Which hot sauce to get for my friend?

December 26, 2007 10:07 PM

I'm trying to get a hot/tabasco sauce gift for a capsaicin-fiend friend of mine, recommendations?

The thing is, I actually want this stuff to have a good flavor and not just be the put-one-drop-in-the-mix type sauce.

posted by griphus to Food & Drink (29 answers total)

If anyone was to give me a sample pack of Huy Fung Foods sauces, they'd be my friend for life.
posted by Etaoin Shrdlu at 10:24 PM on December 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

Check out Firegirl

I also suggest (for pure hot, for not the most extreme price) is Dave's Ultimate Insanity Sauce.

Otherwise, there are are sauces that are tastier (but still hot) such as Blair's After Death
posted by so_ at 10:31 PM on December 26, 2007

Sorry, I missed the href on the Firegirl link.
posted by so_ at 10:33 PM on December 26, 2007

El Yucateco Kutbil Ik sauce is both flavorful, and hot, hot, hot. It is based upon an old Mayan recipe supposedly. I haven't tasted another sauce with this kind of heat that actually has a good flavor. It can be difficult to find though.
posted by caddis at 10:33 PM on December 26, 2007 [2 favorites]

Get those hot sauces with the funny labels. Like these:
http://www.hotsauce.com/photos/Psycho-Bitch-Gift-Set-2T.jpg

There are a wide variety of these... Psycho Bitch Sauce, Kick-Your-Ass Sauce, Redneck Sauce, Alberta Oil Sauce, etc...

I've only seen them in a store once, in Toronto's St. Lawrence Market.
posted by BeaverTerror at 10:42 PM on December 26, 2007

Bruce Langhorne, unsung musical giant [previously on MetaFilter] makes Brother Bru-Bru's African Hot Sauce. His site is weird, outdated, and doesn't sell direct, but the sauce is widely available elsewhere. If your friend likes Dylan at all, well Langhorne is Mr. Tambourine Man. I've never tried the sauce, mind, but I keep an eye out for it, because y2karl's FPP about him was just so damned interesting. If you're looking for a sauce with a real good story, you could do much worse than Bruce Langhorne's.
posted by mumkin at 10:50 PM on December 26, 2007

I personally really like frank's red hot :P
If you can find it, habanero tabasco is great, but I've only seen it out of the US (here I only see jalapeno tabasco). I'll be checking out the sample packs, after death and el yucateco :)
posted by lrodman at 11:01 PM on December 26, 2007

Yeah, I have some Habanero Tabasco, it's hot but still great tasting. The milder Jalapeno Tabasco is tasty, but is very mild.
posted by so_ at 11:17 PM on December 26, 2007

I like Dave's Insanity. Not the Ultimate Insanity which so_ mentioned, which is too hot for my general use, but just the Original Insanity one. Contrary to a lot of the reviews, I think it does have flavor and isn't just heat. I like the flavor, it's not as vinegary as some I've tried, but this is all very, very subjective. If a particular sauce exceeds a taster's "threshold" they're not going to taste anything aside from the heat.

For me though, it's just the right level of heat. The Habanero Tabasco (which I also have), I find to be a bit on the weak side and more vinegary than I like.
posted by juv3nal at 11:31 PM on December 26, 2007

BTW don't go for the garlic Dave's one even if your friend also happens to be a garlic fiend. There's not a lot of garlic flavor and it's both weaker than and about as vinegary as the Habanero Tabasco. Lose - lose.
posted by juv3nal at 11:34 PM on December 26, 2007

Aaaaarrrggghhhh...I went to look up my old favorite "Inner Beauty" sauces (both the hot sauces and the amazing sweet papaya mustard) and apparently they're no longer being made. Several of the hot sauce sites out there have recommendations for alternatives for Inner Beauty lovers due to the cancellation, though, so that might turn up something interesting for you. My old favorite shopping site was Mo Hotta Mo Betta, and just from my looking around for this question the above-mentioned Firegirl also looks great.
posted by madmethods at 11:44 PM on December 26, 2007

If you can find it, get some Clancy's Fancy. It's a local-to-Ann-Arbor product, and while Zingerman's deli carries it in the stores, I don't see it on their site. Here is an old photo of the bottle which I grabbed one day.

Yes, it's hot, but it has a really incredible, complex flavor. It's not a simple old hot + vinegar sauce...

One can also make a really good dipping sauce with just a bit of it and some mayo mixed together.

The bottle lists the contact info as 2309 Packard Road, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104 / 734-663-4338.

