Amazon Habanero Hot Sauce
This is the fourth (and final) bottle from the Amazon 4-pack that I've been reviewing and conclusively, after fairly exhaustive testing, I can say the only dud in that 4 pack was that awful Mango sauce that I wound up tossing.
This particular one is another Louisiana-style sauce, substituting Habaneros instead of the usual Cayenne or Jalapeno, somewhat similar to the Tabasco Habanero, minus the actual tabasco part of it. This cuts out a lot of the sweetness from the Tabascos and just leaves a strong red Habanero flavor, tempered by the vinegar. I find the taste of this to be refreshing overall, but a bit confusing, since it functions about halfway as a Louisiana-style sauce (Habaneros are maybe not the most suitable pepper for this style) and functions halfway as a sort of Mexican-ish sauce, where Habaneros tend to be used more frequently.
The heat is about on part with the green Amazon pepper sauce, perhaps a bit hotter, but less vinegary, right around the level of the aforementioned Tabasco Habanero. The dropper is built right into the bottle, but the design is a bit pour because frequently more will come out than necessarily intended. It isn't a bad taste, by any means, but not exactly stellar, either. I think this one meshes better across a wider variety of food than does the green, but not by a landslide or anything. All in all, with that 4-pack, we had 2 pretty good sauces, 1 that was basically liquified smoke in a pepper sauce and 1 total misfire that needed to be tossed. Not too bad and definitely worth getting to check out, but I'm not sure I will ever repeat it.
Bottom line: By a razor thin margin, this one emerges as the best sauce of the 4-pack, very narrowly beating out the green Amazon sauce. Still not enough for a repeat purchase, but definitely enjoyable while the bottle lasts.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 4
Flavor: 7
Flexibility: 7
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 6
Overall: 6
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Amazon Chipotle Hot Sauce Review
Amazon Chipotle Hot Sauce
This is the third entry in an Amazon hot sauce 4 pack I got a while back from putting together a free shipping order. The other two entries (both reviewed elsewhere here) went 1 - 1, with the Mango being wretched and the Green sauce being somewhat interesting, enough so that it's one that I consider worthwhile. With the score tied overall for the box, it's now on to the Chipotle.
I actually opened this one before the Green sauce from last week, but the Green sauce was something I could pick up on right away and wanted to review that right away. For this one, despite it's apparent simplicity (sort of a liquified version of McCormick's Chipotle powder), I wanted to kick it around a bit more first.
There are no hidden subtleties or complexities here. This is more or less chipotle flavoring in a liquid form. It has the attendant degree of spiciness (as in not much) for that type of pepper and even though it's based in vinegar, by far the dominant characteristic is that smoke. So, a little goes a long way, but unlike the liquified adobo sauce from Wicked Cactus put out (Smoking Gun, I think? It's reviewed elsewhere here), this one has no additional anything other than the taste of chipotle.
Bottom line: There's not a great deal to say about this. It's liquified chipotle and a fairly strong taste at that, so a little goes a long way. It doesn't add a great degree of heat and it would be overpowering with the smokiness long before you got there. I guess you could use this as an additive, like that McCormick's dry chipotle powder, but it functions not particularly well on it's own as a sauce. I'm going to be generous and call this a hit, but just barely, raising the box record to 2 - 1, with one more left to go.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 2
Flavor: 5
Flexibility: 4
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 6
Overall: 4
This is the third entry in an Amazon hot sauce 4 pack I got a while back from putting together a free shipping order. The other two entries (both reviewed elsewhere here) went 1 - 1, with the Mango being wretched and the Green sauce being somewhat interesting, enough so that it's one that I consider worthwhile. With the score tied overall for the box, it's now on to the Chipotle.
I actually opened this one before the Green sauce from last week, but the Green sauce was something I could pick up on right away and wanted to review that right away. For this one, despite it's apparent simplicity (sort of a liquified version of McCormick's Chipotle powder), I wanted to kick it around a bit more first.
There are no hidden subtleties or complexities here. This is more or less chipotle flavoring in a liquid form. It has the attendant degree of spiciness (as in not much) for that type of pepper and even though it's based in vinegar, by far the dominant characteristic is that smoke. So, a little goes a long way, but unlike the liquified adobo sauce from Wicked Cactus put out (Smoking Gun, I think? It's reviewed elsewhere here), this one has no additional anything other than the taste of chipotle.
