I’d been eagerly eyeballing my bottle of Uncle Brutha’s Fire Sauce No. 9 sauce all week, mapping out what recipes I could brew up to put it to use. It’s packaged in a small, sophisticated looking bottle with a stately illustration of whom I can only imagine is Uncle Brutha himself. He is smiling at me confidently, knowing I will try and love his delicious product. I will cook something very good to use your sauce with, I responded telepathically. Uncle Brutha, I let you down, but you certainly came through for me. Continue Reading

I just discovered a new way to lose weight. It’s called the Da Bomb Diet, and it features Da Bomb Beyond Insanity hot sauce. You see, I read recently that a lot of overweight people eat too fast, and therefore their bodies don’t have a chance to register the sensation of feeling full, which means that fast eaters also tend to eat too much. Da Bomb solves that problem by making a sauce so insanely hot that you can’t help but eat any food touched by it extremely slowly.

Da Bomb makes a couple of varieties of hot sauce; Beyond Insanity likely is a shot at Dave’s Insanity, which can also be used as a weapon of sorts. Continue Reading

The first thing I’ll say about MJ’s Kick Ass Hot Sauce is that it’s made in Somerville, Massachusetts, which is also home to my favorite barbecue restaurant, Redbones. To my knowledge, there’s no connection between the two, but there should be. This is a rich, very full-flavored sauce that is all about making good food better.

The ingredients themselves suggest that MJ is a true foodie. First on the list is green habanero pepper instead of the more typical red and orange ones. That’s followed by white onion (which is distinctly sharper than yellow onion), cilantro, garlic, rice vinegar, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Continue Reading

The sauce is a thin, orangey-red color, similar to how tomato soup looks, yet it coats very well. There is actually no tomatoes in the sauce.

When smelling Ass in Antarctica Hot Sauce, it is easy to detect slight citrus notes, and very little else. There are hints of staleness, much like that of dried, crushed peppers that have been in storage for far too long, but you can’t bring yourself to trash it, since the cayenne, despite the staleness will most likely retain its heat, and really the heat is one of the cayenne peppers few redeeming values. Continue Reading

The Rasta Fire! Hot, Hot, Hot Sauce label features a stereotypical Jamaican man — complete with tie-dye shirt, flip flops and dreads — eyes bulging in shock as he leaps away from a campfire that has lit the seat of his cut-off shorts on fire. The front of the label warns us that the sauce is made with habanero peppers and includes the phrase, “Dis stuff really hot mon!” — presumably the words of our fiery friend.  While it is quite colorful and eye-catching, I give the label a 2, largely because I did not find it to be a very accurate description of what one should expect from this sauce. Continue Reading

I thought Idiot Boyz Habanero Hot Sauce was just another oddly named pepper sauce angling for attention on a crowded store shelf. Then I tasted it and understood that the name is perfectly apt — because you’re an idiot if you underestimate both the flavor and the savage afterburn that this sauce delivers.

I took my customary initial taste by putting a drop on my finger and licking it off. “Ooh, now that’s hot!” was my first reaction. It really is a fiery concoction, featuring not only habaneros but also chile extract (the appearance of any pepper extract ensures a painful experience). Then the flavor came in, thanks to a nice combination of lime juice, onion, and garlic (which were prominent), and evaporated cane juice, which delivered a subtle sweetness that just barely broke through the heat. Continue Reading

Join our Hot Sauce of the Month Club for the Holidays.  As seen on the Food Network show UNWRAPPED our  Hot Sauce of the Month Club is the perfect gift when your friends and familiy members enjoy the heat! Give them the gift that keeps on the recipient thinking of you! Each month a different bottle of hot sauce will arrive on their doorstep.  Continue Reading

If you’re looking at a bottle of Mad Dog 357 Hot Sauce, you’re staring down the barrel of a 357 — literally. That’s what’s on the label, along with a few “bullet holes” and several warning and disclaimers. Not to mention the notification that this sauce reaches 357,000 on the Scoville scale.

As much as I love hot sauce, “This Sauce Is Very Hot — Use It At Your Own Risk” is a warning I take seriously. A quick scan of the ingredients reveals that both habanero and cayenne peppers lurk within — a warning in and of itself. A closer inspection reveals that the cayenne peppers are 160,000 on the Scoville scale. Continue Reading

“Goin’ Bananas hot sauce” advertises itself as a medium hot, Caribbean inspired sauce made with ingredients like bananas, raisins, Worcestershire sauce, and honey.  Because I enjoy all of these things, I was more than excited to test this puppy out.  

