Review Submission Pause

Friends,

I will not be reviewing sauces here for a short time. I order most of the sauces you see here and until the scourge of COVID-19 is not an imminent threat, I don't want to put the mail carriers, the workers at sauce production areas, or heck anyone, at more risk than they need to have in their lives. I hope that you understand and we'll be together again soon!

Wicked Tickle The Defibrillator

We're together again and that should be a cause for joy in itself! In these times of uncertainty and anxiety we can try to find comfort in each other and in our favorite spicy condiment. This week we'll take a gander at Wicked Tickle's The Defibrillator. This is a ghost pepper sauce that I'm excited to explore.
Wicked Tickle is a line of sauces from Electric Pepper Company. According to their site they organically grow hot chili peppers on a Pennsylvania farm. They also appear to act sustainably as they employ wind power and solar energy in the production of their products. It should be noted here that the label of The Defibrillator has a stamp reading "All Natural" next to the Wicked Tickle logo.
The label truly excites me here. The featured art of a character wearing hospital scrubs and a surgical mask is reminiscent of Iron Maiden album art. The "doctor" appears to be undead and electricity is emanating from its hands. The figure is grinning ferociously and appears to have glowing eyes. The consistency of the sauce appears thin, thinner than I normally favor. There is also no pour guard so proceed with caution upon application. The sediment upon swirling the sauce in its bottle is heavy, however.
The flavor begins with a vegetable taste touched with a sweetness, both presumably from the various peppers in the blend. This is followed by the garlic, which is very present and satisfying. The garlic mixed with a touch of onion, giving it a nice bit of complexity. It's layered but not overly convoluted.
The heat here begins quite acutely, biting the tip of the tongue and spreading the burn to the sides. The lip burn is notable in its longevity and severity; the burn remains hot for quite a while. Upon repeated samplings the roof of the mouth starts to feel the effects. All in all quite a present heat.
This is a nice sauce. Not a particularly jaw dropping one but a nice addition to one's collection. At $8.99, it's not going to be an unreasonable purchase. I think this will make a nice table sauce for someone that might be looking for a little more bite than the standard fare offers.

Ghost Scream Original Hot Sauce

Hello again! Today we're going to take a taste of Ghost Scream Original Hot Sauce. I honestly picked it out because I really liked the name when I first read it. That and I infer from the name that this is a ghost pepper sauce, and of those I'm particularly fond. Let's check it out!
Ghost Scream is owned by Chef Matthew Sisson and his partner Deandra. They combined Matthew's skill in the kitchen with Deandra's considerable design skills to bring to life the Ghost Scream brand. They both have a taste for the spicy foods and peppers and wanted a way to bring bold and spicy flavors to the fore. Matthew said in a Saute Magazine interview that the skills gained in working in some of the finest food establishments in the world enabled himself and Deandra to take an idea and transform it into pure flavor.
The label is fun. It features a depiction of a bearded man with his mouth open, presumably screaming. Surrounding the face is a lace-like design with skulls dotting the image. "Ghost Scream" is along the top and "Hot Sauce" is over the faces chin. To the right side of the face is the word "Hot" as if to reinforce the fact that this is a hot sauce. I have to admit that this excites me a bit. This has a nice red color to it with a feeling of yellow and brown mixed in. The consistency isn't remarkably thick but it isn't thin like a Louisiana sauce either. It has a nice peppery sediment as well. It should be noted that there is no pour protector here, so pour with care.
This tastes slightly sweet at the front, Upon lingering longer in the mouth the garlic comes alive. It finishes with a definite pepper/garden taste, working well with the garlic. I like the layers being tasted individually, and then swirling together. This has a well crafted flavor profile.
Ghost Scream Original Hot Sauce has a bite to it, but it's not off the charts. With that said, watch out if it hits the back of the throat. I got surprised that way. The lip burn is notable in that it stays tingling the lips for a surprisingly long amount of time. The heat on the tongue stayed mostly in the center and not, to my surprise, on  the tip.
Ghost Scream Original Hot Sauce has a great flavor and an enjoyable heat. And at $8.00 for 5.5 ounces of product I can see this becoming a frequently used table sauce in my household. I definitely recommend it. Until next time!

