The 'Hottest' Hot-Sauce Trading Thread!

Okay, bear with me - this is a weird one. We've got a coffee trading thread, and candy trading thread, maybe alcohol? I don't know.

Look, the point is - I'm a fan of trying different hot sauces. Even if they're ridiculous, it's a fun pastime to test your limits. I figure there are folks who have different styles and types of hot sauces all over the place that need to be tasted. I want to set this thread up so we can do just that.

There's no limitation on what nationality it is - spicy is spicy! Let's get some trades rolling and start playing with fire!

**This is an interest check until people express interest, or until this thread is locked and I'm banned from making new threads for such a stupid idea.

I would love to know some truly hot hot sauces so I can buy them for my step-father. He acquired a real taste for hot food while stationed in Thailand during Vietnam.

His favorite hot sauce was Endorphin Rush. He'd put one or two drops in his steak marinate and it was more than enough to get the heat going.

I can't figure out how to sort their sauces by Scoville scale, but you're going to want to step it up to something on the higher end of that, most likely. Endorphin Rush is fairly common, I think. A recent favorite of mine was Secret Aardvark out of Portland, OR. Probably around the same heat scale. I had some on a few bites of Arugula pizza the other night - excellent caribbean / tex-mex flavor.

I'd be down for this, though I'm not really aware of any local hot sauces. I mean, I'm sure there are some, but with a hot sauce fearing partner, I've been slacking these last few years.

If they're not specifically local, even just something unique that you think people might not find elsewhere. Regional, even.

Damnable Bear wrote:

A recent favorite of mine was Secret Aardvark out of Portland, OR. Probably around the same heat scale. I had some on a few bites of Arugula pizza the other night - excellent caribbean / tex-mex flavor.

Aardvark is my favorite. Love that stuff. It's good on just about anything. I've definitely used it on pizza with arugula before.

Tuffalo, I feel like we would get along very well.

Damnable Bear wrote:

I can't figure out how to sort their sauces by Scoville scale, but you're going to want to step it up to something on the higher end of that, most likely. Endorphin Rush is fairly common, I think. A recent favorite of mine was Secret Aardvark out of Portland, OR. Probably around the same heat scale. I had some on a few bites of Arugula pizza the other night - excellent caribbean / tex-mex flavor.

Aardvark! It's become my favorite. It's not super hot but it's got a great heat/flavor balance. It's a really small, local company so while it's super popular here and found in restaurants all over town it's not really escaped the PNW yet.

Well, it has now! This place near me asked if I'd like any hot sauce with my pizza, and served it up immediately.

http://www.capcitygastropub.com/

Also, I ordered three bottles from a seller on Amazon after having it

Good! The world needs more Aardvark.

The Habanero Aardvark is the best, but their Black Bean and Jerk sauces are really good as well.

Wow, what a consensus on Aardvark. Gonna get some of that for him (and maybe myself).

While not exactly hot sauce, but I've bought a lot of Cap'n Ron's Butt Kickin' Blacken over the years. It's the sort of stuff that when the meat hits the grill or the oil you better have good ventilation otherwise everyone is gonna be coughing. Love that stuff. Also, no salt, so you are paying for his spice blend and no filler.

Aaaaand that's all I can contribute to this thread.

Well, bookmarked that. I'll have to give that a shot.

If people want to start looking around to see if there's anything local / regional to them and want to start trading, let me know! I'm certainly interested.

Well, the Carolina Reaper is the hottest pepper in the world and it is from NC. I've had some sauce and it is crazy hot!

Damn, wish I had picked up some Aardvark when I was in Portland last summer. We were a block away from Food Fight which carries them.

karmajay wrote:

Well, the Carolina Reaper is the hottest pepper in the world and it is from NC. I've had some sauce and it is crazy hot!

For me, the thing that matters most isn't the heat, but the balance of heat and flavor. Does this manage to do that well, despite its heat?

Speaking of that balance but in regards to your more common hot sauces, I much prefer Valentina over Tapatio for that reason. Valentina actually has a great flavor to it, and Tapatio is fine but mostly just spicy. I was really surprised when I first tried Valentina and instantly converted to it over Tapatio.

As far as Sriracha goes, it's fine but something I rarely use given what I generally eat these days. It has a pretty distinct flavor that tends to overpower stuff. So, basically, it's good with bland, boring food.

I was going to say, I tend to like Tapatio exclusively on Mexican foods. It doesn't fit the bill for much else because the flavor is lacking that which Mexican food provides. In any other situation, I wouldn't use it.

I don't like Tapatio and Valentina doesn't add enough flavor for me.

My favorite for flavor is Trader Joe's JalapenoChili Pepper Hot Sauce. It's super mild though. You really could drink the stuff and have no issues.

My current favorite in terms of flavor is this stuff:

IMAGE(http://i5.walmartimages.com/dfw/dce07b8c-c721/k2-_b0b17c8d-8f69-41d3-acc9-0d720c0187ce.v1.jpg)

Not super hot, but that great Habanero flavor is still very much present.