The label is a vibrant splash of color showcasing a charming cartoon of Carmen Banana, the mascot for the Key West brand.  Looking as beautiful as a banana can when dressed in an elaborate hat, a string of beads, and make-up, Carmen claims the sauce to be “a delight with chicken, burgers, ice cream, seafood — and GREAT as a grill sauce!”  While initially intrigued to follow Carmen’s advice and try it on ice cream, it was 9:30 in the morning when I first broke the safety seal, so I opted for starting instead with topping my eggs. Continue Reading

There are eleven different warnings on the bottle of Ron’s Nuckin’ Futs hot sauce, the largest of which reads: WARNING! USE ONE DROP AT A TIME! Needless to say, I approached this stuff with a healthy mix of anticipation, respect, and reckless abandon.

Its a bit thicker than you’d suspect, pouring slowly out of the bottle. The ingredients list habeneros, pepper extract, citrus, salt and other “spices”, but I think ol’ Ron is being purposefully vague here. Futs has a rich, tantalizing smell that almost makes you wish it wasn’t so hot. Almost. Continue Reading

For almost 20 years, the Ashley Food Company has been creating all natural, mouth watering, and award-winning hot sauces, extreme hot sauces, pepper extracts, and BBQ sauces.  Combining hot peppers with rich flavor, each sauce.  Creator Dave Ashley kicked off his own venture in his tiny Brighton, Massachusetts kitchen, and soon was supplying so many friends with his creations that he expanded his project to a commercial level.

A quick glance at the bottle for Boston’s Best “Mad Dog Liquid Fire” reveals an initially average label: a black background slowly being consumed by flames, complimented by text set in red and black font.  Continue Reading

I told a friend of mine that I was reviewing a hot sauce called Hog’s Ass, and he said, “Is that supposed to be a funny way pronouncing ‘hot sauce’?” I said I hadn’t considered that; to me it was just a funny name. Then he asked me if it tasted like hog’s ass. I’m not sure if he meant a cut of pork butt or something else, but I quickly realized that we were both missing the point. As far as I’m concerned, hot sauces are for dipping, splashing, or cooking; rarely is one very suitable for all three. 

Hog’s Ass Hot Sauce is.

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Well someone’s gotta stop the flaming ass madness. Or at least allow new blood into the club of hot sauce fools. This is where Mountain Man comes in. If it was on a long shelf of sauces it would run more to spicy BBQ sauces or rubs than the flamers. This is definitely entry-level stuff. Trainer wheels. My young niece took a shot at Mountain Man. No-one can hurt themselves with Mountain Man Corn, Garlic, & Chipotle Hot Sauce. In fact the word “hot” doesn’t even appear on the bottle. The only thing bringing heat in this mix is the rather mild chipotle pepper. Chipotle this and chipotle that seems to be everywhere these days which attests to the “pop” mildness and flavor of this pepper. Continue Reading

Unlike other hot sauces, Mad Dog Green Amigo is not one that relies on its level of heat to sell bottles, but rather on its flavor and value as an ingredient.

If the “amigo” in “Green Amigo” was not a clear enough tip-off, the stereotypical “Mexican” theme of the yellow dog’s attire should clue you in to the fact that this sauce works best as a component to any Mexicana-styled food dish. 

If you can bring yourself to look past the yellow dog in a sombrero shaking a pair of maracas, you’ll notice that the bottle’s label promotes itself as a mild sauce, with just one notch on a ten-point heat scale. Continue Reading

True story. A friend of mine who went to school at Tulane in New Orleans had always boasted that he could handle any level of heat, food-wise. So one year for his birthday, I decided to buy him a selection of three hot sauces. I don’t remember the other two, but one was definitely Dave’s Insanity because it bills itself as “the original hottest sauce in the universe” and I wanted to put my friend’s limits to the ultimate test. About a week later, he called me up. He told me he had gotten some take-out Chinese food and decided to spice it up with the Dave’s Insanity Hot Sauce. He read the label’s warning about adding just a drop at a time, but figured he could withstand a mere five drops. As he explained to me through self-deprecating laughter, he took one bite and had to throw the food away. Continue Reading

Backdraft Fire Sauce: The Fireman’s Nightmare! Dedicated to all the brave firefighters around the world!
Head out to your local grocer or specialty store and take a cursory glance at their hot sauce selection. Even many of the stores that offer a wide selection have few sauces that aren’t bright red. Backdraft catches your eye with its yellowish brown hue,and specks of peppery bobs floating around, offering you a texture that is obvious through the bottle.

A glance at the order of ingredients offers you a glimpse into the mystery of Backdraft. You know this sauce will be more sauce and less hot because the first ingredients are sugar, yellow mustard, water, light brown sugar, tomato paste, herbs…and a few more items before we get to habanero peppers. Continue Reading