Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce Review

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 “hotter” really? Is it well-balanced? Let’s dive into a bottle and see what makes it tick.

Flavor

Let’s jump into the ingredients list first and compare Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce with the original recipe.

• The ingredients of the hotter version: Vinegar, aged peppers (peppers, salt, vinegar), water, natural flavor, xanthan gum, and benzoate of soda (to preserve freshness and flavor.)
• The ingredients in the original: Vinegar, aged peppers (peppers, salt, vinegar), water, xanthan gum and benzoate of soda (to preserve freshness and flavor.)

So…yup. Pretty much Texas Pete. But hotter. The only difference is “natural flavors” in the hotter variety, though what that is really is hard to tell. Overall, outside of the heat difference, the two hot sauces taste pretty much the same. And that’s not at all bad thing at all.

As we said in our review of the original, “Texas Pete tastes much more robust than many other Louisiana-style hot sauces I’ve tried.” And that holds true here. It’s not an overpowering vinegar-first flavor. The fermented aged peppers (red cayennes) take center stage along with the vinegar, and they balance each other very well. It’s a mix of tangy, earthy sweetness, and saltiness that’s simply addictive.

On that sodium, Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce rings in at the same level as the original flavor: 90 mg per teaspoon (4% of your daily allowance.) That’s not as bad as some, but certainly not among the lowest.

Heat balance

Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce does bring the heat more than the original. Of course, that’s not tough. The original has a mild heat (maximum 740 Scoville heat units) which is less than eating a mild poblano pepper (1,000 to 1,500 SHU). Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce has a medium-level heat, ranging from 3,000 to 3,500 Scoville heat units. That puts it on par with Tabasco Original (2,500 to 5,000 SHU) and hotter than Cholula (1,000 to 2,000 SHU). It’s akin to the heat you’d feel from a middle-of-the-road fresh jalapeño pepper (2,500 to 8,000 SHU).

So, this is most certainly a bolder experience than original Texas Pete — four times hotter at minimum. Though, it’s not outside the realm of other mass market hot sauces. The kick hits you mid-bite, and it travels straight to the back of your throat pretty quickly. It lingers for a minute, but not too long.

I can take about three tablespoons of this before I need a tiny break. At that level, it does bring the heat. But I don’t know how often you’re layering three tablespoons of Texas Pete in one sitting. You’re likely using a few dashes of this hot sauce at a time. So while the heat is bolder, it’s not something that’ll scare off most.

As to the overall flavor to heat balance: Given the fuller body to Texas Pete compared to a lot of its competitors, this additional spiciness is actually very welcome. The sauce’s flavor handles the spiciness nicely and doesn’t feel overwhelmed in any way.

Usability

This one is simple: Anywhere you’d use the original, you can use Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce, as long as you’d welcome the additional spiciness. It’s delicious with wings, eggs, quesadillas, pork, and anything else you want an aged red pepper sauce on.

The vinegar is not overpowering, so Texas Pete works well as a mixer into other sauces, as well as soups and stews. The flavor tends to blend better than stronger vinegar-forward sauces.

Collectibility

Texas Pete is pretty much available anywhere you’d pick up a mass market hot sauce, but the hotter hot sauce may be ever so slightly harder to find. It’s widely available online, though, whether you want a bottle or a gallon of it (Amazon).

Though, what holds true for the original holds true here: The label is fun, with its classic cowboy showcased front and center. And with the hotter hot sauce, it’s bordered in black. It’s a bolder look, which matches for this bolder version of the sauce. Granted, it’s not enough to kick the collectibility to another level, but it’s still a fun design twist nonetheless.

The Score

Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce delivers exactly what it says. It’s the original flavor with a much bigger kick. The hot sauce is roughly four times spicier, and it keeps its classic aged pepper and vinegar flavor intact.