We've done a ton of shows, fairs, festivals, markets, and more in the last 20 years and have seen a multitude of different ways people figure out which sauces they are taking home. We've learned, we've laughed, we've gasped in horror, but most importantly, we've taken it all in and decided we have enough experience to tell you the best ways to do a hot sauce tasting and know what's going to be a staple at home. So grab your $3,000 mother of pearl, gold-trimmed, ancient Mesopotamian, tasting spoon and let's get to sampling!
How Do I Get Started?
First, you should have an idea of the flavor you are looking for and go into it with that in mind. Start low and slow, like a good brisket. It's easier to start mild and find your limit than to melt your taste buds straight away and not be able to try anything else. Plus, if you convince yourself you hate hot sauce because it's "just hot with no flavor," you're already out of the game before you really even tried to play!
We have so many great mild sauces (and even a couple with no heat at all!) that you can just try some things and never even get a hint of mouth burn, if that's what you are after. Even if you are looking for your new, on-the-verge-of-tears-but-still-delicious, hot sauce, we really can't lean harder on starting milder than you think. It's just so easy to numb those sensitive buds and ruin any chance you had to make an informed decision.
Do I Just Swig From the Bottle or What?
You can but then that bottle is now yours, so maybe hang on a sec. There are three main ways we see the majority of people try sauces, one of which we can get behind wholeheartedly.
1. Trying it off their finger/hand. This one always makes us cringe. When you eventually find a sauce you like, are you taking it home to spice up Long Pig Fridays? Do you plan on eating every meal you incorporate this sauce in barehanded?
We understand that you want just the straight sauce flavor and if you are a pepperhead with a real gusto for purity, this almost makes sense. But you are still trying it off your oily, salty finger that was probably in a BUNCH of weird/gross places before slathering it with sauce. We really don't find this to be the best method.
2. Bringing a fancy tasting spoon made of some material that won't taint the flavor of the sauce. We don't see this as much but it definitely rears it's head at hot sauce-centric festivals. This is fine, if it's your thing, but to us it really doesn't make sense. We don't go home and pour ourselves half-teaspoons of hot sauce to slurp. Heck, we don't even do that when we are trying out new recipes we are working on!
Sauce is for food! It's a friggen condiment or an ingredient, which leads us to our preferred way to find that perfect sauce...
3. Try it on food. Be it a tortilla chip or Big Billy's Double Battered Bacon Dog, you gotta slop some of that sauce on there to get the real experience. Does it have a solid, stand-out flavor? Does it cover up other flavors or enhance them? Does the heat sit on your lips or build at the back of your mouth after you swallow? Does it maintain it's signature flavor or turn into a different animal when mixed with your lunch?
All these questions can only be answered by tasting it on something you are going to be eating as a normal, functioning human being. That's what it's for, right? Right?? So why would you do it any other way??? We need to sit down a moment... as you can see, we get pretty passionate.
I Don't Want to Be a Wimp
Hot sauce is fun. It's fun for us to make it. It's fun to read all the crazy sauce names makers come up with. It's fun to go up to a stand, ask for the hottest thing they have, and try to live through it. But it is also fun to take your time, be smart, and find something you're actually going to eat. Don't let the three guys daring each other to have another finger-full of the Devil's Grundle Sauce distract you. They are on a different mission. Don't forget, you are trying to find your forever sauce and don't need to impress anyone.
Look For Heat Ratings
Finally, before you dig in, see if the company rates their sauces' heat. Sometimes you'll see a thermometer-type bar (like a row of peppers or flame icons) indicating how hot the sauce is. Sometimes a company will list each sauce's Scoville rating (this can be tricky but just know the lower the number, the milder the sauce). We prefer to use a numbering system and think it's the easiest way to know what you are about to chow down on.
As an example, we number our Oh My Garlic at 0 (no heat), our Tingly Sauce at 2 (mild), our Habanero Evil sauce at 4 (medium), Nekrogoblikon's Goblin Sauce at 5 (spicy to hot), and everyone's favorite face-melter, Garlic Reaper, at 9 (super hot). There are so many more to choose from in all these categories too, so you're guaranteed find a flavor and heat level that's just right. A good sauce maker knows it isn't all about how hot it can be, but about how to balance heat and flavor.
There you have it; our hot sauce beginner's guide! Just take it easy, start mild, try it with food you are going to eat, and don't feel you have to go hotter if you don't want to. You've got this!