This stuff is really, really, really good.
posted by c0nsumer at 12:08 AM on December 27, 2007

A VERY enthusiastic seconding of the El Yucateco recommendation. It is rare to find such an excellent combination of heat and flavour.
posted by hellhammer at 12:20 AM on December 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I second what caddis said. Actually I'd never heard of El Yucateco Kutbil Ik, but I was shopping, saw a hot sauce I'd never had (I'm a bit of an aficionado myself), it was not wildly expensive (around 3 bucks for 4 oz bottle) and is...brown.
It's my new favorite, very hot, but piquant enough to dribble straight onto the tongue.
The flash-laden website... it's a somewhat frustrating site, but 8 clicks will get you to Salsa Kutbil-ik de XXXtra Chile Habanero El Yucateco.
Or you may be able to order it here.
posted by dawson at 12:21 AM on December 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

My uncle brought me two bottles of Marie Sharp's hot sauces when he last visited: Hot Habanero and Green Habanero. Both are hot but flavorful and I'll get them again. I like the Hot a little better. It's made with habeneros and carrots and has an interesting flavor (and is very hot!). The Green is made with green habeneros and prickly pears. It's a bit milder (only relatively) and a little more tart tasting. I'd try them both.
posted by 6550 at 12:27 AM on December 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

The Nutrition Facts panel for Dave's Ultimate Insanity Sauce made me laugh... "Serving size 1 tsp"
posted by flabdablet at 1:00 AM on December 27, 2007

Seconding Dave. I think the Hurtin' Habanero fits your description quite well - the mix of heat/flavour is just right (for me). There's also plenty of gift boxes etc on the site.
posted by themel at 1:08 AM on December 27, 2007

Bello for some of that island goodness mon!
posted by adamvasco at 5:48 AM on December 27, 2007

Let's not forget oh-so-tasty-and-hot Thai Sriracha!
posted by Thorzdad at 5:54 AM on December 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Pain 100% has a delicious flavor, for about 2 seconds. And then the pain kicks in. My son said he wanted to start collecting hot sauces so I gave him a little Pain for Christmas. I put two drops on my plate and licked it off. I spent part of the next 5 minutes holding an ice cube on the tip of my tongue, or crying. Or both.
posted by iconomy at 5:56 AM on December 27, 2007

This is not hotsauce, but it's loaded with fire: Maple Pepper with habanero flakes. This stuff is great on corn-on-the-cob and meat. It's a bit sweet and a bit hot at the same time.
posted by mds35 at 6:00 AM on December 27, 2007

I'm a huge fan of Jardine's Blazing Saddle. It has a lot of heat, but it's also very flavorful. Among other things, it has carrots in it, which gives it a sweet tang, and a pleasing orange color. Their Texas Champagne is a less vinegary alternative to Tabasco, and is very tasty on eggs.
posted by Caviar at 6:17 AM on December 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thirding the El Yucateco sauces.
posted by desuetude at 6:17 AM on December 27, 2007

A friend of mine got everyone hot sauces with custom labels this year which was pretty cool; Google "custom label hot sauce" to find a number of options. I am not sure what company he used. but there seem to be a number of options. As for specific brands, a number of the ones mentioned are ones I like, but a couple of others are Ring of Fire which is a favorite of mine, not as hot as the name implies but reasonably so with a peppery, vinegary flavor I really like. A Friend of mine goes out of his way for Arizona Gunslinger; I like it too, it has a hot/sweet flavor that is good.
posted by TedW at 7:08 AM on December 27, 2007

Sriracha is a long time favorite of mine, but while I was travelling in Nicaragua I discovered Lizano, which (thanks to your question) I've now discovered is sold online.

Lizano hot sauce, magically delicious.
posted by Pantengliopoli at 9:17 AM on December 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Some of my favorites are from Gladys's Cafe in St. Thomas, USVI. I don't know if she ships, but it might be worth a try:

Gladys's Cafe
Royal Dane Mall
St. Thomas, VI
00802
Phone: [phone]
posted by Amizu at 10:08 AM on December 27, 2007

Marie Sharps from Belize is my all time favorite...made with carrots.
posted by Mr. Ugh at 10:27 AM on December 27, 2007

Nthing both Dave's Insanity and El Yucateco. They're two of my all-time favorites.

I also like Iguana XXX, and Valentina - while not especially hot - is great for Mexican food. In the three months I spent in Mexico, I don't think I ate in a single home that didn't have Valentina somewhere.
posted by McBearclaw at 3:23 PM on December 27, 2007

I just want to explain my comment up thread. Many of the really hot sauces have either a vinegar flavor which works well with Cajun dishes but does not meld well with a Mexican dish, or they have an overly fruity flavor which works well with Caribbean dishes but not so much with Mexican dishes. I like a Mexican or South American heat and vinegar and fruit, the predominate flavors in most really hot sauces, don't blend. For me, the jalapeño is the ultimate pepper. The heat is not up to snuff, but that flavor is to die for. It complements other foods like almost no other ingredient. The habanero has the heat but its flavor, especially in so many sauces, is far too fruity. Those tiny little Thai peppers have a great heat and flavor, oh my, yes they do. They even work in Mexican, Caribbean and South American dishes. Get them fresh though, as the dried ones don't give up their heat to the dish well and are nasty to eat. That is the main heat in most Ameri-Chinese restaurants - yuck, they are like the wonderbread of peppers dried, yet fresh they will peel the wallpaper off your kitchen walls. So, for real heat in a sauce, you have few options. The super hot, just a few drops will blaze a whole dish, variety, are so strong that regardless of their flavor you just can not use enough for it to come through. Then you have the next tier and only a few have a good flavor which melds well with Mexican food, and the Kutbil Ik is the best in this regard. Cholula, the one with the little wooden ball on the top, is an even better flavor, but pretty mild.
posted by caddis at 5:29 PM on December 29, 2007