Ingredients:

• 1 pound or 4 cups of walnut halves
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 6 tablespoons of milk
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla or almond extract
• 2Teaspoons of dry ground Habanero
• ½ teaspoon of ground dry Jolokia

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Spread nuts in a single layer over a baking sheet. Roast for aprox. 8 to 10 min. or until nuts turn brown and your kitchen starts smelling great!
2. Stir together your ground peppers, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and milk in a medium sauce pan. Cook over a medium heat for 8 minutes or until mixture reaches the soft ball stage of 236 degrees (113 degrees C) Remove from heat, and stir in favorite extract flavor immediately.
3. Add walnuts to sugar syrup, and stir to coat well. Spoon to coat nuts well and pour out on waxed paper or a well greased cookie pan. Cool then store.

You can add more or less chili’s to this recipe. This was a nice heat that would creep up on me as I ate them. The sugar and salt makes it so that one is never enough. Most of all, ENJOY!

Do be careful of the hot sugar…it will get you if you are not careful!

Sincerely,
Ammond Crawford

© 2012, hotsauceaddict.com. All rights reserved.

This weeks review is of Sauce Crafters’ “Satan’s Rage”. The label depicts what seems like a particularly peeved Beelzebub bust on an infernal backdrop.  It actually eerily reminds me of a very bad night in college. The obligatory description does its’ best to scare the crap out of you with words like ‘overpowered” and phrases like “evil intrusion”.  The ingredient list is pretty standard with Fire Roasted Habaneros, Vinegar, Ghost Chili’s, salt, and Xanthan Gum…..Xanthan Gum? I don’t really ever see the need for gums and starches in hot sauce. You can usually get the texture and consistency you’re looking for by adjusting the puree and ratio. Anyway, the color is a deep red bordering on brown, with a good amount of seeds and black flecks from the roasted habaneros. The bottle shape is what I call the “flask” shape, which I typically don’t prefer because they take up more room in the fridge and on my wall o’ hot sauce.

One quick question before I crack it open. Wouldn’t the title “Satan’s Ghost” imply that Satan is/was mortal?  I mean, in order to become a ghost, you have to at some point die, right? My brain hurts. Let’s open the bottle.

The odor is that of a classic puree: mash and vinegar, and that’s it. The texture is relatively smooth for a puree, but is also thick like barbeque sauce. I find most sauces with this odor are chunkier, lighter in color, and inconsistent. A half a teaspoon on a baked Tostito gives me an immediate blast of vinegar which quickly gives way to charred pepper flavor which is soon joined by fresh pepper. These flavors hang on for a few beats but eventually give way to a mellow spreading heat. The type of heat is unmistakable. It’s the even, unrelenting, and consistent heat that can’t be achieved through the use of extract. There’s no one hot spot where the sauce hit my tongue, and there’s no spike of heat which hits hard and fades quickly. It’s the kind of heat I feel in my cheeks, across the back of my tongue, and down my throat to my stomach. Several minutes after my last sample and I am still warm. The heat is lingering so long I’ve begun to ponder what life would be like in a state of perpetual burn. I guess it would be a like an old friend who comes to visit and never leaves. You might have a great time for a few days, but eventually you want your house back.

My overall impression of this sauce is certainly positive. The smokiness from the charred peppers limits its’ versatility a bit, but the heat level is absolutely perfect for everyday use by the heat seeker. It’s hot enough to get the endorphins going, but mild enough to use liberally. The flavor is that of a standard puree, but the fire roasted peppers separate it from the crowd. A good ratio of salt and vinegar create a very well balanced and utilitarian sauce.

Heat: 4 Flavor: 4.5 Bottle: 3.5

© 2012, hotsauceaddict.com. All rights reserved.

For my first of what will hopefully be many reviews, I chose “Afterlife Ghost Pepper Sauce”. My entry into the foray of hot sauce reviews comes after a couple decades of igniting my tongue at virtually every meal and enjoying every minute of it. For sake of organization and efficiency, I keep three sauces open in my fridge at all times. No more, no less:

One “Table” sauce”- the red vinegary stuff the wife can put on her eggs and I don’t even taste. (I use this to wean my one year old boy.)
One “Newbie” sauce” – the sauce that my buddies like and think they’re cool eating but isn’t actually very hot. The wife will only try these after a couple glasses of wine.
One “Extreme” sauce – the sauce that only the bravest of guests try, I use on most meals, and the wife stays far, far away from.
Each of the sauces I review will fall into one of these categories as I attempt to describe the flavor, texture, pleasure, and pain I experience upon sampling them.

