garlic

Sinful Sauces Wicked

by Martin 'Scooby' Arnold on January 13, 2012 · 1 comment

in Product Reviews

Sinful Sauces Wicked

Sinful Sauces Wicked

If I was to say the name ‘Sinful Sauces’ to you, what would be the first thing to spring into mind? Devilishly hot? Exceptionally flavoursome? Whatever it is, for me, its pride. And these guys must be incredibly proud of what they have accomplished in over such a short period of time. National chilli awards winner 2011? Best newcomer? Best label? Don’t ask me what’s so great about their products, just get your butt to www.sinfulsauces.co.uk and find out for yourself. I first met this duo down at the Mendlesham Chilli Fiesta in Suffolk last year and was taken aback by their wide range of products from mild, to bloody hot! (Envy to Bliss as they like to say) Products include sauces, spreads, pickles, clothing and giftsets.

The sauce I am reviewing today is Wicked (Hot). And as always, their packaging is stylish, attaractive, fresh and above all, DAMN SEXY! Black glossy label with their trademark Sinful sauce logo and of course, the cheeky devil giving you the teasing wink egging you on to try some sauce. Even the shrink wrap top to the bottle has been placed perfectly on the lid.

This is without a doubt a faultless style of packaging. A real trendsetter. The sauce itself looks rich, red with hint of orange and a loose pulpy texture. Sauce gently flows from one end of the bottle to the other. Once again I must say the word ‘pride’, as they boast using 100% natural ingredients in their products. So what’s in the bottle?????

Ingredients: Roasted Red Peppers (35%), Tomatoes (24%), Red onions, Red Hot Serrano (10%), Sugar, Red Wine Vinegar, Garlic, Black pepper, Rosemary, Olive oil, Salt.

Chilli and garlic together? Sounds spot on to me. I have to open the bottle now but I am struggling to. It seems wrong. Bugger it, I have to try it. Off comes the lid. Straight away a sweet onion smell greets me with a mild Chilli aroma beside it. The tomato smell that comes with it reminds me strangely of spag bol, weird hey. Maybe its mixing with the rosemary to give me that? Either way it smells awesome. Lets have a taste.

Okay now that’s crazy. The sauce actually gives me the feeling that it is warm? Not a chilli hot warm, I mean like it has been popped in the microwave for a few seconds. You get the chilli warmth with it too as well as a beautiful tomato and onion flavour and a slight herby background from the rosemary. Rich roasted flavour from the peppers which takes this sauce to an amazing level of flavour and the heat level is bang on. Texture is smooth and welcoming and encourages more and more of this sauce to be eaten. Very versatile I say, good for most dishes and meals. Heat level is hot but not blistering. If you want to ramp up the heat then have lots, if you want it milder then have a little, simple as that.

So, one question remains. Why the hell are you still reading this and not ordering it??? I’ve just said its one hell of a sauce :D You will definitely not be let down with any of their products. Still reading? O come on, www.sinfulsauces.co.uk.

Bottle kindly supplied by www.sinfulsauces.co.uk and costs only £4.50 for a 148ml bottle. Until next time my fellow Chilliheads remember, if it burns going in, it will burn coming out.

Flavour
(8/10)
Heat
(7/10)
Packaging
(10/10)
Value
(9/10)
Overall
(9.5/10)

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Grim Reaper Foods – Jekyll or Hyde You Decide

by Thelurch on January 7, 2012 · 0 comments

in Product Reviews

Now this is a very clever innovation in the world of hot sauces from Russell Williams of Grim Reaper Foods, these guys have come a long way since The Evil One and have certainly not been sitting back watching the world go by. Their product range is growing, as is their imagination.

Grim Reaper Foods - Jekyll or Hyde

Grim Reaper Foods - Jekyll or Hyde

As you can see from the picture, this sauce comes in two parts. The main bottle contains the sauce and the small dropper called Jekylls Potion? holds 10mls of Oleoresin, this enables you to decide how hot you want it to be, you have the control, either pour all the potion? into the main bottle for maximum pain or just a few drops. Of course you can pour some of the sauce out and add some to a small batch. The Oleoresin is measured at 500,000 Scoville Heat Units.

