Yeah, it has more of a fermented, aged flavor than the others (which is why I personally prefer it.)
My current fave is the jalapeno sauce from Trader Joe’s. Very unusual and tasty stuff. Mixing some with sriracha is a great sauce for chicken wings.
I was able to locate the Peri-Peri at a Marshall’s or TJMaxx type place for a couple bucks. I must say that I don’t care for it much. The citrus flavor is unpleasant.
I’m not really into the Valentina & Cholula types. There’s an earthy flavor that tastes a but like, well, dirt. It may be achiote.
I wrote about my side-by-side tasting of Crystal & Louisiana here two years ago.
I used to think that Tabasco got most of its unique flavor form something during the manufacture, fermenting or the whiskey barrel aging, maybe. Then, I grew some. I’ll be damned if the fresh chiles don’t taste exactly like the sauce, minus the salt and vinegar, of course. I’m growing some this year, too!
I’d love to get my hands on one of these Presidential Tabasco bottles:
http://m.tabasco.com/tidbits/tabasco-white-house/
For one that hasn’t been mentioned, try to find Matouk’s Salsa Picante. Fruity, fresh and bright. It does seem to go rancid quickly so eat it up.
I love most sauces. Hot, mild, weird whatever. All good and different. And if I ever win the lottery, I’ll have a closet like Emelda Marcos, except with bottles, not shoes.
Anyway, I wanted to throw out some love for Tabasco Garlic sauce. It’s kinda hard to find and I think marketing wise its somewhat of a disaster. Because it looks like regular Tabasco brand sauce and it sounds like its Tabasco sauce with garlic in it. Big deal right?
But it is NOT that. They use different peppers and it certainly does not just taste like garlicy Tabasco.
If I had to pick only ONE hot sauce to have, that one might be it.
Tip. You can now order hot sauce online by the GALLON from Tabasco. Wait until special promo’s or the holidays and really save some money. It’s a really good deal cost per ounce wise for the milder sauces that you use a bunch of but they only seem to sell in small bottles at high prices in the stores (like the jalapeno one for example).
Of course, the best hot sauces and salsas are the ones turned out by local places, fresh and fiery. I just picked up a couple of containers of salsa from the local Mexican grocery that are face-melting. The red is nicely hot, but the habanero is something else! I am so looking forward to spending tomorrow noshing on fresh tortilla chips, homemade guac and salsa while kicking back on the patio.
If you’re in the South, this is the go-to sauce for greens (mustard, collard, whatever). Crystal/Tabasco is the second choice.
Trappey’s. Stuff is everywhere in the South and indispensible on greens. I have two bottles in the pantry.
I always see some other pepper vinegar brand- I think it may be by the same folks that make Louisiana hot sauce.
Trappey’s Red Devil is a pretty solid Louisiana style hot sauce as well.
Sounds like a Houston thing; up here, it’s only sold at Central Market and Whole Foods.
But if you’re in the Dallas area, Cita’s Salsa is pretty awesome. I’m partial to the Fiery Fiesta and the Garden Green (really a tomatillo/jalapeno salsa), but the habanero and the ranchero are good too.
Plus, Cita and Lena are good folks; even though they have retail distribution now, they still sell it at the local farmer’s markets, and we’ve been buying from them for about 4 years now- they always give my boys chips to eat when we go by their stand.
So, bump, your comment made me go check and I would have bet good money that I had Trappey’s in the cabinet. I would have lost! Turns out it’s Texas Pete - although in my defense it looks JUST like Trappey’s - red top, label with red and green.
I’m surprised that it took until the second page for Frank’s to be mentioned. I was at Wal-Mart yesterday and they had a bunch of sauces but not Frank’s, which seemed really weird. I asked the stocker, and he acted like he had never heard of it. So I started to wonder if it was actually some little outfit or an obscure brand that I might never see again. Googling it, no: it has the second-most market share in the U.S., behind only Tabasco and well ahead of #3.
I’m pretty boring in my hot sauce tastes. Valentina or Tapatio for Mexican food, Sriracha for Asian food, Frank’s for everything else. I love the ratio of heat to vinegar in Frank’s.
I have two open jars of Eros Pista in the fridge, a thick Hungarian paste based on salt and hot paprika, that I bought in Budapest about two years ago. It’s meant to be stirred into soups and stew by the spoonful. That’s good shit, too.
By all that is holy, try Yellowbird. Shit’s goooooood! I’ll put the Hab sauce on damn near anything.
You made me go to the kitchen and check my bottle of Valentina. It IS gunked up.
Bastard. I’m going to spend the next hour washing all my condiment bottles.
I’ll second Yellowbird thanks to Silenus! Yummo!
There ya go; thanked in two threads, don’t get a swelled head!
One is morally obligated to inform others when one discovers a new foodstuff. I’ve become a Yellowbird and Secret Aardvark salesman, it seems.
If you have a Mexican grocery anywhere near you, get them to import Porki hot sauce. I grabbed a bottle while restocking my Valentina supply, and the stuff is amazing. Made mostly from chilis de arbol, it is very reminiscent of a hab sauce - fruity, tangy and hot. Not something you are going to find outside of a specialty grocery, but worth looking for. The wife had a foodgasm when she tried it while I was making guacamole.