Afterlife has a medium to thin consistency with a smooth texture. There are small flecks of white which I assume are seeds or garlic and its’ color is a reddish orange. It smells of garlic and vinegar with little to no chili odor. If you eat enough hot sauce, you can tell by the smell how hot the sauce is going to be. I’m not getting the milk handy if that tells you anything..

The label depicts the Grimm Reaper wielding a scythe with a cayenne pepper as a blade, which is interesting considering it’s touted as a “Ghost pepper” sauce. It’s also interesting that this Ghost pepper sauce has five ingredients listed before the ghost pepper, and two of them are other peppers; Cayenne and Bird’s Eye. I guess Ghosts are scarier than Bird’s Eyes. Either way, this appears from first glance to be yet another sauce attempting to capitalize on the Bhut Jalokia craze that will hopefully begin to wane considering the several varieties of peppers that have surpassed the Jalokia on the scoville scale in the last year. There’s even a text box on the label describing how the Ghost Chili is 400 times hotter than the Tabasco, and telling you to “prepare to meet your maker”. Considering vinegar, salt and garlic are all listed before the Ghost; I think I’ll hold off on the preparation.

Ok, let’s taste it…..one teaspoon on a cracker

The first taste is of cumin and garlic, then vinegar and salt, then chili pepper. The elements are actually combined quite nicely. The spices, the acid, and the heat work together without overpowering one another. There is an immediate explosion of flavor from the vinegar, but it smoothes out quickly and relents as the mild wave of heat overlaps the initial zing. The sauce has enough heat that you should keep it away from the baby (or I should so my wife doesn’t kill me), but can be used liberally by any heat seeker.

Five minutes after my initial tasting I still have a little burn in the center of my tongue and a few beads of sweat have lingered on my brow… Actually, let me wipe that real quick….. Ok, I’m good.

This sauce definitely falls into the “Newbie” category from a heat standpoint, but the flavor and balance make Afterlife a successful and well rounded sauce.
I can see this sauce being used on just about any and everything. It would be a fine compliment to meats, pasta, Latin, and Italian cuisine.

If I had one complaint it would be the blatant (yet pervasive) advertisement of life altering and excruciating agony one will experience upon consumption. I just want one sauce to label itself as “pretty hot” or “kinda hot”. Is that too much to ask? All being said, and if my pet peeve will let me look past the label, I will definitely use this sauce again.

Heat: 3/5 Label: 3/5 (for the illustration quality) Flavor: 4.5

© 2012, hotsauceaddict.com. All rights reserved.

HELLO FELLOW CHILI HEADS!

It’s the glorious weekend once again and I can’t find one single reason to complain about that!  Work is the farthest thing from my mind. This is the time of the week that my beautiful wife is compelled to make something awesome and tasty for the family dinner. The aromatic smell of a giant, marbled pot roast is wafting through out the house. My two little kids are actually trembling in anticipation as they look forward to the “all you can eat” homemade mashed potatoes and gravy that are in their not-so-distant future. Every time I enter the house from outside my stomach screams “I want it now!” and I am greeted by that smell, small bits of pepper and salt, brown gravy, meat that is so tender that one might consider eating this meal with a ladle or large spoon! Crisp green salad is always available, but for some reason I never seem to have room. My mouth waters in anticipation!

As I endure that wait, I find myself contemplating how I can contribute some heat to this meal.  It come to mind that I recently got a package from Volcanic Peppers.com and Timothy Bader, who is the owner-operator of that company, specializes in dried exotic chili powders. I jump up and grab a container of Volcano Dust for the mashed potatoes.  His products are consistent and hot! I have four different kinds that I use on a regular basis. His Bhut Jolokia Pepper dust shines through any meal with that fruity, searing flavor that us heat seeking chili heads love so much. So I place this innocent little “volcanic” jar by my plate.

