Desert Creatures BLACK WIDOW'S KISS Hot Sauce Review

 Black Widow's Kiss

Hot Sauce

Reviewed by Aaron & Julia

Aaron's Review:

 Thus far this is the only one of the 4 Desert Creatures hot sauces that we have tried.  The others: Scorpion's Sting, Snake's Bite, and Coyote's Howl.

I'm not a big fan of hot sauces that require refrigeration after opening.  An experience with rancid sauce really...burned me.  The only plus, in my estimation, is that sauces that require refrigeration usually have less sodium; this one only having 55mg (2%), which is 1/3 less sodium than many on the market today. 

I am neither a fan of Habanero sauces, which Black Widow's Kiss is.  Along with the intense heat of the habanero, there is an overpowering pepper smell and taste to them, which reminds me very much of a green bell pepper.  Something about the habanero smell and taste I find a bit repulsing.  Mayhaps my taste is not yet developed.

This stuff is thick as ketchup.  I like hot sauces thinned out with vinegar and with little sweetness—it's a North Carolina thing.

Largely due to the novelty factor of this sauce I give it 3 out of 5 peppers.




Julia's Review:

Desert Creatures Black Widow's Kiss hot sauce we picked up from Big Lots.  It's retro/80's style label was very colorful and exciting, also a product of the USA, by Southwest Specialty Food, Inc.

The sauce is very thick, nothing like it's vinegary brothers and sisters.  Very low sodium.  The first thing I noticed is that it smells like ketchup.  Burning ketchup.

It pours out slowly, which is good because it burned my mouth out!  It was not the so-hot-you-loose-your-breath type; more like the so-hot-your-mouth-waters-long-after-you-swallow-it type.

It's flavor is kind of smoky.  You might use this in a sauce, or soup in small amounts.  Not really fit for my chili.

I would rate this sauce 5 out of 5 peppers for the hotness, though I have to give it a 2 out of 5 peppers for lack of versatility.

BAM! Fra Diavalo, Kick It Up!

Emeril's
KICK IT UP!

Red Pepper Sauce


Julia's Review:
 
Aaron opened the bottle and gave me my first cracker topped with fried canned ham and a goat cheese.  I could taste the fire first thing.  It made my mouth all warm instantly.  Emeril's is not extremely hot and I found it not at all overpowering.  I could smell quite clearly the pungent vinegar.  I was surprised at how mellow the pepper taste was. Less spicy than  some sauces.  Better than TxsPete.  Could very well be my new favorite sauce for eggs and popcorn.  3 peppers


Aaron's Review:


Having tried nearly all the local grocery store's (Ingles) hot sauces, I spotted something on sale for $2.19—Emeril's KICK IT UP!


As Julia mentioned, we ate it with pig flesh and goat cheese.  Not a combination that I am likely to repeat in the future.  Nevertheless, it was pretty tasty.


I believe the ingredient that kick's this Louisianan hot sauce up is garlic (or gaaahlic).  I'll probably come back to Emeril Lagasse's hot sauce when I spot it on sale again.  It's only 5 FL OZ of liquid pepper, so it won't last long with us.


The box contains a recipe for Emeril's Kicked Up Remoulade.  It calls for a second Emeril product.  What caught my attention was under the recipe:


      Want something easy?  Add a tablespoonful to a serving of jarred spaghetti sauce — you just made it "Fra Diavalo" (not to be confused with Fra Diavolo).


That sounds like something I must give a go.  I think it will work especially well, with this sauce's garlic kick.  I give it 3 out of 5 peppers.


I came across an interesting factoid:  


The "Emeril Empire" of media, products and restaurants generates an estimated US$150 million annually in revenue. 

Louisiana's Pure CRYSTAL Hot Sauce

Julia's review:

It took a long time to actually sit down and write this review for Crystal Hot Sauce. This should not be looked upon as a reason not to buy this hot sauce. It should however show how unimpressed I was with the sauce. I felt like it was a task to come up with compliments.

This is your average hot sauce. It has a vinegary taste, but not over powering. It is not something you would season chili with. It has very little heat. Tastes good on popcorn and cheese squares. The texture was a little watery.

I really was not impressed with the bottle. The spout shot sauce out in a violent fashion no matter how slow you turned the bottle. It sent a rocket of red liquid all the way across the table. The label is a nice, 3 tone, baseball jersey style. The name is catchy.

This sauce gets 1 out of 5 peppers from me. Not my favorite. I could take it or leave it.



