Seed Ranch Umami Reserve Hot Sauce Review

Seed Ranch Umami Reserve

So back a bit ago, on my last BYT haul, I came away with the Umami Everyday Sauce from Seed Ranch and the other hot sauce I reviewed earlier. Because the Everyday Sauce is very strictly not a hot sauce nor meant to be one, it does not appear in these annals. There is an FOH video for that specifically, if you’re interested in checking it out. Not to spend too much time on it here, but that is one of the best sauces of any kind anyone has ever created, ever. My one admittedly minor complaint was that I should like a bit of heat. I liked that Everyday Sauce so much that I made it a priority hunt down a bottle of that Reserve post-haste.

Clearly Seed Ranch felt the same way, as they released this, which is the Umami Reserve, which does have heat, and is also meant to be in the hot sauce category. This sauce is quite unique in the world of hot sauces, given that it is basically that other sauce, with the addition of Chocolate Habaneros. There was a time when I found Habaneros to be a fairly dismal thing in general, but definitely in a sauce...until I discovered the reds generally and red Savinas particularly. Since then, I have a greater tolerance for the flavor, which I still don’t think is very good, discounting those red varietals, which I do like. Chocolate I find kind of interesting, but still too close in flavor to remind me of the Oranges and it is that flavor here which mars this sauce, respectively.

Here is where it gets tricky. Taken by itself, the sauce is still quite wonderful and from a flavor perspective, both unique and quite beyond what a lot of makers out there are doing. However, it is a variant on a different sauce and a comparison, to me, is unavoidable. It is certainly hotter than the other, which has no heat, but it also adds both the Habanero flavor and a certain bitterness I could do without. The heat is not even remotely scorching, just a nice cozy warmth to let you know it’s there, but that is the trade-off with a lot of things. Drive the heat up and flavor will tend to necessarily skid somewhat. Where I think this one does better is that it is somewhat less astringent and pungent than the everyday sauce.

With umami, it has a fairly wide variety of applications. Everything from ramen to mushrooms to most meats, particularly aged ones, will all do well with a healthy dose of either sauce. Both sauces are a joy to experiment with and to be clear, the Habanero flavor notes is very much my own personal preference. There is not a damn thing wrong with either sauce, and both have a silky smooth mouth feel and just a pleasure to use. You can’t really go wrong with picking up a bottle of either, or have the fun I did and wind up with them both.

Bottom line: While my preference for flavor is more with the Everyday Sauce, I do like the heat and lowered pungency of this one better, so in many respects, it’s a wash. Absolutely very worthy sauces that any foodie should get their hands on with all due quickness.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 1
            Flavor: 9
            Flexibility: 6
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 9

Overall: 6