Hey, speaking of wax-topped bottles, do you lot remember Balefire? Because I bought one more product from them than I’ve had chance to show you, so far. And this one’s a doozy!
A white-waxed, black label sauce which instantly says “extreme” with that stark contrast. As well as in big letters on the front of the bottle, below its name.
Made with one of my favourite superhot chillies because, while some like it hot, others, like me, like it naga.
Continue readingHappy tuesday, everyone! This week, we have another company who wax seal their beautiful bottles but their products aren’t shipped over from the states like our last. They’re made here in the UK and I’ve got not one but two of them to show you, today:
These are Heriot Hott’s sweet chilli and barbecue-style sauces but neither has anything like the usual list of ingredients and neither looks quite like I’d expect, either.
Continue readingHey folks, welcome back to another of my weekly reviews. This time, I want to talk about a Hot Ones featured favourite, made by Dawson’s in the US. Their Shawarma Sauce, from season thirteen:
One of the show’s milder features – Taking only the number two spot on that season – but one with a very clear and specific purpose. And it’s not a purpose that we’ve seen on this blog before, so I’m excited to see what unique set of flavours it brings to the table.
Though, if its presence on the show is anything to go by, those flavours should apply rather more broadly than just over the advertised shwarma.
Continue readingHappy tuesday again, everyone! It’s been a few weeks now since my birthday, so it’s about time we tried one of my more chilli-themed presents. Something that’s maybe a tad more mass market than I’m used to but still sounds rather exciting:
This is Jamie Oliver’s Ancho & Cumin Chilli Sauce and, while its celebrity nametag doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence, putting the pepper front and centre definitely does. Especially when it’s such a mild and flavourful variety as the mexican ancho.
Anchos aren’t nearly as well known as jalapeños, habaneros or chipotle, either. So this doesn’t just imply a specific heat but also some real knowledge of mexico’s chilli-based cuisine. Some genuine appreciation for what the region’s peppers can bring to a product, beyond their fire.
I’m genuinely excited for this sauce, despite its more mundane origins.
Continue readingSo, seeing as we’re on a bit of a downward trend now, heat-wise, how about we take this week to look at a milder style of condiment? One with chillies, yes, but focussed at least as much on its tomato content as its spice.
Today’s pair come to us from Pip’s and Boom Sauce, both of whom I’ve featured exactly once before. Yet it’s been a good few months since the last of those reviews and neither of this one’s products are the chocolate, verde or ginger-based hot sauce that we previously witnessed.
Instead, as we move into july, I want to take a look at their ketchups and see just how much difference the trinidadian spices and classic cocktail theming make. Giving Pip’s Bloody Mary and the Boom Sauce Hot Chup a fair whack, in order to see what makes them tick and what separates them from the rest of the pack.
Continue readingAlright everyone, it’s wednesday and I’ve just had one of the most disappointing reviews of my career but, today, it’s time for a different sort of suffering. Because it’s my birthday and that means extract sauce:
This is Ten Minute Burn. The original extract sauce from The Chilli Pepper Company, making waves long before their Hell Unleashed made headlines. So I’m not expecting quite the same level of stomach churning heat but I’m still going to be very careful with this one.
It has a reputation to it and I know full well what the company are capable of. So I won’t be underestimating it, despite my eagerness to see how everything began.
Continue readingWhat’s up everybody? We’ve played it safe these last couple of weeks but, today, I think it’s time that we branched out to someone new, once again. A company so fresh that they don’t even seem to have a website yet. But they still feature prominently in my local hot sauce shop.
Meet Heat Lab. A small, york-based business with three different flavours and a science-themed aesthetic that’s very much after my own heart.
The wrinkled heat shrink around their bottle necks may show their lack of experience but it says nothing about the quality within. And honestly, I have high hopes for this trio.
Continue readingHappy 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.
Continue readingHey folks, remember how I just randomly mentioned Queen Majesty again, last week? For the first time in ages?
Well, believe it or not, it was entirely coincidental and today’s feature was an extremely last minute find. But I do have another of their sauces to show you and this one, in particular, is one that I’ve been waiting a long time for. Ever since the reveal of Hot Ones‘ season seventeen line-up.
The number six of that era, Queen Majesty’s Cocoa Ghost. Which stood out, to me, from the moment I first saw it, as something truly unique.
Continue readingHello again, everyone. Today, we’re looking at a sauce that’s been gaining a lot of traction, lately, but that I still hadn’t heard hide nor hair about until it arrived on my doorstep. A gift from my aunt, in london, to whom this week’s product is quite local.
This is Common Sanity’s Dalston Sunshine – The name of the sauce telling you exactly what borough its company are based in and their own hinting at an interest in mental health. With a portion of the company’s profits going to charity for that very reason.
Yet the common “Common Sanity” name, as a whole, is apparently a play on commensality, the act of communal eating. Not anything to do with the word “Common”. Which is just as well because, as much as it may look like a common caribbean mustard sauce, their Dalston Sunshine’s main ingredient is actually the fatalii chilli. An african relative of the habanero which, despite growing popularity in recent years, is still far from “common”.
And it’s not today’s only unexpected fusion flavour, either, since my little care package also contained a second item from the company:
Not a sauce, this time, but a chinese or filipino-style crispy oil. Filled with mexican chillies, seeds and nuts for a beautifully rich sounding, yet equally unorthodox blend that they call Fuego Greeze.
I’m very eager to try them both out.
Continue reading
Spicefreak 