HAB Sauce Lord
Long-time readers and viewers of the FOH content on the Youtubes will know that I like a good bit of cheek, am an enjoyer of a certain cheekiness, and the label and name of this sauce could not have spoke more directly to that aspect of me if it tried. I think the dude on the label is the main guy whipping up the sauce creations, not entirely sure, but the sauce bottles in hand and all contributes to the aesthetic that tickles me a bit.
Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the sauce. I do like the sauce color, which is orange-y enough to please even Bugs Bunny. The texture is a bit between runny and medium, not quite either, but more in the middle, and it is nicely blended, with no grit or chunks to be found. Heat-wise, given that is is Habanero only, it is pretty moderate.
Where it falls down a bit for me is definitely in the flavor. At times, you can get hints of the Habanero and carrot, but it is mainly as accents underneath the tidal wave of garlic. That is by far the main flavor. Lime also shows up and here and there, but not in a way I would call good. The taste is not unpleasant, per se, but the big struggle here is in trying to find things to go with it. Even on things like chicken tendies, where it's acceptable, I'd still rather have something else.
Carrot-Habanero is not really a new style of sauce, but the intent of when it was more trendy, was as an everyday sauce. If you want a good everyday sauce, the one thing it has to be is flexible and for this one, not only does the food have to be something that works with garlic, but further has to work with lime. So, it misses the mark somewhat there, due mainly to the garlic trying to overpower everything. Even in foods with complex flavor, it winds up being a bunch of disparate flavors, all clashing and competing with each other, which is not great. Trying to find a place where this worked well was definitely one of the larger challenges with this sauce for me and I think you're better off where this can be the main star and the food component is sort of neutral.
Bottom line: Another diversion from an established sauce style from this company, but this one is perhaps a couple of veering left turns too far.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 1
Flavor: 5
Flexibility: 2
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 4
Overall: 3
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