instead it is tempered by the garlic and therefore makes for a nice basic sauce that adds flavor and heat to any dish.

Captain Redbeard's Garlic Pepper Sauce
A rather thin sauce, but with a lot of vinegary flavor (a little too vinegary for my personal tastes - I feel the vinegar overwhelms the garlic instead of enhancing it) and a lot of heat. However it's still not a bad sauce overall. Give it a try.

Captain Redbeard's Jaws Of Fire
A very interesting sauce with plenty of heat. A simple mixture of habanero peppers, vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder and salt creates a pretty powerful sauce. A little too salty for my tastes, but more than ample heat. This would be a good sauce to add to a chili but keep in mind that it has plenty of heat and plenty of saltiness as well.

Captain Redbeard's  Sharkbite Cayenne Pepper Sauce
This is typical of a vinegar-based, Louisiana-style cayenne sauce. It is fairly mild with the kind of flavor one expects of a cayenne sauce. A good all-purpose sauce made from a simple, yet effective, blend of cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, salt and vegetable gum. In my humble opinion, Captain Redbeard's Cayenne sauce and Garlic sauce are very, very similar with one having more garlic than the other.

Captain Redbeard's Sharkbite Habanero Pepper Sauce
The habanero peppers, carrots, onions, vinegar, garlic, lime juice and salt create an interesting sauce with a medium level of heat. The flavor is average with a little tartness from the lime juice, but it suffers from being overly salty. I feel that if the saltiness was decreased this would be a better sauce. With all the other Captain Redbeard brand of sauces ranging from good to flat-out excellent, this sauce is quite the disappointment. I hope that a) the reason this sauce is not good is because I may have gotten a bad batch or b) they will recognize this problem and rectify it.

Captain Redbeard's Sharkbite Jalapeno Pepper Sauce
This sauce from Florida has a medium level of heat and is quite tart. Even though the ingredients consist of jalapeno peppers, distilled vinegar, salt and vegetable gum, it has a lemony tartness that I don't know from where it originates.

Captain Rodney's Pirates Gold Corazon del Fuego Hot Sauce
A very nice, solidly medium heat sauce with a hint of sweetness created by a blend of scotch bonnet peppers, tomato, vinegar, onion, salt and spices. This flavorful sauce does not overpower the foods one puts it on or in, but it does add quite a bit of heat that slowly builds up to a very pleasing glow. Overall, a very good sauce.

The Cheech Mojo Mango Habanero Hot Sauce
A nice combination of sweet and heat from mangos, carrots, habanero peppers, sugar, cane vinegar, tomato paste, onion, vinegar and salt. Definitely a solid medium level of heat that sneaks up on you and keeps you warm for a while. Quite a good sauce overall and a welcome addition to any sauce lover's pantry.

Chesapeake Fire
This sauce from Maryland is the first sauce I have ever tried in which one of the main ingredients is beer. Specifically, Wild Goose Amber Beer from Wild Goose Brewery located on Maryland's Eastern Shore. However don't expect to "chug-a-lug" this sauce because the habanero peppers give it a major bite. The pepper and beer are combined with apple juice, lemon juice, lime juice, sugar and "select spices." The flavor is complex with elements of sweetness and a touch of citrus tartness. Overall a very unique and good sauce. Definitely one to try.

Chile Today Hot Tamale Original Smoked Habanero Hot Sauce
Nevermind the silly pun in its name, this hot sauce is a wonderful combination of heat and flavor. The habanero peppers (both regular and smoked) and chipotle peppers are blended with water, vinegar, papaya, carrots, salt, lemon juice and onion powder to create a wonderful smoky and smooth flavor with just a touch of tartness (via the lemon juice).

Chipotle Del Sol Smokin' Hot Sauce
A very nice smoky sauce that is full of the classic chipotle flavor and tanginess. A nice warm sauce made from crushed tomatoes, chipotles in adobo, onions, cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, garlic, brown sugar, canola oil, salt and spices giving it a great chipotle flavor that will enhance any dish. It has a and smooth consistency with bits of pepper in it. Definitely a chipotle sauce to get.

Craig's Hot! Pepper Sauce (New Jersey's Finest)
Although it's fairly thick with bits of peppers and ground black pepper this sauce gives you a pretty good burn with an unusual flavor albeit a bit heavy on the salt. The hot peppers (unspecified) tomatoes, vinegar, herbs and spices are blended to give it a medium level of heat.

Crazy Jerry's Biker Trash Habanero & Garlic Hot Sauce
First off, let's list the sauce's ingredients: hot sauce (weird...a hot sauce with a hot sauce as base? -- says it has Louisiana peppers - whatever that means), distilled vinegar, salt, lemon juice, habanero peppers, roasted garlic, sugar, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, habanero powder, [unnamed] spices. I was expecting a much hotter sauce than what it turned out to be. But that's no big deal. It's on the upper end of low heat bordering on medium. I do really like the garlic flavor in this sauce. I feel consuming it would make one vampire-proof for a while. It is somewhat thick and has a great flavor although the black pepper is just a little on the heavy side. It's a recommendable sauce for someone who has just started with low heat sauces to take a step up in heat level. I recommend it. I also was amused by some of what was printed on the label:

"Made by a biker for bikers...and normal folk"

"Not intended for use by Politically Correct People!"

Crazy Jerry's Brain Damage Mind Blowin' Hot Sauce
Boy this is a good sauce! Great flavor from a blend of mandarin oranges, honey, mango fruit, sugar, salt, vinegar and other unnamed spices. But the peppers will blow your mind (and your tongue). A combination of habanero and chipotle peppers give this a strong heat rush. The fruit and honey give you a nice flavor at first, but then comes the rollin' thunder of heat. And let me tell you, this will give you a nice sweat. A nice reddish color with a viscous consistency (not thick and not thin). Definitely a sauce to add to your table. Use often, but not if you are a beginner.

Crazy Jerry's Mustard Gas Hot Sauce
This mustard-based sauce is not only an amusingly packaged sauce (in a small metal container) it is also a highly flavorful sauce packed with some vicious heat. This potent combination of mustard, vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard oil and other spices is a very good mustard based sauce, but use sparingly due to the concentrated flavor and heat it contains. A little truly does go a long way with this sauce.

Cuyahoga Fire Hot Sauce Marinade
An interesting hot sauce made in Cleveland, Ohio for the Whiskey Island Pirate Shop containing serano & jalapeno peppers blended with vinegar, onion, garlic and lemon juice. This sauce is a good combination of heat and flavor that will complement many foods. According to the label this sauce is "great on meat, fish, fowl and such pirate favorites as tack & gruel." I'm not sure about the tack and gruel, but it definitely is good with meat, fish and fowl. The bottle is sealed by a synthetic cork which is dipped in wax afterwards in true pirate fashion. An interesting note -- The sauce's name humorously refers to the rather infamous incident when the Cuyahoga River caught fire back in 1969 due to massive amounts of pollutants.

Dan T's Inferno Spiced Cayenne Sauce
I found this sauce in a small specialty grocery store called Modica Market in Seaside, Florida. This Canadian hot sauce comes in a blackened glass bottle which more resembles a wine bottle than the typical bottle of hot sauce. The heat in this sauce is fairly tame and the flavor is mainly based in the cayenne peppers and heavy vinegar, but secondary spices give it an overall, rather pleasant flavor which would be a decent addition to soups, adult beverages (try this in a Bloody Mary instead of tabasco sauce), vegetable dishes (I enjoy this as an additive to cooked collard greens), "mildish" hot wings, etc. One particular suggestion is if you make your own vinegar-based salad dressings substitute this sauce with about one-half to all of the normal vinegar used in the salad dressing. Or if you use bottled vinegar-based salad dressings, add some of Dan T's Inferno Spiced Cayenne Sauce straight into the salad dressing. It will perk up any vinegar based salad dressing nicely. In short, this is a very good all-purpose pepper sauce I recommend keeping in your cupboard.

Dancing Fire Chipotle Hot Sauce
This hot sauce definitely dances on the palate...not too hot to burn the boogie away, but just enough spice to do a nice tango on the tongue. This vinegar based sauce has a delightful combination of ground chipotle peppers, horseradish, ground ginger and ground annatto which gives it a very interestingly fresh (yet slightly sweet) flavor without being overpowering. It achieves a balance between the horseradish and ginger rather than allowing one of the other to give the sauce an overpowering flavor (a mistake a lot of other sauces using horseradish and/or ginger make). Overall, a very good sauce to add to your pantry.

Dave's Gourmet Garlic Chile Sauce
The label calls this a "siracha-style sauce." Admittedly, I have no idea what that is, but I do know this sauce is quite hot yet has a very good flavor. The red chile peppers and garlic are combined with distilled vinegar, sugar and salt to create this rather thick, yet tasty sauce.

Dave's Insanity Sauce
I had read about this sauce on various web sites and in various publications and found a bottle at Four Winds International Food Market in Pensacola, Florida. This is alleged to be the hottest sauce on the market today and I will admit that it is the hottest that I have ever tried, but it is the epitome of what I DON'T care for in a hot sauce -- all heat and little to no flavor. I can see using for this in terms of adding heat to homemade chili or salsas without changing the flavor, but be warned, a little goes a long way and if you add too much, you will pay.

Delicatezza International Market At San Roc Cay Good And Evil Hot Sauce
Quite a long name for a unique sauce made for and sold by the San Roc Cay International Delicatezza in Orange Beach, Alabama (I recommend visiting this shop). This sauce is a good citrus-based sauce with orange juice concentrate, cane sugar, jalapeno peppers, red bell peppers, ginger, garlic powder, salt, onion powder and other spices. This is a medium heat level sauce with a nice flavor, however unlike other orange juice based sauce, this sauce has no bitter aftertaste. Overall a good and unique sauce.

Delicatezza International Market At San Roc Cay Lime-Cilantro Margarita Hot Sauce
This sauce is heavy on the lime and light on heat. In fact, this sauce is SO heavy on the lime that you can barely taste anything else. The flavor is not unpleasant but quite uncommon for a hot sauce. However the heat level is almost nonexistent. If I were to make a suggestion to the makers of this sauce, I would instruct them to either change from jalapeno peppers to habanero or at the very least, increase the amount of jalapeno peppers so as to increase the amount of heat. I would not personally use this sauce much, but due to its uniqueness, you might wish to try it.

Delicatezza International Market At San Roc Cay Vidalia Onion & Orange Hot Sauce
This sauce almost combines sweet and heat with a delicious blend of jalapeno peppers, orange juice concentrate, vidalia onions, cane sugar, garlic, orange peel and other various spices. Even though its heat level is pretty mild (I wonder if switching to habanero might offer a hotter version) the sweetness combination of oranges, vidalia onions and cane sugar is quite delightful. The makers of this sauce manage to use oranges and peels without incurring the bitter aftertaste found in many other orange based hot sauce. The sauce's consistency is slightly thick with some bits of fruit, onion and orange peel within. Overall a wonderful sauce to have onhand for many dishes where you would want a sweetness added with a hint of heat.

Denzel's Lil' Smokehouse Chipotle Hot Sauce
I love chipotle hot sauces. The smokiness adds greatly to what other ingredients are used. Denzel's is very smoky in taste. Almost as if the sauce itself was created in a smokehouse as the name implies. Even though it is labeled a chipotle hot sauce, chipotles are not specifically listed as an ingredient but jalapenos are (yes, folks I know chipotle peppers are fully ripened and smoked jalapeno peppers). The remainder of ingredients include vinegar, onions, garlic and salt. This thick sauce is not too hot (on the low end of medium) but the smoky flavor makes it a nature for BBQ's and anything cooked on a outdoor grill. Plus it's not too shabby in soups and stews, too. Definitely a versatile, flavorful and delicious sauce worth trying.