Dessert is a huge part of my family’s life as well. Comfort food always makes me smile. Integrating pepper heat with desert sometimes makes people cringe. It’s kind of like the first time I ordered deep fried ice cream. I thought to myself, “This is going to be weird!” but it was awesome! Created in 1998, Crazy Uncle Jester’s makes some hot, spicy products for just this kind of application and others. So for those of you chili heads that want a spicy desert…DON’T QUIT READING YET!

Introducing…
Crazy Uncle Jester’s Afterburner Fudge Sauce
&
Make Me Cough Drops
X X X Hot Candy!

So I decided that we would have ice cream sundaes for dessert. So with the help of some very chilled mint ice cream, we set out on an endeavor to partake in the worlds hottest “HOT” fudge sundae. As I read the label, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw that the fudge sauce is rated “crazy” hot on their heat chart.  It’s loaded with Jalapeño and Habanero peppers! YUM!!!!! We heated up the jar a bit in the microwave and it poured out onto the mint ice cream very easily. It spread across like a blanket of warm gooey happiness.  After a generous application of whipped cream, came a sprinkling of the XXX hot Make Me Cough Drops. I tried a few of these by themselves and found to my surprise that they were very tasty and sweet. We immediately dubbed them “Chili Crack” because one little pinch wasn’t even enough and I just wanted more and more.  Overwhelmed with that desire to eat more and more, my brother-in-law and I found ourselves doing the funky chicken around the kitchen because the  candy just lit us up! Man it got hot! Good stuff. Great flavor. So of course the xxx hot candy had to go on top of the sundae.  It was a tasty combination! Between panting for air, gulping ice cream, and of course that distant thought of, “Oh my God, this is awesome but how hot can it get?”  we survived the world’s hottest sundae.

I went on to later try some more products by Crazy Uncle Jesters Sauce Company, and was very pleased. They have been in business for many years and are family operated. It all started with Jeff Stevenson sharing a batch of his homemade garden salsa with friends and then a few years later a company was born! They have won over 40 medals in international cooking competitions over the last few years! The website boasts of all sorts of products and they have won numerous awards. They also have great combination packs to choose from for those of us that can’t decide which one to buy. Their spicy hot mustard has also become one of my family’s favorites. For those of you that collect fancy Chili Reserves or collectable, they just made a limited signed and numbered batch that has a creative laser inscribed bottle called Terminal Psychosis. This comes in a waxed 5-ounce bottle and limited to 1000 bottles.

I would give his products definitely a 5 out of five. They create all sorts of different products for the chili head in mind. Their product label is AWESOME and scary like every chili product should be. It’s also very easy to recognize on the shelf. The prices are good and shipping is fair. It arrived extremely well packed. When I mentioned to them that I was missing an item, it was immediately shipped without question. Not only that but 10% of the income produced by this company is donated to worthy charities. I really look forward to trying more of their spicy products. They have hot sauces, dipping sauces, pepper jellies, dry rubs, desert sauces, and more! Check them out at www.crazyunclejester.com

So for now,
Keep it hot and keep it spicy!
Most of all,
Enjoy!

© 2012, hotsauceaddict.com. All rights reserved.

© 2011, hotsauceaddict.com. All rights reserved.

The Cardiff Giant

Hello Chili Heads!

It’s a great time to try a new sauce. Heart Breaking Dawns has produced their second very collectable hot sauce/reserve and this year it is pretty awesome. So for those of you that collect, and are trying to save up enough money for Blair’s annual Halloween Reserve @ Extremefood.com (with out taking a home loan out) this one is for you and it won’t break the bank.

For those of you that don’t know, Heart Breaking Dawns Sauce Company is a family run business that produces all things spicy! Well, not all things but their website has hot sauce, spices, collectables, shirts, aprons, and more. Their Jolokia Blondies (brownies) and their heat packed chocolate chip cookies just rock! If you can make it through one, guaranteed that everything on your body will be on fire! Yum. I’ve got one in the freezer that I am going to get right now…a perfect snack for review writing.

½ hour later…still recovering from the Jolokia Cookie!

