McCormick's makes a fine seasoning called Hot Shot, which I've spoken about before. The ingredients here are fairly simple, basically granulated black and red pepper. This adds a very nice dose of heat to things, but must be used in moderation, as it tends towards the bitter. The reason I bring this up is that this basically tastes a lot like a liquefied version of Hot Shot.So, tasting this solo, in conjunction with the vinegar base, is a nearly immediate effect of a bitter astringency. This is one that is horrible outside of a food context. With the food, again, it must be used sparingly as it tends towards the bitter and very easily overpowers food. As this is not a particularly good-tasting sauce by itself, this can frankly wreck more subtle dishes like cream-based hot dishes, for instance or some of the lighter Greek dishes.
As to the heat, ramping up the dried peppercorns (and there are lots of black flecks in this sauce...in fact, black pepper appears twice in the ingredient list) will definitely put a kick in it, but while it contributes a modicum of heat, it is offset considerably by the unpleasantness of this sauce in high doses. There are also dried Tabasco, Jalapeno and Habanero in there, but those are difficult to pick out, odd considering how strong Tabasco can be. If anything that, should give you an idea of how overpowering the peppercorns are. It does have a decent amount of lingering heat, but it never really builds up especially high. What is there is present nearly immediately, though.
Bottom line: Yes, yes, Hell hath no fury like this, etc. etc. Wherever you use black pepper, you could use this, though probably in much lower quantities. It's hard to see a need for this kind of sauce, though and I don't imagine I'll ever be picking up another bottle.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 3
Flavor: 2
Flexibility: 3
Enjoyment to dollar factor:1
Overall: 2
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