Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce Review

Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce

UPDATE: Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzwwnwuTqg8

I've been having my eye out lately for the Texas Pete Sabor! (reviewed elsewhere on this blog), in order to pick it up opportunistically during regular shopping and thereby have it at hand to run it for the FOH video series (in an effort I'm internally calling past masters, which is entirely nonsensical, now that I think of it, but mnemonic devices and all). I have been entirely not successful in actually locating it, but did come across this, which I had in mind to do roughly when I started the blog and never quite got around to doing. 

I don't understand the fascination a lot of people seem to have with the Chick-Fil-A chain (yes, I've eaten there before - did for years when it was only in malls and one opened up down the street from where I lived and was accessible for a while before people glommed onto it) to the point where they will block traffic and wait 40+ minutes in a drive through line (fuck that, by the way - nothing there is that good). I do, however, believe that the strong presence of the Texas Pete sauce packets is a strong part of that. The chicken they do have seems almost tailor-made for the sauce, or possibly vice versa, and yes, I am saying a condiment is at least partially responsible for the rise of that particular chain, despite its odious politics (another reason I am loathe to visit the locations).

Texas Pete Original, which I think is in the sauces (may also be a custom blend, possibly), is an excellent version of the Louisiana-style. It is quite tasty and has the relative low heat of the majority of entries in that category. If there is one complaint one hears frequently, it is that those often vinegary concoctions are not really hot and people, particularly chileheads, could do with more heat. Thus, this entry (and a few others) in the more mainstream sauces, which ideally would have the same flavor but with more heat. The company insists this is 3X hotter than the regular version, which I will accept at face value.

I strongly suspect there is the presence of extract (Natural Flavor on the label) here driving this. It is hotter than the regular, to be sure, though it will not phase any chilehead, but it is an immediate, spiky mouth heat, which is very reminiscent of nearly every extract sauce I've had. This has also rather notably downgraded the flavor, though I should note it is also slightly less vinegary. It has taken a very solid Louisiana-style sauce and make it just more or less ok. Any element that detracts from the Cayenne pepper flavor in these style sauces is a decided negative for me and this sauce is a pity in that respect. I'm seeing a lot more extract usage in spicy items than I used to and I'm circling back to considering that usage a cheat. I understand why they do it, as it would be hard to justify changing over production of the regular (and much more in demand) sauces when you could just add extract, but this has again wound up with slightly higher heat at the cost of flavor rather than creating the best of both worlds effect they were hoping to do.

Bottom line: A slightly hotter, but far less tasty version of the ubiquitous Original sauce at a chicken chain and on regular shelves. For me, the sacrifice of flavor in service of heat is not a good bargain in this sauce. 

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 2
            Flavor: 6
            Flexibility: 6
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 6

Overall: 5