Diablo (Jalapeno) Pepper Sauce Review

Cactus Candy Company Diablo (Jalapeno) Pepper Sauce

UPDATE: Video support available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxzfN1dVGDw

I always get kind of excited when I see the word "Diablo" or "Diabla" or the related variations in association with foods. Shrimp Fra Diavolo (Italy) is one of my very favorite dishes to make and eat. Same with Shrimp Diablo (Mexico) when I'm eating out. Both are reliable standbys when I'm at a restaurant for the first time and don't know to what extent, if any, I can trust the kitchen. Both are dishes that when done right border on art, but even if done not so great, like Thai food generally, they're still pretty hard to screw up.

So this, with the idea of a hot sauce calling itself Diablo, perked my attention when I saw it there, hanging out on the shelf. I originally got this during an impromptu COVID shopping spree, when I figured that places were going to start being shut down and I wanted to make sure I had a backlog at hand, just in case. I would not normally be motivated to get a Jalapeno sauce, as I'm finding those rather universally disappointing these days. Sadly, this will not be a sauce to break that streak.

Indeed this one, coming out of Arizona from a candy company, is going to be binned, once the video is shot.  The label is an absolute mess, as you can see, and it should have perhaps given me my first clue, though I don't automatically reject sauces based on labels.

Imagine, if you will, someone going to the trouble of make an apple cider reduction, then dumping a bunch of taco seasoning spices into it and bottling it. That is, in effect, what we have here and it is rather noxious, immediately ruining whatever it is put on. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there is little craft here and this is easily the worst sauce I've had this year. I am calling it Jalapeno, based on the website description. Despite it being the only pepper listed in the ingredient panel, there is, however, no actual Jalapeno flavor to be found. This is really a shame as a solid Jalapeno flavoring would have really helped out here.

Bottom line: This is fundamentally not a good sauce, unless what you really want is heavily cider-flavored vinegar-based sauce with some random spices thrown in.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 0
            Flavor: 0
            Flexibility: 0
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 0


Overall: 0