Alice Cooper Poison Hot Sauce Review

Alice Cooper Poison

Note: Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3JMfHC5jA

I would be remiss if I didn't note the connection between naming this sauce after a song that "borrowed" an intensely popular guitar introduction section from another song and the ingredients themselves. What this seems an awful lot like is another relabeling, this time with CaJohn's Small Batch Reaper. Admittedly, I have not tried that particular sauce, but the sauce color is very close, if not identical, and the ingredient listing is exactly identical, all the way down to the ordering of elements.

That aside, this is a sauce that I opened over a month ago and is one of those few that it, for whatever reason or other, it takes me a bit to get to. Sometimes it takes me a bit to get a feel for a sauce, but in this case, it was heavily reminiscent of another sauce I did called Uncle Keith's Code Red (reviewed elsewhere here). That one had molasses and this one just lists sugar, but the tone of Reapers and a sweetener, which go quite well together, was immediately familiar. This one definitely is a bit more astringent, with both vinegar and the citrus being more forward.

In that one, I likened it a bit to a bit thicker, hotter, and sweeter Cajun style sauce and that's about where I'd put this also. That sauce took me quite a while to finish and this one is definitely on track to do the same, partially because where it fits best, which is generally the same places you'd use a Louisiana-style sauce, I'd almost rather have something else. It's not to say there's anything wrong with this sauce. Reapers with sweetener is an excellent combination and further emphasizes what a remarkable pepper the Reaper is. I'm inclined to like sweet-hot sauces using superhots, to be clear, but not all peppers lend themselves quite this well. One definitely gets quite a bit of the Reaper taste aspect with this sauce.

Because is so prominent in this sauce, though, it's probably one that chileheads will find more enjoyment with. I suspect fans of the Coop, or just people who recognize the name and are curious, may give this a shot, but they may quickly find this exceeds whatever tolerance their curiousity may have supplied. For me, it's not a sauce I find interesting or hitting the flavor notes I want enough to be a regular user. I generally will remember I have this, bust it out for a bit, use it, enjoy it somewhat, then put it back in the door and forget about it again.

Bottom line: Definitely the better of the two Alice Cooper branded vanity sauces, also the hotter of the two, and it aptly demonstrates both the flavor notes of the Reaper, as well as how nicely it goes with a sweetener.

Breakdown:

       Heat level: 3
       Flavor: 6
       Flexibility: 5
       Enjoyment to dollar factor: 5

Overall: 5