Okay, so no one drinks hot sauces (at least among those I know), but TabaƱero will make you want to. This isnāt a fiery hot sauce that will burn your taste buds off. No, itās a mellow hot sauce that can be enjoyed because of its massive flavor and, frankly, its lack of repercussions. This is the kind of sauce anybody can enjoy because you can put it on anything, but how well do Tabaneroās flavor and heat balance stack up? Letās find out!
TabaƱero Original Hot Sauce can please everyone at the table. It has a flavor, sweetness, and kick that wonāt even bother your hot-sauce-hating aunt.
- Good flavor - tangy and sweet
- Eatable heat nearly all will enjoy
- Highly usable
- Heat balance is ok - but feels like it could handle a touch more hotness
- Low collectibility
Table of Contents
- TabaneƱo Original Hot Sauce Video Review
- Flavor
- Heat Balance
- Usability
- Collectibility
- The Score
- Must-read related posts
TabaneƱo Original Hot Sauce Video Review
Flavor
Fun fact: TabaƱero also labels this original hot sauce as a āBloody Mary Mixā on their site, which I think is wildly appropriate. Because youāll want to gulp it down.
Letās begin with its ingredients: select habanero peppers, carrots, onions, key lime juice, pickled garlic, agave, salt, and spices.
From the second TabaƱero Original Hot Sauce hits your tongue, the sweetness from the key lime juice, mixed with the onions and pickled garlic, makes your tongue extremely happy. This sweet side balances out the habaneros, which only offer a slight kick and fade into the background rather quickly. More on that to follow.
You can literally drink this, and it will never get past a medium heat, which is why I realize they labeled it a Bloody Mary mix as well. My review bottle is not large enough to accommodate how many Bloody Marys Iād actually want with TabaƱero, but they also sell a TabaƱero Bloody Mary Mix made for the moment. Think of the traditional hot sauce as a nice mixer to add a little oomph to your tomato juice, and itāll go far.
What you mostly get with this sauce is a sweet flavor up front with a mellow heat on the back end. But a notable addition is the pickled garlic. It provides a slight vinegar kick, and thatās a nice addition. If you think of TabaƱero as a lovely vacation from the āburn your tongue offā kind of sauces, then you wonāt be disappointed.
Heat Balance
Habaneros are the pepper behind the heat in TabaƱero Original. Fresh habaneros range from 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville heat units, but this hot sauce comes nowhere near that. The hab heat is well diluted down to a very eatable medium heat.
The heat works with the sauce, and you can slather TabaƱero on anything (and often) and not feel like youāre going to be overwhelmed. Donāt be scared off by habaneros on the label. Think family-friendly heat, and that makes it one very usable sauce as well.
Usability
TabaƱero may be the perfect catch-all for the breakfast table. Itās ideal for both Bloody Marys (a.k.a. āmorning recoveryā) and those morning eggs.
Thereās a reason you see TabaƱero popping up at restaurants – itās mellow, easy to use, and delicious. It works well on fried chicken, and itās a saving grace on steamed veggies where some extra flavor is often needed. And as a salad dressing, itās quite good. That lightly chunky texture brings sweet life to greens.
This bottle does not come with a stopper. Seriously, if it did, it would anger a lot of people. This is a hot sauce meant to be layered. Pour away.
Collectibility
TabaƱero is a daily driver type of hot sauce that youāll order in bulk. It wins by pleasing everyone at the table. But ācollectibilityā is not where these types of sauces shine. Yes, once you try TabaƱero, you may want to always have a bottle around, but youāll end up treating this more like an everyday condiment than a collectibility hot sauce.
The Score
TabaƱero Original Hot Sauce can please everyone at the table. It has a flavor, sweetness, and kick that wonāt even bother your hot-sauce-hating aunt.
Final Score | 4 |
Overall Flavor | 4.5 |
Heat Balance | 4 |
Usability | 5 |
Collectibility | 2.5 |
X-Factor | 4 |
Must-read related posts
- Our Hot Sauce Rankings: We review and rank over 100 hot sauces. Find your next new favorite.
- The Hot Pepper List: We profile 150+ hot peppers. Search them by name, heat level, flavor, origin, and more.
- Does Hot Sauce Go Bad? What shelf life should you expect?