For those not familiar with Oleoresin, it is what is also know in the trade as extract?, enabling a sauce to be made much hotter without the need to add extra volume i.e more Chillies. It is basically a very concentrated residue from the capsaicin in a Chilli, which can be made on a small scale at home. Russell in fact made his own Oleoresin for his initial product, The Evil One which won an Award at Fiery foods Brighton in 2010.

Russell has written a guide on how to make your own and it is available on this site, I have made my own using this guide and I would recommend any Chillihead do it at least once, especially as you don’t need any fancy equipment. But it is far too labour intensive and expensive to make on a large scale at home.

Back to the sauce, I love the shape of the bottle, which gives the desired look of an old medicine bottle which would be guzzled by Dr Hyde. I do however think that the label design needs some more work as it doesn’t seem to have the same polish as their other products, especially the fabulous packaging on their Chocolate range. It’s very wordy and a little mixed up, the wording on the front isn’t very clear. I don’t know whether this has already been addressed since this review bottle was issued but maybe worth thinking about.

So onto the look of the sauce, without pouring it I cannot tell as the bottle is brown glass, this just adds to the mystery, but I can see that it’s fairly runny.

Once open I can smell the Chipotle Chillies and the sweetness of the Golden Syrup. ?Pouring the sauce on to a spoon, the sauce is a great orange colour and reminds me instantly in appearance to the base sauce of a takeaway curry. I dip my finger in and soon realise it has the same staining properties as a good curry! licking my fingers leaves my finger looking like badly applied fake tan!

The bottle says it’s an insanely hot sauce, and it is pretty hot in its pure form before the addition of the Oleoresin. There are a lot of different flavours going on at once and it’s hard to identify individual components. That said, it isn’t an unpleasant combination.

So now I need to mix some of the Jekyll Potion? to the sauce. The label on the dropper says Do not ingest in pure form? so obviously that’s the first thing I try! .The Oleoresin is clear with a yellow tinge and smells quite sweet, one drop on the tongue and it’s clear why it has the warning, it’s a different type of burn to eating a fresh chilli pod, although this is only 500,000 SHU’s, the way it affects the pain receptors is different and feels at least 1m SHU’s!

Ingredients:  Red Capsicum, White Wine Vinegar, Water, Chipotle Peppers, Golden Syrup, Red Onion, Garlic, Sea Salt, Olive Oil, Citric Acid, and 10mls of Oleoresin extract.

Obviously how much you add to the sauce is up to you, that is the beauty of this product, you control the burn. Once added to the sauce I think it actually improves the taste along with the heat, but that may just be the burn taking over!

I do think it is one of those sauces that needs to be added to cooking, like the bottle says, on ribs or on meat, or indeed in a chilli, I don’t think it would suit eating with cheese like other sauces.

So overall, it’s a really good sauce and a very clever idea, the 150ml sauce is available from thedevilsgarden.co.uk, chillipepperpete.co.uk and hot-headz.com for around the £8 mark.

Flavour
(7/10)
Heat
Heat-As hot as you want to make it!
Packaging
(5/10)
Value
(7/10)
Overall
(8/10)

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The Wiltshire Chilli Farm – Hellish Habanero

by Martin 'Scooby' Arnold on January 2, 2012 · 1 comment

in Product Reviews

It’s not everyday you come across a sauce that states on the label, ‘Add to everything’. Very bold statement, but then again it is from The Wiltshire Chilli Farm so I have no doubt they can back this up with its ‘Hellish Habanero’.

The Wiltshire Chilli Farm - Hellish Habanero

The Wiltshire Chilli Farm - Hellish Habanero

The bottle is stumpy and probably around the 200ml kind of size with nothing less than there professionally marketed glossy labelling which offers class, character and charm to its appearance. This bottle has a cheeky yet evil feel to it with its frightful and comical pumpkin grinning away.

‘This limited edition HOT sauce is packed with Habanero’s, Nagas and just a few Chipotles. Add to everything’ Followed with a humorous warning, ‘Pretty darn hot’. All I can say is bring it on Wiltshire Chilli farm, trying to intimidate me with your scary pictures and lingo on the bottle. You don’t scare me.

