Zombie Apocalypse Hot Sauce Review

Torchbearer Zombie Apocalypse Hot Sauce

While there is more than a passing commonality with the Rapture sauce from Torchbearer, as it shares several ingredients, I would hesitate to call this "Rapture-Lite". It has its own distinctive flavor and style and given the "zombie" part of the nomenclature here, one can naturally expect that is be far more abrasive, as that tends to be the one common theme and element uniting all sauces sporting that moniker. So, we definitely have harsher pepper notes here, particularly in the black pepper and while this is lower in SHU than the Rapture, it is somewhat less enjoyable to partake as well. Much of the other review also applies to this in terms of usage and which foods it works best with.

I'm not a fan of "challenge" sauces, which are to test this or that characteristic or even of the challenges themselves, to be blunt. All of that sort of stuff is lost on me and I want some good flavor that complements the food or elevates it and adds the sometimes missing heat element that I tend to have as a preference. I'm not extreme in any sense in this regard, in that I don't attempt to use it on ever single thing I eat, but when I do bust out the sauce, I'm really wanting flavor first, which is why Trappey's Red Devil sauce was so beloved for so long. I still try to keep a bottle around, just because it is a fond, familiar and dependable flavor, Old Reliable itself.

As far as sauces go, this is probably not one I would consider getting again, but compared to several of the other "zombie" sauces I've tried, this is near the top as Torchbearer are aces, without question. Just there name on something is enough to get me interested and though this isn't pushing all of the right buttons with me, I will definitely not be punting on the bottle. It is certainly well-crafted, so no knock there. It mostly just doesn't jibe with me quite enough. 

Bottom line: I think they meant this sauce as one to work up to the Rapture, as I believe it is the second hottest in their lineup. It is fairly abrasive, but more or less in line with the other "zombie" offerings out there. Good for those who want a little punishment with their sauce...

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 9
            Flavor: 6
            Flexibility: 6
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 5

Overall: 6

Private Selection Peruvian Aji Amarillo Hot Sauce Review

Private Selection Peruvian Aji Amarillo Hot Sauce

Two down and two to go in the so-called "Culinary Hot Sauce" line from the higher end of the two Kroger store brands. This one is by far the worst-tasting of all of them, with spices far more reminiscent of something for baking, but a flavor profile that is frankly just not very good. Both plain, by itself and in conjunction with being utilized as a grill sauce, the taste, while not outright foul, does tend to detract from food...when enough of it is used to be noticeable. It's hard to determine exactly what they were going for here as this things missed on everything I tried it on. There is very precious little heat to be had and it's hard to see where this would fit in anywhere. Overall, even as an experiment, this was simply not worth getting or even using.

Bottom line: This is a near-total bust. Not the worst sauce I've had, but I bailed on it well before finishing the bottle and so far, this is the worst of the new Private Selection Culinary line.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 0
            Flavor: 0
            Flexibility: 0
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 0

Overall:0

Private Selection Peri Peri Hot Sauce Review

Private Selection Peri Peri Hot Sauce

This is the second of 4 in the new series of "boutique", as in grocery store boutique, hot sauces straight from the minds and presumably kitchens and vats of the Kroger grocery empire. While the Mango sauce (reviewed elsewhere here) was pretty worthy, this one is what I call a "stepper" sauce, as in a sauce that you use to increase the heat of another sauce while not modifying the flavor much. The flavor here is rather mild, but by itself, while not unpalatable, is very uninteresting...rather a pity, as much more can be done with these peppers. This attribute makes it great for a stepper sauce, but not very good as a standalone. The heat is also somewhat minimal, but it does work well nearly across the board, so things like Mexican sauces, ketchup, barbeque sauces, all benefit from this. The only one that this really doesn't do well with is Louisiana-style sauces but those are really meant solely as standalones.

Taken on its own, this is not a very good sauce and if you're buying right, you shouldn't really have need for a stepper sauce, but I do find this to be of use with some of the other sauces. Once I run out of those, though, there will be little value to this...

Bottom line: As a standalone sauce, this is a pass and your mileage will vary depending on what value, if any, you attach to a stepper sauce.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 2
            Flavor: 4
            Flexibility: 8
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 3

Overall: 4

Private Selection Mango Scotch Bonnet Hot Sauce Review

Private Selection Mango Scotch Bonnet Hot Sauce

Note: Video support available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZMz2_8963Q

A note before I start the review proper, which I don't usually do. As you may have surmised from either my numerous Yelp reviews or this blog, I'm based in Salt Lake City. As such, I find it opportune to have a go-to grocer. That one for me (and one of the largest in the area) is Smith's, which is part of the Kroger family. The "Private Selection" label refers to their higher end house/store brand. They have recently launched a line called "Culinary Hot Sauce" within it.

