Chilli Sauce Reviews - Page 001

Reviews of chilli sauce products by an former industry-insider

Traffic Light Scoring System

0-3/10 = crap, 4-6/10 = average, 7-10/10 = great!

Blair's Jalapeno Death Sauce

Name: Jalapeno Death Sauce

Manufacturer: Blair’s ( Gardner Resources Inc, New Jersey, USA )

Style Classification: Caribbean / Louisiana Crossover

Appearance: 8/10

As with most of Blair’s packaging, this is a product that is designed to catch the eye and I think you’ll agree it does that quite successfully. High quality gloss labelling and the ever-present Death Sauce skull give this product a premium look.

The sauce itself is a dull green colour with great consistency ( Goldilocks: not too thick, not too runny – just perfect). It obviously has some texture to it as well as pieces of several ingredients and chilli seeds are clearly visible.

Ingredients: 7/10

Jalapeno chillies, vinegar, tomatillos, garlic, Key Lime juice, shallots (spring onions), olive oil, sea salt, cilantro (coriander), cane sugar, onions, Tequila, spices, Xanthan Gum. Contains no preservatives or artificial ingredients.

No major concerns here. There are a very small percentage of people that have an allergy to Xanthan gum.

Aroma: 7/10

Strong smell of vinegar but can also pick up strong elements of garlic and that beautiful green jalapeno/capsicum aroma. It would be nice to get a bit more of the jalapenos and less of the vinegar but it’s not a serious flaw.

Flavour: 7/10

First cab off the rank is the vinegar and then the tartness of the tomatillos and, to a lesser degree, the Key lime juice. Certainly makes you start to pucker up a bit.

The garlic is then easily detectable at the back of the mouth. I was hoping to get more of the jalapeno flavour coming through, as was suggested would happen from the initial aroma, so it’s a bit disappointing in that regard.

Overall: 7/10

This is quite a good quality sauce – the flavour covers the full palate, no one taste is too overpowering, and it’s not watery or weak in any way. Consistency is good and you can feel the ingredient chunks on your tongue – a not unpleasant texture.

Matching it with food;

• as this is a lighter, non-tomato based sauce this will work well with all white meats. I tried it with some flathead fillets that had simply been dusted in flour and then shallow fried and it was a good match up.
• eggs ! I tried this on soft-poached eggs and it was fantastic.

Heat: 4/10 (doesn't affect Overall Score.

Broad heat, front of palate, and then appearing at the back of the throat after about 20 seconds. Overall heat lasts for a minute or two.

Ingredient Alert: Minor – Xanthan gum (see ingredient review above)