Ass-Kickin’ Mini Dozen Mini-Review(s)

 Ass-Kickin’ Mini Dozen Hot Sauce(s) - Various Flavors

 UPDATE: Video Support, Part 1 (Sauce Tasting) available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmHrZOA4sps

UPDATE: Video Support, Part 2 (Sauced Wings) available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjxi6wwXOg8

Coming from Southwest Specialty, but not mentioned specifically during the actual content of either of the videos (links coming soon), we cover the entire run of the Hot Sauce Challenge Book of Pleasure & Pain novelty set, plus the Scorpion Pepper, which I suppose you could say substituted for the Original in the actual set. I did not find out about the challenge components until after the video was shot. It would someday be interesting to see if the sauces were designed to actually be good or just meant for the gimmicky challenge spinner or dice games that they do a lot of.

I do like this idea a lot, though, that of the miniature bottles, and wish other companies would follow suit. There is not really enough room in the bottle for a lot of agitation, so it won’t work with all sauces, but the idea of a nice traveler or sample size is a very appealing one, even despite their shrink packaging mostly failing (it worked appropriately on exactly 2 bottles). I started off with 13, but immediately blew out the Original, as it had Fresh Onions as a listed ingredient, which is an auto-rejection.

Since there are a lot of sauces, let’s get to the blow by blow. I will not be doing an actual rating on all of these, just a lot of tasting notes. In the case of the 2 sauces where there are full reviews, I will link to those.

Ass Kickin’ Bacon - this was a lot more fakin’ than actual bacon and was not a very good sauce overall. I wish the fascination with bacon was over, as I’ve yet to have a single sauce where I thought that component worked well. Here, it ruins the presence of the Cayenne pepper in there and was rather dreckish on the wing. It is also a fairly thick and gloppy sauce. Heat was moderate, give it a 1. I would say I never want to consume this again, but don't want to single it out, since that aversion applies to nearly all the sauces here, including this.

Ass Kickin’ Chile Lime - How various companies handle lime is always of interest to me. Used sparingly, it can be of some utility. Here, solo, it was pretty deft and an interesting sauce, the only one, in fact, I may be tempted into buying again. On the wing, it was awful, but I can’t think of any Mexican-style sauces I like in that setting. Heat is again around a 1.

Ass Kickin’ Sriracha - Very, very thick, to the point where this tiny bottle was probably a mistake. Once I got the sauce out, I discovered one of the worst things I’ve ever had in my mouth. It was also pretty far from an actual sriracha sauce. Absolutely no good at all and this one got binned in advance of the wings. Just utterly dreadful. Heat is around a 1.

Ass Kickin’ Cajun - Full review here: http://d-dubtsaaf.blogspot.com/2014/12/ass-kickin-cajun-hot-sauce-review.html

Ass Kickin’ Wasabi - A component I never expected to see in a hot sauce, given the rarity and expensiveness of the ingredient, but I should have expected a fake one, like the green toothpaste wasabi paste frequently served in sushi restaurants, particularly the low grade ones. The presence of wasabi was largely academic, though, as it did not show up in flavor profile. More or less the same as the Cajun sauce, albeit somewhat less hot, maybe a 1.

Ass Kickin’ Roasted Garlic - Very harsh and bitter, quite abrasive. Heat was probably hovering around a 1 again, but this sauce was overall vile, just not the point of excrescence, as the Sriracha was.

Habanero Hot Sauce From Hell - Full review here: http://d-dubtsaaf.blogspot.com/2013/07/habanero-hot-sauce-from-hell-review.html

Habanero Hot Sauce From Hell Devil’s Revenge - Taking a poor-tasting sauce and then spiking it with extract definitely ratchets the heat up notably, think maybe around a 4 here, but does no favors for flavor. Not great, but not nearly as bad as I was expecting, either.

Ass Kickin’ Ghost Pepper - Very pale, oddly colored sauce. I like Ghosts more and more these days, but solo, this was not a good tasting sauce, reading as mostly salty ghost carrots. On the wing, though, this was much better. All around, in that context, probably the best sauce I had. Heat is notable as well, again, probably another 4.

Ass Kickin’ Scorpion - The very flowery nature of these peppers is starting to be less and less palatable and of interest to me, I find, and here, it is quite dominating. This is easily a 5, maybe pushing 6 in the heat department. It was unpleasant solo, but overall ok on the wing.

Ass Blaster - One would not exactly expect subtlety from a sauce so named, but this was actually a lot more mellow than the Devil’s Revenge, though they both share a fairly similar profile. I think this is probably the least stepped on of the extract sauces I tried, though the flavor here left something to be desired. This one I’d also probably call a 4, though just barely.

Spontaneous Combustion - The big baddie of the lot, full of warnings and admonishments and making no secret it was chock full of extract. The flavor is exactly that, a sauce chock full of extract. Indeed, in this sauce, that ingredient component is most notable. It was also the hottest, though I think I’d put it probably around a 6.

