Karama Sauce – Cosmic Disco

Karma Sauce - Cosmic Disco
Karma Sauce – Cosmic Disco

“Before Karma Sauce was even a twinkle in my eye, I was designing hardware for the James Webb Space Telescope.  Now, that telescope is giving us a glimpse into the origins of time and space, and my sights set upon the cosmos once again.  The unclear fusion of our soy-chile masterpiece Cosmic Dumplings and our searingly funked up Scorpion Disco, resulting in a interplanetary super nova of scalding heat and umami-forward flavour.  A universe of possibilities in a bottle”

I seem to recall that I might have bought this one after seeing it on Hot Ones.  It’s hot, that’s for sure … super hots and jalapeno are first on the ingredients list, but ghost pepper makes an appearance later on & I suspect that’s where the majority of the kick is coming from.  It’s certainly a lip tingler.  This sauce had a propensity to separate into a thinner and thicker part, so take heed of the advice on the bottle to shake well.

For me, it was a bit dissapointing.  Hot, yes, flavoursome …. maybe.  I could get a sense of the zesty, savoury flavour there, but for me, the heat burned it away before I had the chance to really appreciate it.

4/10 – Would be better with the heat toned down.

Mahi – Scorpion Pepper & Passion

Mahi - Scorpion Pepper & Passion
Mahi – Scorpion Pepper & Passion

“Winner of the Great Taste Gold Award 2019, experience a whole new level of searing heat with our scorpion & passion hot sauce.  This delightful amalgamation of feisty spice and tasty tang will knock your socks off.  Crafted with authentic Trinidad Scorpion Peppers, our expert sauceologists perfected the recipe by infusing this hotter-than-hell sauce with the pulp from the sweetest sun-kissed passion fruits.  Add a dash to your cooking and let your taste-buds experience an explosion of flavour”

This one has a slightly “jammy” consistency, a little thicker than many sauces.  All in all I found it pretty simple; first taste I get is a jammy, sweet fruitiness which quickly gives way to scorpion, lingering heat, concentrated on the front of the tongue.  I can detect a hint of garlic in there, but it’s not strong.

It’s a nice sauce, but it doesn’t really wow me.  The powerful scorpion sting overrides the up-front flavour very quickly, so it’s mostly just about the heat.

6/10 – I think it’d be improved if the heat was toned down a little

Angry Goat Pepper Co – Goat Rider Hot Sauce

Angry Goat Pepper Co - Goat Rider Hot Sauce
Angry Goat Pepper Co – Goat Rider Hot Sauce

“Created especially for the open road, horsepower thumping, rebellious types, this sauce has a flavour first approach, with a slow burn second.  We combine Balsamic vinegar with Vermont Maple Syrup, garlic and Cayenne peppers to create a unique, savoury, slightly sweet sauce.  We also add a touch of Ghost petters, just to give some extra horsepower.  Try this sauce on: wings, pizza, eggs, fried rice, steak tips or as a salad dressing”

Slightly on the runny side this one, but not too bad.  First thing I tase is the balsamic vinegar hit, followed by a sweet blast of maple syrupy garlicness which subsides to a pleasing level of heat, concentrated in the back of the mouth.  There’s a hint of smokiness, but I wouldn’t say it was a smoky sauce.  Heat level is good; it’s definitely a hot sauce, but they’ve made good on the promise to go flavour first with a heat level that doesn’t distract from the flavour.  Yum!

9/10 – Definitely going to need more of this!

Cottage Delight – Kickin’ Carolina Reaper Sauce

Cottage Delight Kickin' Carolina Reaper Sauce
Cottage Delight Kickin’ Carolina Reaper Sauce

“Bred in South Carolina, this chilli is 400 times more spicy than the jalapeno pepper, not for the faint hearted”

Well, you can see from the photo that the bottle’s pretty much empty, so I guess that says something!  So, yeah, I’d say that this one’s pretty hot for me; it wasn’t a sauce that I poured on liberally.  That said, I didn’t think it was all that great; for me the heat overrode most of the flavour meaning that it was all about adding heat rather than taste.

5/10 – Fine, but not rushing back to this one.

