Hot sauce

For a while I've been trying to get to the bottom of hot sauce.  Not bottom as in ring of fire bottom, although that is an issue.  But bottom as in, which is the best?

I haven't really been all that interested in flavour, I wanted blow your socks off heat.  I know some people can wax lyrical about the nuances brought by different chillis cooked in different ways, I just wanted lustful heat.

Tabasco has been a stalwart for years but I figured there must be something more out there.  The more I read, the more I saw references to the mind-blowing properties of Frank's RedHot. Mind-blowing?  It's pathetic, hardly any taste at all, let alone spice.  So I reverted to Tabasco.

Resigned to the perfectly good Tabasco for live, I forgot about my mission until yesterday when I came across Rummanco's Hot Chilli Sauce. This stuff was revelatory and it twigged that this is the type of thing worth getting excited about.  It's got that nuance - and I understand why it's important - and it's got flavour.  Hot, but also zesty thanks to dollops of lime and lemon.

As for the ring of fire, well that's an inevitable opportunity cost.

Comments

[Helen]

I'm really enjoying this at the moment http://www.gabyshotstuff.co.uk/products.html I promise you that the red one is seriously hot but it also has the most incredible fruity flavour.

[Anthony Silverbrow]

Thanks for that Helen, I'll take a look at it, haven't seen it before.

[curiouseater]

Hello, if you are looking for a good hot sauce you should try this one
El Yucateco Red Habanero Sauce, I get it from my local South American deli Lupe Pintos, and am slightly addicted to it, i eat it with everything, it's got a nice sour tang to it as well.

[Anthony Silverbrow]

Thanks Curiouseater, I'll keep my eye out for it.