I had hopes that this would be more of a fun experience, along the lines of the Hot Ones quarterly homages I do for FOH, but to be honest, this was a bit of an exercise in perseverance to get through. The heat was certainly significant, but it was honestly more the woeful flavors of most of these sauces that made it such a chore, particularly towards the end. That said, I would not hesitate, if I found more sample bottles from another company, but I believe this is mostly going to put the Ass Kickin’ products to bed, this now being over two dozen I’ve done of them, both with this dual FOH/TSAAF review along with all the extraneous stuff on FOH. Overall, they do better with snacks and if you’re interested in which they do somewhat well, please check out those videos (the nuts can be found in the Head to Head Battle Of The Hot Nuts videos).

CaJohn's BICH BCV Hot Sauce Review

 CaJohn's Bourbon-Infused Chipotle-Habanero Black Cherry Vanilla Hot Sauce

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UPDATE: Video support available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYCnECBctow

I was not aware this particular variation on my favorite grilling sauce existed until a recent trip to Burn YourTongue up in Ogden, whereby I saw them side-by-side on the shelf. The original is not only one of my most used (during grilling months, anyway), but also probably the sauce I have given away the most of, as it makes for a very handy gift for people who like heat or claim to like heat, but are probably neither chileheads not desirous of becoming one. Also, given that I did not wind up doing any accompanying grilling video for the first sauce, I wanted to also bring that about as well (video is in process as I type this).

The flavor of the original has a fairly prominent cherry aspect to begin with, so I was a bit curious how much more this would have (or if I got a mislabeled bottle of the other one). Vanilla seemed to me something fairly easy to get lost in this kind of sauce, so I was curious there as well. Tasting it, I could not detect much, if any, of a difference between this and the original. Side by side, the only difference is an infusion to the bourbon, which honestly translates very little, if at all. 

So, definitely check out the other review for the Original Bourbon-Infused, as most, if not all of it will also apply here. There is no practical difference as to heat or flavor, so the ratings will be the same.

Bottom line: While I was nervous about this iteration, as Cherry is not among my favorite flavors, this proved to be a near clone of the original, which is handy information if I run out of the other and can't find another bottle and this happens to be in stock. 

 Breakdown:

Heat level: 2
Flavor: 9
Flexibility: 7
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 10

Overall: 7

Pex Peppers Wildberry Whoop Ass Hot Sauce Review

Pex Peppers Wildberry Whoop Ass Hot Sauce

UPDATE: Video support available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdzxVOIajEo

My favorite episode of The Hot Ones is the one with Neil deGrasse Tyson, mainly because of the guest, but he also had an excellent comment regarding Mad Dog .357 having little regard for pretense, but just an all-encompassing heat. I thought of that with this sauce somewhat, though it is nowhere near that kind of heat. The label is pretty clear this a sauce that has no intention of playing. I don't always talk about the heat first, but more the flavor, which tends to be dominant in many other sauces. That is not, however, the case here.

I'm admittedly somewhat unfamiliar with 7 Pots, as I run across those in sauces somewhat rarely, but I believe they hover somewhere around the mighty Jolokia. There is a certain bitterness, a piercing odor as well, that is a commonality with everything above 1 million SHU and this one is no exception. It is that smell that alerts you to the idea that you may be in for more than bargained for. It's interesting the burn that different superhots will yield. This one was a bit reminiscent with me of extract, in that it was a somewhat sustained lingering burn all the way down to my stomach.

What we have here is an interesting idea: strawberry and blackberry, aka "wildberry," two ingredients I almost never see being used and then standing up to a super hot. Both blackberry and strawberry are somewhat subtle tastes, unless artificial, I suppose, but naturally, are both a bit on the delicate side, along with another ingredient in that vein, honey. And that's what we have here...a bit of this, depending on what you put it on, will yield either a strawberry or blackberry (sometimes both) note, along with here and there a bit of honey, which is enjoyable for a good flash, maybe up to a full second, before the heat and the bitterness of the 7 Pot comes roaring in. There is no question this is a quite punchy sauce and the label admonishment to use sparingly is definitely a sound strategy.

Because it is a fruit-based sweet hot, meats are a natural fit here for the lighter ones. Despite it being sweet, it does not make a very good grill sauce, but is probably best used as a dipping sauce. I did also attempt it on pizza, but didn't find that overall especially enjoyable. The more you can choose a food that will let its somewhat delicate flavor nature shine, the better.