Devil's Tingle Hot Sauce
This sauce isn't very hot at all, but has an interesting combination of flavor that would make a good taco sauce. The sauce contains chile pasilla negro peppers, cider vinegar, water, corn oil, garlic, herbs and spices. The sauce is thin with a mild touch of heat but with a decent garlic edge. This would be a good flavoring agent for dishes.

Doña Delicia Gourmet Sauce: Green Hot Sauce
The ingredient list is short and sweet: green scotch bonnet peppers, green habanero peppers, garlic, onion, vinegar, and salt. I expected major heat. Didn't quite get it. Don't know why. It is on the upper end of medium, however. What's disappointing about this thin sauce is that it lacks flavor. It smells like crushed peppers. It looks like crushed peppers. And it tastes like crushed peppers. I couldn't taste hardly any garlic or onion. I feel it would be good as an additive but not really that good to use directly on food.

Dr. I.P. Hot Liquid Fire
Okay, first off...get over the obvious third-grade humor in the name of this sauce. This sauce contains cayenne peppers, habanero peppers, [unnamed] spices, and vinegar. Simple. I expected some major heat but was disappointed. Perhaps more cayenne was used than habanero because the heat level is on the low end of medium. Unfortunately, the flavor is pretty strong and nasty. It has to be from the unnamed spices. Furthermore, they must have pour a ton of salt into the batch I got because the saltiness is overpowering. I recommend skipping this sauce.

Dragon Sauce
A particularly vile sauce (consisting of soy sauce, sherry wine, red peppers, garlic, onion powder, chicory, etc.) that should have never been allowed on the market. This sauce is widely sold in grocery stores in Florida and should be avoided at all costs. A waste of money.

Dragon's Breath Hot Sauce
First of all let me make this absolutely clear: this is NOT to be confused with the "Dragon Sauce" listed above. This sauce is better. Unique, too. Habaneros make up the basis for the heat but is limited by the combination of carrots, onions, tomatoes and garlic along with citrus juice, tomato paste, salt and vinegar. The consistency is a bit coarser than most, but very flavorful. Definitely worth a try but the flavor is definitely unique and may not be for everyone. Its heat is a strong medium level that never gets too hot.

E=MC2 Many Chile Hot Sauce
Okay, it's a cute name ("E" is for Enjoyment, "M" is for Many and "C" is for Chile) but this really is somewhat of a disappointment as a hot sauce. It is quite mild with a tartness that makes it a flavorful sauce. If you have a tender palate, this might be a good sauce to start with however for the experienced palate, I suggest passing on this sauce if you are after heat and flavor. One good point on this sauce is that the tartness does make for a nice flavor.

Ed's Red XX Hot Sauce
The label on this sauce proclaims it to be "an oyster's best friend." Only if the oyster is on the half shell and is about to be eaten, that is. This sauce derives most of its bite from horseradish yet I concur that it would be delicious on raw oysters. It seems to be the main focus for its complex flavor. However don't stop there. I find it great for seafood stews and if you make a homemade shrimp cocktail sauce, you absolutely need some of Ed's Red in it to complete the recipe. The ingredients are rather simple: tomato sauce, horseradish, unnamed peppers, lemon juice, garlic, onions and salt. However Ed has balanced all those ingredients very well with no one ingredient truly standing out on its own. Instead they all work together to provide delicious flavor. It does have some kick to it and the heat level is solidly medium. Go sprinkle some on some oysters today.

Effin Texas Roasted Jalapeno Honey Hot Sauce
This isn't really a hot sauce but rather a sweet sauce that would be better suited as a glaze. Very sweet with just a touch of heat that is an outstanding ham glaze (give it a try). Very, very thick with plenty of  bits of pepper liberally mixed in. It is a combination of jalapenos and honey mixed in a chili sauce base and onions, lime juice, garlic, olive oil, liquid smoke, pepper and salt. It doesn't fit the classic definition of a hot sauce per se but don't let that discourage you. Being so thick and sticky, using is as a baste or a glaze is highly recommended. Grilling some chicken? Put some of this sauce on as a finishing sauce. Allow it to just start to get brown and caramelized on the grilled chicken but don't let it burn. Good stuff!

El Charrito Hot Sauce
A fairly good all purpose Mexican hot sauce made with unnamed red peppers (cayenne perhaps?) salt, allspice, sugar, herbs, spices, vinegar and some other standard ingredients (water, etc.). A thin sauce with a somewhat unique flavor brought on mainly by the allspice. Its heat level is on the low end of medium so use to your heart's content but don't use too much or the flavor might overwhelm your food. A solid sauce overall.

El Gallo Colorado Pepper Sauce
This is a thick sauce with a dark yellowish hue. It contains not only habanero peppers giving it a definite high heat level but also onions, distilled vinegar, salt, tumeric, annatto, coriander and garlic. I'm not fond of the flavor. It seems to have too much tumeric giving it an unpleasant bitterness that can ruin some dishes. It would work well in some recipes, but the earthy, bitter flavor of tumeric just seems to be a tad too much for this sauce. I feel if it were lessened somewhat, the flavors would blend much better. I give it a cautious recommendation.

El Paso Chile Co, La Salsa Loca
A very interesting hot sauce made with "tequila nacional" as well as tomato puree, chile de arbol, chipotles, chile cascabel puree, pineapple juice, lime juice, honey, cider vinegar, sea salt, onion & garlic. It has a very unique flavor that hints of salsa but still offers a complex variety of flavors, none of which overwhelms. You can clearly taste not only the sweetness of the honey but also the citrus flavor from the lime juice. The ingredients are superbly blended. It has a heat level that is on the low end of medium that slowly builds up but never gets too hot. Overall this is one of the most unique sauces I have tried in a long time and well worth trying.

Elysian Isle Waha Wera Kiwifruit & Habanero Sauce
According to the label “waha wera” means “burning mouth.” Well, it’s not much of a burn. A good long warmup, but not a burn. This sauce is from the folks that make Kaitaia Fire sauce from New Zealand that I discovered many years ago. This sauce is labeled as an organic sauce since it uses certified organic habanero chilies. Whatever. However the sweetness in this sauce comes from a combination of kiwifruit, sugar & Manuka honey. It also contains salt and unnamed spices. Now speaking for myself, this sauce is a tad too sweet for my tastes especially if you’re planning on using it in savory dishes. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, just not my thing. However, with that said, this sauce would be ideal for making your own pepper jelly or dessert with some kick to it. It’s quite flavorful and if you taste some right out of the bottle, you’ll taste the sweetness right away and then wonder where the heat is. Wait. It’ll come sauntering across your tongue. I did say earlier that it’s a “good long warmup” and it’s an apt description. The heat is never overpowering but does linger nicely longer than many sauces. All the while never overpowering the sauce’s flavor (heck, with all that sweetness, it would be hard to overpower). This is another good sauce from New Zealand, but I feel it’s uses may be limited by it’s high sweetness content.

Endorphin Rush: Beyond Hot Sauce
An extremely HOT sauce. If you want heat, this is a sauce for you. What's interesting about this sauce is that not only is it extremely hot, it is also quite flavorful. The pepper (unnamed) extract is blended with tomato paste, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and molasses to make the flavor quite sweet as well. A good flavorful sauce, but be careful...use only a few drops at a time. For experienced pepperheads only!

Fig's One Drop Hot Sauce
This sauce in an eyedropper bottle, implies by its title as well by its ingredient list that it is an extremely hot sauce. It isn't. In my humble opnion, this cayenne-based sauce is solidly upper level of medium with a slow buildup. Its flavor is not unpleasing, but does not really add nor detract from the dish in which it is used. However, you pretty much have to use much more that "one drop" to get any appreciable level of heat in soups, stews, dips and other foods.

Fire Frog Tropical Heat
According to the label, this sauce was inspired by the native red frog of the Costa Rican rainforest. Its heat level is on the upper end of low heat, but it has a good flavor from the mixture of jalapeno peppers, red habenero peppers, sweet peppers, white vinegar, onion, salt, lemon juice and other spices. It has a medium thickness and a nice dark green color. The sauce's flavor is quite good coming from the jalapeno peppers. Try it sometime.

Fire In The Hole
This Tejas Gourmet brand habanero hot sauce is a simplistic blending of habanero peppers with vinegar salt and onion. A pretty basic, straight-ahead hot sauce that is not overly hot even though the primary chile used is the habanero. I would place the heat level at medium with a typical salty/vinegar flavor. All in all it's good, usable all-purpose hot sauce.

Firehouse Brand Thai Peanut Sauce
This sauce, manufactured in Denver, Colorado is a delightful blend of peanuts, chile paste, ginger, fish sauce, cilantro and other spices. Interesting that fish sauce is included, but rest assured there is no "fishy" taste at all. Instead this rather mild sauce (just a touch of heat) has a good nutty flavor that will compliment many foods. I suggest adding this to your stir-fry, creamy soups and various dips to an interesting taste variation.

Firestarter Hot Sauce
Okay, first of all, it's a bit of an overstatement to name this sauce "Firestarter." It just isn't THAT hot. That's about the only downside to this sauce. Although it contains habanero peppers, the heat level is on the upper end of low to perhaps the low end of medium. Great flavor however. This is a thick sauce, almost syrupy in nature and that apparently comes from the tomato puree, brown sugar and various syrups. This also gives it a distinguished flavor when combined with the habanero and datil peppers, worcestershire sauce, garlic, onion powder, vinegar and other unspecified spices. There is a distinct sweetness upon first taste but then the heat begins to build, but always just below a sweat-producing level. And that heat never overtakes the flavor making it a little out of balance, but fortunately in the flavor's favor. The sweetness may limit what to use it in somewhat, but it is advantageous to use this in dishes that you'd like sweetness and a little bite.

Flaming Ass Friendly Fire Habanero Green Sauce
This hot sauce combines green habanero pepper mash and green jalapeno pepper mash with a unique combination of organic apple cider, garlic juice, vinegar, rice syrup, lime juice, onion powder and other spices to create a quite good although somewhat unusual taste. Use this sauce cautiously for it is quite hot, but not overwhelming. The flavor will complement many foods with a slight tartness and just a hint of sweetness. This is quite a good sauce.

Flaming Ass Friendly Fire Habanero Hot Sauce
The "kissing cousin" of the Habanero Green Sauce from the Flaming Ass folks, this sauce is remarkably unique in of itself. This sauce combines organic habanero peppers, aged cayenne chilies and chipotle peppers with organic apple cider, honey, garlic juice, ginger, onion powder, lime juice and other spices to create a sweet, yet slightly smoky hot sauce. As with the Habanero Green sauce, this sauce is also pretty hot but not overwhelming. Personally, this sauce really complements a cream cheese-based dip and also is quite good in thick soups, but will complement a myriad of foods.

Frontera Roasted Sweet Chipotle Sauce
This is a wonderful sauce utilizing chipotle, ancho and guajillo blended with tomatillos, garlic, onions, brown sugar, cider vinegar, herbs and spices. The roasted sweet chipotles give this sauce a sweet and smokey flavor and the heat level is a solid medium level that slowly builds on the tongue. This is a very good all-purpose sauce.

Fusion Fire Everyday Hot Sauce
Upon first glance, I could tell this was a complex hot sauce. Thick and dark with bits and pieces of peppers, herbs and spices clearly visible. Reading the ingredients only confirmed this: fresh scotch bonnet peppers, fresh jalapenos, fresh goat peppers, fresh cayenne, birdseye peppers, habanero chipotle, Tellicherry black (peppercorns, I assume), french roast expresso, chili powder, cider vinegar and several other spices. Their label claims the hot sauce "builds slowly as the peppers express themselves one after another in different parts of the mouth" and I can confirm this to be true. However what they don't tell you is that this heat, which never overwhelms, lingers. It does start off slow and low but rather rapidly warms up to a wonderful palatable warmth. What I really like about this sauce is that it adds to dishes and doesn't overwhelm as long as you don't put too much in at one time. This sauce is definitely qualifies on the upper end of medium to the lower end of high but it doesn't hit you all at once. With that in mind, take it slow at first until you find just the perfect amount for your food and I firmly believe you will agree with me when I say this is a sauce that will be a very welcome addition to your pantry.

