Beer – Spicefreak

Balefire Curry

June 7, 2022June 7, 2022Spicefreak3 Comments

Hey folks, how’s it going?

For me, life’s been pretty good lately. But, sadly, the same cannot be said for our last few sauces. Since, as much as I liked the taste of rocoto in The Wicked Chilli’s Roco Loco, it still didn’t express the pepper’s unique heat as well as I’d hoped. And the other two that I tried these last couple of weeks were similarly disappointing.

So, this time around, I think I’m going to play it safe with a company who’ve already really impressed me once before: Balefire.

We saw their Get Schwifty a while back and, aside from the name, I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of that sauce. So, today, I’m going to take a look at two more in the hopes that their Tortuga and Critical Masala are just as stunning.

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The Szechuan Sauce

May 3, 2022May 3, 2022Spicefreak3 Comments

Alright everyone, it’s time to get schwifty, so pull down your pants and-

Okay, no. I’m not finishing that reference. Rick and Morty really isn’t the highbrow, adult comedy that its fans would like you to think and that level of toilet humour is just gross. Even for a chilli reviewer, like myself, who inevitably has to hear a tonne of it.

But, the show’s supposed intelligence aside, there is something else that it’s known for. Which is the absolute ridiculousness of the szechuan sauce debacle, caused by the start of its third season. The raids on McDonald’s stores, across the US, all in search of a long-discontinued tie-in to the original Mulan film.

Frankly, I’ve no idea why people cared so much about a simple szechuan sauce – Especially one with such an uninspired list of ingredients – but that absurd uproar did have some interesting knock-on effects. Including inspiring a whole host of more authentic chinese flavours in the american hot sauce market. As well as a few further afield and even one or two here, in the UK.

Today, I want to look at one example, in particular, which comes to us from Balefire, in durham:

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Dew-Over

April 5, 2022Spicefreak1 Comment

Welcome back, everyone! This week, I’d like to return to one of our old favourite suppliers, the Chilli Alchemist. Because they, in turn, have returned one of my old favourite items – The 💀Philosopher’s Dew!

Now known simply as their “Dew” and focussing rather more heavily on its citrus content, so I’m eager to see just how much it’s changed. But, same sauce or not, it won’t be alone in today’s review.

Russell, the current company owner, has added another new product to the range, alongside it. And this one appears to be all his own:

A “Gold” sauce which, rather than taking after the old 💀Aurum, promises to be a fruity, pineapple sriracha. Much like the redone Dorset Punch.

Let’s take a closer look at the pair, shall we?

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One Two Punch

December 9, 2021April 5, 2022Spicefreak3 Comments

Hey folks, welcome back to another of my rare thursday reviews. Reviews that I do specifically when I have an exciting item not sold in the UK, something which is claimed to be inedible or something that has undergone a major recipe change.

Today, I believe that what I have for you falls into the third category. Though the situation is a little weird, this time, because our new, fruit-based “Punch” doesn’t quite share its name with Dorset Chilli Shop’s old one. And the ingredients and design are so vastly different from that 💀“Dorset Punch”💀 that it could easily be considered a whole new product. Even if it doesn’t seem like its makers actually see it that way.

To show you what I mean, here’s a brief look at the bottle before I get into what’s changed: