The Kaiser's Hot Sauce List
I'm keeping some notes on hot sauces I've tried. First, a few definitions, then the list.
Spice Category Key
| 1 | Use as a table condiment. Mostly adds flavor, with only mild heat |
| 2 | Elevated spiciness. Sprinkle drops as a topping |
| 3 | Industrial grade stuff. Use these more as an additive, diluting a few drops into a larger dish |
Extract Key
| 🌶️ | All Natural - these sauces get their heat from grinding or mashing up hot peppers, aka "the normal way" |
| ⚗️ | Extract - capsaicin (the chemical that makes stuff spicy) has been extracted from peppers and then added back into this sauce in a concentrated form. These sauces tend to have a more immediate and intense "hit" of straight up burning on the tongue |
| Favorite? | Logo | Approx. Sauce Color |
Manufacturer / Sauce Name |
Spice Category | Peppers | Extract? | Consistency | Try it with... | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ⭐ |  |
Crystal Hot Sauce |
1 | Cayenne | 🌶️ | thin | pizza | a good go-to daily hot sauce and my favorite vinegary pepper sauce | |
 |
Dawson's Cremini Habanero |
2 | Habanero | 🌶️ | chunky | vegetables | highly unique and strong mushroom flavor, very earthy | ||
 |
Blair's Mega Death Sauce |
3 | Habanero, Cayenne, Ancho | ⚗️ | thick | chili | crazy intense, totally over the top heat. Use with caution, seriously! | ||
 |
Hell Fire Detroit Habanero |
2 | Habanero | 🌶️ | chunky | taco bell | |||
 |
Adoboloco Hamajang |
2 | Ghost, Habanero | 🌶️ | thin | rice | very smoky, distinct taste. Goes well with anything that needs a strong dose of flavor | ||
 |
Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce |
1 | Generic "aged peppers" | 🌶️ | thin | stew | a standard vinegar table sauce but with more kick. A good choice when Crystal isn't cutting it | ||
| ⭐ |  |
Torchbearer Zombie Apocalypse |
2 | Ghost, Habanero | 🌶️ | thick | chicken | awesome garlic flavor! | |
 |
Dave's Gourmet Scorpion Pepper |
3 | Scorpion | 🌶️ | chunky | smells a little stinky? That might be good! Really dominates the flavor of whatever you put it in, you kind of have to be in the mood for the scorpion sting | |||
 |
Dave's Gourmet Ghost Pepper Jolokia |
3 | Ghost | ⚗️ | chunky | Another strong Dave's extract sauce that will annihilate anything in its path. Definitely safer as an additive. | |||
 |
Dave's Gourmet Total Insanity |
3 | Red chilis | ⚗️ | thick | tomato juice | the first next-level hot sauce I got into | ||
| ⭐ |  |
Sriracha Rooster Sauce (?) |
1 | Red jalapeno | 🌶️ | thick | pizza, especially the crust | a legend, very versatile. Good as a topping, not as good for mixing | |
 |
Cholula Original |
1 | Arbol, Pequin | 🌶️ | thick | pork tenderloin | good thicker sauce. Not as vinegary. | ||
| ⭐ |  |
Cholula Chili Garlic |
1 | Arbol, Pequin | 🌶️ | thick | loved this flavor. Not really spicy at all, tbh | ||
| ⭐ |  |
Secret Aardvark Habanero Hot Sauce |
1 | Habanero | 🌶️ | thick | burrito | great flavor, works best as a topping. Not as good for dilution | |
 |
Cholula Sweet Habanero |
1 | Habanero | 🌶️ | thick | stir fry | somewhat hotter than normal cholula, but still spice category 1. Sweeter flavor due to pineapple | ||
| ⭐ |  |
Heatonist The Last Dab XXX |
3 | Pepper X, "the world's hottest pepper" | 🌶️ | chunky | ramen | I was skeptical, but delivered excellent heat/flavor balance. Good general purpose category 3 | |
 |
Shaquanda's Hot Pepper Sauce |
1 | Chili | 🌶️ | thick | good mix of flavors. Slightly sweet/tangy | |||
 |
Bravado Spice Co. Black Garlic Carolina Reaper |
2 | Red Serrano, Carolina Reaper | 🌶️ | thin | fried rice | strong heat, unique flavor. Pretty decent | ||
 |
Bravado Spice Co. Crimson Hot Sauce |
1 | Arbol, Red Jalapeno | 🌶️ | thin | not feeling this one | |||
| ⭐ |  |
Bravado Spice Co. Serrano and Basil Hot Sauce |
1 | Serrano | 🌶️ | thin | paninis | Really good sauce. Perfect for specific dishes where basil would be a good addition | |
 |
El Yucateco Black Label Reserve Chile Habanero |
2 | Habanero | 🌶️ | thick | super smoky, musky flavor will dominate, so whether you like this depends on how well you dig that flavor | |||
| ⭐ |  |
Gator Hammock Lethal Gator |
2 | Cayenne, Habanero, Red Scotch Bonnet, Jalapeno | 🌶️ | thick | tacos | great all around sauce, works well on lots of different stuff | |
| ⭐ |  |
Tahiti Joe's Ahi Of Kahuna XX |
2 | Habanero, Red Peppers | 🌶️ | chunky | chicken nuggets | has cheese and carrots (!) in it, which is kind of weird, but it totally works. You can use this for dipping too. | |
 |
Torchbearer Slaughter Sauce |
1 | Habanero | 🌶️ | thick | kind of underwhelming, didn't feel like flavor was adding enough | |||
 |
McCormick Frank's RedHot |
1 | Cayenne | 🌶️ | thin | soup | not very hot at all, but adds a pleasant bit of vinegary flavor | ||
 |
Sylvia's Restaurant Triple Strength Hot Sauce |
1 | Cayenne | 🌶️ | thin | bean stew | slightly elevated category 1 heat. Vinegary | ||
| ⭐ |  |
Bravado Aka Miso |
3 | Ghost Pepper, Carolina Reaper | 🌶️ | thick | soup | Flavor is very complimentary, adding to a dish without hijacking it. Excellent sauce. | |
 |
Melinda's Extra Hot |
1 | Habanero | 🌶️ | thick | quesadilla | Pretty good category 1 sauce. Fresh taste, maybe slightly citrusy. | ||
 |
Melinda's Mango |
1 | Habanero | 🌶️ | thick | Sweet and fruity. Mostly flavor, not much heat at all. | |||
 |
Small Axe Peppers The Baltimore Habanero Ginger |
1 | Habanero | 🌶️ | thin | Packs a really intense ginger taste, so I find it less versatile...haven't quite found the right dish for it yet. |