Aaron's Review:

I like about Louisiana's Pure Crystal Hot Sauce what I like about grocery store pipe tobaccos and colognes. They aren't the most expensive, or the best around, but they have been around for a very long time, and will continue to be. Why? Sometimes they are just what you want! Not all the time, but sometimes!

Baumer Foods is family owned and has been around since 1923. I like that. Alvin Baumer Jr., son of Alvin A. Baumer Sr., said about the youngest Baumer:

"Alvin ”Pepper” Baumer III, 16, is completing boarding school, eyeing college, and determined to one day head the family business. And he doesn’t mind the nickname.

”The only child will take over the family business from an only child,” Baumer said. ”He’s anxious to finish school and start working here.”

The company's bottling plant was located on Tulane Avenue in New Orleans. It had been there since just before WWII. Their famous lighted sign of a chef stirring a pot of hot sauce was a New Orleans landmark.

After Hurricane Katrina and the destruction of their sign and bottling plant, they picked up what bottles they had left and moved just up the river to Reserve, Louisiana.

It is a noteworthy fact that before Hurricane Katrina, the green wrapper that sealed the bottle had the word "Crystal" on it. Since Hurricane Katrina, it has not.

Now, about the sauce. It holds it's own within it's circle of well known hot sauce friends. There is a substantial bit of heat here. Julia doesn't like that you don't have to work like hell to get it to come out of the bottle. I however like that fact. I also like that it is not sweet and not too vinegary. The 12 FL. OZ. (355 mL) bottle contains 135mg of Sodium, and it makes it taste good.

I give Louisiana's Pure Crystal Hot Sauce 3.5 peppers out of 5!

Julia and Aaron review FRANK'S ORIGINAL REDHOT

FRANK'S ORIGINAL REDHOT sauce is made with a premium blend of aged cayenne peppers that add a kick of heat and a whole lot of flavor to your favorite foods. It's a recipe that's worked for over 80 years.


The great taste of FRANK'S ORIGINAL REDHOT made it the secret ingredient in the original Buffalo wings created in Buffalo, N.Y. Try our recipe today for authentic restaurant taste.

Aaron:

FRANK'S REDHOT ORIGINAL is another Louisiana style vinegar-based hot sauce. I snagged it because of the age of the brand. Indeed, there is an interesting story there...


Jacob Frank was the founder of Frank Tea and Spice Company, located near the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio. He became business partners with Adam Estilette, of The Estilette Pepper Farm in Louisiana. These two fellows were responsible for the concoction, and they marketed it in 1920.


FRANK'S REDHOT, as the bottle mentions, was also the essential ingredient in the first Buffalo Wing sauce, which appeared in 1964 at The Anchor Bar and Grill in Buffalo, N.Y.


As legend tells it, Teressa Bellissimo and her husband Frank were about to close the bar when their son Dominic came in with his friends for a late night snack. Teressa invented Buffalo Wing sauce on the spot--FRANK'S REDHOT, celery, and blue cheese dressing!



History aside, FRANK'S REDHOT is one of the mildest hot sauces on the market. On the Scoville Scale it comes in at 450--very low in heat. The sauce has a bit of thickness to it. Let it sit for a second and it coagulates, which is quite a feat considering how much vinegar punch it packs. Perhaps this is indeed the fitting sauce for Buffalo Wings!


I like the bottle size--12 FL. OZ. (354 mL). If you are making a considerable amount of wings, use the whole bottle!


I give FRANK'S REDHOT 3 peppers out of 5. Not a good stand-alone hot sauce for me (much too vinegary for my taste), but perfect for Buffalo Wing sauce; and the price is good @ $1.46!






Julia:

After working hard in the garden and breaking my toe, I was famished and needed a good hot and refreshing snack! What better time to try out a new hot sauce?!


The first thing that caught my eye about FRANK'S REDHOT was the fancy shape of the bottle--Ooh la la! What curves it has!


I like the name as well as the bottle. It has a good ring to it--sounds like a hot club or bar you would find in a big city. There would be cool autographed photos on the wall of big name celebrities, like Joe Pesci, with bottles of FRANK'S REDHOT on the tables.


I enjoyed this hot sauce very much! Unlike Aaron, I like the tart vinegar. You would think REDHOT would be... red hot, but it is indeed very mild. I also like that this hot sauce doesn't burn my lips.


I would use this sauce on scrambled eggs and maybe popcorn. It has a thick and consistent texture. This is not something I would flavor chilly with, as it is too mild and vinegary. I didn't have to drink anything to cool off my mouth, but I did have a tortilla chip hung in my throat for a long time after...