The Garlic Survival Co.'s Garlic Salsa
Immediately upon tasting this "salsa," I wondered if this was a mislabeled spaghetti sauce. With a strong garlic flavor and only a hint of hot pepper (jalapeno according to the label, but very little heat is actually there), this salsa would be equally at home on a bed of pasta. If you like garlic and mildness, this is the salsa for you. About the only thing this lacks to make it a pasta sauce is the oregano. It's still quite a flavorful sauce. Try it on broiled chicken or in burritos. Recommended for guests who aren't up to hotter salsas.

Garden Row Foods, Inc. Chipotle Pepper Sauce
This sauce is a pretty good chipotle sauce with a combination of chipotle and cayenne peppers blended with vinegar, salt and spices. A bit on the tart side with a medium level of heat, but nonetheless a decent sauce.

Gator Bait Original Hot Sauce
A fairly basic vinegar-based hot sauce from Atlanta, Georgia. Decent flavor with a medium level heat that slowly builds. I don't know if Gators are truly lured to this hot sauce as a bait, but the hot sauce fan definitely will be. Overall quite a nice basic sauce made from "select" unamed peppers, water, vinegar, vegetables, corn syrup, corn starch, salt, caramel color and a secret blend of spices.

Gator Bait Snappy Red Sauce
This sauce is a very good red sauce one could readily use on tacos. Definitely "snappy" as the label indicates, but in regards to flavor and not heat since it is quite a mild sauce. Quite usable as a taco sauce with a tangy vinaigrette flavor that comes from a blend of "select" unamed peppers, water, vinegar, soy oil, vegetables, corn syrup, corn starch and a secret blend of spices.

Gator Snowbird Surprise Hot Sauce
First of all, some explanation is in order: this sauce is a Florida-based sauce with a humorous label depicting one alligator picking his teeth and holding a auto license plate reading "SNOBRD" while another gator (wearing sunglasses!) is to the right whistline merrily while carrying several license plates including one from Michigan and one from Ontario. You see, the term "snowbirds" refers to folks from the upper half of the United States and all of Canada who come down during the winter months to escape the cold in their hometowns. It's a term used affectionately by most Floridians (myself included). The label to pokes a little fun at the "dumb tourist" stereotype. Anyway, this sauce is actually no joke. It's a rather thick sauce with a nice medium-high level of heat and a whole lot of taste. Scotch Bonnet peppers, cayenne peppers and crushed red peppers are nicely blended with onions, carrots, mango, ginger, cinnamon and red wine vinegar to create a delicious sauce. The cinnamon and ginger are just noticable enough to give this sauce a delicate edge. Definitely one to get while vacationing in the Sunshine State of Florida.

Gil's Crying Tongue Hot Sauce
A sauce with the claim "The dare to drop-in sauce!", this is an interesting combination of smokey flavor with some sweetness to it. The heat is not overpowering even though it is made from a combination of habanero and red savina peppers, but it definitely sneaks up on your for a very nice warm glow. I would put the heat level at the upper level of medium, almost to a high level. This sauce does well in soups, sauces and many recipes calling for hot peppers.

Global Warming Tamarind Chipotle Sauce
This sauce, manufactured by "The Firehouse" in Denver, Colorado is a fiery pepper sauce made from a blend of chipotles, tamarinds, onions, garlic, tomato and other spices. A good usable hot sauce with a balanced chipotle flavor, it unfortunately has nothing really extraordinary to set it apart form other chipotle or tamarind sauces. However it is not a bad hot sauce to purchase if a better one (like Bustelo's or Mo Hotta-Mo Betta) is not available.

Goin' Bananas Hot Sauce
The label on this sauce from Peppers of Key West informs me that it's "the hot sauce with a-peel" however only the pun is bad. Excusable since this sauce has such a wonderful, rich flavor. The unique combination of bananas, raisins, tamarinds, honey and key lime juice are blended well with habanero & chipotle peppers, red wine vinegar, worcestershire sauce, onions, garlic, tomato and brown sugar to make an excellent sweet & hot sauce. Don't get intimidated by the habaneros, though. The sweetness reduces the intense habaneros down to a very palatable warmth that should satisfy the experienced pepperhead as well as initiate those newly converted pepperheads. But keep in mind, this is a sweet sauce with good medium heat so taste-test a bit with what you plan on using. This sauce may not be appropriate for every dish, but it will complement many foods extremely well.

Habanero Hurricane
A fruity sauce made from habaneros and red chiles combined with peaches and raspberry wine. This sauce is quite sweet as well as very hot. No bitterness to this sauce as you find with some fruit based sauces and the sweetness is not overpowering. I suggest using this in dips as well as some adult beverage that normally call for a dash of tabasco.

Half Moon Bay Trading Co. Iguana Gold Island  Pepper Sauce
This Costa Rican sauce distributed from Jacksonville, Florida is an interestingly flavorful sauce. The cayenne & habanero peppers, cane sugar, carrots, salt, onions, cucumbers, corn starch, mustard, vinegar, cumin, garlic & other spices make for what I consider the best sauce in the Half Moon Bay Trading Company's Iguana line of hot sauces. It has a solidly medium level of heat with excellent flavor. It has a slightly smoky flavor with some sweetness. A nice warm glow results from this sauce. Overall, an excellent, well balanced sauce.

Half Moon Bay Trading Co. Iguana Mean Green Jalapeno Pepper Sauce
This is a chunky sauce made from jalapeno peppers, fresh carrots, onions & garlic, corn vinegar, sugar, salt and corn starch with a hint of tartness. The heat level is rather mild from the jalapeno peppers yet the overall flavor is very good.  This would be a good sauce for the beginning pepperhead.

Half Moon Bay Trading Co. Iguana Radioactive Atomic Pepper Sauce
The label on this sauce lists the ingredients as "several different top-secret hot pepper" along with carrots, onions, lime juice, corn vinegar, tomato paste, salt and garlic making it definitely the hottest sauce in the line of Iguana sauces. They claim it's the hottest they can make it "without added pepper extracts" (also according to the label). Definitely a sauce for the experienced pepperhead. The heat level is on the high end of the scale but not so much as to overwhelm the flavor. The lime juice and garlic is definitely evident. Quite a good sauce.

Half Moon Bay Trading Co. Iguana Red Cayenne Pepper Sauce
Another interestingly mild, yet flavorful sauce. The combination of cayenne peppers, carrots, tomato paste, onions, garlic, cane vinegar, cane sugar, corn starch, salt and molasses give this sauce a somewhat sweet flavor with a touch of smokiness. The heat level is definitely mild, but the flavor complements many, many foods.

Half Moon Bay Trading Co. Iguana XXX Habanero Pepper Sauce
The habanero peppers are blended with carrots, onions, garlic, cane vinegar, tomato paste, salt and lime to create a sauce with a heat level that is on the upper end of medium. This sauce has a good flavor albeit somewhat salty and its consistency is thick and chunky.

Happy Dogs Gourmet Hot Sauce
The three dogs (Oscar, Coney & Brigitte) certainly look happy on the label and you will too with this sauce. Quite flavorful with a nice touch of garlic, this vinegar based sauce is not only enough to give you a nice sweat, but it also will add a good flavor to a number of foods. Utilizing a blend of cider vinegar, garlic and salt with cayenne and aged habanero peppers, this sauce definitely is on the lower end of high heat. But it never is really overpowering. The vinegar is definitely noticable in the mixture but not overwhelming like you can find in some sauces. Overall it's a good balance of ingredients which makes for a very versatile sauce.

Hawaiian Passion Lilikoi Hot Sauce
This Hawaiian sauce is not very hot but has an interesting fruit flavor made from a blend of Thai Bird Chili's, Hawaiian Chili peppers, Lilikoi (also known as passion fruit), water and vinegar. It is thin is consistency and has a golden orange hue. The delicate flavor definitely comes from the Lilikoi fruit. It is a subtle flavor so this sauce would probably be best suited for dishes with subtle flavors as well.

Hawaiian Passion Pineapple Pepper Sauce
The name of the sauce pretty much says it all. This is a pineapple-based hot sauce made with pineapple juice, water, Thai Bird Chili's, Hawaiian chili peppers, salt and vinegar. Really not much heat to it at all, but quite unusual with a very strong pineapple flavor. It has a thin consistency and a golden red hue. Definitely unique and worth trying.

Hell Sauce
An imported sauce from Grand Cayman, British West Indies with an interesting hint of sweetness and a slow burn to boot. The interesting thing is that even though this sauce contained scotch bonnet peppers, it's heat is a slow burn that does not overwhelm. The peppers, along with the tomatoes, onions, garlic, thyme, salt and vinegar create a semi-sweet flavor that can definitely enhance some food. However I suggest being cautious as to what foods you use this on for the semi-sweet flavor might conflict.

Helrazor Chipotle Hot Sauce
A delightful chipotle-based sauce from Saratoga, California. The chipotle peppers combined with the water, onion, garlic, vinegar and (unnamed) spices give this sauce a hugely delicious smokey flavor yet remaining quite mild. Definitely a recommended sauce.

Holy Hannah Habanero Pepper Sauce
This is a pepper sauce for pros only. No amateurs please. This sauce is one of the hottest I have sampled and it does not hesitate. No slow buildup here. This sauce is extreme at the outset. The flavor comes from a blend of fresh habanero peppers, onions, carrots, garlic, distilled vinegar, lime juice and canola oil but be forewarned, use too much and you won't be able to taste anything. Use a few drops at a time. However this sauce does have a nice mild flavor certain to enhance food. It's consistency is thick with pepper seeds and bits of peppers as well. Overall a very good habanero sauce.

Hombre Loco Tequila Jalapeno Sauce
I was sincerely hoping this would be a tasty jalapeno sauce, but was sorely disappointed upon my initial taste. To be brutally honest, the flavor made me wince...badly. Even though it has some heat, the flavor is extremely bitter and the tequila overwhelming. It's extremely watery as well and stayed watery even though I shook the bottle vigorously. The ingredients making up this sauce is short and sweet: jalapeno peppers, vinegar, tequila, brown sugar and salt. And to be short and not-so-sweet in response - skip this sauce. Hopefully they will reconsider and reformulate the recipe to make it more palatable in the future but for now I cannot recommend this sauce for anyone. Even tequila lovers.

Hot Scotch Island-Style Marinade With Papaya
Let me say on the outset that this is by far the most interesting and unique marinade that I have tried in a very long time. I tried this marinade on some chicken and it turned out delicious. Even though Scotch bonnet peppers are used, it is mildly spicy but extremely flavorful. This sweet and spicy flavor comes from a blend of Scotch bonnet peppers, papaya puree, apple cider vinegar, unsulphured molasses, orange peel, ginger, onion, garlic, allspice, salt and spices. The heat level is definitely low but the flavor level is very high and this marinate is recommended for use on any meat you would normally marinade. One suggestion: use a "Cajun Injector" or similar product to inject this marinade into the meat prior to cooking. That will give it a wonderful flavor and keep the meat very moist.

Hot Scotch Jamaican Style Pepper Jelly
Quite an interesting variation on the typical hot pepper product. This is a sweet jelly with a major kick. This jelly has a wonderful sweet flavor from the scotch bonnet peppers, but be forewarned, the heat will come soon thereafter. And with bits of peppers in the jelly, that heat will definitely stick with you for a while. If you tend to use mint jelly with lamb this is a delightful alternative and if you are truly a hardcore pepperhead, try this with toast, bagels and English muffins. Give it a try.