When I found out about the new collectable I was really excited because their first one was awesome! Hand blown glass, signed and numbered, and best of all filled with white lava. Even the family dog had a hand (uh, I mean paw) in the production of it. Their second collectable is a hand resin waxed tall decanter filled with a beautifully colored sauce. One might admire it as one does a beautiful flower but once you try it, you will respect it with fear and trembling knowing full well that… you just got stung by the scorpion!

Mine arrived in the mail perfect. They really made an effort to pack it well. As I tipped the bottle side to side I could see a black scorpion floating in the sauce. I couldn’t help but breath a sigh of relief when I found that there was NOT a scorpion floating in the 1oz. taster jar. I couldn’t imagine crunching down on that bad boy and feeling the tip of the tail imbed itself in the back of my throat as I endured the heat of the 16 million Capsaicin crystal and the Trinidad Scorpion Peppers.  The sauce has a nice color and looks very inviting.

So I tried this sauce with my brother-in-law. I must admit that I had a little fear when I opened the bottle. My first impression when I smelled the open bottle was the tequila. I really couldn’t smell much more then that. I poured a little out on two spoons. The sauce was not as runny as it had appeared within the bottle and spread slowly out on the spoon. I shook it before pouring; only out of habit cause it really did not need it. The different ingrediants had not separated and there was just a hint of possible capsaicin crystals on the side of the bottle when tipped. The taste was very pleasant. My first thought was of a margarita then the next thing I knew was the heat came fast a furious. After hiccupping for the first 10 minutes I was   able to enjoy a nice endorphin rush from the burn. I didn’t have to consume a lot of milk to manage the heat…this surprised me. If I had consumed a full tablespoon, things probably would have been much different.  I must admit, I enjoyed it and wonder what food I might use it in. There was no nasty extract taste and the burn was very clean and even. My brother in law said that it wasn’t an overwhelming alcohol taste. So there you have it…our opinions varied. We did agree that the sauce was good and worth trying. The burning heat lasted for about 15 minutes.  After about 20 minutes I could feel the heat even in my stomach. 25 to 30 minutes later it was all over. My suggestion to Johnny would be to make it in a production bottle as well cause I think people will use this sauce if available.

Another great “Super Hot” that they make is called Mauvais Sang. If you have not tried it then it is a must. That sauce has a great smell and flavor…the heat will drop you!
You have been warned!  

You can follow these chili producing/sharing people on their Facebook page or through their website heartbreakingDawns.com.  The Cardiff Giant can be found at their site by following the link.  Johnny is also always cooking up something amazing and spicy at Peppers Store as well.  Well, this is Atomic Eh? Wishing you well and wondering who is going to get #1 for Blair’s Halloween Reserve this year. I think I need one for my collection! So keep it hot and keep it spicy. Most of all,
ENJOY!!!!

© 2011, hotsauceaddict.com. All rights reserved.

Hello Fellow Chili Heads!

It’s the best time of year. Fall is approaching very quickly. The leaves here are beginning to change color and fall. The huge squash plants in my vegetable garden are beginning to yellow and wilt only to reveal what has been hiding behind them—my pepper plants! Long and skinny, short and wrinkled, these inferno wielding, fire producing plants are listing to one side or the other from the weight of their fruit production. My pepper plants might not compare to ones grown indoors or down south but they are still a pleasing sight to behold. Thank you Mother Nature!

Today is Labor Day and I find myself not laboring (fortunately) but simply looking forward to a package that I am about to receive in the mail soon from Heart Breaking Dawns Sauce Company. They have produced a new collectable (their second) that is signed and numbered. Check it out! The beauty of this product is that it is made with the all-new Trinidad Scorpion Pepper (The hottest in the world!) and 16 million Capsaicin crystals, which is the hottest pepper extract one can buy. Let me put it in simple terms. It’s hotter then police issued mace, if you can believe that.  There is also a real Black Scorpion floating in the sauce. A video review for that is coming soon.

Last weekend I discovered some new products from The Scoville Institute. They have produced a new Holiday line of Sauces. Little reindeer with cute furry brown noses, elves with bells twinkling and the tips of their shoes, and cheeks frost bitten and ruddy from the cold bite of the cheery holiday season.

