Lunar Ghost Smoke Hot Sauce Review

Lunar Ghost Smoke

I've mentioned this before about other sauces, but I can't get away from the idea that words matter, that they have to mean things, in order to have any value. The more specific the word, the less I feel like we should drift from its designation. Take, for instance, the word "decimate." This is a very specific Roman practice of reducing something, usually opposing armies of lands they'd captured or otherwise subjugated, by 10 percent. We are familiar with "deca" as in a unit of 10 and are familiar with such words as decade, but "deci" is on the other side of the zero and means 1/10, as "centi" means 1/100 of something, such as a meter, or cent as in 1/100 of a dollar.

Anyway, sriracha also means a very specific type of hot sauce. Sometimes companies will want to use this, but then make something that might otherwise be a very fine sauce, such as this one, but which will not register as the word it's using. Sriracha, in a lot of ways, could be considered a sort of liquefied chili-garlic sauce, and it has a characteristic of imparting a fairly specific flavor, but one general enough to be good solo or incorporated into various Asian dishes. It can be used as either dipping sauce or topping, as well as mixed in. This is another that does not really work this way, from a flavor perspective, and is not what I would call a sriracha. 

I really liked the idea of this, a sriracha with some nice Ghosties bringing heat and flavor, as well as the addition of smoke. It sounded quite interesting, but what's here is very much a Ghost-forward sauce, in terms of both flavor and heat. This means there is quite solid heat, to be sure, probably well above what will be comfortable for most non-chileheads, but also a very notable superhot bitter, which is probably the main flavor note. There are accents of the Ghosties before the roaring heat and bitter come on, along with the smoke and a bit of pungency from the vinegar, but the sugar and garlic part of things are lost nearly entirely.

This is a sauce that almost immediately overpowers whatever it's used on with that bitter aspect. While I found it a lovely sauce when using it as incorporations with lighter amounts and mixing it in with other sauces or foods, sprinkling it over the top was not something I found overly enjoyable. Once I got out of the idea of using it for Asian foods, which can often be a bit light and delicate in terms of flavors, I found a lot of places I liked it, but again, mixed in with other stuff. Indeed, that's where I think this shines and has a lot to offer. 

Bottom line: This is not what I would call a sriracha and I'm a bit confused as to why they called it that. Taken as its own thing, it has a lot to offer, such as putting the Ghosties very forward and showcasing what they can bring, which is its best footing.

 Breakdown:

            Heat level: 2
            Flavor: 5
            Flexibility: 4
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 8

Overall: 5