Karma Ashes 2 Ashes Hot Sauce Review

Karma Ashes 2 Ashes

Note: Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht6bBkVVBCk

This is one I meant to get posted in 2023, but I bought it, then it sat on the shelf for a while because I tend to limit how many bottles of absolute scorchers I have open at one time (this does not count the ones I keep in reserve for the quarterly wing things I shoot for the FOH YouTube video series - check playlist on right, if interested). It is, in many ways, the ultimate hot sauce, because it is definitely blazing, both immediately and then progressively with the build the 7-Pot likes to have, but is so delicious one cannot help but keep going. Meanwhile, the flames continue to rise...

I enjoy the flavor of 7-Pot Primos pretty considerably. I think, at this point, they’re probably my 2nd favorite superhot (not sure the Ghosties will ever be dethroned, but as I have Primos more and more in sauces, I’m a lot less certain), supplanting the Reapers and the vast majority of the other stuff out there. These are a bit deceptive in that they can seem a touch tame at first, and allow you to really dig into the flavor, before doing a nice build and before you know it, your entire mouth is ablaze. I really admire that.

Here, we have that wonderful flavor paired with a nice bit of sweetness, along with a hint of smokiness from the Chipotle. There is also a touch of lemon in there, that I could have done without, but it is mainly the Primos, in a sweet setting, that is the star here. This is, by far, my favorite thing from Karma and I find it delicious, especially given how prominent the Primos are and how little effort is made to move away from them being front and center. I will note that depending on application, this can be a bit of too much of a good thing. One of my favorite things about this blog is really cementing the idea firmly, confirming over and over again, that flavor and flexibility are inherently tied together and this one is yet another model of that.

Heat-wise, this is chilehead only territory. Lots of warnings on the bottle, presumably to scare away the normies, who should definitely not tinker with this. At the lower levels of tolerance, it is a lot more challenging to pick out the flavor notes with the distraction of a mouthful of blast furnace, but for those of us who are well-seasoned chileheads, there are a lot of excellent nuances here. I found this good in every setting I tried it in, but was especially fond of it on pizzas, burgers, and chicken tendies.

Bottom line: The 2nd hottest sauce in the Karma lineup, behind only the Burn After Eating (reviewed elsewhere here), this is not only punishingly hot, but probably the best-flavored entry in the entire Karma lineup...and another SOTY candidate. Definitely chileheads only, though.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 4
            Flavor: 8
            Flexibility: 10
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 10

Overall: 8