Psycho Tropic Hot Sauce Review

Voodoo Chile Psycho Tropic Hot Sauce

Interesting choice to name it after a term used with high specificity in regards to mind-altering drugs, but hyperbole is part of the joy of the hot sauce world and oneupsmanship in general, I suppose. In this case, the name is broken up into the more pedestrian and somewhat generic "psycho" along with "tropic" standing alone, in obvious reference to the preponderance of tropic fruits in this blend. Now, I'm a pretty big fan of this company, their Honey Doo Peppadew sauce won SOTY not so long ago and so anything I see from them, as long as it doesn't contain deal-breaking elements, I'm in to try.

For this one, the main flavors are papaya and guava, which lends the impression of more or less a basic fruity sweetness. If you don't particularly like those flavors and I don't in general, this sauce will fall fairly flat, though it took me a bit longer than usual to decide I ultimately didn't like the flavor much. Like most fruit sauces, this one is far better with fried foods or saltier foods in general and if you do enjoy the flavor, it makes a very solid dipping sauce.

Heat, despite containing the current record holder for SHUs, the Carolina Reapers, is a bit on the lighter side than what I was expecting. There are also Datil Peppers and Scotch Bonnet, which round this out nicely, though the heat is definitely more on the moderate side. I don't find either the Reapers or Datils particularly flavorful but Scotch Bonnet is one of my favorites and I wish it tasted more like those than the others. Heat is probably edging towards too much for most people, but chileheads will not find this much of a challenge, if at all. I do wonder if this has been reformulated, as the ad copy cites sweet onions and I neither taste them nor see them on the ingredient panel of my bottle...

Bottom line: This one will be largely dependent on how much you like the stronger flavors I've mentioned in this review. For me, the taste here is mostly a miss, but consistency is good and the heat is definitely acceptable.

Breakdown:

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

Overall: 3