The Antidote Hot Sauce Review

Zombie Cajun The Antidote Hot Sauce

On the surface, this seems like an easy way to spike a Louisiana-style sauce: simply add the relatively popular Habanero, which will supply a solid amount of heat and not be too offensive taste-wise, containing none of the bitterness, for instance, of the Scorpion or Jolokia peppers. I think this temptation is certainly attractive to sauce-makers on a number of levels and I see it even as far as Tabasco using it and it definitely adds more heat, typically on the back end, but to me, it also adds an element to a Louisiana-style sauce I don't necessarily want, since I am not, by rights, much of a fan of Habanero and certainly not to the extent of the gorgeous Cayenne, for instance.

As Habanero-flavored Louisiana-style sauces go, this is a good one, definitely one of the better entries on that side of thing. If you're a fan of that flavor combination, you will find much to enjoy here. There is solid heat, but nothing particularly scorching, although it seems to be amplified a bit by the heavy vinegar presence. It definitely is hotter than most of the Louisiana-style sauces and probably a bit moreso than several of the ones using Habanero also. It is also notably redder than the original Zombie Cajun.

Taste is pretty solid as well. This is very nicely blended, but for me, I find the presence of Habanero to be more distracting than anything. This is also a sauce that needs considerably more agitation than the regular Zombie Cajun, with what I'm guessing is pepper mash that likes to stick to the side of the plastic bottle. Again, no restrictor cap, either, so oversaucing is always on the table (no pun) and this would probably not be a good sauce to do that with. Happily, it is somewhat of an improvement on the taste of the original and the odd flavoring note I mentioned in the other one is entirely absent here. This one tends to overpower stuff, though, so usage tends to be restricted to foods with a stronger flavor base.

Bottom line: For me, this is not a sauce I would either use regularly or keep on hand, as I'm not a fan of that flavor combination. It is hotter then the original, but it is also different tasting and if you don't like Habanero flavoring in your Louisiana-style sauce, like yours truly, give this one a pass. If you do, however, you will be hard-pressed to improve on this.

Breakdown:

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

Overall: 5