Hot Wachula's Chipotle Hot Sauce
This is a fairly mild sauce that is also loaded with flavor. It has only jalapenos, chipotles and roasted red peppers so the heat level can't be too high. And combine that with tomatoes, lime juice, brown sugar, roasted onions, garlic, salt and unspecified spices and you'll end up with a beginner's sauce that has a hint of heat yet full of taste. It has a mixture of sweetness and smokiness with the balance tipping clearly in favor of the sweet. This won't please those who are searching for a full blown burn, but might be a good starter sauce for newbies.

Howl (It's A Scream) Hot Sauce
High heat. Slap you upside your head heat. Feel like your tongue's melting heat. However even though it's definitely one of the hotter sauces out there, the flavor is terrible leaving an even worse aftertaste. The label lists the sauce has crillo peppers, garlic, prepared mustard, white vinegar, tomatoes, salt, cilantro, herbs and spices. Avoid this hot sauce.

Hula Girl Chipotle Habanero Hot Sauce
This hot sauce won the 2004 Fiery Food Challenge sponsored by Chile Pepper magazine. I can see or rather taste why it won. A simple blend of habanero, jalapeno and chipotle peppers along with vinegar and salt make for a delightful flavor with a very good amount of heat. This sauce definitely adds heat with flavor to any dish. The chipotle peppers give a slightly smoky flavor but the habaneros definitely give it an extra kick. Definitely recommended.

Iceman's Voodoo Joose Hot Sauce
The label indicates the contents have “sweet heat” and with habanero peppers as the chief heat source, I was expecting something with a lot of heat, but actually it’s a good solid medium level of heat that lingers yet never overpowers. What makes this sauce remarkable is the flavor which according to the label consists of pineapple mustard (I don’t know if that’s actually pineapple AND mustard or a “pineapple mustard” since there’s no comma between the two words), brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, salt, chili powder, (unspecified) spices and red pepper. I may be imagining things but there seems to be a hint of cumin in this sauce but that may be due to the chili powder. It’s a fairly thick sauce which makes me wonder why they put one of those plastic pour-reducer (I don’t know what else to call it) that usually comes on bottles of thin sauces. I had to remove it to get a good flow from the bottle. All that brown sugar and molasses definitely tones down the heat from the habanero peppers so that “sweet heat” is definitely a deliciously truthful claim for this thick and rich sauce.

Inner Beauty Real Hot Sauce
This flavorful sauce has obviously been created by folks with a sense of humor. The label on the back gives testimony of this:

"Keep away from pets, open flames, unsupervised children, and bad advice. This is not a toy. This is serious. Stand up straight, sit right, and stop mumbling. Warning: Hottest sauce in North America."
An amusing paragraph nonetheless, but actually this sauce is clearly NOT the hottest sauce in North America. Not even close. The heat is on the solid side of medium even though it claims to be made from habanero peppers, but it does have a very good flavor from fruits (pineapple, orange, papaya, lemon) as well as cider vinegar, prepared mustard, honey, dried onion, paprika, soybean oil and various other spices. Overall quite a good sauce.

Island Grove West Indies Peppa Sauce
No, it's not a typo, the label does have it spelled "Peppa" but it's much more than that, it's a highly flavorful and fruity concoction from Florida that, like many Jamaican style sauces, is extremely versatile. Although it has only a slight bite of heat, this sauce has a rich flavor originating from worchestershire, raisins, brown sugar, tomato paste, mango, vinegar, salt, onions and other spices. You'd think by using habanero peppers, this would have more of a burn but with so much sugar and fruit cutting it, it can be enjoyed by even the most tender-tongued. The sauce's consistency is very thick and rich while it's color is a dark, dark brown. Quite a good sauce.

I.T. [Internal Torture] Hot Sauce
Torture? From a hot sauce? Say it ain't so! Actually, as I found out when sampling this chunky sauce, that it's really not as torturous as the label implies. It has a solid medium level of heat that does linger, but it's not too bad. It gets the heat from red habanero peppers but it's cut somewhat with carrots and tomatoes. It also has white vinegar, onions, salt, lemon juice, garlic, spices and cilantro. Now cilantro is not something I enjoy. I am one of those rare individuals that has a gene which causes cilantro to taste like soap. No kidding! My wife and I both taste cilantro the same way. However, whatever the amount of cilantro used in this sauce isn't noticeable. On the other hand, it is pretty doggoned salty. I think it would make for a better sauce if the amount used was lessened somewhat. I feel it is a good, all-purpose sauce but keep that saltiness in mind when using it in recipes and directly on foods.

Jamaica Hell Fire Hot Pepper Concentrate
The instructions on this pepper sauce tell you how to dilute it to "normal" strength, but what exactly is "normal"? Personally, I suggest using it straight out of the bottle (sparingly, of course for it is quite hot) to properly experience the flavor from its sun-ripened tropical hot peppers and blue mountain pimentos.

Jo-B's Chilipaya Island Rojo Sauce
This sauce, which won first place at the Austin [Tx.] Chronicle Hot Sauce Competition, is a unique blend of fresh red habaneros, papaya, lime juice, onion, coconut milk, garlic and other spices. With so many exotic fruits used one would think it originated in some equally exotic locale. However this sauce is made in the rather unexotic state of Vermont. Even though there are several different exotic flavors within this sauce, this is not an overly sweet sauce by any stretch of the imagination. However this sauce isn't for wimps either. The fresh red habaneros make this sauce quite hot (almost too hot) so use sparingly.

Jose Goldstein Roasted Garlic & Chipotle Hot Sauce
This thick sauce (with plenty of bits of pepper) combines smokiness and garlic with a nice medium heat level in a delightful way. The first thing you taste is the smokiness of the chipotle peppers and then the garlic flavor comes through. THEN a slow buildup of heat begins that compliments the flavors rather than overwhelms. It's a solid medium level of heat that is well balanced with the flavors (chipotle peppers, habanero peppers, tomato paste, garlic, onions, sunflower oil, sugar, salt, vinegar and unspecified spices). This would not only be good on grilled meats, but it could be used effectively on shrimp as well. This is a delicious sauce.

Jump Up And Kiss Me Hot Sauce
With a lipstick kiss on the label and a nibble rather than a bite in the bottle, this sauce is an interesting hot sauce. The heat kisses you nice and easy yet builds up to a little nibble (that's my cutesy way of saying it's a rather mild, yet spicy sauce). Even though this sauce contains a blend of habaneros, vinegar, papaya, honey, onions, ginger, garlic and spices it is neither overly hot, overly sweet nor overly fruity. Instead this sauce has a delightful flavor that accentuates whatever food one uses it with (I like to add some into soups). An added bonus is that this sauce is salt-free so those on a low sodium diet may enjoy it as well.

Jump Up And Kiss Me Smoky Chipotle Sauce
Another sauce with a lipstick kiss on the label and a nibble rather than a bite in the bottle, this sauce is an interesting sweet chipotle sauce.  Overall, this is a good general usage sauce consisting of chipotle and morita chiles, roasted red peppers, fresh onions and garlic, apple cider vinegar and raisins. Also this sauce contains an amount of Dutch cocoa although I could not detect it by tasting it. As with the original Jump Up and Kiss Me hot sauce, this sauce is salt-free.

Kaitaia Fire Chili Pepper Sauce
This sauce from New Zealand is similar to the Louisiana-style cayenne pepper sauce, but on the mild end of the heat scale. The ingredients are simplistic (chili peppers, vinegar and salt) and according to the label "the chilis used in Kaitia Fire [Sauce] are sunripened in New Zealand's Far North, barrel aged like a fine wine and blended to create a superior piquant flavour." Well it works for me. The label does not give any detailed information on what sort of specific type of chili pepper is used, but whatever it is, the peppers plus their unique blend method make for quite a tasty sauce. Although not as hot as many Louisiana-style sauces (actually the heat in this sauce is fairly mild) the flavor makes this sauce a recommendable one to try if you run across it at your local store.

Kalahari African Rhino Peri-Peri Sauce
I like this sauce quite a lot. Just missing my favorites list. A nice solid medium heat which lingers but does not overwhelm. The ingredients consist of roasted tomatoes, onion, cider vinegar, lemon juice, canola oil, roasted garlic, sugar, salt and spice. All of that with African peri-peri peppers which, according to the label, come from Botswana and Zimbabwe. It is a somewhat thick sauce with plenty of bits of pepper to give it a little extra kick. It has a slight sweetness and a tartness from the lemon juice. Overall its complex flavor complements the heat it brings.

Kaua'i Hot Sauce
A very sweet and spicy sauce that is more akin to pancake syrup than your typical sauce, but being from such an exotic locale (Hawaii) one would expect something exotic. Not only does it have a nice bite to it from the red habanero peppers, it also has a very sweet flavor from a combination of guava and lilikoi (passion fruit). Those ingredients are blended with ginger juice and Hawaiian sea salt to create this exotic sweet & syrupy hot sauce. Far too sweet for my tastes in hot sauces, but a unique flavor that will appeal to some. I just personally have no idea where I could use this effectively. Perhaps over ice cream? Hmmmm....I may have something.

Lottie's Bajan-Cajun Premium Hot Pepper Sauce
Even though "Lottie's" makes an outrageously good mustard-based sauce, this rather chunky Louisiana-style hot sauce is somewhat of a letdown. The flavor is merely average with a medium heat and the consistency is more pepper-mash than sauce-like consisting of hot peppers (unidentified; possibly cayenne), vinegar, onion, garlic and salt. Overall, not a bad sauce, but nothing really memorable either.

Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce
This sauce, made from peppers (probably cayenne and tabasco) and other standard Louisiana-style pepper sauce ingredients is a fairly bland and uninteresting pepper sauce. It's okay if you can't find McIlhenny's or Trappey's.

Louisiana Swamp Fire Habanero Pepper Sauce
The label has the following information:

"If it burns in the swamp IT'S GOTTA BE HOT"

"WARNING: the heat of this hot sauce is like a Louisiana swamp gator. Once it bites you, it doesn't let go."

Okay, I get it. It's gonna be hot, hot, hot, right? Well with warnings like that, I expected my tongue to be blazing immediately after sampling some straight from a spoon. No such luck. Don't get me wrong, it's not a wimpy sauce. But the tongue-in-cheek "warnings" were a little overkill but heed them nonetheless. Putting too much on or in foods might put your tongue in overkill. I put the heat at the upper level of medium after it reaches its crescendo after building up on those taste receptors. It also claims to have unspecified "creole seasonings" in it but frankly, nothing really jumped out at me in regards to any noticeable creole flavor. It does has some sharp tartness to it. Pretty decent, all purpose type sauce.

Mad Dog Green Amigo Hot Sauce
A very mild red wine vinegar-based jalapeno sauce. This sauce, which also has lime juice, fresh cilantro, onions and garlic is not really hot at all, but does add some zest to homemade salsa and vinegar-and- oil salad dressings.

Madder'n Hell Hot Sauce
This "Floribbean style" sauce from the Madeira Beach Mad Pepper Co. (whadda name, eh?) is a pungent concoction of bell peppers, chipotles, anchos, cayenne, habaneros, tomato, oregano, chili powder, cumin, garlic, onions and other spices. It is quite warm (a solid medium heat level) with a slight barbecue smokiness which makes for a delightful sauce. The bottle I got has a label created from a color computer printer which goes to show that slick labeling is not always needed for a good sauce.

Makai Hot Sauce
This Hawaiian hot sauce is a Limu (Ogo) Habanero pepper sauce with an ingredient list that includes ginger juice, limu (seaweed), anchovies, lime juice, red habanero peppers, apple cider vinegar, miso, Worcestershire sauce & Hawaiian sea salt. It's both a sweet and savory sauce with a mild level of heat. The flavor from the miso and the anchovies are indeed noticable but not overpowering. Although Hawaiian in origin, it's Oriental influence is clearly present.

