Author: Scott Roberts

There may be extract-based sauces and additives that are far hotter, but for “all-natural” hot sauces (meaning ones that do not contain chile pepper extract), there may be none in the world more mouth-scorching than the ones listed below that are commercially available.

Many chileheads and sauce aficionados feel that pepper extract possesses a nasty, bitter, “chemical”-like flavor, and prefer the taste and burn provided by ground-up or pureed chiles. If you’re looking for the most eye-watering, tongue-throbbing, throat-burning, all-around hottest non-extract hot sauces, take a look at these fine offerings…

Here’s a press release a stumbled upon this morning. I can’t say whether or not this product would work, but I found this interesting nonetheless…

Most energy products deliver large doses of caffeine through oral ingestion, and this is known to cause jitters and crashing effects. Now there’s a new oral spray that delivers sustained energy without crash or jitters thanks to the power of the pepper. Spray Awake is the world’s first personal energy spray to use capsaicin as a way to deliver sublingual doses of caffeine with big results and no side effects.

Albany, NY (PRWEB) November 6, 2009 – SiCap LLC, makers of the popular Sinus Buster capsaicin nasal spray, has announced a brand new capsaicin based energy spray called “Spray Awake”. According to the manufacturer, Spray Awake delivers caffeine in small sustained amounts to reap positive results without the unwanted side effects associated with energy drinks, shots and pills…

For my brief, two-to-three minute audio sauce reviews for the Hot Sauce Weekly Podcast, I’ve been racking my brains trying to gather up a diverse array of products that I completely adore so that I can cover them. While I may eventually get around to recording a negative (or at least a less than glowing) review of a spicy food item, for the time being I want to give solid recommendations on sauces and salsas that I truly believe are some of the very best out there in fiery foods land.

One such product is Danny Cash’s Mean Streak Habanero Mango Hot Sauce, a sauce I fell in love with a couple of years ago. Danny Cash is already one of my favorite sauce manufacturers, and I think this would be the grand champion of what they produce. Out of all the hot sauces I’ve tasted, Mean Streak is easily in “all-time Top 10” territory. I’ve looked back in my blog’s hot sauce review archives and realized that I’ve never formally reviewed a single Danny Cash product, so here is this write-up to help rectify that problem.

Here’s the poll question for November: do you take a bottle or two of hot sauce with you when you go out to eat to put on the restaurants’ food?

Will November’s Chilehead T-Shirt of the Month become a modern classic? It remains to be seen, but you’ll want to be seen in the new “Fire Goes In…Fire Escape” tee.

Let everyone know where the flammage goes…in your mouth! But the fire must escape somewhere, so turn the shirt around to look at the back to find the answer! Sure to get lots of laughs.

Available in both male and female fittings.

Whether or not you’re a fan of his products, you have to admit that few people have had the impact and garnered a cult-like following quite like Blair Lazar of Blair’s Sauces and Snacks. I was recently given the opportunity to have an extended conversation with Blair, and he was candid, gushingly accommodating and extremely passionate as we spoke. We touched on several topics, including his reserves (which struck a nerve when I mentioned some were critical of the prices for which they were being sold), being on the internet, his collaboration with rock guitarist Zakk Wylde on the Berserker Sauces, and the fiery foods business.

Scott: For those who have never heard it, what was the “Reader’s Digest” version of how you created the Wings of Death challenge while working as a bartender on the Jersey Shore?

Blair: Well, that’s the inception of my Death Sauce back in ’89, you know bartending, serving drunks on the Jersey Shore. This was before what’s happened in the last 20 years, with the proliferation of spice. I think there’s something really exciting about watching somebody eat something hot, and that’s just as “simpleton” as I can say it. I think when you’re serving people liquor, and it’s 2 o’clock in the morning, what can you really do that’s legal to get them to leave? You can say, “hey, if you can eat my wings you can hang all night at the bar.” I would make four of the hottest wings you could possibly find, and tell them…

Original Juan Specialty Foods has one of the most diverse stables of eats in the fiery foods world, with several brands under OJ’s umbrella. One of these brands is the Pain is Good lineup, which is becoming of the fastest growing names in spicy sauces and snacks, and has been recently entering traditional supermarket chains which garner them substantially more exposure than other specialty food makers.

There was some controversy in the chilehead community surrounding Original Juan’s role as a co-packer a while back, but this particular review is not the time or place to drudge up that topic. Instead, I would like to focus on whether or not Pain is Good’s Chipotle Con Queso makes the grade as a dip, condiment or veggie topper.

