Bravado Crimson Special Reserve Hot Sauce Review

Bravado Crimson Special Reserve Hot Sauce

This is a very unassuming bottle and packaging, which makes it all the more stealthy. Make no mistake, though: this one packs a massive heat punch. This is one that is a much stepped on version of the regular Crimson sauce, which is presumably a somewhat tame Arbol chili sauce and ramps it up notably. I have no idea what the regular sauce tastes like and was not able to get any sense of it at all from this as it was full tilt Scorpion peppers.

The slight sweet and fruitiness of them is there in full force...and little else. If you like the taste of that pepper, you'll love this sauce...for me, I'm not what one would call a huge fan of that peppers flavor and like it in much smaller doses, more as an accent than anything else and this is far from that. No idea what the SHU rating is on this, but it is pretty considerable.

Overall, I don't really enjoy the flavor of this. I wish it had a restrictor cap, as I've over-sauced (and somewhat ruined) more than one dish by the runny nature of this sauce. I found it to work best on things with very strong flavors, particularly creamy sauces, where it melded in nicely and did a nice job improving the flavor, but truth be told, I struggled a lot to find a place for this. That it continually separates in the bottle is also kind of a nuisance, but not the end of the world as I habitually shake all sauces prior to using regardless.

Bottom line: I don't know what to make of this or how it would ever fit in my regular stable. I was hoping this would be something other than what it turned out to be, which is more or less a straight across Scorpion sauce.


Breakdown:

            Heat level: 8
            Flavor: 4
            Flexibility: 4
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 6

Overall: 6

Shield Maiden Hot Sauce Review

Z's Shield Maiden Hot Sauce - [TSAAF Sauce Of The Year 2017]

UPDATE: Video support available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGirsZ5LDsA

Another entry from Utah and this one appears to take aim, more or less, at the vaunted territory occupied by the hallowed ground of Blair's Pure Death. While not exactly a 1:1 version, there are many, many similarities, starting with the Habaneros and hitting the Hawaiian salt as well. I don't know how similar the vinegars are, but while Pure Death opts for Jolokias, this one switches gears to incorporate clove honey, carrots, Jalapenos and Cayenne. If forced to choose just one all-time favorite, I'd probably start weeping openly at the difficulty of such a thing, but definitely the Pure Death would be in the running and near the top. This one isn't quite flavor competition for that, but is excellent in its own right.  Even with those additions, it is oddly not hugely sweeter than Pure Death, though somewhat. It is less like the other Habanero-Carrot sauces I've had and this is a good thing. Perhaps it is something in between, as it does not strongly overpower food as Pure Death can sometimes do. Rather, this one plays a lot nicer.

The first ingredient here is not a pepper, so heat is more on the moderate side for chileheads, though people not in that category could find it somewhat uncomfortable out of the gate. There is a nice build with the Habaneros as well, so this is definitely not for anyone to just grab and run with, unless they're at least somewhat accustomed to the fundamentals of heat. It is very smooth and well-blended and, again like Pure Death, will go with damn near anything you want to put it on. In fact, while I don't particularly hugely enjoy this or Pure Death with Mexican food especially, they will even work there. This is not to say it's bad, just that I enjoy other things more. It even works on Asian foods, which is somewhat of a rarity.

Neither here nor there, but I also get a kick out of the imagery and Viking leanings. This is a fairly strongly resonance to my personal heritage and may not apply to everyone, but it's nice to see my ancestry represented in the hot sauce world.

Bottom line: A very impressive entry from Z's Hot Sauce, excellently flavorful, with a decent but not overpowering amount of heat. While this is not going on my Regulars list, I would happily pick up a bottle anytime. This is also the strongest entry to date for SOTY 2017.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 5
            Flavor: 9
            Flexibility: 10
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 10

Overall: 9