Ingredients: Habanero (35%), Cider vinegar, Naga Chilli, Onions, Chipotle, Garlic.

Bottle kindly provided by The Wiltshire Chilli Farm

Short list of ingredients here which makes it a nice and simple sauce. The smell is fairly typical of a Naga sauce but you get a mild Habanero aroma coming through too. To be fair Nagas do have a powerful smell so even a small amount would stick out. No other smells to report of, no overpowering vinegar or onion ect, just Chilli galore.

Nothing to fear in this sauce I reckon so come on Hellish Habanero, lets dance!!!

Ok so that’s the spoon done, and may I take this opportunity to take The Wiltshire Chilli farm to court for false advertising. ‘Pretty darn hot’???? Don’t you mean ‘Blow your head while kicking you in the stones with steel toe caps hot??? Jeez guys, for a non extract sauce that’s evil in a bottle. Last time I judge a sauce like that. The flavour is very much a Habanero taste but it strangely acts like a Naga where it takes a good 10-15 seconds before any heat comes off it. Before hand its just a lovely Hab flavour with a touch of fruitiness and naga. I was very tempted to have a second helping as it was soooo mild to start with, I just started chuckling to myself, it has no heat. More fool me. The heat started building at a stupid rate and before I knew it I was world hiccup champion with tears of joy for the flavour, but at the same time a pleasant pain. This sauce has immense heat and gorgeous flavour. Tastes are complimentary of each other and I am struggling to think of what this will not go with. I take my hat off to you Hellish Habanero, you caught me by surprise but was happy you did. Great bottle, great sauce. Simple as that.

I cannot tell you the price as it’s a limited edition bottle so pop www.justchillies.co.uk and drop them a mail. These guys wont rob you so don’t stress, good products at good value for money.

So until next time Chilliheads remember, if it burns going in, it will burn coming out.

Flavour
(8.5/10)
Heat
(8.5/10)
Packaging
(8.5/10)
Value
N/A
Overall
(8.5/10)

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The Smokey Upton Dragon

by Hot Juan on December 29, 2011 · 0 comments

in Product Reviews

The Smokey Upton Dragon

The Smokey Upton Dragon

The residents of Bristol I hear tell stories of a not so far off land to the east, where there be Dragons in the hills, the smoke  from these Dragons can be seen billowing gently from behind farms, in  the little hamlet of Upton Cheyney. 

I guess the traditional Chilli that we smoke is the Jalapeño which becomes the Chipotle, well over the past couple of years I have tasted all sorts of Chillies that have been smoked with all sorts of woods. You may think that we would have a tendency to smoke here in the UK as our weather is not up to drying under the sun.. but this is much more a gourmet thing.

Today’s sauce is from one of the UK best sauce makers, they have made the one sauce I have awarded an 11/10 for  it wonderful savoury flavour, this is a sweet sauce, which are not always my favourite, and people who know me well know I would pick Pineapple off a pizza.. So fingers crossed this is not going to be a one I wish I had not tried.

Ingredients: Pineapple, Sugar, Honey, Onion, Oak Smoked Habanero, Lime, Garlic.

Bottle kindly provided by the dragon keepers of Upton Cheyney

On popping the lid, it does not have the expected sweet smell, but I can detect the Oak smoke and the Lime and Garlic, not what I was expecting, but then Louise (Who I am told is defiantly not the Upton Dragon) is a master in the kitchen. First taste is mildly of sweet Pineapple that followed by the smoked Habaneros, it is sweet but not as sweet as the ingredients make it sound.

While this would make a superb dipping sauce, it works so well as the basis of a salsa adding both heat and flavour, also dripping a little on the last of the sausages rolls is just divine.

The 140ml bottle costs just £4.00, and knowing the smokey flavour comes from Chilli grown and smoked on the farm makes it seem all the better, I must get myself up to the Farm to visit Alex and Louise and see the new smoker in action.

Don’t forget that The Upton Cheyney Chilli Co put one a great Chilli Festival each year, we would not miss it, visit their site for more details and to order on-line.

Flavour
(8.5/10)
Heat
(6/10)
Packaging
(8/10)
Value
(7/10)
Overall
(8/10)

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