UPDATE: Video support available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdzxVOIajEo
My favorite episode of The Hot Ones is the one with Neil deGrasse Tyson, mainly because of the guest, but he also had an excellent comment regarding Mad Dog .357 having little regard for pretense, but just an all-encompassing heat. I thought of that with this sauce somewhat, though it is nowhere near that kind of heat. The label is pretty clear this a sauce that has no intention of playing. I don't always talk about the heat first, but more the flavor, which tends to be dominant in many other sauces. That is not, however, the case here.
I'm admittedly somewhat unfamiliar with 7 Pots, as I run across those in sauces somewhat rarely, but I believe they hover somewhere around the mighty Jolokia. There is a certain bitterness, a piercing odor as well, that is a commonality with everything above 1 million SHU and this one is no exception. It is that smell that alerts you to the idea that you may be in for more than bargained for. It's interesting the burn that different superhots will yield. This one was a bit reminiscent with me of extract, in that it was a somewhat sustained lingering burn all the way down to my stomach.
What we have here is an interesting idea: strawberry and blackberry, aka "wildberry," two ingredients I almost never see being used and then standing up to a super hot. Both blackberry and strawberry are somewhat subtle tastes, unless artificial, I suppose, but naturally, are both a bit on the delicate side, along with another ingredient in that vein, honey. And that's what we have here...a bit of this, depending on what you put it on, will yield either a strawberry or blackberry (sometimes both) note, along with here and there a bit of honey, which is enjoyable for a good flash, maybe up to a full second, before the heat and the bitterness of the 7 Pot comes roaring in. There is no question this is a quite punchy sauce and the label admonishment to use sparingly is definitely a sound strategy.
Because it is a fruit-based sweet hot, meats are a natural fit here for the lighter ones. Despite it being sweet, it does not make a very good grill sauce, but is probably best used as a dipping sauce. I did also attempt it on pizza, but didn't find that overall especially enjoyable. The more you can choose a food that will let its somewhat delicate flavor nature shine, the better.
Bottom line: Very interesting idea and a somewhat enjoyable sauce, but this is more for chileheads only. Without caution, this can quickly turn towards being punishing.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 6
Flavor: 5
Flexibility: 4
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 4
Overall: 5
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