Karma Scorpion Disco
Note: This sauce appears on Season 15 of The Hot Ones.
Note: Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtogwmt1NaM
I will start by noting that this sauce took me rather by surprise. I went in knowing it was probably going to be blazing and indeed, given the 9 slot it had on the show that season, it is unquestionably hot. Rather, I was more concerned on a couple fronts. The first of those was the name Scorpion in its name, which at least strongly implied Scorpion peppers. When I read the ingredient list, I was checking only to confirm the absence of onions and the other peppers didn't really register, which might have alleviated this concern somewhat. The second was Karma itself, who I find a very intriguing sauce maker, but I have not come across anything with them that has resonated me to the point of being wowed. Certainly they make some good sauces, but hadn't hit on anything striking me as great.
So, with those things in place, this sat on my shelf all through the summer and let to me being pleasantly surprised once I did finally open it up. We have, at times, a tale of two sauces. The first time I tried it, I found a strong complexity to it, a good earthiness, and a nice roundness to complement the scorching heat. I couldn't quite put my finger on the flavor, exactly, but what was there was nice. The cane sugar really does a nice job of rounding some of the harsher edges off without being enough to be considered and actual sweet-hot type sauce. Once I got a bit deeper in and the Scorpions started rearing their ugly heads more, that effect was diminished somewhat and the tone became more finding foods that would fit with it nicely. There is a pretty solid gamut there, though...at least more than expected.
As long as you can find something that can tamp down the Scorpion flavor somewhat, you're golden. Thus, fried chicken and pizza and creamy sauces, such as mac & cheese or alfredo, will work pretty well here. Putting it on plain chicken, such roasted chicken, is not always the greatest thing, though, as there is not as much for the sauce to meld with and play off and you get that Scorpion pepper flavor hit. I will also be testing this for the video with some post-Thanksgiving feast leftover foods, whatever is still kicking around, so check back Friday (11/25/22) for that video, if you're interested in how it does there.
The texture here is a bit odd as well, rather grainy somehow, almost as if the cane sugar wasn't quite dissolved all the way, and definitely on the sludgy thick side. It's nowhere near as bad as Burn After Eating, which oftentimes made me think I'd need to physically destroy the bottle to extract the sauce, but it is certainly not a very free-flowing sauce. It doesn't so much stick to things as hold in place, which is fine, given how little of it needs to be used to get both the flavor and heat effect.
As to that heat, we have 2 building peppers, the 7-Pot Primo and the Chocolate Habanero, and two flash heat peppers in the Ghost and Scorpions, and they are a mighty foursome. It starts out quite punchy out of the gate, but the more you eat it, the more it screams right along towards blazing territory, building up to a very nice inferno roar. This is unquestionably, absolutely a chilehead-only sauce.
Bottom line: I can't quite decide if I like this sauce. It is certainly better than expected, much better, but it's not quite something I'd eat on the regular.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 6
Flavor: 6
Flexibility: 7
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 6
Overall: 6
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