Maui Hot Sauce
This Hawaiian hot sauce is a complex mixture and with complex mixtures, you get a complex taste. This sauce is no exception. Containing many ingredients (red habanero peppers, Maui onions, brown sugar, ginger juice, tomatoes, Hawaiian sea salt, white wine vinegar, garlic, cumin and coriander) this sauce starts off sweet, but rapidly builds up to a nice warm burn that never overwhelms the flavor. Its consistency is about average for a sauce with bits of onion and peppers mixed it. An extremely good sauce to obtain.

McIlhenny Co. Tabasco Brand Spicy Soy Sauce
Soy sauce? From McIlhenny Company? Sure, it was surprising when I found this on the shelf of one particular store, but what the heck, it's got to be worth a try. Besides I love spicy oriental cooking and soy sauce is always a nice addition to a soup or fried rice. Reflecting upon the idea, it seemed kind of logical to offer a spicy soy sauce. Unfortunately with this sauce, it's more "soy" than "spicy." Personally I didn't really much heat with this sauce, but as far as soy sauces go, it's pretty nice. But if you are looking for heat, pass this one by.

Mean Mojo Hot Sauce
This Costa Rican hot sauce is definitely a source for high heat levels. It's not the hottest sauce on the market, but it'll burn ya nonetheless. It's fairly thick with chunks of red peppers with a touch of sweetness created from a mix of sweet peppers, jalapeño peppers, red habanero peppers, onions, carrots, white vinegar, garlic, lime juice, salt and spices. Overall and excellent and quite versatile hot sauce.

Micanopy Gold Hot Sauce
A very nice sauce that says it is "sweet before heat" which is true, but the heat is not far behind the sweet. A pretty hot sauce with a heat level on the low end of high heat and a flavor derived from a blend of  habanero peppers, pure cane syrup, tomato sauce, distilled vinegar, fresh onions, mustard, celery, garlic, sugar, garlic salt and spice. It is a fairly thick sauce with generous chunks of peppers and other ingredients. The flavor is not overly sweet and is complemented by the garlic and onion. According to the label:

"Micanopy Hot Sauce bares [sic] the name of Florida's oldest inland town (second to St. Augustine).  Recent archaeological evidence shows human occupation in the Micanopy area over the last 2000 years. The town is named after the Seminole Chief Micanopy (Mick-a-no-pee), a king over a king."

Overall, this Florida sauce is extremely tasty and worthy of addition to anyone's pantry.

Mr. Blister's Garlic Extreme Louisiana Pepper Sauce
Okay garlic lovers, here's a sauce that is probably the closest thing to garlic overkill that I have come across. This pepper sauce from Prairieville, Louisiana is definitely garlic heavy and will make you vampire-proof for quite a while. This fairly simple blend of cayenne peppers, minced garlic, vinegar, sea salt and spices is not very hot, but definitely will add a major garlic zest to any dish. In fact, it is chock full of chunks of garlic in the sauce.

Moloka'i Hot Sauce
With more than just a little trepidation I sampled this banana and curry themed orange habanero sauce. Having a major aversion to curry, my review is going to be slanted so keep that in mind especially if you enjoy curry. Also the combination of banana and curry really didn't sound that appealing either. Plus the color of the sauce (sort of a burnt gold color with a bit of olive drab) left a little to be desired. But you know what? This sauce ain't half bad! Actually it's pretty good. As with the character in Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs And Ham" once I got around to actually trying the sauce, I found the sauce's appeal sort of growing on me. The curry is not overused as to overwhelm the flavor and the banana is subtle. Plus the fact that it also has Hawaiian chilies, coconut milk, lime juice, peanut puree, ginger juice, cilantro and Hawaiian sea salt makes for quite the unique sauce. The orange habanero's heat is cut quite a bit due to the sweetness, but it still offers a nice warm glow in addition to the flavor. I found a little in shrimp bisque is delicious. Also use it in chicken dishes as well.

Mongo Hot Sauce
An oriental-style sauce made from a blend of soy sauce, cayenne peppers, jalapeno peppers, sesame seeds, sesame seed oil, garlic powder, etc. is quite a good sauce with a nice flavor reminiscent of any good Chinese restaurant. Not a particularly hot sauce, but lotsa flavor. Use this in stir-fry as well on grilled foods.

Montgomery's Fire Lizard Habanero Hot Sauce
This sauce comes to you from the folks at www.montysgourmet.com and it is HOT. It won't hit you upside the head immediately, but it will slowly build until you sweat. This is not a sauce for beginner or the faint of heart (or faint of tongue). It is a vinegar-based sauce and contains horseradish, ground ginger and ground annatto along with the Red Savina peppers but none of the ingredients (especially the ginger and horseradish) are overpowering. Instead the sauce's ingredients are balanced and blended extremely well. An excellent sauce to add to your pantry.

Monty's Smoke And Fire Apple Smoked Habanero Hot Sauce

If you want a unique vinegar-based sauce made from Red Savina habanero peppers that will not overwhelm you right away, this is the one for you. Don't misunderstand, this is not a sauce for beginners. It is most definitely on the high end of the heat scale, but it is a heat that builds up slowly and envelopes you with a tight heat hug. Plus its flavor from a combination of horseradish, ground ginger, ground annatto, vinegar and those apple smoked Red Savina habanero peppers will complement most foods. The folks who make this sauce do not overwhelm you with too much horseradish or ginger. Instead they have managed to balance those strong flavors with the vinegar and annatto. The smoked habanero peppers give it just a hint of smokiness which only complements the whole sauce. I recommend this sauce highly.

New Orleans Cajun Creole Bayou Bass Burner Grilling & Dipping Sauce
A pretty good sauce with a sweet taste and a solid slow burn coming from a blend of red peppers, tomato paste, corn syrup, onion, garlic, liquid smoke, soybean oil, salt, spices and other natural flavorings. A decent addition to the pantry.

New Orleans Fabulous Jazz Roasted Garlic Hot Sauce
This sauce is delightfully good with a huge garlic crunch. Garlic lovers, this IS the sauce for you! A wonderful flavor coming from a blend of peppers (unnamed, but I suspect it's cayenne), tomato paste, corn syrup, distilled vinegar, onions, onion powder, garlic powder, liquid smoke, soybean oil and most importantly, roasted garlic. They don't skimp on the ingredients either. They make it chunky. The heat level is medium, but the flavor is high with just enough sweetness and smokiness for balance. Definitely recommended.

New Orleans Famous Rue Bourbon (Bourbon Street) Hot Sauce
Oh boy! The Rue Bourbon sauce will take you back to N'Awlins awash with flavors. Although the heat level is medium, this sauce has an absolutely outstanding flavor developed from a mixture of cayenne peppers,  tomato paste, corn syrup, onion, garlic, vinegar, liquid smoke and (believe it or not) charcoal filtered bourbon whiskey. And no, you don't have to be over 21 to purchase this sauce. It starts off smoky and tangy at the same time and then a trickle of heat moves in to give you a nice warm feeling on the palate. It has a fairly dense consistency full of chunky bits of pepper, herbs and spices. If you run across this sauce in a store or online, you should buy at least one bottle.

New Orleans Flambeaux Rouge Mardi Gras Hot Sauce
A pretty decent, yet somewhat typical Louisiana style hot sauce. The main difference is that this sauce uses habanero peppers rather than the standard cayenne or tabasco peppers which makes for an intensely hot yet flavorful sauce. A fairly nice sauce on the low end of high heat.

NOH Hawaiian Hot Sauce
This isn't really much of a hot sauce, but don't let that stop you from getting this. It contains unnamed chili peppers which give it a little lift but the flavor is outstanding. Definitely an oriental style sauce made with soy sauce, vinegar, soy bean paste, honey, rice sugar, onion, garlic and chili peppers. Great for stir-frying as well as marinades. Very dark color with a thin consistency, I recommend using this also in sauces and dips. Quite delicious for all.

North Shore Force 10 Dangerous Hot Sauce
The ingredient list has several exotic peppers in this sauce: red Caribbean habanero peppers, red Congo habanero peppers and Thai peppers along with vinegar, salt and “nature seasonings” (whatever they are). With all those major hot peppers and nothing to cut it, I expected major heat. And I wasn't disappointed. However unlike some super-hot sauces on the market where the heat hits you like getting smacked with a wooden bat, this sauce's heat builds up slowly more than one might expect and then lingers for quite some time. This Hawaiian sauce has a good, smooth consistency and very decent flavor. It is useful in many dishes. However use sparingly.

O'ahu Hot Sauce
This ultra-sweet habanero based hot sauce includes probably one of the most unusual ingredients I have seen in all my days of being a pepperhead. That ingredient is hibiscus blossoms. Maybe there are some recipes where such an ingredient works well, unfortunately this sauce is not one of them. Although the flavor is not too bad, this is one sauce which has a taste that probably won't have wide appeal. The heat level in this habanero-based sauce is solidly medium and the flavor comes from an exotic blend of ginger juice, guava preserves, hibiscus blossoms and Hawaiian sea salt. Its consistency is syrupy with a dark reddish-golden hue. Definitely worth trying at least once.

One-Eyed Willy's Peter Pepper Sauce
Okay, okay...stop laughing. There actually is a hot pepper called the "peter pepper" which incidentally tastes like someone souped up your standard bell pepper with a lot of cap. Overall, this sauce from Athens, Georgia is bustin' out all over with flavor created by a skillful blend of aged peter peppers, vinegar, red wine vinegar, garlic and salt. The ingredients may be basic, but the flavor is awesome. The sauce itself has somewhat of a thin consistency with bits of pepper and has a medium level of heat. Definitely a must get for any pepperhead.

Orange Krush Habanero Sauce
Check out this list of ingredients: habanero peppers, vinegar, salt, celery seed, mustard, red pepper, black pepper, bay leaf, clove, allspice, ginger, mace, cardamom, cinnamon and paprika. Whew! It seems as if they didn't leave out too many spices. However as the saying goes "too many cooks spoil the broth" and in the case of this hot sauce, too many spices spoil the flavor. Even though this is an extremely hot sauce, it's flavor is terrible. They really need to revamp this sauce. I can not and would not recommend this sauce.

Panola Brand Bat's Brew Hot Sauce
First of all, this hot sauce is definitely hot (habanero and jalapeno peppers), but not an overwhelming heat, but a slow burn that definitely stays with you for a while. The heat, as such, does not overwhelm the flavor, but the flavor of this sauce is a little too tart for my personal taste due to the lemon juice. The color of this sauce is rather unique in that the extremely dark green is what I imagine is Panola's idea of what "bat's brew" should look like. Along with Panola's Vampfire, this sauce would make a neat gift for Halloween (imagine buying a case of both and handing them out to halloween trick or treaters?). Overall this is an okay sauce. Use sparingly.

Panola Brand Clearly Hot Sauce
This sauce reminds me of those pickled pepper sauces you see so often in grocery stores, but only in the fact that the liquid is clear. That's where the similarities stop. The clear label and the bottle itself holding the whole peppers and garlic slices in the vinegary liquid give it an artistic appearance. The sauce contained therein is quite delicious and quite an improvement over all those pickled pepper sauces in the supermarket. The onion juice and garlic give this sauce a nice flavor with a slight emphasis on the garlic. I do recommend using this sauce on collard greens (and other related greens), but don't limit your uses to just that. It's pretty mild as far as the heat level goes, but darnit, it tastes great.

Panola Brand Extra Hot Hot Sauce
In my humble opinion, this sauce is not as hot as Panola's Bat's Brew hot sauce, but it definitely is not far behind. This sauce which contains aged pepper mash, vinegar and salt is another very tart sauce so I would suggest using this sparingly as to not to overwhelm the food with its tartness as well as the heat. 

