I assure you I did not mean for this to be late, but, as they say, 2021 had to fit one final bit of fuckery in at the end. If you read the placeholder part before, it details the sordid saga of the fight I had with my Dell computer, which also happened to have the content I will get to shortly and which I could not get working, nor secure the file, until just now. In short, Dell refuses to stand behind their machine, though it did not even make 5 months of operation (and is well under warranty...and was more expensive). Clearly, they do not care once they have your money, so, I say this with all the venom and sincerity I can muster: fuck Dell computers. I will never buy another and strongly encourage anyone who does not want to fight with the miscreants they have on "support" to follow my lead. Anyway, that aside, on to the show...
The blog now enters its 10th year...though not quite 10 years old until fall next year. This has also been one of the more personally tumultuous years for me, ever, with a series of “major life events,” happening with little break between, right in succession, and I would be hard pressed to say most were at all on the positive side. Everyone has troubles, particularly in these pandemic times, and I certainly won’t be spending time here with a litany of the ills this year has laid at my feet, but they caused me to miss, among other things, the last grill-out of the season, and it was very narrow thing that I kept my unbroken streak of months with a review posted in this blog intact. Missing 5 of 6 weeks across September/October also ensured that the Carolina Reaper experiment will press on into 2022, as I was not able to conclude it in 2021 (and which means a new record-holder hottest pepper will probably be crowned next year). However, specific to Reapers, I am hopeful I can keep my tolerance sufficiently high enough to enjoy those without the affiliated cramping, which I rarely get once it’s up there, but most definitely do not enjoy. I almost am inclined to say it is not only a higher than normal necessary tolerance, but perhaps even a different one, more specific to Reapers. More discussion of Reapers will follow throughout this blog.
Even for all of that, I blew by last year (50 posts) and the previous high year of 2013 (52) in terms of posting, passing both of them in November and managed to complete the alphabet with a "U" entry before the end of the year. A bit frustratingly, views were down for the blog slightly this year compared to last year. Views overall tend to be really specifically related to the actual sauces and since I don’t really do a lot of stuff that’s either mass market or the very latest thing on the chilehead side, I never quite know what will draw...or when. Most of the top 10 reviews for this blog tend to be what I consider archive sauces, in that I’ve done most, if not all, of them quite some time ago. This was started, like all of my other various blogs throughout the years, more for me, though, and I really enjoy doing it, so there won’t be any forthcoming changes anytime soon, other than continuing content. Me not posting on a schedule, except for the quarterly updates, probably isn’t especially helpful, but we work with what we got...I formerly tried not to keep more than 10 open sauces at any one time, as I’ve found that I will start neglecting other open bottles (I try to finish all the sauces entirely) and keep passing them over, particularly if they’re not quite as resonant as some of the other ones, but the Quarterly Wing Things has allowed me a bit more latitude.
In more positive news, if I maintain even remotely this kind of pacing next year, I will hit 300 sauces in full reviews. I don’t have quite enough at hand to hit that number now, so sounds like another shopping trip will be in the works (oh noes lol). I do have some new stuff planned for 2022 on the FOH non-sauce video side, if people ever get their heads out of their asses enough for COVID to subside. As hinted at in December, which also saw the highest posted video total (14), I am definitely going to be reintroducing the Head To Head Spicy Chicken sandwich battles, though a touch differently in the future, as well as some surprises, which was touched on in November. I still don’t know if I will reach enough content for the entire year, as of right now, I have enough in the can through Q2 and into Q3, including special holiday and hopefully my grilling season mustards (may have to add BBQ sauce this year...maybe) postings, so I should come really, really close to the full year. I love doing that stuff. The regular hot sauce videos are cool also, don’t get me wrong, but the non-sauce stuff, since I don’t cover it here, is a nice change of pace and gives more of a full rounding to the chilehead experience.
Speaking of a fuller rounding of things, I *finally* was able to find a hot sauce that functioned well as a dessert sauce, namely the Hellfire Sauceress (check the review), which I then followed up with the Twisted Peach Reaper from Eddie Ojeda, which seemed to beg to be put on peach pie, which I did, and it was delicious. That is probably my pick for all-around best peach hot sauce, just fabulous.
As mentioned earlier, I also am getting closer to finally being out of both Scorpion and Reaper sauces, a day I look forward to with some degree of relish, particularly in the case of the Scorpions, which I would not be saddened at all never to partake of again. I probably will not get further sauces with that pepper, other than sauces on The Hot Ones. I will say the Reapers are growing on me a bit, but I find them a really contextual pepper. In the right application, they’re fine, certainly not quite to the level of the Ghosts, in terms of my enjoyment, but fine. In the lesser applications, they definitely make me wish something else had been used, but I probably won’t be excluding them. They are definitely one I need to be judicious with, though, as they induce internal reactions quite unlike any other pepper or even extract, sometimes hours after consumption, again quite unlike any of the other superhots or extracts. Reapers will appear again a bit later on in this post.