Bottom line: There's not a great deal to say about this. It's liquified chipotle and a fairly strong taste at that, so a little goes a long way. It doesn't add a great degree of heat and it would be overpowering with the smokiness long before you got there. I guess you could use this as an additive, like that McCormick's dry chipotle powder, but it functions not particularly well on it's own as a sauce. I'm going to be generous and call this a hit, but just barely, raising the box record to 2 - 1, with one more left to go.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 2
Flavor: 5
Flexibility: 4
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 6
Overall: 4
Friday, October 11, 2013
Amazon Green Hot Sauce Review
Amazon Green Hot Sauce
Like the Hot'N Sweet Mango sauce I reviewed not too long ago, this was part of a 4 pack I got to kick my order into free shipping. This one, with the Salsa Amazon Verde label, instantly brought to mind something along the lines of chili verde, which is sorely tempting me to make now, actually, but checking out the bottle, it is the wrong color thing and the wrong consistency entirely.
On the back of the box, there is an amusing blurb (most of the sauces have something interesting enough to read once in the blurb section) by some guy from Reader's Digest, who called this the best hot sauce he'd ever tried, which some heat, but not too hot. Despite that tepid endorsement (I would usually consider Reader's Digest fairly low on the list of sources I would trust for hot sauce), what we have here is not a bad little find. It's by no means great, either, though and certainly not competition, either heat-wise or taste-wise, for some of the ringers on my Standard List.
What we do have here amounts to basically a Louisiana-style sauce by way of Columbia (like all the Amazon brand sauces) using Amazon peppers instead of Cayenne, Tabasco or Jalapeno. It is maybe slightly hotter than regular Tabasco, though not greatly and the flavoring is different, of course, due to the use of the Amazon peppers instead of any of those others. I found it to be a pretty good change of pace, yet familiar enough to be comfortable and it's something I wouldn't mind eating again. It is not, however, even remotely a game-changer or anything I would consider best of anything, except for maybe best "Louisiana-style sauce by way of Columbia using Amazon peppers", mostly because it would have no direct competition for that title.
Bottom line: As Louisiana-styles are among some of my consistent favorites, I liked this sauce considerably in that it can be used interchangeably with any of those, has an ok amount of heat and has a generally good taste. It's nothing I have to have, by any means, but I'm enjoying what's here and so far, it is by far the best of the lot for the Amazon box, which is now 1-1 with 2 more sauces to go.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 3
Flavor: 7
Flexibility: 7
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 6
Overall: 6
Like the Hot'N Sweet Mango sauce I reviewed not too long ago, this was part of a 4 pack I got to kick my order into free shipping. This one, with the Salsa Amazon Verde label, instantly brought to mind something along the lines of chili verde, which is sorely tempting me to make now, actually, but checking out the bottle, it is the wrong color thing and the wrong consistency entirely.
On the back of the box, there is an amusing blurb (most of the sauces have something interesting enough to read once in the blurb section) by some guy from Reader's Digest, who called this the best hot sauce he'd ever tried, which some heat, but not too hot. Despite that tepid endorsement (I would usually consider Reader's Digest fairly low on the list of sources I would trust for hot sauce), what we have here is not a bad little find. It's by no means great, either, though and certainly not competition, either heat-wise or taste-wise, for some of the ringers on my Standard List.
What we do have here amounts to basically a Louisiana-style sauce by way of Columbia (like all the Amazon brand sauces) using Amazon peppers instead of Cayenne, Tabasco or Jalapeno. It is maybe slightly hotter than regular Tabasco, though not greatly and the flavoring is different, of course, due to the use of the Amazon peppers instead of any of those others. I found it to be a pretty good change of pace, yet familiar enough to be comfortable and it's something I wouldn't mind eating again. It is not, however, even remotely a game-changer or anything I would consider best of anything, except for maybe best "Louisiana-style sauce by way of Columbia using Amazon peppers", mostly because it would have no direct competition for that title.
