Tara Erickson 
Hoppin Hot Sauce is chock-full of California good-feelings, leaning into its creator’s love of California cuisine. It uses locally grown ingredients (like tangy Meyer lemons) and two flavorful chilies that hail from just south of the California border. So, how do all of these ingredients …
Holy hell hot sauce! Burn After Eating Hot Sauce is terrifyingly spicy. I might be dazed and confused because my tongue has been burning for five minutes straight. But is there more to this super-hot sauce than pure fire, or is it solely brain-numbing heat? …
If you’re looking for a family-friendly hot sauce, or simply a sauce with a very mild heat for an introduction to hot sauces and spicy food, Franks RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce is certainly a great place to start. It’s very mild — no more …
Hillside Harvest calls its hot sauce line “flavor forward”, and that’s certainly true. Its original flavor is a hot sauce that brings plenty of flavor to the table, with a delicious mix of apples, honey, and ginger. But how is the heat? Does it blend …
If vinegar is your thing in a hot sauce (and you’re ready to venture down a different path than traditional Louisiana-style sauce) take a good look at Yellowbird Bliss and Vinegar Hot Sauce. It has a strong vinegar-forward flavor and a cast of unlikely ingredients …
It’s all right there in the name of Hoff’s Smoken Ghost Hot Sauce. This is one smoky explosion — with (of course) ghost pepper and chipotle pepper big parts of the mix. It’s bold on flavor, but how does its heat balance compare? Does its …
Sneaky hot. Or maybe not so sneaky. Mexico Lindo Red Habanero Hot Sauce announces right on the label that it’s a salsa habanero, and extra-hot habanero chilies are no spicy slouches. But calling out a big-heat chili on a label (as we know) doesn’t always …
Now that’s a hot sauce name that should make you take pause. Hellacious Hot Sauce by High River Sauces on paper promises big, wicked things with its use of orange habaneros and a label full of skulls and big, gnarly leafless trees. It’s a frightening …
If you think you’ve had a garlicky hot sauce before, you better prepare yourself. RADS Pepper Sauce (RADS Reserve) doubles down on the idea, with pungent garlic and pepper mash that’s been aged in oak barrels to bring even bolder tastes to the table. So, …
If you’re a fan of the original Texas Pete, then you’ll want to know its hotter cousin. Aptly named Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce, this sauce packs three times more heat than the original. But how’s the flavor? Does it compare? And how hot is …