I have chosen to start with the best of the lot for this introduction, the Mango Scotch Bonnet. As regular readers may have noted, my favorite pepper generally is the Cayenne. Say that someone asked for my second-favorite. Odds are, it would probably be the Scotch Bonnet, which is kind of odd, I suppose, considering my general disdain for its close relative, the Habanero. There, however, as the saying goes, it is, though. I have yet to have a bad hot sauce with Scotch Bonnet, providing they don't also include my two nemesises (nemesi?), that being extract and onions. I also find the Scotch Bonnet to be one of the tastier peppers in general.

I will say I have not had a solid Mango-hot sauce...until now, that is. Despite misgivings, considering this is a sauce from a large grocer containing what I consider a very volatile flavoring element, it succeeded wildly. It captures, somehow, the fruit well, with both that sort of tangy tartness frequently a hallmark of the fruit, with the distinct sweetness it is known for. It also rounds it out nicely with that flavor profile and (admittedly minor) heat that the Scotch Bonnet provides. This is a well-crafted and well-blended sauce and my main (and perhaps only) complaint is the idiot cap that comes with it, something that plagues the entire line. A dropper cap with a glass bottle with a thick sauce is a shit combination and they should not have made that choice, as one has to remove the cap entirely for usage to make any sense at all.

Bottom line: This is the best of the lot for the Culinary Hot Sauce line from Private Selection. Only minor heat and is best used as a dipping sauce, but the flavor profile is excellent. Worth a look.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 3
            Flavor: 8
            Flexibility: 6
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 8

Overall: 6

Torchbearer The Rapture Hot Sauce Review

Torchbearer's The Rapture Hot Sauce

Billed as the hottest natural hot sauce in the world and the hottest of the entire Torchbearer line-up, I've seen it listed at more than 1.2 million SHU, which, if true, makes this probably the hottest sauces I've reviewed in these pages and the hottest sauce I've had that did not have an extract element. It is also quite flavorful, with a very nice sweet and citrusy element, which I've heard ascribed to the presence of the mandarin oranges and carrots. Obviously, with the crazy amount of superhot peppers - specifically the Trinidad Scorpion, the Jolokias and the Habaneros for 66.6% of the actual sauce content - you probably will be straining to get a lot of that flavor while your mouth slowly begins its meltdown, but it is definitely present, at least in the beginning.

This is a sauce that takes some degree of caution for best results. I made the mistake of oversaucing a few things with it and that is a mistake you will have plenty of time to contemplate if you also do it. It will be edible, but if you use it sparingly, you can achieve a very nice balance that complements foods, particularly fried foods, such as the ubiquitous chicken strips, quite nicely. Go too far overboard, though and this thing will tend to send your senses over the edge, which makes things rather unenjoyable for a while. It is a slow build, if you use it the way I described as preferable, but it will nail things to the wall fairly immediately (but still not as fast as extract), if you go full boat and overload things. It's a very expensive sauce to use in that manner also...consequently, it is realistically somewhat low use, but for this kind of a trophy sauce, that's probably more what you want.

It is blended nicely and this is a sauce where clearly the designers had a very specific goal in mind and frankly nailed it. Because it clears the million SHU mark and I don't see a lot of non-extract sauces clearing that particular hurdle (and because I hate extract sauces and generally refuse to consume or review them), this also is the first sauce that gets all 10 points for heat. It is also my first SOTY  contender for 2017.

Bottom line: This is a great sauce to have in your stable. It won't go with everything and needs to have a fairly strong, yet uncomplicated flavor profile of the food you put it on for best results, but it is a very pleasant-tasting sauce overall and Torchbearer rightfully deserves much acclaim for it.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 8
            Flavor: 8
            Flexibility: 7
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 8

Overall: 8

Q1 2K17 Update

The overarching trend of the past 3 or 4 years continues on unabated as 2017 began very soft, mostly because I was trying really hard to clean up the open sauces in the fridge so I could get to newer ones and hopefully find a SOTY contender before the very last second, such as last year went. That task is done now. Still on tap is to clean up the pantry shelf more, but as everything I have is of the super-hot variety, that is not generally a fast task, as it takes me a bit (ok, a lot) longer to cycle through those, but that isn’t really cause for a delay to things as much as the usual considerations, such as time. It’s not as if I suddenly got an influx of free time (I’m a month late, for instance, on this post, due to a project that barely wrapped up and have another major project on the near horizon) and with a fairly intensive travel schedule for the foreseeable future, it tends to preclude being able to really spend a lot of time with bottles of sauces, as I do not and will not travel with them in tow.

I do have a lot of stuff on tap that I haven’t gotten a chance to post yet, most of which should be forthcoming prior to June…hopefully. I am also probably going to put up my first quadruple review and I’m also looking forward to being able to resume updating the rest of the sauces that need pictures at some point. I think several of those sauces are long gone, but I would also really like to put that project to bed.

Speaking of SOTY contenders, I do have one sort of kicking around, but I’m not sure it is quite there with some of the previous worthies from years past. It is, however, easily one of the hottest non-extract sauces I’ve had a review is forthcoming, though I think I want to kick it around just a touch more first. I definitely need to go hit the usual brick and mortars for a recharge and should have that done by the time I get to the Q2 update.