The winners have been announced in The Hot Pepper Awards 2009 competition, which is presented by TheHotPepper.com forums. Click here for the full listing of categories and prize recipients. Congratulations to the winners!

Gunther’s Gourmet was one of the highlights of the 2009 Weekend of Fire. A large percentage of vendors at that show featured products that were all over the map; some were excellent, while food items had totally missed the mark with what they were attempting to accomplish. Thankfully for Gunther’s Gourmet they were not in that “hit-or-miss” category. Most of the 10+ salsas the company had on display for sampling were above average and were never anything less than high-quality. And although they produce a handful of admirable marinades & vinaigrettes, it was Gunther’s wide selection of salsas that impressed me.

Mike Lampros, one of the two brothers that run Gunther’s Gourmet, had recently provided a sampling to me of a quartet of salsas (three of which are award-winning): Jalapeño Salsa Fresca, Spicy Ginger Pineapple Salsa, Fiery Peri-Peri Dark Cherry Salsa, and Fiery Cranberry Habanero Salsa Here are my thoughts on these…

I’ve respected Jim Campbell for a long time. The guy’s done a great many things which make him an excellent all-around ambassador of the fiery foods industry. If you’re relatively new to the hot sauce world, you may or may not know that he has worn many hats (no pun intended) in addition to running the Mild to Wild Pepper and Herb Company. His day job is being a firefighter with the Pike Township Fire Department in Indianapolis, Indiana, which instantly earns him the title of “hero” in my book. Jim has founded the Step Up for Charity organization a not-for-profit group that raises funds for charitable organizations, and he once held the world record for stair climbing (106,000 stairs in one 24-hour period!) that he used to help promote this great cause. On his commercial fields, he grows chile peppers that supplies chiles to a large segment of the U.S. specialty hot sauce market. On his fields he also hosts the annual Woodstock-like “Open Fields” pepper event every fall, where chileheads converge for a weekend to pick chiles and to celebrate the spicy life. Overall, Jim is an intriguing individual, so I’m pleased to have been able to ask Jim a few questions, and he was more than happy to provide his often humorous, always knowledgeable insight…

The 2009 Original Terlingua International Frank X. Tolbert – Wick Fowler Championship Chili Cookoff is just a few days away. The 43rd annual event is taking place on November 5 – 7 in Terlingua, Texas where an expected 10,000+ chile fans will converge to watch entrants compete in one of the largest non-ICS chili contests on earth. To get the scoop, go to http://www.abowlofred.com.

The following info comes form Dr. Kevin Crosby, Dr. Juan Anciso, and Dr. Ben Villalón:

The Texas pepper research is fine and doing well in Weslaco, Texas. The Texas Pepper Foundation (TPF), dissolved after 32 years, was organized in 1976 with over 300 members from 25 different states, several other countries including Mexico and Canada who recognize the importance of peppers (chile, chilli) as the number one spice ingredient in the world. Members included research and extension scientists, growers, producers, seed and chemical industry and major food processing firms. TPF members supported the genetic improvement of peppers being conducted at TAES Weslaco previously by Dr. Ben Villalón and now by Dr. Kevin Crosby and several other scientists throughout Texas. TPF sponsored periodic conferences, field days, and financial research support. This was one of the last major public assisted pepper improvement organizations in the U.S.A. Dr. Crosby has released several outstanding pepper cultivars with more to come, since Dr. Ben retired in 1996.

A Scientific Texas Pepper Conference and Field Day is Being Planned and Organized for November 12 – 13, 2009 at the Weslaco Research Center…

The 2009 Original Terlingua International Frank X. Tolbert – Wick Fowler Championship Chili Cookoff is just a few days away. The 43rd annual event is taking place on November 5 – 7 in Terlingua, Texas where an expected 10,000+ chile fans will converge to watch entrants compete in one of the largest non-ICS chili contests on earth. To get the scoop, go to http://www.abowlofred.com.

Blair has sent out the message this morning about the new Halloween 2009 Reserves. Each one is in a unique, glass-blown bottle and contains both a vial of 16 million SHU capsaicin AND bhut jolokia (AKA “ghost chili”) powder:

Dear Chilipal,

Some Seriously Spicy Fury is brewing In Death Sauce Land on this festive Mischief Night. What better time than now to announce the release of my over the top 2009 Halloween Reserve !!!! So here it is…. Each bottle is definitely a one-of-a-kind creation. Check out this spectacular, artisan, hand-blown glass pumpkin bottle filled with Jolokia Ghost Chili and Guinness World Record-breaking 16 Million…