CaJohn's Monster Series Quad-Review

CaJohn's Rougaroux
CaJohn's Leviathan
CaJohn's Cerberus
CaJohn's Hydra

Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOpSt1_kOLw

This is probably the one and only time I'll be doing this, which is what I said after the last multi-review, which featured a number of sauces from Flashpoint, all variations on a theme, but it is exactly that, variations on a theme, which I guess, in my mind, makes this a more fitting setting, even if I sort of dislike it in practice. Here we have 4 of the 5 sauces of the CaJohn's "Monster" line, the fifth and not present sauce being El Chupacabra, which has onions and thus merits its non-inclusion. I can't speak to that one, but 3 of these share a commonality of secondary ingredients, with varying peppers as the main ingredients being changed out. Those ingredients are: vinegar, garlic, Scorpion, sugar, salt, "spices," and lemon extract. How the peppers interact with those ingredients, in particular either the Scorpion peppers or powder, whichever is present, and the lemon extract, varies, but I will say that the three sauces with this facet would be notably better without the Scorpion and lemon extract. The Cerberus, which does not have either, comes off considerably better, in my view, because of that lack. 

The application for all of these is the same, which is the same vein as a Louisana-style or Cajun vinegar-forward sauce and part of the reason I decided to do the review this way, which is weighted from lowest to hottest heat, by the by, is because when I was doing testing, it was usually all 4 of them at once, on the same food items, in an attempt to differentiate their identities. What I found was that, aside from the Cerberus, there is not much differentiation to be had. They are all generally the same in loose consistency, with the addition of a bit of grit in the Rougaroux being perhaps the main textural difference between them. The Cerberus was definitely its own thing and we'll get into that more as this progresses.

I opened all four of these for a video I was doing called the Lavapuff Challenge and it was my third video in that series (it is in the Challenges playlist at right), and the Rougaroux was one I initially liked quite a bit. I don't tend to actually review sauces upon initial opening, though, as they tend to change and that's exactly what happened with this one. Featuring predominantly yellow peppers, this slightly gritty and very astringent sauce, rather neatly wrecks the Scotch Bonnets in it by overpowering them with the highly floral notes of the Scorpion and Fatalii peppers, and unpleasantly enhanced with the lemon extract. This is one I kept long enough to shoot the video and then binned immediately after, with maybe half of it gone. Heat-wise, it is definitely punchy, on the lower side of a 2, so definitely a challenge for a non-chilehead.
Rougaroux Breakdown:

           Heat level: 2
           Flavor: 2
           Flexibility: 2
           Enjoyment to dollar factor: 1

Overall: 2

The Leviathan, conversely, based on the Chocolate Habaneros, a pepper I generally tend to like, fared the poorest of all of them on initial opening. Over time, however, this turned into one that I thought fairly highly of. Heat is somewhat higher than the Rougaroux, figure maybe a mid-2, but we also have the nice richness and depth of those Chocolate Habs, before the Scorpions and lemon extract inevitably rear their ugly heads. This is one, like the Hydra, that I will be slow-walking and may or may not finish the bottle.

Leviathan Breakdown:

           Heat level: 2
           Flavor: 5
           Flexibility: 4
           Enjoyment to dollar factor: 4

Overall: 4

 

Before we get to the Hydra, which was the hottest of the lot, we have the surprising Cerberus. Given that it was both the mighty, mighty Reaper and 7-Pot Primo, along with Douglahs, I expected this one to be the hottest of the bunch and it definitely is chilehead-only territory, a very strong 3, it is not the punch I had expected. It is the thickest of the batch and this one thankfully forgoes the lemon and Scorpion and is by far the best-tasting of the bunch. It is quite chili-forward and you can really get a good feel of both the Reaper and 7-Pot Primo flavors, although it tends more towards the Reapers. This one is my overall favorite of the lot here and not just because I like the color of the sauce the best. I will go so far as to say that if it was just slightly sweeter, this one would be something special. As it is, it's just much better by comparison here. One bit of oddness here is that this one tends to get very harsh in the back of my throat, which I find rather odd.

Cerberus Breakdown:

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

Overall: 6

Last up is the Hydra, which was meant to just be 7-Pot Primos. Maybe even at one time that's all it ever was. Here though, it gets the dreadful base mentioned in the first paragraph and it rather neatly ruins this sauce. You can get traces of the 7-Pot, but it's ultimately beat to death at the hands of flowery Scorpions and lemon extract, which is a shame. This one is easily the hottest, coming in at a 4.That heat level, along with the ghostly off-notes, makes this good for a tolerance builder and little else, sad to say. 

Hydra Breakdown:

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

Overall: 4