Anderson Pepper One Bad Mother Hot Sauce Review

Anderson Pepper Co. One Bad Mother Pineapple Reaper

This is one I put off getting for a while, both because I had a lot of other stuff on deck (I guess I generally always have a lot of stuff on deck), but also because the verbiage around it sort of pushed the idea it was punishingly hot and I only like to have so many of those open at once. Also, I was not what one would call impressed with the previous entry from this company, the Don’t Touch The Baby hot sauce (reviewed elsewhere here), which did not get a video. If you’ve been around for a while, you know what that means.

This sauce I do like a lot better, but there is one aspect about it that I really dislike and that is the consistency, which is quite loose. If I say the word “diluted,” probably one of the first thing that comes to mind is that something is watered down, which was a pretty common thing for certain bars to do, particularly with the clearer liquids...or at least get accused of doing, I guess I should say...or kids who wanted to pinch some of the stash where their parents kept the liquor, though maybe this is more of a Gen X thing.

Regardless, it is not really something you want at the front of mind in reference to your sauce and here, that is what kind of springs to mind for me. What flavors are there are super nice. I really think the flavor combination of raisin/pineapple/Reaper is an excellent one, but the overly liquidy nature of this makes it a touch hard to pour as well as making me feel like I’m chasing the flavor concentration I want around when eating it...agitation is an absolute must here or you wind up with a slightly tropical vinegary aspect to things, which isn’t bad, but is not really a hot sauce per se, either. I do think the flavor is quite unique and can’t think of anything like it.

This brings us to the heat. It is the mighty mighty Reaper, so there is a blast here and there and it does build up a bit. I wavered between a 1 and a 2, since it sort of falls between them, but figured I’d be generous and give it the push to a 2, but it is a low 2. I don’t think this will challenge too many chile curious and definitely not actual chileheads. The main issue here, though, is that with the consistency as it is, it cuts down on all of the criteria of rating. If it were thicker, this would definitely get a higher score, particularly in flexibility. I always considered that category to be one based mostly in flavor (I mean in type not necessarily quality, by the by),  but I’ve had enough entries sort of defying that with an odd consistency.

Bottom line: If this were more concentrated/reduced down and hence, thicker, this would be a quite good sauce. As it is, it seems slightly unrefined and in need of a bit more development.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 2
            Flavor: 6
            Flexibility: 3
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 4

Overall: 4