Firebolt

Today I want to take a look at Firebolt Habanero Sauce by Firebolt Foods. Firebolt Foods is a Louisville, Kentucky hot sauce-centered company newly minted by Jesse See Tai, a local entrepreneur. Always a proponent of local start-ups, I happily agreed to give his maiden product a whirl. Here's what I found:
The first kudos I have to deliver on the sauce is the label. GREAT design, not flashy yet not understated or meek. Simple but efficient, it borders on elegant. When I saw the first picture of the sauce bottles, I was taken aback by the design. Great job Jesse!
Upon getting the sauce and opening it I, as many of you have probably picked up by now that I tend to, examined the color. It's a nice red color, but a bit lighter than I expected, with hints of orange and yellow. While still a red sauce, it's not as deep of a red as I had initially expected. No matter, the color of a sauce has never been a deciding factor and with my repertoire of sauces expanding daily, some of the nicest surprises have come with the most unexpected colors.
The consistency of a sauce is of far more importance to me and this product does not fail to please. It is a considerably thick sauce which I like, as many of you know. It's definitely an unfiltered sauce, not at all like a Louisiana styled variety. It does tend to collect in the spout of the bottle, necessitating in a "clearing of the chamber", if you will, to get flow resuming. This is a small effort considering the rewards.
In the flavor category, this sauce is definitely going down as a favorite in my collection. It has a nice richness to it, but accentuated by notes of freshness of vegetables. It is a layered flavor, that of habanero cut with a mustard tinge, which is quite nice. Slightly more garlic would please me in this condiment, but I'm a garlic fiend, so I say this about pretty much everything.
The heat was a pleasant surprise, especially after I read the list of ingredients, as I expected it to be more focused on flavor that the hot. While not saying anything negative about the flavor, as this is delicious, I was not expecting the bite of spice that hit my tongue upon first taste. It contains a definite front-of-tongue burn at times yet, upon further sampling, I discovered that it sometimes has a creeping heat. The heat is quite intense, the form of which it takes notwithstanding.
In summation, this sauce is a new favorite of mine. While the price may seem steep at $9.00 for a 4 ounce bottle, be assured that this is worth it. The flavor is marvelous, the heat palpable, and the overall composition top notch. I encourage you to order a bottle and enjoy it. I am putting it on tacos tonight, myself. Enjoy!