Brine Damage

At it again folks! This week I have a very special sauce to review. This was a limited edition sauce only for sale at a Louisville Gore Club meetup on March 1, 2020. I apologize in advance for not delivering the goods on a sauce that's publicly available. This one is just near and dear to my heart.
Our feature this week is a sauce called Brine Damage from the nice folks at Peril Hot Sauce. Those fine humans have shown this review site a lot of love and now they've shown Louisville Gore Club some too, which warms me to the bones. This sauce is a Louisville Gore Club exclusive, so it may be difficult to get your paws on. In the past, I've heaped the praises on Peril Hot Sauce (and will continue to do so) but today I'd like to introduce you to an organization of which I'm a part and means a great deal to me.
Louisville Gore Club is a group of like-minded individuals that share a love for horror of all varieties. We meet on Sundays in Louisville, KY at a pub named Seidenfaden's to watch horror movies, some obscure, some not so much, and enjoy libations together. We often cook food to share in a potluck manner. From Louisville Gore Club's own self description: "Every Sunday night at 9pm the ghoulish and the grave turn up to enjoy the best and worst in horror/sci-fi/ fantasy cinema! 9pm-4am every Sunday night. You have been warned." I look forward to our meetups and enjoy them very much.
The label is very fun. It has "Brine Damage" at the center top in ominous red letters. Below is an illustration of a man screaming with both hands on either side of his head. Below him is a (presumably) human brain with a cherry on the top and a straw sticking out of it, a la milkshake-style. The lower right corner labels it a "special edition" with Louisville Gore Club's logo above. The color of the sauce is a rich and dark red. This sauce has very heavy sediment. You can see seeds and pepper bits aplenty. The consistency is quite thick and the pour is slow. No pour guard is present here, nor is it needed.
The flavor begins with sweet notes, very shortly followed by a vegetable taste. Presumably the latter is from the peppers, which this sauce is full of a large variety. The comfortable presence of garlic is warming and, while I can detect vinegar, the strong influence of the peppers softens the bitterness.
This is a sauce not skimping at all in the heat department. It lights up the tip of the tongue as expected but quickly spreads to the roof of the mouth. In fact the burn is surprisingly acute here and the tip of the tongue remains being affected for a considerable time. Of course there is a presence of lip burn but it's surprisingly strong and long lasting.
My friends at Peril Hot Sauce have done it again with this one. I suggest that you sample their wares in the store that's now up. At $6.66 for each bottle, you can be ready for a good time while not draining the resources too badly. Until next time!

The Chechen Smokin’ Chipotle Sauce

We're back together again looking at unique hot sauces! Today I want to share a sauce that I picked up via some passive internet sleuthing. I bring you The Cheech Smokin' Chipotle Hot Sauce! With that name, this was something I could hardly pass on. As well, I've been wanting to taste more chipotle sauces in general. With that, on with the show!
I honestly couldn't find much on the sauce in the way of back story. Thecheech.com only yielded me a 404 error. Interestingly, it is imported and distributed by Melinda's Foods, LLC, makers of the Melinda's hot sauce line. This line of sauces is one of which I'm particularly fond. With this lack of information in mind (and readers, if you have the skinny on this sauce, please let me know by emailing the deets to moltenhotsauce@gmail.com) I'd like to share what drew me to the sauce initially. I've always had a soft spot for Cheech and Chong, and of course Richard "Cheech" Marin is from whom this sauce gets its title. I loved Marin in From Dusk Till Dawn, the Quentin Tarantino film take on vampires.
The label has an adorable depiction of Cheech holding up red peppers in both hands. He has a cartoonish guitar slung across his torso and is grinning widely. This art is just joyous and it makes me smile. The color is a reddish brown with a LOT of sediment traversing the liquid. This is a very thick sauce with a super slow pour. A pour guard is present here, which I find a curious choice. However upon pouring I discovered that it's not a super hindrance. Nonetheless, I removed it.
The flavor has fresh elements to it with not a heavy presence of vinegar, though it is detectable. The garlic is nice and up front with a hint of carrot. Past that, there isn't a very complex flavor profile here. Pleasant and tasty? Yes. Complex? No. I, sadly, didn't detect much smoke flavor at all here.
This has a nice and fiery heat. It first hits the tip of the tongue and has a sear quality there that lingers for quite a while. For me, the heat didn't travel much. A bit to the roof of my mouth and it has a lip burn that is surprisingly robust and long-lasting. In fact, the lip burn made itself known after just the second sampling. In short, do not underestimate the fire in this one.
This sauce has a pleasing flavor, a nice punch of heat, and at $6.99 for a five ounce bottle, I would give the go-ahead on adding this sauce to your cupboards. The price is right and the taste is nice. Plus it'll warm up whatever you're wanting to increase the heat. Until next time friends!

