# Aren't super potent hot sauces just novelty items that don't add much to the taste? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638 "2005-09-21T01:39:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/41 "2005-09-21T20:32:50Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > we all know that “too hot” is in the eye of the beholder Last week, I picked up a bottle of Dragon Ass or Colon Kapow or some such variety of super-hot sauce that somebody had left in the company cafeteria. I noticed as I rotated it to read the label that the bottle seemed sort of sticky. I then put it down, got my lunch out of the microwave, and returned to my desk to eat. An hour or so later, I felt something in my eye, so I rubbed vigorously. Two minutes after that, I was in the bathroom running cold water on my eyeball, sponging my socket with a damp paper towel, and staring into the mirror at the glowing scarlet orb throbbing in my skull, while spouting a variety of pungent Anglo-Saxon phrases to no one in particular. I would like to categorically state that too hot absolutely does not belong in the eye of the beholder or anyone at all. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/42 "2005-09-21T21:24:40Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > To meet your own idea of what tastes “right,” perhaps. My personal experience, from living along the Mexican border, is that Tabasco is quite popular amongst the Mexican-Americans and Mexican-Mexicans. Perhaps. It just doesn’t taste right to me. Tabasco tastes, I dunno, very New Orleans, Cajun, Creole, whatever to me. I strongly associate it with that food. Or chicken wings. The Mexican hot sauces I’ve always had have the same sort of vinegariness, but just a completely different flavor profile. They’re must more, I’m not sure how to phrase it, sharp, powdery, earthy, just very different. I know Mexicans love Tabasco sauce, but the flavors don’t quite work right for me. Valentin Mexican Hot Sauce is what I think of when I think of a typical Mexican hot sauce. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/43 "2005-09-22T02:18:36Z")
At the extreme end of the heat spectrum, the active ingredient of chiles appears to work by the same neuro pathways as painkilling drug: [http://sulcus.berkeley.edu/mcb/165\_001/papers/manuscripts/\_559.html](http://sulcus.berkeley.edu/mcb/165_001/papers/manuscripts/_559.html) Gotta admit, I was quite surprised that the fine minds of the SD had not linked to this info already. Must be something alluring about tongue wagging hot sauce anectedote above simple chem composition effects… Anyhoo… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/44 "2005-09-22T03:59:46Z")
> [@caveman](#): > > I’ve long enjoyed adding Trappey’s Red Devil to any number of dishes, but more for the flavor than the heat. One of my favorites is Trappey’s Green Jalapeño but I haven’t been able to find it lately. We just have Tabasco, Tabasco Chipolte, and Cholula right now. We did have some Tabasco Garlic but I think it’s gone now. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/45 "2005-09-22T04:47:32Z")
Tabasco is only good for putting on potato pancakes or in red beer. As far as uber-hot hot sauces go, well, I’m partial to Hellbanero. Walks right up to that fine line between “adds flavor” and “macho posturing” but doesn’t actually cross it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638.md?page=2)