Eddie Ojeda's Twisted Peach Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce
Note: Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h8mXpAKdp4
Another entry from the guitarist of Twisted Sister and this one fares a bit less well, in some respects, than the Apple Serrano entry (review elsewhere on this blog). I think part of this is due to the peach itself, which can frequently be a very subtle flavor, unless stepped on. Unless this was shaken frequently (and I forgot plenty of times), the consistency was simply absent. This means that at times, there was little to no heat and at times, enough to demonstrate clearly why the Carolina Reaper enjoys its current perch atop the heap as the hottest pepper in the world. Many times, there would be a good flavor, but several, I'd have to use progressively more sauce than what I would consider normal, to even find that flavor, then to be hit with what turned out to be a very solid heat. I like the idea behind this sauce and wish it would have come across differently, but consistency in sauces is an oft-overlooked but definitely important factor if not present.
When this sauce is on, it's on, combining a very nice sweetness and lovely peach bouquet and flavor to the hammer contrast of the Carolina Reaper peppers, which admittedly, are rivaling the surprising good taste of former champ Scorpion peppers for me. Jolokias can be hit or miss for me and Habaneros nearly always a miss, but the Scorpions and the Reapers have a flavor profile that I lean much more towards like than dislike. Not to say I love them or would seek them out to eat them raw, necessarily, but I think both have a lot to offer in flavor as well as heat. Here, there was a constant battle between the peach and the Reapers, with neither quite being the dominant flavor and leaving it in a weird sort of middle land, nearly absent of any kind of flavor, other than something vaguely sweet, but mostly muted and minimal, that left me more confused than anything.
Bottom line: This is worth a shot, if you like higher heat fruit sauces. When it is on, it could rival the best of anything out there, but the downside is you have to work for it. Any lapse and this is a sauce you could easily skip. This inconsistency made it challenging to rate, as well.
UPDATE September 2021: Maybe it's the various batches or maybe the formula has been tweaked, but I would put this as probably the best peach hot sauce I've ever had.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 3
Flavor: 10
Flexibility: 7
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 10
Overall: 8
