Barnacle Foods Alaska Bullwhip Hot Sauce Review

Barnacle Foods Alaskan Bullwhip

In the case of Barnacle Foods, the worm, as they say, hath turned, and we go from a sauce that is in my SOTY consideration, the Habanero, from this very same company, to a sauce here that I will not be finishing, as after half a bottle, it not only failed to connect with me, but in a few applications, including some suggested by the company, actually resulted in a diminished experience. 

While that was a very long sentence just there, I honestly take no pleasure in this. I generally am fond of seaweed, particularly nori, and am a big fan of umami, so I thought this would potentially have a lot to offer. We even have some tomato in the mix, a pretty underrated ingredient, in my book, for hot sauce. While the Piri Piri is not among my favorite peppers, I do think it has a lot of uses, namely in adding a modicum of heat without tinting the flavor overly. All good so far, but then we have the ingredient that I think probably works against this sauce for me, in the oil. I’m not a big fan of grease nor of oil in foods generally. It’s something for which I have a fairly low tolerance, particularly in the flavor department. Here, it is very forward, along with garlic, in the taste of this sauce, and it is not something I find overall pleasant.

Oils also seem to make sauces thicker, which this one also is. It is still pourable, even though it also adds a very discernible graininess into the equation, which is similarly don’t love, but is less of a problem for me. I don’t get a lot of umami or seaweed or tomato or pepper flavor out of this, but the Piri Piri do seem to build over time. It’s not to any great amount, to be sure, but to an appreciable degree. Mostly, this comes down to me not having a place for a sauce with this kind of flavor profile. While I think it is tolerable in certain instances (and much better chilled than at room temperature), it unfortunately is one I would need to force myself to use and I see little point in doing that. 

Bottom line: While it pains me to say, this is unfortunately a stunning disappointment, though perhaps other palates might relate to the flavor better than does mine. 

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 1
            Flavor: 3
            Flexibility: 2
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 2

Overall: 2