I picked up a bottle of Secret Aardvark a few weeks ago based on the recommendation here. It's great. Not extremely hot, but a lot of flavor. I went through the bottle in no time and just ordered 6 more.

Should we just rename this the "everyone go out and buy some Secret Aardvark thread"? I'd be up for trading stuff except that I don't have anything particularly interesting in mind. If I come across something interesting this year, I'll pop into the thread and offer to trade.

complexmath wrote:

My current favorite in terms of flavor is this stuff:

IMAGE(http://i5.walmartimages.com/dfw/dce07b8c-c721/k2-_b0b17c8d-8f69-41d3-acc9-0d720c0187ce.v1.jpg)

Not super hot, but that great Habanero flavor is still very much present.

Just went looking for some other local stuff, store didn't have it, but they have this. How would rate it's heat level? I'm a big wimp now and sriracha is at times more than I am ready for.

Sriracha is everyday stuff. If that's too much, you should not be in this thread.

J.C. wrote:

Just went looking for some other local stuff, store didn't have it, but they have this. How would rate it's heat level? I'm a big wimp now and sriracha is at times more than I am ready for.

Yeah I started using the Yucatan because everyone has it, but I really like it. I'd say it's hotter than Sriracha, but not by a lot. And it's a lot more versatile. I use it on pulled pork when I don't have the vinegar sauce available, for example. Or hamburgers, burritos, etc.

Sriracha is pretty hot for me too, but that's because it's not particularly packed with flavor, so I generally have to use more of it. It kind of just takes on the flavor of whatever it's on, and just nukes you.

complexmath wrote:
J.C. wrote:

Just went looking for some other local stuff, store didn't have it, but they have this. How would rate it's heat level? I'm a big wimp now and sriracha is at times more than I am ready for.

Yeah I started using the Yucatan because everyone has it, but I really like it. I'd say it's hotter than Sriracha, but not by a lot. And it's a lot more versatile. I use it on pulled pork when I don't have the vinegar sauce available, for example. Or hamburgers, burritos, etc.

Cool, thanks! I'll give it a go.

Also saw they carry a variety of Cholula, which I like a decent amount. Prefer it to Tapatio for sure.

J.C. wrote:

Damn, wish I had picked up some Aardvark when I was in Portland last summer. We were a block away from Food Fight which carries them.

Luckily Amazon's got you covered.

You can add my name to the Aardvark fan club. Got some recently after it was suggested in the Great Food Debate, and I love it.

I love spicy food, but I'm not usually big on hot sauces because they're usually really vinegary or all heat and no flavor.

(apologies if this sounds like a shill ad; just sharing a dumb-ass moment in my life )

I took my kids to Buffalo Wild Wings a couple months back for dinner -- I had a craving for something spicy. On the menu was a new flavor, wayyyy deep into the hotness scale... "Reformulated Blazin'" sauce (now made with ghost peppers!). Now, I enjoy a nice spice... Tabasco is flavoring; Sriracha brings a nice heat; anything Vindaloo is f*cking hot. And I've never had anything with ghost peppers in it before, so, of course, I had to try it. We went on a Thursday, and I was therefore able to partake in the boneless wing deal (buy X wings at $Y per piece, minimum 4 pieces). So I ordered 4 boneless wings with the Reformulated Blazin' sauce, and a burger. Our waiter asked if I had ever had this sauce before, to which I confessed I hadn't. He chuckled and walked away.

A while later, the server brought a small cardboard bowl over, with 6 pieces of chicken liberally doused in an evil-looking sauce. Our waiter walked by to check on how everything was, and actually commented, "WOW! They really put a lot of sauce on that chicken!" I winced. And then tried just a dab of the sauce on my tongue. It was hot. Very hot. I composed myself, then popped an entire piece into my mouth... and regretted it. Instantly I began perspiring, but I managed to down the piece, and went for a second one. I realized then how grateful I was that these were boneless wings, so that I could avoid touch those flaming pieces of lava with my hands. After I finished the second piece, I noticed that I actually couldn't taste the heat on my tongue as much; presumably my taste buds had all been murdered by that point, so I went ahead and cleaned up 3 more, leaving just one lonely piece of chicken behind.

TL;DR: Buffalo Wild Wings' Reformulated Blazin' sauce actually was rather flavorful, but it packs a LOT of heat. If you really want a hot sauce, and your local BWW has it (it's not in every location, from what I've read online), you might want to try it some Thursday night...

chixor7 wrote:
J.C. wrote:

Damn, wish I had picked up some Aardvark when I was in Portland last summer. We were a block away from Food Fight which carries them.

Luckily Amazon's got you covered.

That's a bit spendy, but probably worth it if you can't find it elsewhere. I picked up a bottle at the grocery store today for about $6.33.

I can order from Food Fight and it's $6.50 there. So probably $10 after exchange to CAD and a bit more for shipping.

NOPE. They don't ship to Canada anymore.

Food Fight! Another awesome thing I love that I never thought I would see here.