I managed to fail on my stated goal from last year (as I also did last year and I think also 2019, when I started doing the FOH video series) of having a FOH support video for every single sauce that got a full review in the blog this year. Possibly that will be something that I manage in 2022, now that we’re well in the 10th year, but there are zero years of the blog where there is a video support for all the full written reviews. I do have at least one in every year of the blog, however. Trying to get videos for every sauce with a full written review for the year, I find very difficult with certain sauces, though, if they come into conflict with my “life is too short for bad sauces” mantra and I don’t feel I have to consume them again. Absent a pressing incentive, my prevailing sentiment becomes better to bin them, be done, and get them out of memory to move on to better things. I do try very hard to shoot videos for every sauce that has a full written review, though, so for one not to have that usually means it is something truly egregious.
So, once again, that remains a goal for 2022. I’m also getting close to getting caught up on the archive sauces I have flagged to try to get to soonest. However, I don’t know how many of those I’ll be actually doing in 2022, given that I still have not caught up to sauces I bought in 2020, which brings up another goal, which is to not acquire more sauces until my backload of new, unopened bottles is at least down to single digits.
I have now reviewed (and for most of them, also filmed and posted) at least one sauce from every season of The Hot Ones, and at least one sauce for each of the 1 - 10 slots. I do notice that there are a few sauces in the early seasons where I have done a written review, but not a support video, and I have those on the list to get to, but given that they are archive sauces, they are not a priority and probably will be among the last to be done, especially the ones I didn’t find particularly compelling. There are also a few that are in mini-reviews rather than full reviews and those I’m still trying to decide how interested I am in converting them to full reviews and then shooting video content for them. That, again, is pretty far back on the list, if at all. The priority order of sauces that appeared on the show, as it stands now, is as follows:
1) Sauces I’m greatly interested in, that I have not done a written full review on, that I can get locally, either via one of the Burn Your Tongue locations or Pirate O’s or possibly Grove or grocery stores.
2) Sauces I’m greatly interested in, that I have not done a written full review on, that I can get reasonably easily online.
3) Sauces I’m greatly interest in, that I have not done a written full review on, that I can only get via The Heatonist.
4) Sauces I’m less interested in, that I have not done a written full review on, that I can get locally, either via one of the Burn Your Tongue locations or Pirate O’s or possibly Grove or grocery stores.
5) Sauces I’m less interested in, that I have not done a written full review on, that I can get reasonably easily online.
6) Sauces I’m less interested in, that I have not done a written full review on, that I can only get via The Heatonist.
7) Sauces I have done a written full review on, but that I did not particularly enjoy.
8) Sauces I have done a written mini-review on.
As can be seen, The Hot Ones sauces don’t make up even close to the majority of content that hits the blog (or the FOH video series), so it could be 2025 before I get anywhere near shooting videos for some of those very early season sauces. However, the first 4 seasons for the Hot Ones are done entirely, at least in terms of some form of written review, with a couple other seasons very close, which puts me at 25% of all seasons, at least for as many sauces as were in consideration (see list at right for more information on that) for me to do. I have a number of those at hand to continue on and am hopeful I can get to the halfway point in 2022, though we, as they say, will see.
In terms of raw numbers, as of right now, across 16 seasons, there are a total of 91 sauces out of 160 (10 per season) that are both available and that I would consider doing (meaning they do not have an onion component). Deleting duplicates gives a revised total of 60 individual sauces. Of that pool of 60, I have done written mini-reviews on 8. Of the 52 remaining, I have done written full reviews on 16. Of that pool, 3 are written reviews only. This leaves another 36 sauces to fully realize the completion, of at least written reviews, through 16 seasons. There are no seasons that I would consider doing all the sauces in entirety, but there are several seasons with 6 sauces and 7 sauces. The season with the highest number of sauces is Season 2, with 8. The season with the lowest number is Season 6, with 3 sauces. It is well worth noting that I also created another FOH Playlist, this one just for The Hot Ones sauces, if you want to follow along specific to that.
We will get into the SOTY discussion more, but first, as we usually do, some numbers...some of these numbers I failed to collect before the end of the year, thanks to that computer issue also holding my spreadsheet, so I'm just going to go with what is current as of 01/07/22, when I'm finally updating this.
