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

The Dave’s Temporary Insanity bottle features a smiling red hot pepper, basking in the blazing sun, shades on and a drink by his side. The ingredient list reveals that both “hot peppers” and “hot pepper extract” are ready to spice things up. A warning advises the use of “one drop at a time” — always good advice where anything containing the word “insanity” is concerned. Other warnings include “Keep away from eyes, pets and children” and “Not for people with heart/respiratory problems.” The slogan “Temporary Pain, Lingering Pleasure” peaks my curiosity.

I open the bottle and inhale the mouthwatering aroma of smoky, sweet tomatoes. The sauce has a medium thickness and a color like tomato sauce, but slightly darker. Ignoring the “one drop at a time” warning, I put a few drops in my New England clam chowder. Continue Reading

When the results of the 2010 Scovie Awards, the world’s leading recognition for hot and spicy products, were announced, Chef Wayne Howey of Tropical Island Gourmet was excited to get the call from the competition organizers. Palm Beach Gardens-based Tropical Island Gourmet Co., which distributes a wide assortment of bottled sauces and Spice Blends, has received a First Place 2010 Scovie Award.  In the industry’s most rigorous blind tastings, a panel of the country’s top culinary experts sampled hundreds of the world’s most lauded gourmet foods, and the top scoring products each won a coveted Scovie banner.

First Place in the Medium Hot Sauce category was awarded to Tropical Island Gourmet’s top selling “Fire Ant Juice” which is manufactured by Sauce Crafters  in Riviera Beach Fl.  Over 600 products from around the world competed for top honors.  Continue Reading

The maker touts this Xtreme Hot Sauce as one that is 100% all natural. This idea is reinforced by the plain brown label, reminiscent of what your local butcher might use to wrap your fresh cut meat in. The large x dominating the logo, combined with a vessel shaped liked that of a hip-pocket sized bottle of hooch completes this attention-grabbing package.

Ok; bottle open. First whiff gives an unmistakable hit of fresh garlic. Very strong and extremely pungent. My wife thought I was chopping garlic for a recipe, it filled the air that much.  We poured about a half-teaspoon onto a tostitos scoop chip. It comes out of the bottle very slowly, due to the large garlic chunks. Continue Reading

Ashley Food Company, known for its world famous Mad Dog 357 Hot Sauces, has created yet another reason for extreme hot sauce lovers and collectors to make new room on their shelves. Called Mad Dog 357 Pure Ghost Hot Sauce, this new extreme hot sauce features the world-record setting Bhut Jolokia pepper from Northeastern India, also known as the Ghost pepper.

“The Ghost is truly one of the most unique peppers in the world, not only for its record-setting heat but also for its unique earthy flavor,” says David Ashley, master sauce crafter and president of Ashley Foods. “The goal was to create a sauce that would bring out the Ghost Pepper’s unique qualities of extreme heat and signature flavor, without the need for additional pepper extracts.”

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What are the hottest peppers and how is it determined which one is the hottest? A method of testing peppers is called the Scoville test. This method of testing a pepper’s pungency units was invented by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. Mr. Scoville determined his test results by taking the extracts of many types of chili peppers and diluting them in a sugared water solution until none of the heat remained. The testing was accomplished by a panel of 5 “judges” who would taste these solutions and then tell Mr. Scoville when they no longer felt any heat. This testing was very subjective as your can imagine and results were not very consistent. The hottest peppers, such as habaneros, have a rating of 300,000 or more, indicating that their extract has to be diluted 300,000-fold before the capsaicin present is unnoticeable.

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I may as well begin this review of Pit Bull Hot Sauce (original flavor) with my only criticism of the product: the bottle it comes in is too damned small.

Pit Bull comes in a fairly standard 5 oz. bottle (as well as a 12 oz. size), but whereas a lot of hot sauces are consumed a few drops at a time and therefore can last weeks or even months in the fridge before you need to buy a replacement, I’ve consumed almost half the bottle and I’ve only been using it for two days. Continue Reading

From the get go, You Can’t Handle This Hot Sauce exists to trick you into experiencing pain. It all starts with the name. Sure it says “You can’t Handle This,” but it might well read “What are you, a pussy? I mean seriously, how can you expect to survive this hot sauce, especially while you’re still wearing that tutu?” It doesn’t help that the cartoon character on the bottle looks to be one part Asian stereotype, one part wimpy demon. Either way, he looks like someone who might wet himself before you could even get the chance to punch them out.

The thick, dark brown sauce has the look of what was once a robust barbecue, but has dulled in colored in the last couple of years since it was forgotten in the back corner of the storage space under your kitchen sink. Continue Reading

When it comes to hot sauces, one has to be fearless. Cautious, definitely, but fearless all the same. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to enjoy the wide variety of hot sauces on the market, and you’ll also probably never really learn how much heat you can handle. I discovered this valuable lesson from Mad Dog 357 Pure Ghost Sauce.