Yogi Yo – Warm & Zerty Chilli & Yuzu Hot Sauce

Yogi Yo Warm & Zesty Chilli & Yuzu Hot Sauce

“At Yogi Yo, very little has changed from our humble beginnings in our beloved street food van, we’ve always shared our passion so that everyone can enjoy the glorious flavour of authentic Korean street food”

Nice, flavoursome sauce.  I get a good waft of garlic upon opening the bottle, consistency is nicely pourable without being too runny.  The gochujang comes through very well and the yuzu gives it a tweak of zestiness.  All in all, pretty delicious …. but … not very hot.  To be fair, the name says that it’s “warm” rather than hot, so I have to believe that’s what they were aiming for.  For my personal taste, I’d like to see it cranked up the heat scale a little bit (not too much!), so there’s a bit more punch behind the lovely flavours.

7/10 – Will purchase again

La Anita – Salsa Picante Negra Con Chile Chiltepin

La Anita Salsa Picante Negra
La Anita Salsa Picante Negra

“Ideal to add taste to seafood and snacks”

So sadly, this one just isn’t for me.  It’s quite salty and kinda smoky, but there’s something kind of “earthy” in the flavour that I’m just not really very keen on.  Maybe it would be good with shrimp, but I’m not a shrimpy person.

0/10 – Couldn’t finish the bottle 😔

 

Sauce: Valentina Salsa Picante


An import from Mexico…

Valentina Muy Picante sauce


An arbol based sauce with unspecified seasonings and spices (and some sodium benzoate for good measure!). I really like the regular version of this sauce, but in my opinion the Muy Picante version is even better.


Consistency is quite smooth and easy to pour. Good heat with cumin and (I think some) garlic. As you might expect based on the country of origin, this is a great sauce to go with foods such as tex mex and eggs where the relatively heavy spicing isn’t going to conflict with the other flavours. Not all that hot in my opinion (I pour liberally), but enough heat to give interest.


8/10 – Going to look for more Mexican sauces!

Sauce: Wiltshire Chilli Farm Fatalii


From the bottle: “This recipe is seasonally made by chilli lovers to scare the other sauces in your fridge. At Wiltshire Chilli Farm we obsess over chillis from dusknuntil Dawn”

Wiltshire Chilli Farm Fatalii sauce


Ingredients say that this is 35% fatalli… Good start! Second on the list, though, is sugar. Oh. I very much like fatalli chillis… The sauces it produces tend to be a bit on the vicious side and aren’t my every day pour-on-everything sauces, but they often taste great and are a good call when you’re looking to crank it up a notch.


Unfortunately, this one’s just too sweet for me. The up-front profile is just overpoweringly sweet before giving way to that familiar, lingering, fatalli heat. The thyme is a nice flavour addition and along with the black pepper and cider vinegar gives the mid-to-aftertaste a nice profile.


4/10 – That much sugar just isn’t for me

Sauce: Marie Sharp’s Original Garlic


From the bottle: “Marie Sharp’s has again created a one of a kind carrot based Habanero Pepper sauce, this time with an added touch of Natural Garlic. It is specially made with love for those that yearn for a balance between heat and flavour. Nestled in the foothills of the Mayan Mountains of Belise, Marie still creates products the old fashioned way using only the freshest vegetables and the finest ingredients. Marie’s Original Garlic recipe utilizes the potent Red Habanero, the hottest pepper known to man. Her recipe is a sure winner that goes great on all of your favourite food!”

Marie Sharp’s Original Garlic sauce


No ingredients list in the side of the bottle for this one. Consistency is mixed.. Somewhat on the runny side, but with identifiable fragments of carrot. Quite easy to pour and the bottle has a relatively wide aperture in the cap


Quite a flavoursome sauce as you might expect from something heralding garlic. The carrot’s identifiable and complements the garlic. Heat isn’t particularly high… I’d happily smother fries in this and not suffer. Acidity balance is good and not too salty. All in all a really nice sauce that’s packing some different flavours to some of the more pepper focused ones.


7/10 – Great sauce, thank you Marie!

Sauce: Stepfather’s Choice Non-Toxic Vertebrate Sauce Lonely Habanero


From the bottle, “This is a family sauce. No matter what anyone says, you deserve the love and attention that’s put into each drop. Who knows how this whole thing ends or what tomorrow may bring? I don’t have the answers, but one thing I do know is that this sauce is all the family you’ll ever need. ”

A family sauce


Based on the label I wasn’t sure what to make of this one, but first taste indicated a very mellow but complex sauce. It’s on the thinner side of sauces with respect to viscosity, but is has some fragments of pepper floating around in there. The label lists 7 different peppers (jalapeño, red fresno, habanero, yellow scotch bonnet, bhut jalokia, yellow moruga, brown moruga) and I have to say that I can’t individually identify them in the flavour.


8/10 – I really liked this one. Hot, but mellow and relaxed about it rather than brashly ripping your mouth apart.