Hellfire Elixir Hot Sauce Review

Hellfire The Elixir Hot Sauce

This is a flask sauce and I can say, without much question, that this is probably the hottest flask sauce I've ever had. With Scorpions and 7 Pots figuring into the mix, it seems likely that would be the case, but usually sauce this warm doesn't wind up in a flask. I also like the idea of a flask, with the built-in societal connotations to either sneaking liquor (there is Caribbean spiced rum in the mix, incidentally) or more aptly here, as a sort of curative, "good for what ails ya" sort of thing. I've spent a lot of time talking about the container and unfortunately, the flask is by far the best part about this sauce.

This is another of the so-called "garbage" sauces. When I say "garbage", I refer to this in the sense of pizza, where every topping under the sun is thrown on top. Another way to say it would be "kitchen sink", I suppose. I mention this for context, not because I think the sauce is actual refuse. It is a very curious sauce, though and with all of the various baking spices in it (allspice, vanilla extract, etc.),  it gets really confusing. The taste itself is far too busy and frankly, the peppers clash with each other and the spices, which tends to be invariably distracting.

Like many other sweet-hot sauces, it really almost something fried to accompany. After burning through a quarter of a bottle, though, I have yet to find anything it meshes well with. I have tried this at varying levels, just a small amount seems to do best, but the last few times have just been for testing purposes only, not for enjoyment and that's the point where the experiment ends. It might be like the seasonal offering from High River, the Grapes Of Wrath (reviewed elsewhere in this blog) and just work strictly on basically roasted meats the best, but that's one avenue I didn't get to trying. Honestly, though, the taste always tends to be jarring and is simply not good enough for me to think it would work well there, either. Even the smell itself is very bracing, not a good thing here.

Bottom line: While this is a well-packaged misfire, it is a misfire nonetheless. This doesn't work well with food and tends to be a distraction. While it doesn't taste outright bad, it's not particularly good, either, rather just unique. Cutting about half of the ingredients out would be a good start for a start that conceptually is interesting, but is just too busy, conflicting and in need of a re-tool.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 7
            Flavor: 2
            Flexibility: 0
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 3

Overall: 3