Panola Brand Gourmet Pepper Sauce
This cayenne and jalapeno pepper sauce (with vinegar, onions, sugar, salt and other spice) has a very good flavor with the onions creating a good balance with the peppers. If you love onions, this is a pepper sauce for you. The heat level of this sauce is on the low end of medium and the flavor definitely enhances many foods. Quite a good addition to any pantry.

Panola Brand Jalepeno Pepper Sauce
At first glance you might think this is your typical jalapeno sauce however upon tasting it, you'll soon realize that the folks at Panola have a winner on their hands. The jalapeno peppers, vinegar, onions, sugar, salt and spices are expertly blended into a delightful tangy sauce with just a hint of sweetness. This sauce is pretty dense and is solidly in the medium level of heat. It will build on you the more you use, but the flavor makes it well worth it.

Panola Brand Vampfire Hot Sauce
This is clearly a "gimmick" sauce produced by the Panola Pepper Corporation of Lake Providence, Louisiana. With a vampire on the label and the sauce inside doctored to resemble blood, a bottle of this sauce would make an interesting trick-or-treat gift at a halloween party. Using a combination of habanero, tabasco and cayenne peppers, this sauce is very hot, but it's flavor is not noteworthy. It's a usable sauce, but without the gimmick, it's not much.

Papa Jack's Buffalo Steak Sauce
Thick, rich and quite a long, slow burn. And oh, so tasty! That's how this habanero-based hot sauce is. A very complex mixture of habanero & cayenne peppers, carrot juice, tomato concetrate, corn syrup, vinegar, onion, white wine, honey, lime juice, white wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, dijion mustard, garlic, raisin paste, orange puree, black pepper and kosher salt give this sauce a unique flavor along with a veru solid heat base. It's not so hot that the flavors are overwhelmed and the flavors themselves compliment broiled meat well. Even those new to hot sauces would do well using this directly on the meat without suffering. Although many sweet ingredients were used in this sauce, it is definitely not overly sweet but instead has a nice balance of sweet and tart which comes off nicely at first then comes the burn buildup. Although habaneros were used, the heat doesn't hit suddenly but instead comes on at a moderate pace and builds up to the upper end of a medium. I recommend this sauce for just about any normal hot sauce usage but I also recommend using this directly on grilled meats. One particular use I highly recommend is a substitute for condiments on grilled hamburgers.

Paw Paw & Parrain's Brand Extra Smooth Cajun Hot Sauce
Definitely a very hot habanero sauce made in Costa Rica and distributed out of Louisiana. How a Costa Rican sauce is called Cajun escapes me for the moment. Be that as it may, this sauce suffers a bit from being a tad on the bitter side in flavor. It's nothing overwhelming, but be careful how much you add to specific dishes (especially those dishes with a delicate flavor). This sauce is made from habanero & tabasco peppers combined with cane vinegar, onion, lime juice, garlic, celery, scallions, sweet basil, parsley,  thyme, bay leaves, black pepper, molasses, salt and olive oil. This recipe may have a few too many ingredients in it and perhaps it would be improved by cutting a few from the mixture. Heat-wise, it is plenty hot and has a rather dense consistency.

Pele's Hawaiian Sunset Pepper Sauce
This sauce from Honolulu is definitely hot, but the heat sneaks up on you and puts you into a very warm hug of heat. The heat level is definitely on the high end, but unlike some very hot sauces, the heat is not immediate, but builds up rather quickly due to the Scotch bonnet peppers. The flavor comes from a blend of the peppers, vinegar, salt, onions and garlic and is fairly standard yet good for a vinegar-based sauce. A good sauce, but use sparingly.

Pele's Hawaiian Volcano Sauce
Very similar to the Sunset pepper sauce above, but with mustard as well. The mustard used in this sauce is not overwhelming, but is very flavorful with no aftertaste. Also quite hot with a slow buildup. Another very good sauce.

Pepper'ella Florida Red Hot Pepper Sauce
This one is hot...danged hot. Scotch Bonnet peppers abound in this sauce made from the Scotch Bonnets as well as tomato paste, soya sauce, garlic, sugar and spices.  Even though it does contain sugar, it definitely isn't enough to keep the peppers from lighting up the palate and causing sweat to drip down the forehead. The creators of this sauce were originally from Jamaica and owned a restaurant in Ft. Myers, Florida for 6 years where they developed this sauce. It's got a thick consistency as well as a good flavor, but reserve this for experienced pepperheads.

Perk's Peri-Peri Garlic Sauce
Well, when I purchased this sauce, it was placed with the hot sauces so I assumed that it was a hot sauce as well. My error. This sauce claims to have chiles (unidentified) but there is no heat whatsoever. The flavor is a strange combination that has a garlic-ness but also a sweetness to it as well. Not a bad sauce for foods, just a bit unusual.

Perk's Peri-Peri Mild Sauce
Another of the Perk's line of sauces. This particular one is indeed a mild sauce with no heat to it even though it also has unidentified chiles as an ingredient. This sauce has a decidedly lemon flavor which makes it excellent with seafood.

Pirates Attack Hot Sauce
With a label that pays tribute to the hot-blooded fury of pirates of yore as well as the hot-blooded palates of the chili-head, this sauce blends roasted red peppers, habanero peppers, jalepeno peppers and cayenne with balsamic vinegar, rum, lime juice, onions, tomatoes and other ingredients to create a rather un-pirate-like hot sauce. Its heat is rather tame with a bite more akin to the Pirates of The Caribbean ride at Disney World. Although not a bad sauce from Pepper Island Beach in Lawrence, Pennsylvania, it is not very remarkable either.

Purgatory Pepper Sauce (Cat Scratch Fever)
This 1998 Scoville Award winning sauce is a very flavorful sauce consisting of Scotch bonnet, Thai and cayenne peppers mixed in with sugar cane vinegar and a whole host of spices. The heat is medium and the flavor is slightly smokey with just a hint of sweetness. A solid sauce and well worthy of the award upon which it was bestowed.

Purgatory Pepper Sauce (Garlic-A-Holic)
A nice hot sauce with a very distinct garlic flavor. With a blend of cayenne, scotch bonnet and Thai peppers, this sauce is quite hot although a little heavy on the vinegar. It works quite well in soups and on meats. If you are a garlic lover, this would make a positive addition to your pantry.

Purgatory Pepper Sauce (Rev. Bidwell's Habanero Mustard)
This hot sauce made from habaneros, mustard flour, various peppers and spices as well as other ingredients is an interesting sauce that is not a typical mustard sauce.  It does not have the typical mustard flavor that most mustard sauces and is quite displeasing. Although the above two sauces from Purgatory Pepper Sauce are quite good, this one is very disappointing.

Purgatory Pepper Sauce (Sweet Heat)
This rather unusual sauce combining cayenne and Thai peppers pureed in sugar cane vinegar with raw cane sugar, spices and salt is definitely "sweet heat." However the flavor is what sets this sauce apart. The heat level is rather mild, but it's sweetness is not overpowering and the sugar cane flavor is subtle and good. This sauce would indeed make a good table sauce to be used on vegetables, soups, sauces and a whole myriad of foods.

Purgatory Pepper Sauce (Voo Doo Chile Sauce And Furniture Stripper)
This sauce consists of scotch bonnet, Thai and cayenne peppers pureed in  sugar cane vinegar and a host of spices. This is a medium-hot sauce with a fairly basic, yet good flavor. My only complaint, albeit minor, is that something in the sauce gives it a slight bitter taste.

Purple Haze Psychedelic Hot Sauce
A disappointing sauce with little heat and a poor flavor that leaves a bad aftertaste due to an overabundance of ginger. If there were less emphasis on ginger and a better balance with the other ingredients (Trinidad habanero peppers, pineapple juice, red cabbage, cider vinegar, onions, brown sugar, sea salt & herbs) it probably would be a much better sauce. As it stands, I would avoid this sauce.

Raging Inferno
This tamarind-habanero sauce is, in my opinion not a "raging inferno" but a slow lava flow. In other words, this sauce by Chef Shaikh is one that on first taste is warm but bearable. However as time goes on, the heat sneaks up on you until its too late and your taste buds are enveloped in a boiling sea of heat. Be cautious when using this sauce; a little goes a long way in providing heat and flavor to any dish.

Ralph & Kacoo's To Geaux Garlic Sauce
This sauce from the famous restaurant "Ralph and Kacoo's" from Louisiana (and one location in Alabama) is a wonderful garlic sauce heated with cayenne peppers to bring it to a low heat that does not overpower the flavor. A very good sauce from a very excellent restaurant.

Ralph & Kacoo's To Geaux Pepper Sauce
Another sauce from the famous restaurant "Ralph and Kacoo's" from Louisiana (and one location in Alabama). This sauce is similar to their garlic sauce, but the heat level is mild and the flavor is more of a pepper type (albeit the peppers are identified only as "red ripe peppers") blended with vinegar, tomato puree, garlic seasoning, salt, sucrose and other spices. Still,a  good sauce from a very excellent restaurant.

Ranger Mell's Chimmi Sauce
Neither a hot sauce nor hot condiment, but a South American condiment which works well in potatoes, mixed in with homemade salsas and cream cheese dips as well as many other uses in food. I found this in the local hot sauce shop and tried it on a cracker at their sample table. It's concentrated flavor comes from onions, parsley, olive oil, canola oil, red bell peppers, garlic, red wine vinegar, salt, sugar and spices. This is definitely for garlic lovers.

Rasta Fire! Hot Sauce
This is one of those somewhat rare sauces that not only has a very good flavor, but also includes a neat label. This will make this sauce appealing to both fiery sauce connoisseurs, but also to those who collection sauces with interesting and/or amusing labels. This mustard-based sauce is made not only with habanero peppers, but also includes a blend of orange juice, pineapples, papayas, onions, curry, cumin, allspice, annato and other spices which makes for a rich flavorful sauce that is not overpoweringly fiery even with habaneros. Furthermore, even with so much fruit in the ingredients, this sauce is also not overly sweet. The result is a nice blend of bite and sweetness with just a hint of curry which makes this a good sauce to have in your pantry. Quite good in cream-based soups as well as in dips. One unique suggestion: try adding a little of this to prepared mustard for hot dogs and hamburgers.

Rebel Rouser Hot Sauce
This sauce presents some mysteries for me. When I sampled a bit on a spoon (I always sample some straight from the bottle to get an unadulterated taste before trying it in some foods) it had a somewhat sweetness to it, but there's nothing in the ingredients list that would seem to result in the sweetness. Plus one ingredient listed is the "santack chili" and frankly I haven't a clue as to what that is. Anyone help me out with that? Anyway, it's quite the tasty sauce with a good medium level of heat that's sure to add flavor to most any dish. It combines "habanero chili," "jalapeno chili" & "santack chili" (interesting how they reference all three as "chili") along with cumin, oregano, capsaicin oil, chili powder, garlic, onion, salt, cilantro, "tic gum" (what the heck is that?) and vinegar to create a nice flavor along with a nice dash of heat. Overall a pretty interesting sauce. However it's distributed by Novel Notions, Inc. out of Arizona under several different labels such as "Jolly Roger Hot Sauce," "Lindee Loo's Hot Sauce," "Navy Seals Hot Sauce" among others.

Redneck Gourmet Hot Tailpipe Hot Sauce
Well, the old joke goes, "he was so stupid that when he tried to blow up the truck, he burned his lips on the hot tailpipe" and the name of this sauce alludes to it. This sauce is quite hot, rich and tangy with lots of ground black pepper in it. Way too much for my tastes, but still not a bad sauce at all. In fact, the combination of chili peppers, red & green peppers, ground black pepper, lemon juice of concentrate, vinegar, salt and spices gives it a tart and tangy flavor with a definite medium level of heat. Personally it's not my choice for a hot sauce (way too much ground black pepper) but worthy of a taste or two...or three...or....