I give this FRANK'S REDHOT 4 peppers out of 5 for good taste and a catchy label.






Buffalo Chicken Wing Recipe (from the bottle):

2 1/2 lbs. chicken wing pieces.

1/2 cup FRANK'S REDHOT Sauce

1/3 cup melted butter or margarine.


1. Bake wings 1 hour at 425 degrees F.

2. Combine REDHOT Sauce and butter.

3. Dip wings in sauce to coat.

Aaron & Julia's Try Me Tennessee Sunshine Hot Sauce Review

Our secret recipe delivers the spicy punch of select peppers without covering up the natural flavor of food. It's a great way to add new life to old recipes, or use straight from the bottle on just about anything.



AARON:

I picked this up because I liked the name, myself being a native Appalachian.  I could see pepper flakes floating around in the lava-like red liquid. This looks hot!

The plastic cap seal states boldy, ZESTY Flavor from the Smoky Mountains! I also was a sucker for the bottle-art--looks like home! Julia does have a bit of a point about the mountains though.

I open the bottle and vinegary hotness strikes at me as I imagine a Satanic pickle that is on fire would. I taste... It is good, very good!

I love the tartness of the vinegar along with the bold dose of heat. The pepper flakes really do it for me! I'm afraid that plain liquid hot sauce will be a bit boring for me now.

Julia and I went through a third of the bottle while testing...well, mostly it was me! ( ^_^ ) I can't wait to try more of the Try Me sauces!

I give Try Me Tennessee Sushine 5 out of 5 peppers!





JULIA:

After being completely grossed out by the flesh-toned plug of dried gunk I had to fish out of the last hot sauce, I had my doubts about Aaron's next choice.

I was very pleased when upon opening the seal and removing the cap, I find that the top of the glass bottle has a plastic drip spout. YEAH! No gross plug! This has earned one point already! The color and consistency are nice. No real separation, but the bottle recommended a good shake before use. I like the pepper seeds and flakes in the sauce--this gives it more of a FRESH MADE feel.

Unlike Aaron, I was not impressed with the cover art or the name. I thought it was a selling ploy to draw in hillbilly minds. It brought to mind a washing detergent advertisement: TENNESSEE BREEZE or something.

When it came to taste, this sauce packed a PUNCH! The after-heat was very mild, though not wimpy, by any means. I needed a drink of something to cool off a bit. My mouth is not as refined to hell sauce as Aaron's is--I thought the vinegar was fairly mild. I did not get the sweet aftertaste that I expect from most of the sugared non-Name Brand sauces.

Overall, I give Try Me Tennessee Sunshine 3.5 out of 5 peppers. Again, I was not impressed by the label art or the name. I would have called it Hillbilly Hot Sauce and had a moon-shiner on the cover if I was going to claim mountain fame. The distributor from Louisiana has probably never been to the Appalachian Mountains because the cover art has hills instead of mountains on it!

Aaron's review of Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Pepper Sauce

Just like good seasonings, a good pepper sauce adds another flavor dimension to food. I have chosen only the highest quality blends of all-natural ingredients to bring you a dynamite pepper sauce. Go ahead.. be creative! Your taste buds will thank you! -Chef Paul Prudhomme




This be the hot sauce of the celebrity Cajun cuisine chef, Paul Prudhomme--owner of New Orleans' celebrated restaurant, K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen!

After getting the nasty dried plug unstuck from out of the top, the sauce flowed very well--not gushing out and not weakly dribbling out.

Immediately I was struck with the strong smell of vinegar. I am not opposed to vinegary hot sauces, as I hail from Western North Carolina. This one is quite sweet due to it's cane syrup and sugar content--a bit too sweet for my taste.

The peppers in here are Cayenne and Habanero. The pepper smell comes through all of the vinegar nicely. The burn is relatively mild, yet persistent--giving a lasting warmth to your lips, tongue and mouth.

The price is decent--$1.44 at the local grocery. A bottle this size (3.25 FL. OZ., 96 ml) should last me about a week, should I like it--a bit small considering its lack of fire.

This would be a great hot sauce for those of you who like sweet things, e.g. sweet relish, sweet pickles, sweet BBQ Sauce...

I'm afraid that I shall have to keep searching for the spicy grail--this hot sauce I give a 2.5 out of 5. Too sweet, a bit too much vinegar, and not enough hotness!