As usual, all written reviews for sauces can be clicked to from the Table Of Contents page (link on right):
Total posts (including this post): 315
Total views (as of this writing): ~29,895
Total sauces full reviewed: 266
Average rating, all full review sauces: 4.47
Total mini-sauce reviews: 36
Total sauces reviewed, combined: 302
Total full review sauces with FOH video content: 127
Total unopened sauces waiting on shelf for review: 18
Total open sauces waiting for blog review: 5
Total open sauces waiting for video support: 4
Total open bottles in fridge: 14
Highest viewed review: 1,590 - Private Selection Mango Scotch Bonnet Hot Sauce
Highest viewed article, any type: 1,590 - Private Selection Mango Scotch Bonnet Hot Sauce
Current standby sauces are:
*Emeritus Everyday/Louisiana-style sauce: Trappey's Red Devil
*Emeritus Asian-style sauce: Huy Fong Chili-Garlic Sauce
*Everyday sauce (and current overall favorite): Blair’s Pure Death Sauce
*Grilling sauce: CaJohn's Bourbon-Infused Chipotle Habanero (BICH)
*Mustard-style sauce: Inner Beauty
*Pizza sauce (used instead of actual pizza sauce): Boar’s Head Jalapeno Pepper Sauce
*Mexican-style sauce: Blend of Irazu Fire-Roasted Habanero + Pallotta Hot Fire Habanero
*Louisiana-style sauce: Irazu Cayenne
*Sweet-hot sauce: CaJohn's Happy Beaver
*= Not looking for a replacement
Ok, as promised, after all of the usual business out of the way, it’s time for that SOTY discussion. I got a couple of contenders right away in the year, with dual entries from Big Red’s, a hot sauce company from down in Arizona that I’m really rooting for (go check out their newly revamped website). Those were the God’s Wrath and 3 Kings, and of the two, I was leaning a lot more towards God’s Wrath, but the year was far from over.
A lot of the buzz I’d heard about was the Gindo’s line and I finally got to it this year with the Honey Habanero, which immediately vaulted into competition and supplanted the God’s Wrath as leading contender. It was also one of the fastest I’ve finished any sauce and it was an 8 oz. bottle as well. Fast forward a bit and I got to the Gindo’s Original, which was frankly jaw-dropping delicious. I liked it so well I burned through the bottle I had and immediately got another so I could get it into one of my Wing Things (and also try it as a pizza sauce). Well, I wound up splitting with my soon-to-be-ex wife, who made the dough from scratch for those pizzas, so I did the next best thing and got some croissant dough and made mini-pizzas with it. Delicious, but I still like Boar’s Head Jalapeno for that specific application better.
Anyway, I wound up whipping through the 2nd bottle in no time also, which makes it 16 oz, three times the usual 5 oz. bottles of “regular” sauces, and something I’ve never done before for any SOTY candidate. This also made it back to back years of having a single manufacturer with two entries into the SOTY competition and the first time it had ever seen two entries by two different manufacturers. Also, this was a fairly heavy Habanero-heavy year, though the Ghost showed up a couple times as well.
The Gindo’s Original was looking really really strong to take the crown, but right before all the shit hit the proverbial fan in September/October (see Q3 2021 update for more on that), along comes Silk City and their Badass Jew sauce, which is phenomenal. That sauce I enjoyed greatly, particularly in breakfast burritos (probably the equal of the Gindo’s Original, which is also great there), but when I put them head to head, I definitely wanted to eat the Gindo’s Original more (and, in fact, was sorely tempted to not pick up a 3rd bottle - I didn’t because my backlog is kind of intense again). Preference is a huge part of things, but I couldn’t look past the nearly overwhelming compelling urge to get more of the Gindo’s Original. However, it still wasn’t clear sailing. Enter John Hard of CaJohn’s, a company seemingly perpetually in contention, in late October with an entry I’d had on the back burner for a while, Reaper Sling Blade, which marks, unless I’m not recalling correctly, the first time any Reaper sauce has ever been in contention for SOTY. It is a fantastic sauce, but it wasn’t necessarily the first thing I’d reach for when I opened the fridge door, which was definitely the case with the Gindo’s.
So, deservedly, after wresting the top spot away from an entry from its own company, the Gindo’s Original held off two very, very substantial challengers, by a hair in both cases, to take this year’s Sauce Of The Year.
Previous TSAAF Sauce Of The Year winners (links to reviews in Table Of Contents page):
2012: CaJohn’s Happy Beaver
2013: Blair’s Pure Death
2014: Born To Hula’s Ghost Of Ancho
2015: Voodoo Chile’s Voo Dew Honey Doo
2016: Pirate O’s Surface Of The Sun Hot Sauce
2017: Z’s Shield Maiden Hot Sauce
2018: Taco Jesus Cayenne Pepper Sauce
2019: Torchbearer Ultimate Annihilation
2020: Mikey V’s Sweet Ghost Pepper
If you want to read more from me, check out my wine about blog, the Happy Sippin’ Companion (HSC). It has been put on inactive status as of 2019, with no plans to resurrect it, but still remains up for viewing (link also on right).
I also slug away on Yelp, which you can click to from my widget. I’m, as might be expected, still off the pace for 2021, though I do not realistically expect it to change anytime soon. My distribution of ratings and further metrics are available on my Yelp profile page.
As always, I appreciate you dropping by. If there’s any spicy products or sauces you’d like to see me get to or any video ideas you may have, please drop me a line in the comment section of any of the reviews or support videos.
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