Reptile's Revenge Hot Sauce
You'd think with that name, this would be a hot sauce with a major bite, but it fails to deliver. With jalapeno peppers and some crushed red peppers as its main heat sources, it doesn't have a huge kick but it does have some heat (I'd put it on the low end of medium heat). Actually it's somewhat sweet with its peaches and lime juice mixed with vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, cilantro and cumin. A passable starter sauce for the beginner.

Reyna's Famous Hot Mustard Jerk Sauce
A warning right off the bat: this sauce is HOT! No doubt about it. It hits you right away with that classic habanero heat. It fades somewhat quickly making you want more. And that's just talking about the heat. Now let's talk flavor. The ingredients are fairly simple and straightforward: vinegar, prepared mustard, salt, garlic and unspecified natural spices. All of those combined with the habanero peppers make for a very nice jerk sauce.

Rica Red Habanero Hot Peppers Sauce
A slow (and I mean s-l-o-w) buildup of heat is what marks this sauce. The rica red habanero peppers combined with carrots, papaya, white vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, onion and salt make for a medium heat level sauce with excellent flavor. This sauce won't slap you upside the head with habanero power, but given time, it will make you glow quite nicely.

Rica Red Maya Moon Sauce
Although the ingredients list habanero peppers as the chief pepper in this sauce, the heat level is pretty mild, although the flavor from the peppers as well as prepared mustard, papaya and vinegar is quite good. I suggest using this for a unique flavor.

The Right Wing Sauce
Some wing sauces that are marketed are so thin that very little stays on. Not this wing sauce. This is a stick to the wings sauce that one definitely should "use liberally." Thick, tangy, spicy and most importantly, delicious. This wing sauce is unique in that it combines hot sauce, habanero peppers, vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic, onions, ketchup and other ingredients with bleu cheese dressing which results in a very delicious flavor with an attitude. The heat is definitely on the upper end of medium, the flavor is great and the texture is smooth, creamy and definitely will stick to the wings. I suggest using some brushed on the wings in the final stages of cooking as well as keeping a little sauce on the side for extra dipping. And don't limit it just to wings, either. Use in on any poultry as well as dips and even an additive to salad dressings and salsas. Definitely versatile in its usage.

Ring Of Fire Chipotle Garlic Hot Sauce
This very thick and chunky sauce is a delicious combination of  serrano, chipotle and habanero peppers as well as a healthy dosage of garlic. Tomatoes, vinegar, onions and other spices give this sauce a touch of sweetness to it with a medium level of heat. Truly a good, flavorful sauce that is bottled wine-like (a corked top instead of a screwtop) and its thickness is sure to add body to any dish.

Rob's Homemade Peckerwood Hot Sauce
An interesting blend of habanero peppers, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, salt and vinegar make this sauce quite hot while retaining a very nice flavor. I would put this sauce on the upper end of medium with a heat that stays pleasantly with you for quite a while. Overall a very nice sauce.

Santa Barbara Olive Co. Chunky Olive Salsa (Hot)
A very good hot salsa made from jalapenos, green and black olives (jars I get tend to have mostly green olives), green chilies, fresh cilantro, etc. The heat creates a nice slow, strong burn which doesn't overpower the flavor. The consistency is somewhat soupy, but not too bad. A very delightful and delicious salsa to try.

Satan's Slow Burn
This is another hot sauce from The Firehouse in Denver, Colorado. I have tried and thoroughly enjoyed many of their sauces and this one is no exception. Even though this is a habenero-based sauce, they have smoked the peppers which tempers the heat somewhat making this indeed a "slow burn." As a result you might use a little more than you would normally would with straight habanero sauces, but be cautious, it still has a good bite, so start with a little and work your way up to the desired amount of heat.

Savannah Moon Hot Sauce
A delightfully sweet and slightly smoky hot sauce with a blend of roasted red peppers, crushed red peppers, chipotle peppers, honey and dark molasses. Its heat level is on the lower side of medium but its flavor is not overly sweet either. Fairly thick with some bits of pepper within. Quite a nice blend of sweet and heat. Overall quite a good sauce.

Scorpio's Curse Scorpion Venom
An interesting habanero hot sauce manufactured in Jacksonville, Florida that has a pretty potent sting. This "venom" contains not only habanero peppers, but also onions, green peppers, mustard, ginger, garlic, thyme and basil which give a complex flavor consisting of a bit of tartness along with the heat. A pretty decent hot sauce with a heat level on the upper level of medium.

Smokin' Oranges (An Incendiary Concoction)
This sauce by Southwest Spirit advertises itself as an extremely hot sauce and indeed it is. The blend of orange extract, tomato juice, garlic and onions with habanero, chipotle and ancho chiles do make for a very hot sauce, but unfortunately a very bitter hot sauce. The flavor suffers greatly due to this bitterness which is most likely caused by the orange extract. Unless they do something to eliminate this bitterness while retaining the flavor combination of oranges and chipotle peppers, I strongly suggest avoiding this sauce.

Spice Exchange Bourbon/Rosemary Hot Sauce & Marinade
According to the label, this sauce has Costa Rican origins. It's quite an interesting sauce. It is somewhat thick with barely medium heat. It's not as smoky as I expected from the chipotle peppers but it has a very nice flavor from the apple vinegar, tomato paste and especially the rosemary & tyme. Pretty good overall sauce. It's ingredients includes apple vinegar, bourbon, tomato paste, crushed chipotle peppers, crushed habanero peppers, lime juice, brown sugar, crushed onions, paprika, rosemary and tyme.

Spitfire Barbados Hot Pepper Sauce
A rather thin sauce relying mainly on a strong mustard and vinegar base for its flavor and scotch bonnet peppers for its heat. It's a bit too heavy on the vinegar for my tastes, but give it a try nonetheless if you are into vinegar based sauces. The level of heat is on a solid medium level with the sugar taming the standard bite of the scotch bonnet pepper. It's a passable sauce, but not one I would recommend.

St. George Island Volunteer Fire Departmenr Hot Sauce
You don't need to call the St. George Island Volunteer Fire Department if you consume this sauce. It just isn't THAT hot. But it does have some good heat. I imagine some of those volunteers enjoy this sauce just as much as I did. It is a vinegar based sauce which you can taste initially but the other flavors catch up almost immediately. There is some sweetness to it but it doesn't overwhelm. It's quite chunky too with bits of pepper floating about. This sauce utilizes a delicious blend of habanero and chipotle peppers along with distilled vinegar, tomato paste, onions, chives, salt, sugar, garlic powder and black pepper. It has a good balance of heat and flavor but the chipotle peppers aren't too noticable. This doesn't take away from the overall taste of this sauce. It's definitely a sauce with medium heat and maximum flavor. Worth getting.

Susie's Original Hot Pepper (The Caribbean Taste)
Definitely Caribbean-based (it's from Antigua, West Indies) with hot peppers (unspecified however judging from the illustrations on the label I assume scotch bonnet peppers), mustard, vinegar and spices (unspecified). It's a rather thin and watery sauce, but has a strong bite of heat that sneaks up on you. The flavor is quite good, but not overwhelming with a somewhat sweet flavor. Surely a recommendable sauce.

Sweet Mama Jamma's Mojo Juice
If the artwork of Mama Jamma is even somewhat accurate, then I would not want to meet her in a dark alley no matter how sweet she may be. However if she was offering me some of this sweet and hot sauce, I might reconsider. This is a delicious sauce blending jalapeno peppers with honey, corn syrup, water and vinegar creating an extremely sweet sauce with a bit of a kick. The heat level is low end and could be used as an ingredient in a ham glaze (for example). Its sweetness may not be appropriate for all dishes, but it's still a pretty good sauce nonetheless.

Tahiti Joe's Kumawanakilya XXX Hot Pepper Sauce
A strange name of a hot sauce? Sound it out phonetically and you will understand the implication of this sauce combining habanero peppers with apple cider vinegar, crushed tomatoes, key lime juice, clam juice, worcestershire, honey, carrots, garlic, onions, spices, corn starch and water. Quite a hot sauce (definitely high heat) with a hint of smokiness and a touch of sweetness. A good sauce.

Toad Sweat Key Lime & Habanero Dessert Hot Sauce
An interesting and unique sauce consisting habanero peppers, key lime juice, pure cane sugar, cocoa and spices which give it a sweet flavor with a little heat. The habanero peppers do not make it extremely hot just a little warm. It has a syrupy consistency suitable for basting. One possible suggestion is to use a baked ham. This sauce is definitely recommended.

Toe-tally Gator Mustard Hot Sauce
I am a fan of mustard-based sauces and I definitely include this one as a much better than average mustard-based sauce. According to the label it is "blended with the purest ingredients from the swamp." I'm not sure if you could really find all the ingredients (mustard, radishes, habanero peppers, red wine vinegar, spiced rum, onions & other spices) in the swamp (maybe that particular swamp had a well-stocked grocery store?) but that doesn't stop the makers of this sauce from creating a delightful concoction. Fairly thick with a very solid medium heat level that definitely sticks with you for a while, this sauce definitely works well in many dishes. Plus you get a nifty gator toe keychain with the bottle.

Tombstone Helldorado Seasoning Sauce
This sauce really does not qualify in my opinion as a "hot pepper sauce" but don't keep that from trying it. It resembles a steak sauce both in consistency and flavor with a spicy bite and a sweet kiss at the same time. This sauce from Tombstone, Arizona combines cayenne peppers, red chili pepper powder and crushed red chilis with tomato paste, distilled white vinegar, unsulphered natural molasses, ginger, garlic powder and spices which results in a nice spicy sauce which although on the low end of the heat scale still adds zest to any dish.

Tongues Of Fire
The label claims this is "the unspeakable hot sauce" however in this instance, I will speak of it. Although the ingredients are pretty standard (water, habanero peppers, modified food starch, distilled vinegar, salt, onion, etc.) this sauce will indeed light up your tongue and delight the palate with its heat and flavor. Definitely not for beginners. If you expect a liquidy sauce, forget it...this sauce if chock full of chopped peppers giving it a fairly thick consistency. Recommended for waking up the palate while enhancing your recipe.

Tough Guy Hot Sauce
Although this sauce has habanero peppers, you really don't need to be a tough guy to enjoy it. I wouldn't recommend someone new to hot peppers to use too much of it because it does have a nice medium heat to it. It also has a delicious flavor from orange juice, lemon juice, lime juice, honey, mustard, curry powder, onion, vinegar, salt and spices. I'm not a big fan of curry powder but fortunately it's not used heavily in this sauce. It's not very thick but it's not thin and runny either. Very refined with only flecks of pepper in the sauce. This is a sauce that would make a very good steak sauce "as is."

Trappey's Bull Louisiana Sauce
Trappey's Chef-Magic Hot Sauce with garlic
Trappey's Indi-Pep West Indian Style Pepper Sauce
These sauces (from New Iberia, Louisiana and widely available from grocery stores throughout Florida) are all pretty doggoned good sauces to have on hand. They are all fairly standard Louisiana style sauce with an upper medium heat and good flavor. Hot sauces with garlic seem to be the current fad among widely distributed hot sauce companies, but long-time pepperheads know that garlic in sauces has always been a fairly common ingredient. Even though these sauces have differing ingredients, the differences are minor and the flavors are not all that distinguishable from one another upon comparison. My only minor gripe is that the Chef-Magic sauce with garlic could use a higher concentration of garlic.