The Bronx Greenmarket

Hello again fiery friends! Today I want to look at one of my favorite types of sauces yet one that goes woefully unrecognized to it's fullest: green hot sauce. This brought me to a sauce company connected with not only with quality product and flavor, but a higher goal of bringing urban areas into agricultural production. I'm excited to get started so let's do so!
The Bronx Green Hot Sauce initially caught my eye just as a green sauce that I hadn't yet tried. Looking a little into Small Axe Peppers, the sauce company responsible for our focus today, I found that there is much more to the story. Small Axe sources all of their peppers from community gardens in urban areas to encourage urban agricultural thriving, and thereby greater cultural synthesis. Every time they sell one of their sauces, financial support goes to more than 75 community gardens in 15 cities across the U.S.
The label is fairly unremarkable. A depiction of what is presumably a jalapeno is placed central to the front with raised letters reading "The Bronx Hot Sauce" featuring a green banner with the word "Greenmarket" within. The color is a dull green with quite prominent sediment appearing in the model made visible with the slightest swirl of sauce. The consistency is thin, but not thin to the point of resembling a Louisiana style sauce. There is no pour guard on this bottle so pour with care.
The flavor here is somewhat unexpected. An initial taste of sweetness his but is quickly tempered with a more earthy flavor. Garlic is prominent after the apple cider vinegar sweetness as well as your commonly found onion and salt. Surprisingly the vinegar taste is not as powerful as I hypothesized it might be. I can only nod to the though that the sweetness of the cane sugar and apple in the vinegar tempered it. The end experience is one of a happy mix of sweet and savory with just the right amount of vegetable freshness.
This is a hotter sauce than I though it might be. It hits the tip of the tongue almost immediately, but not before you get the first sweet kick. I got some on the roof of my mouth and it lingered there for a bit. Of course the lip burn is present but does not remain for too long. The only remnant of lip burn after a few minutes is a cool tingle.
I think that this sauce is a winner at the end of the day. The flavor layering is on point and, mixed with just the right amount of heat for cooking and even just topping food, this might be a regularly used sauce in my kitchen. At $6.99 for 5 ounces, I encourage all of my friends reading this to check this out. After all, the cause is one worth supporting.
Until next time friends, stay warm!

Hot Lady Hot Sauce

It's that time again: time to look a little closer at a hot sauce together! This week we're going to delve into a sauce that I admittedly acquired mostly due to the name. Today's target is Hot Lady Hot Sauce! I have to say at this point that I find comfort from the chilly weather in the warmth of our examinations. It's a nice reprieve from the season when we warm our taste buds together! And for that I'd like to thank you.
Hot Lady was started by Adam Colberg from Connecticut. After his time in the Marine Corps, he became very interested in martial arts and even became a trainer to MMA fighters. Through training he became interested in growing and cooking with hot peppers. After recipe tweaking and no small amount of research, he bottled Hot Lady and teamed up with his nephew and now business partner Lucas Acuna Jr. to bring us Hot Lady.
The label is simple and has a modern design feel to it. It is centered around the outline of a woman with a hat, presumably of cowboy variety. This woman sits upon a saddle attached to a giant red pepper. The woman is wearing a long dress, the bottom of which is blowing slightly back, insinuating forward motion. The liquid is a rich, dark red. It does have a bit of sediment but nothing too assertive.
The consistency is thin with a pour guard to help control application.
The flavor has a sweet beginning while remaining rich with a strong garlic presence. The taste finishes with the same richness, though being less sweet. This is presumably the pepper comping through. The cane sugar is apparent here, though I mistook it for brown sugar at first. I predict that this will ge nicely with chicken.
The heat isn't too extreme but the burn last a decent length of time. The tip of the tongue is where it was mostly concentrated for me. A noticeable lip burn is long-lasting here and is surprisingly acute. A note for heat: don't be shy about application amount. This will definitely increase with greater  amounts.
This sauce is mostly noteworthy for its flavor. It's good but a taste that I didn't expect. I'll have to play with this one in the kitchen. Selling for $9.86, I didn't feel like I wasted money but I remain a bit unsure of its future positive uses. The flavor is just that unusual but not at all unpleasant. Until next time friends!