Bottom line: Very interesting idea and a somewhat enjoyable sauce, but this is more for chileheads only. Without caution, this can quickly turn towards being punishing.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 6
            Flavor: 5
            Flexibility: 4
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 4

Overall: 5

Dr. Scoville's Tropical Citrus Surprise Hot Sauce Review

Bear River Bottling Dr. Scoville's Tropical Citrus Surprise Hot Sauce

UPDATE: Video support available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA1Y_pxLGzk

Pineapple and Habanero works in a sauce. Mango and Habanero works in a sauce, or, rather, I should say it CAN work in a sauce...numerous examples of it not being exactly a sure thing, but it definitely can work. No reason that pineapple and mango and Habanero can't be a sauce, though the milder flavor profile of the mango can get lost there. Going tropical with those two fruits and Habanero is definitely a winning combination, but, one that we've seen a few times, so how to differentiate one's sauce...

You could toss in some red bell peppers and take a stab towards the sauce profile of sweet & sour chicken, as I think this sauce sort of does. I don't know what the actual surprise is meant to be here, but I get the feeling it's the citrus component and here, we have a touch of lemon and orange zest, the latter of which tends to cut through notably. I'm not especially fond of that part, truth be told. Conversely, the pineapple is dialed back somewhat, which lets the Habanero shine. That part I think works well and is a bit different than a lot of other sauces I've had, which aim for a much more composite flavor.

Orange is not a flavor typical for hot sauces. It's been used before, but more in a juice context and not so much with the zest providing a lot of nose and shoving it way forward in the mix. It is a jolt when it hits, so perhaps that's the surprise. Other than that, it's a pretty straightforward sauce, with a pretty dense consistency that you might find closer to a jelly. It sticks reasonably well on foods and functions well as a dipping sauce. If you want to take a stab at a Kahuna-esque burger but don't want to be bothered grilling pineapple, you could substitute this, but better to do both, grill that pineapple, then use this sauce. Despite it's relatively high sugar content, I did not find it worked particularly well as a grilling sauce, so this one is probably better to use with meats after the fact.

Heat-wise, even though the label, as companies tend to do, overrates vastly the heat here, this is pretty moderate. Even non-chileheads shouldn't be troubled by this too much. I personally find the orange aspect limits how much I want to use this sauce, except for on that burger creation I mentioned, even in the areas where it does best. It is far too sweet for overall usage, but if you don't mind the orange as much as I do, can make a refreshing addition, used sparingly.

Bottom line: Solid entry into the sweet-hot category, though on the lower side of the heat scale there. Tropical citrus works better as a drink than a sauce, to my mind, but depending on how much you enjoy orange, your mileage may vary.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 2
            Flavor: 5
            Flexibility: 4
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 3

Overall: 3

CaJohn's Black Garlic Chipotle Hot Sauce Review

CaJohn's Black Garlic Chipotle Hot Sauce

UPDATE: Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58C45GkDM8Y

By now, regular readers should know that I'm all about the bold spirit of experimentalism here, particularly in food and so, if a sauce comes along with a new ingredient, especially an established ingredient in other cuisines, as its new darling boutique ingredient, naturally, I'm interested, particularly if it puts it in a position I had not previously thought of before and probably would never have considered directly. Exceedingly long sentences aside, another result is that sometimes you get culinary marvels, those wonders of flavor that redeem that lust for experimentation. Other times, you get a sauce like this.

It took me a very long time to get a read on this sauce. I wound up filming the video for it, in fact, something I almost never do, before writing this, because I had used up so much during testing and was afraid that I wouldn't have enough to put on camera otherwise. This is a somewhat pricey sauce and I do not care to buy another bottle, but it is good enough that I wanted to do a video support for it.

Part of the trouble is that it treads in two very different, and ultimately dissimilar, worlds. On one hand, you have a sweet soy sauce and the black garlic itself, both two fairly typical ingredients in a number of Asian cuisine styles. But, there is also that Chipotle, which tends to be much more prominent in Mexican dishes. There is a reason that the most you will restaurants doing is using Mexican words to describe Asian dishes, such as a sushi burrito for oversized futomaki. I have never seen the inverse, Asian words to describe Mexican dishes in a restaurant, incidentally, but maybe someday we'll see frijoles y huevos foo yung or something. I digress, but anyway, those styles do not mesh much, aside from specific ingredients, such as Jalapenos or Habaneros being used as a sushi topping.

So, here we have a sauce with very strong and bipolar influences competing. The early part of this bottle was heavy Chipotle, to the point where the far more subtle flavors of sweet soy and the black garlic were largely nullified. No guidance, oddly, was given on its usage, hence the endless experimenting. I found it worked best on ramen, was moderately interesting as a grill sauce and as a standalone condiment, was something I disliked using. It really need to be cooked in or otherwise combined with something, to meld. Forced to stand on its own and it gets either lost or impacts the food negatively (it is not a great-tasting solo sauce). Heat is very moderate, as you might expect with Chipotle being the hottest pepper used. 

Bottom line: This is, for me, a rare misfire from a usually reliable sauce company. I don't really understand what they were going for, despite the words "Umami Bomb" plastered everywhere, and this is ultimately a somewhat expensive sauce without an identity, that is both forgettable and skippable.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 1
            Flavor: 4
            Flexibility: 3
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 1

Overall: 2