No, No, Ho, Ho
Any where on these bottles of sauce!

These sauces are dark. They are just a bit sinister and evil. Packed with just enough heat to scare most people.

One is even made with the fruity, very flavorful, smoking hot Jolokia Pepper. The labels are great! I would give them a five out of five for creativity and detail.  The titles are as follows: Pumpkin Puke (Habanero), Ghoulish Garlic Cayenne, Devil’s Blood (Habanero), Evil Elixir (Jalapeno) and my Favorite label is The Ghost Pepper “Super Scary Hot” Sauce (Jolokia Peppers) Each one has a different recipe with different ingredients. All these sauces look great and I must admit that I can’t try them all at once, but I will tell you about the one my wife is really interested in and that’s Dr. Hamguber’s Jalapeno Evil Elixir.

The sauce has a nice green color and is very thin in consistency. It reminds me of the Salsa Verde that is my wife’s favorite. When I unwrapped the safety seal/lid I found that it did have a stopper to slow the flow…to my relief. It has a nice bright, sweet Jalapeño scent. The vinegar is not over powering and the peppers come right through. There are no seeds in the sauce and definitely one you could apply liberally. To me the sauce is a mild sauce. I sensed a little heat but mostly what came through was the flavor. I am use to Habanero and Ghost Pepper sauces, which pack a lot more heat so it might be different for you.  The flavor is good! I was surprised. I bought these because of the labels and I knew they would make great gifts. Each bottle comes with a skeleton on a noose that is to be tied on each bottle.  My six-year-old son had to have one. It is the perfect gift to pack a little fear/fun in your family’s spooky holiday. Now I know, Halloween is a while a way, but I must admit that I was excited to share these little treasures with friends and family. I have already given two away and may have to buy more!

So for those that are looking for a more creative bottle. Ask John over at The Scoville Institute for his non “pg” rated bottle. He has fashioned a bottle with two pretty ladies asking that festive Halloween question, “Trick or treat!” My wife didn’t find this one as pleasing as the others but for you bachelors out there…it’s the perfect gift. John was even nice enough to sign a couple bottles for me. He told me that he and his team just loves peppers and just want to get the word out about them.  I found them to be very friendly and willing to communicate.

So if you love all things spicy and can appreciate the holidays for the fun they can bring, pick up some of these like I did.  We shall see if you are better at holding on to them till Halloween then I was. They are fun. The sauce that we opened was good but the real joy with them for me was sharing the Holiday designs. Have a great fall season. Keep it hot and keep it spicy. Most of all…ENJOY.

© 2011, hotsauceaddict.com. All rights reserved.

A Canadian man is alerting his neighbors as to what is apparently a outrageous case of animal abuse. If you have burnt yourself wit hot sauce you can really feel for this poor cat.

Frank Streicher of Bloomfield Street explained someone dropped hot pepper sauce over his cat.

Streicher’s tenant, Rike Anders, discovered the pet in great discomfort outside the residence Thursday evening.

“She came home, she was really screaming,” Anders, an exchange college undergraduate from Germany studying at Dalhousie University, said in an interview Monday.

“She couldn’t open her eyes because she had orange stuff on her head (and body). . . . I took a towel with water to clean her eyes because she couldn’t see anything.

“She was very frightened.”

The compound burned Anders’s hands as she anxiously attempted to clean Sophie, a five-year-old female.

“At first, we thought it was a kind of acid because it smelled so strong,” Anders said.

Sophie appears to be in good condition, but her fur remains to be discolored, Streicher said Monday.

He has spoke with his neighbors, but not anyone else has experienced issues with their pets. However ,, he has heard of Twitter posts talking about a cat just nearby from his home  – covered in some type of substance.

Regardless of whether it was an isolated occurrence or not, he explained this was no accident.

“It was all over the cat’s body,” said Streicher, who also is the owner of a dog. “It was either a trap or somebody poured it over her.”

Sophie is normally a receptive, friendly cat, but she has become distrustful of people and doesn’t wander far from the home.

An SPCA spokeswoman said Monday she wasn’t aware of the report, but Streicher stated he has been in contact with SPCA workers.

