Beach Shack Pineapple Mango Habanero Hot Sauce Review

Beach Shack Pineapple Mango Habanero

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating that when newer sauce companies, of which I believe this is one, are entering a segment of the market that is well-established, in this case, the fruit-based sweet hots, there are a couple avenues of approach for differentiation. They can either do what the segment is already doing, but just do it way better or they can choose to make a variant that is unlike everything else, yet still within the bounds of the category. Beach Shack appears to choose neither here.

I imagine that rather than making a pineapple-Habanero or a mango-Habanero, they decided to just use both, but the result is that the flavor is like neither, but instead more of a general “tropical” vibe. This is then accented by a couple of unusual additions, that of lime and cilantro, with the first being unwelcome and the second being lost. The sauce itself will, at times, have flashes of Habanero, but that appears to be there mostly for heat, though it is pretty low. 

The flavor isn’t bad or anything, just more unusual with the unexpected flavor notes. It reminds me a bit of the celery in the mix with one of the previously reviewed entries, the Poirier’s Original Lousiana-Style, in that I keep forgetting its part of things and find it jarring when I’m reminded on the palate when consuming it. Citrus is one of those ingredients, where I think one has to be judicious, as it’s a fairly strong flavor that won’t always go with everything where this style of sauce might, like pizza, for example, and here, it works to disadvantage, in cutting down the flexibility. It also moves this into being a sauce not especially representative or reflective of the category it’s in. For those unfamiliar with the style, they’re probably better off with a different sauce first.

Bottom line: If you’re a person who likes lime in everything and/or is curious what a tropical Habanero sauce would be like with lime in it, this might be right up your alley. For me, it’s much less so.

Breakdown:

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

Overall: 3