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 readingHey folks, it’s the week after my birthday so it’s time to cool things down a tad. And, while I’m not expecting this week’s sauce to be mild, exactly, I’m definitely hoping for a focus on flavour. Because this one sounds weird, even to me!
This is “Where The Wild Roses Grow”, from Balefire, and its label looks just like their previous product. Yet the sauce inside glows a peachy shade of orange and really shows off the blend of rose water and red habanero within. A pairing which I’ve never even heard of, outside of my own gulab jamun recipe.
“Wild” is right for this crazy take on a sweet chilli but, as I discovered when I was researching for that recipe, there’s science to support today’s flavour combination. So the question is less about the concept and more about Balefire’s execution.
Can the company pull off this one of a kind creation successfully?
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 readingHey 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.
Continue readingHappy tuesday again, everyone. This week, I’ve got something wicked to show you, from down in somerset.
The “Thirsty Dog” barbecue and sweet pepper “Roco Loco” sauces, from The Wicked Chilli. One using an unusual blend of jalapeño and naga chillies to heat up its cola and smoked paprika base. While the other mixes rare rocoto chillies with a more standard, unnamed variety and some red bells, for a purer pepper flavour.
For once, though, it’s not the flavour of those rare chillies that excites me but the unique feel of the rocoto’s heat. The unique gum tingle which made me love Char Man’s Caribbean sauce and which is integral to a few specific peruvian dishes.
I’m a huge fan of that pepper and I’m really hoping that its prominent position on the label of today’s red chilli sauce means that The Wicked Chilli are using it to the fullest. Yet I’m also very curious what the unsmoked jalapeño and naga bring to the flavour of their barbecue sauce.
Continue reading
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