Bottom line: As Louisiana-styles are among some of my consistent favorites, I liked this sauce considerably in that it can be used interchangeably with any of those, has an ok amount of heat and has a generally good taste. It's nothing I have to have, by any means, but I'm enjoying what's here and so far, it is by far the best of the lot for the Amazon box, which is now 1-1 with 2 more sauces to go.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 3
Flavor: 7
Flexibility: 7
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 6
Overall: 6
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Castillo Salsa Habanera (Red) Hot Sauce Review
Castillo Salsa Habanera (Red) Hot Sauce
While casting about in a grocery store I very rarely drive by, let alone frequent, I happened down the condiment aisle, as is my usual wont, on the off-chance there was something there I hadn't tried yet and had an actual interest in doing so. Most of the sauces I skip because I either have already tried them or can read the label and generally extrapolate they will be of insufficient heat for me to bother with (I say this now, as I have a backlog of sauces still to go -- that might change as I run lower). In this case, it is yet another in the series of Mexican table sauces and the use of habanero means it will generally be in the right (or close enough) area heat-wise for it to be worthwhile.
The first time I tried this (at the same time as (reviewed last week) Born To Hula & more of the Zaaschila on some Taco Bell dreck -- same pepper, but 3 very different sauces, all failures in elevating the nasty tacos), it was a bust. But, keeping in mind that Mexican table sauces are designed largely with one specific style of food in mind, I kept at it.
If I had to try to pigeonhole the flavor, I would say it was a far smoother and much hotter version of the Valentina Xtra Hot (also reviewed in this blog). This is one of the first sauces based on habanero that actually acts as I expect it to, based on how the pepper reacts, namely, very low initial heat, but a constantly building presence. That is exactly what this one does. Instead of using the habanero hammer like El Yucateco Red (also reviewed in this blog) does, the heat comes on in waves. The flavor is much closer to the Valentina, though, as this is clearly intended to be a table sauce, albeit a much hotter one than normal for that category. It is not sizzling hot or anything; most chileheads will find this to be no challenge at all. Comparatively, it is probably slightly hotter at full blast than the El Yucateco Green, but not notably so.
Bottom line: Depending on if the fairly recent UNLV study on lead in Mexican table sauces concerns you (this sauce was one of those listed - one of the El Yucatecos was also), this may be a viable option if you want a table sauce with a lot more bite. The flavor is almost muted at first, compared to some of the other, but comes on nicely with the heat. I found a little goes a long way, not because it tastes bad, but because that allows it to mesh flavors well. It's something I wouldn't mind having again, but honestly don't see myself going out of my way to get, either.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 4
Flavor: 6
Flexibility: 5
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 7
Overall: 5
While casting about in a grocery store I very rarely drive by, let alone frequent, I happened down the condiment aisle, as is my usual wont, on the off-chance there was something there I hadn't tried yet and had an actual interest in doing so. Most of the sauces I skip because I either have already tried them or can read the label and generally extrapolate they will be of insufficient heat for me to bother with (I say this now, as I have a backlog of sauces still to go -- that might change as I run lower). In this case, it is yet another in the series of Mexican table sauces and the use of habanero means it will generally be in the right (or close enough) area heat-wise for it to be worthwhile.
The first time I tried this (at the same time as (reviewed last week) Born To Hula & more of the Zaaschila on some Taco Bell dreck -- same pepper, but 3 very different sauces, all failures in elevating the nasty tacos), it was a bust. But, keeping in mind that Mexican table sauces are designed largely with one specific style of food in mind, I kept at it.
If I had to try to pigeonhole the flavor, I would say it was a far smoother and much hotter version of the Valentina Xtra Hot (also reviewed in this blog). This is one of the first sauces based on habanero that actually acts as I expect it to, based on how the pepper reacts, namely, very low initial heat, but a constantly building presence. That is exactly what this one does. Instead of using the habanero hammer like El Yucateco Red (also reviewed in this blog) does, the heat comes on in waves. The flavor is much closer to the Valentina, though, as this is clearly intended to be a table sauce, albeit a much hotter one than normal for that category. It is not sizzling hot or anything; most chileheads will find this to be no challenge at all. Comparatively, it is probably slightly hotter at full blast than the El Yucateco Green, but not notably so.
Bottom line: Depending on if the fairly recent UNLV study on lead in Mexican table sauces concerns you (this sauce was one of those listed - one of the El Yucatecos was also), this may be a viable option if you want a table sauce with a lot more bite. The flavor is almost muted at first, compared to some of the other, but comes on nicely with the heat. I found a little goes a long way, not because it tastes bad, but because that allows it to mesh flavors well. It's something I wouldn't mind having again, but honestly don't see myself going out of my way to get, either.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 4
Flavor: 6
Flexibility: 5
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 7
Overall: 5
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