Tropical Ted's "Ameribean Style" Hoot Mon Hot Mustard
More of a mustard sauce than a spreadable mustard, Tropical Ted's "Ameribean Style" Hoot Mon Hot Mustard is a sweet and tangy mustard sauce that has a solid medium level of heat even though it contains scotch bonnet peppers. The combination of vinegar, mustard seed, scotch bonnet peppers, honey, tumeric, ginger, garlic powder and other spices is indeed a delightful blend. It is easy to have too much ginger in a sauce thereby overpowering the flavor, but this North Carolina-based sauce manages to add just the bare minimum of ginger to enhance, rather than overwhelm.

Tropical Pepper Company Tico Papaya Curry Pepper Sauce
First of all, let me make it clear that I really am not a fan of curry. However with that said, I tried this sauce with a little hesitation, but was pleasantly surprised. This sauce consists of a complex recipe of habanero pepper pulp, papaya, salt, cumin, curry, garlic, cane vinegar, cilantro, sugar, onion and black pepper which gives it an interestingly good flavor (a nice combination of cumin and curry). Its heat is on the upper end of low due to use of the pulp of the habanero tempered by the papaya and sugar, but the flavor will enhance many foods. Overall an excellent and useful sauce.

Tropical Pepper Company Trinidad Mustard Sauce
From Costa Rica and containing habanero peppers, fresh onion, mustard, sugar, salt, vinegar, tumeric and flour (thickening agent?) this mustard sauce is excellent with good flavor and a slow buildup of heat. The heat level approaches medium and it has a thick consistency with plenty of bits of peppers. Recommended.

Tuong Ot Sriracha
This sauce is an interesting and flavorful condiment that should (in my humble opinion) be used as one would with ketchup and mustard. I was told this sauce is Vietnamese in origin (someone correct me if I am wrong). It is not very hot with heat level just barely on the upper end of low however its unique flavor makes it a nice addition to one's cupboard.

Tyree Trudeau's Backwoods Bayou Lou-Z-Ana Hot Sauce
Louisiana is well known as a haven for hot sauces. In fact, it is the origin for a whole type of hot sauce of which this is one. The sauce is definitely Louisiana (or as the label puts it...Lou-Z-Ana) style but it goes much further than that. First of all it is thicker and coarser than most Louisiana-style hot sauces. Secondly it has more bits of spices evident in the sauce (bits of what could be cilantro or parsley are mixed in the sauce). The ingredient list is rather vague reading "peppers, vinegar, salt & other spices" but the flavor is specifically good (I'm guessing, but I seem to detect garlic and some tomato) albeit on the salty side. The heat level is somewhat on the low side of medium, but don't be fooled, it will warm you up. This sauce definitely complements all sorts of dishes. One interesting extra, the bottle I have has a label which gives the story behind "THE SAUCE" and whether the story is legend or fact, it still is a good yarn for an excellent sauce.

Viva Pancho Garlic Habanero Sauce
You would expect a habanero sauce with a picture of Pancho Villa on the label to be exciting. However with this sauce, Pancho must have been on vacation. Now it's not a wimpy sauce by any stretch, but fairly tame overall. It does pack a good amount of heat with habanero peppers cut only a little by carrots. It also contains onions, garlic, lime juice, salt and distilled vinegar blended to resemble a Louisiana style hot sauce, yet with a flavor unlike your typical Louisiana hot sauce. The lime juice and vinegar gives it a somewhat tart flavor, but it does not overwhelm. A useful sauce with a nice punch.

Viva Pancho Salsa Picante
A much tamer hot sauce than the Pancho habanero sauce, the salsa picante blends red peppers (unnamed) with salt, unnamed spices and vinegar to create a sauce with some heat (upper end of low) and acceptable flavor. Not a spectacular sauce, but a good one nonetheless for the beginning pepperhead.

Walkerswood Hot Jonkanoo Pepper Sauce
This Jamaican hot sauce is a good solid hot sauce with a medium level of heat derived from unknown hot peppers, scallion,  vinegar, citric acid, onion, garlic and other various spices. Nothing spectacular, but a solid sauce nontheless.

Walkerswood Zesty Caribbean One Stop Savory Sauce
This sauce confuses me. Scotch bonnet peppers are listed as one of the ingredients but there is no heat to this sauce. None. Nada. Zip. Nothing. Nothing on the label says "hot sauce" so maybe this is intentional. However how can you use scotch bonnet peppers and not get even a tiny hint of heat? The label actually proclaims this to be a "savory sauce" so maybe they used a microscopic amount of peppers in this. Don't get me wrong...this isn't a BAD sauce, just not a hot sauce. It's both sweet AND savory with its flavor coming from tomatoes, bananas, mangos, sugar, vinegar, scallions, allspice, black pepper, nutmeg, tyme, tamarind and salt. It's a complex mixture with a complex flavor of sweetness. A nice table sauce, but just be forewarned...it's not hot at all.

West Indies Creole Hot Pepper Sauce
A fairly basic vinegar based sauce imported from the West Indies with a pretty good level of heat. Nothing spectacular, but a good, solid sauce nonetheless that would be a welcome addition to the pantry.

Whoopin' Ass Hot Sauce (Chipotle Fire)
This amusingly packaged hot sauce (designed to look like an old western outlaw complete with plastic cowboy hat) is labeled to be a chipotle sauce, but is so overwhelming with the vinegar that it has very little, if any, chipotle flavor. The heat level is in the medium range and does pack a little bot of a kick. However the flavor is quite unimpressive and one would do much better with any one of the numerous commercially available vinegar based sauces in your local grocery store.

 


CARL'S FAVORITE SPICY COOKBOOKS
AND OTHER CHILE-RELATED BOOKS

So now you have all the hot spices, sauces, peppers, etc. that you could ever need. What do you DO with them? You could limit yourself to just adding them to prepared foods like canned chilies and soups or to the meals you normally make. However that would become boring quite quickly. It's time for the chili-head to search for spicy recipes to make the most of the goodies they have accumulated. With the rise in popularity of cooking with hot peppers come numerous cookbooks devoted to keeping the typical chili-head happy with ample recipes to prepare. Here are some of my personal favorites. I don't have a huge amount of spicy cookbooks in my ever growing collection of cookbooks, but the ones I do have are quite good in my honest opinion. However if you have some you'd like to recommend or even some personal favorite recipes you'd like to share, please e-mail me at saints@nettally.com and I'll be more than happy to correspond with you as time permits.

"Biker Billy Cooks With Fire" by Bill Hufnagle [1995 Hearst Books, New York; ISBN 0-688-14063-7]
Okay, when my wife found this book at the local Barnes & Noble, she brought it to me thinking it was just another "gimmick" cookbook (which she collects incidentally -- she found a copy of "Manifold Destiny" which she added to her self-proclaimed "weird cookbooks" collection). And I admit, seeing the photo of the scruffy-looking biker surrounded by rising flames on the cover led me to agree with her. However upon closer examination of the contents quickly forced me to change my mind and realize that Bill Hufnagle, who hosts his own cable-TV cooking program (I have not seen it, but one person who had, recommended it), does know what he is talking about. His recipes are of varying degrees of heat, but are also fairly easy to prepare. I enjoyed reading this book not only for the recipes and biker stuff, but also for the humor interwoven in Hufnagle's stories, instructions, etc. I highly recommend this cookbook for both serious chili-heads as well as those only wishing to indulge in the periodic spicy dish.

"The Creative Hot & Spicy Cookbook" by Jillian Stewart [1997 CLB International; ISBN 0-7624-0096-X]
A very good collection of quick and easy hot and spicy recipes.

"The El Paso Chile Company's Texas Border Cookbook" by W. Park Kerr & Norma Kerr [1992 William Morrow & Co.; ISBN 0-688-10941-1]
A very good collection of Texas-style recipes ranging from hot to mild.

"A Field Guide To Hot Sauces: A Chileheads's Tour of More Thank 100 Blazing Brews" by Todd Kaderabek [1996 Lark Books; ISBN 1-887374-10-8]
Mr. Kaderabek is definitely another fellow chile head with a passion for heat and flavor. His reviews of sauces and salsas are entertaining as well as informative and the illustrations by Christi Teasley make this a nice book to add to your collection. I believe I have reviewed more than 100 hot sauces on my homepage, but I imagine that by now, Mr. Kaderabek has added much to his hot reviews. Good advice and information are contained within this book (my particular favorite is how to keep squirrels from your bird feeders).

"The Fiery Cuisines" by Dave DeWitt & Nancy Gerlach [1984, 1991 Ten Speed Press; ISBN 0-89815-431-6]
Quite an interesting recipe of spicy recipes ranging from warm to nuclear hot that will expand your culinary horizons.

"The Great Chile Book" by Mark Miller with John Harrisson [1991 Ten Speed Press; ISBN 0-89815-428-6]
Not a cookbook, but one of the best chile guides I have run across. The width makes it easy to keep in a pocket or purse, but extensive information with very good photos within makes it easy to identify peppers, even extremely exotic ones.

"The Habanero Cookbook" by Dave DeWitt and Nancy Gerlach [1995 Ten Speed Press; ISBN 0-89815-638-6]
Probably some of the hottest recipes around ranging from American fare to wonderful exotic internation fare. This is definitely a cookbook for the adventuresome pepperhead.

"Hellish Relish" by Sharon Niederman [1994 Harper Collins West; ISBN 0-06-258539-8]
A cookbook of "sizzling salsas and devlish dips from the kitchens of New Mexico."

"Hotter Than Hell" by Jane Butel [1987 HPBooks, Inc.; ISBN 0-89586-542-4]
A cookbook of "hot & spicy dishes from around the world."

"Little Books For Cooks: Hot Sauces" by Jane Stacey [2000 Smallwood & Stewart, Inc.; ISBN 0-7407-0521-0]
A cute little book with a small listing of popular hot sauces as well as a limited number of interesting recipes.

"Meltdown: The Official Fiery Foods Show Cookbook And Chilehead Resource Guide" by Dave DeWitt and Mary Jane Wilan with Jeanette DeAnda [1995 The Crossing Press {Freedom, Ca.}; ISBN 0-89594-739-0]
This excellent hotstuff cookbook not only contains an extensive collection of quite good recipes of varying degrees of heat, but also an even more extensive list of sources for other hotstuff cookbooks, spices, sauces, seeds, etc. Most of the addresses are still current so this book makes a great addition for the serious pepperhead as well as the average hot foods lover. Another interesting feature is the section devoted to the history of the Fiery Foods Show now held annually in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I highly recommend purchasing this book.

"The Pepper Garden" by Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland [1993 Ten Speed Press; ISBN 0-89815-554-1]
This is the best and most comprehensive book on peppers that I have run across. Not a cookbook, but an excellant information resource on peppers including, but not limited to, subjects such as history of pepper growing, types of peppers, how to grow pepper plants and protect them from various problems, how to store peppers, etc. This book also includes an extensive resource list so you can get even more detailed information as well as products for growing and using peppers. I _highly_ recommend this book.

"The Tabasco Brand Cookbook" by Paul McIlhenny with Barbara Hunter [1993 Clarkson Potter Publishers; ISBN 0-517-58965-6]
This cookbook combines recipes with a history in words and pictures of the McIlhenny family and its Tabasco Brand product. This makes it not only useful in the kitchen, but also quite an entertaining read. I highly recommend getting this little, yet packed cookbook to add to any pepperhead's collection.

"The Ultimate Hot And Spicy Cookbook" [1997 Anness Publishing Limited; ISBN 1-85967-367-8]
Quite an extensive cookbook of fiery recipes varying in degrees of difficulty as well as degrees of heat. Good illustrative photos. I recommend this one if you run across it.

"The Whole Chile Pepper Book"  by Dave DeWitt and Nancy Gerlach [1990 Little, Brown and Company; ISBN 0-316-18223-0]
A more international collection of hot and spicy recipes. This book also gives an overview into major spicy foods of the world such as Asian, Indian and African. An entertaining and education cookbook.