As I was examining the bottle, I have to admit I was a little scared. The label reads like a warning sign posted outside a ghost town advising wanderers to turn back or be prepared to meet their doom: “World’s hottest pepper.” “Use it at your own risk.” “Diabolical.” “Killer sting.” But I went forward – journalistic integrity and all that – and was richly rewarded when I actually took a taste. Continue Reading

I have loved any and all hot food and hot sauce for what feel like a bazillion years, yet somehow I only recently found out about the “Blair’s Death Sauce” range.  Now I am wondering how on earth I survived any family dinner growing up without it.

I received my first bottle of this and liked it so much, I found myself running to buy another bottle a couple of days later before the delivery of some late-night pizza.  Blair’s Hot Sauce, awarded “Best Hot Sauce” at the 2002 Fiery Food Challenge, is a solid infusion of each and every one of the ingredients used.  Upon removing the cap, your first whiff reveals chilies, vinegar, and a touch of smoke (from the chipotle).  I actually sneezed twice after my inaugural bite.  The sauce also features ripe habaneros, cayenne chilies, chipotles, key lime juice, and crushed garlic.  Continue Reading

The habanero pepper is believed to have originated in Cuba with the name inferring its heritage translating to meaning “from Havana.” You will feel like you just got bit by a snake as the name infers as the heat continues to spread and the fire burns from the habanero. While this isn’t the hottest sauce I have ever tried, it provided a perfect amount of fiery blend. The Snake Bite Hot Sauce is made with crushed tomatoes, distilled vinegar, water, Tabasco, habanero powder, red pepper flakes, cayenne, mustard powder, salt, black pepper and onion powder.

I used the Snake Bite on a few different foods. Because it contained crushed tomatoes, I thought it would be tasty on steak, which it definitely was. It was also a great addition to several Mexican dishes, including chicken enchiladas.

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This is a number that promises a world of “flavor and pain.” I’ve got to say, they’re on point with the description. While chowing down, I didn’t really believe the pain part, but there was a post-meal afterburn that lingered for about thirty minutes.

Maybe that’s because I was a little liberal with my usage, but I just couldn’t help myself. I’m a sucker for jerk sauce; the name just makes me nuts. Rectal Rocket Fuel Hot Sauce’s incarnation is a rich dark burgundy, about the same color as your average barbecue sauce, and has a thick consistency for hot sauce. It dripped slow out of the bottle into my homemade chicken and rice–I only added about four drops. The fifth I applied express to my tongue via fingertip–it had a resonant flavor, bold and brutal.

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Have you ever noticed that most names of hot sauces have to do either with death or the digestive system? The intent would seem to be to attract a consumer’s attention either through mortal fear or toilet humor. Unfortunately, while such a naming convention is effective at promising pain, it gives few clues as to the actual flavor and character of the product in question.

For some sauces, pure heat is the primary consideration so topics like flavor and character do not always apply. That’s not true, however, for Hemorrhoid Helper Hot Sauce, a truly distinctive hot sauce that, yes, delivers heat but also a whole lot more. Boasting that it “burns both ways” (i.e., coming into and going out of one’s body), Hemorrhoid Helper actually evades the truth in two ways: first, the label’s contention that it “causes more itching, burning and lots of discomfort” is inaccurate (it’s definitely hot but it doesn’t torch your mouth); and second, nowhere does the sauce bottle indicate just how delicious the sauce inside is. Continue Reading

So, you think you’ve had a hot sauce before? Maybe it was the most painful looking option you could find in your local grocery store, something with claims of pain and horrible nights ahead on the bottle. The odds are it was surprisingly hot, but not nearly up to the task of destroying your tongue in the manner you expected. Enter Blair’s Mega Death Hot Sauce. This sauce claims a heat factor of over 500,000 scovilles, more than 500 times hotter than a Jalapeno. It’s not just that it’s so incredibly hot though. There are a few hot sauces out there that claim to be hotter – and for my money it doesn’t matter at a certain point. It’s about the raw kick in the butt this stuff will give you, regardless of the dilution you give it. Continue Reading

Ah yes, the joy that is the cleverly named hot sauce. In contrast to some of the more crass, middle school named hot sauces out there, Colon Cleaner Hot Sauce actually made me laugh. It has the look of a classic vaudevillian elixir – the kind sold out of the back of a’41 Chevy. It’s got a kindly looking old man on it and somewhere in that bottle is a pretty decent hot sauce, even if it doesn’t live up to its namesake’s claim.

The goal of these hot sauces is ironically to call in the few who are looking for something so powerful they can barely stay standing, their bowels turned to jelly. Professor Phardtpounder’s Colon Cleaner Hot Sauce is not one of those sauces. It’s a relatively medium level hot sauce with the kind of kick you would want from a table hot sauce. There are no eyedroppers for application or “dilute first” notices on this sauce. Continue Reading