Volcanic Peppers SUK Hot Sauce Review

Volcanic Peppers SUK

One of the things I’ve noticed a bit about a lot of the fruit-forward sauces, particularly involving mango, is that the flavor of the mango will get lost. Happily, that is not the case here and they are quite front and center. Indeed, of all the various mango-and sauces I’ve had, this is one that does a better job of capturing that flavor profile. This is balanced somewhat with some citrus, which very nicely brightens things up and keeps it from being overly sweet.

Usually, I would not go as low as Serranos, as the motif has been “Habanero or higher,” but really, who am I kidding there? One of my favorite styles is Louisiana-style, which is nearly always Cayenne and Fresnos are one of my all-time favorite peppers, so I’m feeling a lot less that I don’t need to adhere to that frankly very entertaining, but not exactly true, slogan. 

There are a few mysteries about here, such as what the guy on the label is actually meant to be doing and what “SUK” is intended to reference, answers for neither question I’ve been able to unearth, but what really matters ultimately is what’s within the glass, not on the outside of it. What we have here is a quite tasty and pretty well-balanced, tropical fruit-based sweet hot that is excellently and skillfully done.

Given that it is only Serranos, the heat here is quite moderate, which the label copy also notes, so chileheads won’t likely be satisfied, but this could be an excellent gateway or stepping stone sauce. As with fruit-based sweet hots generally, the applications are a tad on the narrow side, but this is quite lovely on fried foods and pairing it with other dishes involving fruits, such as perhaps a quinoa bowl, also works to great effect.

Bottom line: Another lovely entry from the burning masterminds of Bellevue, if you’re a fan of tropical fruit-based sweet hots, this is well worth a look.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 1
            Flavor: 9
            Flexibility: 4
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 9

Overall: 6