While Pepper Palace has stores all over the US and in Canada, this one was given to me as a gift from Dr. Aerin Welch. During a trip with her fiancee, they visited the Pepper Palace's brick and mortar store in New Orleans, LA. She brought back some sauces for me, this one included, and I can't thank her enough. Thank you little sister and congratulations again for earning your PhD!
I dig the label. It has a stylized illustration of death (get it? Grim Reaper?) with scythe in hand. Surrounding the drawing of death is the depiction of a Roman numeral-framed clock to complete the pun. The first thing I noticed, though, was the muted colors of fill next to death. A nice yellow, dull on one side blending into a slightly sharper yellow on the other. This is probably made more complementary with the yellow color of the sauce. Even the red of the flames and letters is a subordinate color.
The pour is quite rapid so apply slowly and with caution. There is no drip spout on this one either, like the Pepper Palace sauce last week. The sediment is nice and noticeable upon swirl and pour. While the consistency is thinner, is still has more visual body than your Louisiana-style sauce.
The flavor is surprisingly nice. I say this because I'm not usually a mustard fan. In this case, however, the mustard adds a richness without the normal acidity of tomato. The garlic is up front and present, though I was surprised to see garlic powder rather than fresh garlic upon examining the ingredient list. There is salt in the condiment but it's not, thankfully, overpowering. At the end of the day I'd describe the flavor as rich yet fresh.
The heat is quite stark and immediate. It hits, quite literally, wherever the liquid touches. What makes it even more severe is that it spreads very rapidly and lingers for an exceptionally long period of time. The lip burn is quite noticeable too and lingers for a similar period as the mouth burn. Also a warning: the back of the throat fire is fairly instant and severe. It took my by surprise and had me reaching for the water bottle. This takes a title in the royalty of my hottest sauces.
With another high price tag of $17.95, this may seem outside of reason to purchase. However the balance of flavor and head-of-the-class heat, I suggest this to any chili-head out there. Also, like last week, this is a small-batch and hand-crafted sauce. I like to support those that make quality products for folks like us. I hope that you do too.
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