Pepper North Stargazer Hot Sauce Review

Pepper North Stargazer

Note: This sauce appears on Season 11 of The Hot Ones.

Note: Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjZa1PQQ5RE

Hailing from Canada, here we have a sauce that, indirectly via an Amazon search a while ago, led me to the information that there is a writer of (presumably steamy) romance books by the name of Pepper North out there as well. I don't believe she has any books called Stargazer, though...at least not as of this writing.

No, this is another of the sauces as part of the great canvassing project as I slowly cover as many of the sauces on the show (you can see my progress in the link on the right) as I find acceptable and can locate. Here, we have a sauce that should have been right up my alley, with Scotch Bonnet and Ghosties, two of my faves, along with both Jalapeno and Chipotle, two great-tasting peppers. Add in a little maple syrup (Canada, eh?) and some other bits and bobs and this should be a pretty solid sauce.

If I had to pick one word to describe this sauce, it would probably be that: solid. It's fine on things like chicken, fish, pizza, and burgers, but is not the first thing I'd reach for on any of those. I suspect this is due to the vinegar being apple cider, which remains one of my least favorite forms. There is also some lime and maple, which may be contributing somewhat to that effect, or the combination thereof, but something about the flavor of this sauce just doesn't hit with me. It isn't bad, with the peppers all coming together and harmonizing in a slightly smokey pepper flavor, but overall, the effect is just kind of...eh.

Texturally, there is quite a lot of particles in there, so the sauce is quite gritty, almost unpleasantly so. It's readily masked on composite foods, like burgers, but in other applications, where the sauce more stands a bit on its own, it's far more unfortunately apparent. Heat-wise, this is definitely a chilehead only sauce. The Ghosties take things to a nice roar and hold it there, which is a quite pleasant level for me, but that, in combination with the grit and the slight element of superhot bitter, will put off any normies who may want to try to contend with the heat.

Bottom line: Very middle of the road entry from the show, neither good nor bad, particularly, just kind of solid, but hot enough to restrict to chileheads.

Breakdown: 

Heat level: 3
Flavor: 6
Flexibility: 8
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 4

Overall: 5