Bad Brains Fire Burn Babylon Hot Sauce Review

Heartbreaking Dawn's Bad Brains Fire Burn Babylon Hot Sauce

This is a sauce of firsts for me, first sauce I've had with the Scotch Bonnet pepper (I think the only major one yet I haven't hit is the 7-Pot) and first from Heartbreaking Dawn. This is another of the so-called "celebrity" sauces, this one from punk legends Bad Brains and it's designed to be a sort of Jamaican-type sauce.

Combining several elements as diverse as papaya (which is not one of my most-liked fruits) and dry mustard, the flavor concoction here is short of mind-blowing. I may as well just come right out and say it -- this is far and away the best fruit-based sauce I've ever had. The balance of the vinegar and Scotch Bonnets and mustard is done so amazingly skillfully that it's never sweet or cloying and all of the flavors are there, somehow, front and center and distinguishable. I'd say that is a major, major accomplishment.

Much like the Pure Death (reviewed elsewhere in this blog), this is such a good tasting sauce that it can be put on nearly anything (I'd say skip the milk and cereal) and it will positively enhance the flavor. It is also subtle and unlike the Pure Death, does not override the flavors as much as mesh with them. Also unlike Pure Death, this has very little heat, which is the only real downside here. The score of 2 I'm giving it is very generous...

Bottom line: Easily the best fruit-based sauce I've had, it has redeemed the papaya and fruit-based sauces in general for me. This is a sauce that is borderline drinkable and were it to have some decent modicum of heat, would be a strong contender to knock the current runaway favorite for sauce of the year in 2013, Pure Death, off its perch.

Breakdown:

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

Overall: 8