He has lived in his current location for 10 years. Nothing like this has ever happened, but these days he is concerned about the kind of “psychopath” capable of producing this sort of cruelty.

“Usually, they don’t stop at animals,” he said.

Anders was seriously shaken by the ordeal.

“How can somebody do this to an animal?”

© 2011, hotsauceaddict.com. All rights reserved.

The Innovative Company, an enterprise formed by three award-winning and slightly crazy hot sauce entrepreneurs, has just released Afterlife, the third in its new line of hot sauces. Afterlife contains the Ghost Chili, or Bhut Jolokia, from India, rated by the Guinness Book of World Records as the hottest pepper in the world. It is 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce and off the charts on the Scoville Scale, used to measure the heat of peppers, at over 1 million! For comparison, its popular companion in this sauce, bird’s eye, or peri-peri, is a “mere” 100,000 on the scale.

Appropriately, Afterlife’s label shows a hooded death figure with a chili pepper scythe over his shoulder, ready to cut down anyone with the nerve to try the bottle’s contents. The label was designed by an artist who won a contest set up by The Innovative Company and the Connecticut Art Directors Club to showcase New England artists and let them share in the profits from their work.

“That label’s not kidding,” says David Ashley, owner of Ashley Food Company and one of the founders of Innovative. “This is a last man standing kind of hot sauce. And the bird’s eye pepper balances it out with a taste that’s very popular among hot sauce lovers these days.”

“Hot sauce is a fun product, and this artist clearly had a good time characterizing Afterlife,” says Charlie Schandelmayer, founder of Sauce Crafters and another partner in The Innovative Company. “It was an artist friend of David’s who directed us to the Connecticut Art Directors Club, and we worked with them to set up a contest for designing our labels. It’s been a smash hit.”

The Innovative Company has been producing and distributing private label sauces for small and large clients (including a successful line for the B&O Railroad Museum and a sauce for Save a Dog, a dog rescue organization) and is now producing its own sauces.

“We are equally excited about our sauces and about giving artists an opportunity to do something different and make a little cash,” says Chris McCarthy, founder of Insane Chicken and The Innovative Company’s third partner. “Hot sauce and hot artists are a winning combination.”

The Innovative Company LLC is a partnership between David Ashley (Ashley Food Company, Chris McCarthy (Insane Chicken), Charlie Schandelmayer (Sauce Crafters), who have a combined 46 years of experience in the food business. We manufacture many lines of our own products and co-pack products for other companies, private label large or small account, and we store and ship products. We currently operate 20 web sites and will be adding several more in the near future.

© 2011, hotsauceaddict.com. All rights reserved.

Twisted Pine Brewing Company is bottling the world’s hottest beer.

The brewery, that is famous for incorporating | bringing | adding more unusual flavors to its whimsically titled beers, is going to launch Ghost Face Killah in twelve-ounce single bottles for Cinco de Mayo. It’s the very first time this unique sizzling hot cult beer has been marketed in bottles.

The beer is produced with five renowned peppers — Anaheim, Fresno, jalapeno, Serrano and habanero — and the hottest pepper in the universe: the ghost pepper (known in India as bhut jolokia) which, having two hundred times the heat of jalapenos. The producers had to wear masks and gloves to prepare the peppers.

Twisted Pine came up with the concept to brew Ghost Face Killah in the summer of 2009, following consumers at the Snowmass Chili Pepper Brew Fest lamented that the brewery’s favorite Billy’s Chilies beer was not hot and spicy enough for them.

Hence the brewers experimented with several beers and finally settled on a wheat beer, immersing the peppers in the beer after it had fermented. They offered it initially on Cinco de Mayor last year and took it to Snowmass the next summer.

The beer is in no way associated or authorized by Wu Tang’s Ghostface Killah, Twisted Pine Brewery was inspired by the iconic rapper’s swagger. When making “Ghost Face Killah,” the brewery attempted several times to reach out to Ghostface to create a partnership, but he never called them back.

Twisted Pine has submitted Ghost Face Killah to the Guinness Book of World Records, hoping to have it named as the hottest beer in the world. Ghost Face Killah is limited to 100 bottles and will be available in time for Cinco de Mayo.

© 2011, hotsauceaddict.com. All rights reserved.