Happy tuesday again, everyone!
This week, I’m looking at another old friend of ours, The Chilli Pepper Company, for what is supposedly a “sweet chilli sauce for psychos”. Though, to me, it looks a lot darker and more barbecue-like:
Hence my decision to feature The Beast now – Right after The Wicked Chilli’s sadly lacklustre naga barbecue – in the hopes that a company who’ve proven themselves in the past can do a better job.
In terms of its packaging, The Beast is one of The Chilli Pepper Company‘s better designs. Strongly resembling their Dragon’s Breath with its edge patterning and jagged central oval.
Yet the colours are more limited in this design, using primarily greens and browns but allowing bold reds to fill in that centre frame. The titular beast standing out strikingly against it as its lower jaw fur ever so slightly escapes the border.
It says very little about the flavour of their sauce, of course, but the visible ferocity does hint at its supposed heat, while the bold lines and cartoony font make it highly impactful. And then the reddy-brown of it on my spoon is pretty eye-pleasing, too.
Flecks of spices fill the sauce and it’s plain to see its ketchup-like, syrupy sheen. Yet the pour is remarkably easy. Not thin, per se, but neither as thick nor as sticky as I’d expected, despite the sugars that are clearly present.
Sugars which provide an upfront sweetness to the dark, tangy blend of woody spices and raisin-like, browned fruit, yet are balanced out by both an initial hint of lemon – Or perhaps the lactic acid of fermented chillies – and the superhot peppers, themselves. Peppers which aren’t quite the bhut jolokia that I’d initially anticipated.
No, while they may still be nagas, The Chilli Pepper Company have made use of the less popular morich, from which the dorset naga and naga viper were both bred. A superhot which packs a similar depth of red chilli flavour and the same slow,
heat but lingers a little more around the sides of my tongue. As well as providing a rather bitter finish that fits perfectly into today’s product by contrasting with what might otherwise be a somewhat sickly sweetness.
The body of The Beast is simple, yet flavourful, neither quite barbecue, with its lack of smoke and molasses, nor anything like the common thai-style. But it excels in showing off its signature chilli and that chilli adds so much more depth and sophistication to it, in turn.
To the point where I’m very much looking forward to using it not just over smoked meats, roasts and macaroni cheeses, like a standard barbecue variety, but also in my stir-frys, as well. Not to mention dipping a cheeky chip or two, from time to time.
The Chilli Pepper Company’s Beast is a great sauce, made from nothing more than:
Tomato, Vinegar, Sugar, Mangoes, Naga Morich, Spices.
And it definitely has my recommendation!
Spicefreak 