Yellowbird Bliss And Vinegar Hot Sauce Review

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 that surprise. It’s super tasty, but how’s the heat balance? And do those “unlikely ingredients” equal a sauce that you can turn to every day? Let’s dive into a bottle and see what it’s all about.

Flavor

I’ll be honest, I took one look at Yellowbird Bliss and Vinegar’s ingredient list and had no idea what to expect. It’s such an unusual mix of ingredients: organic distilled vinegar, organic red serrano peppers, organic rice bran oil, strawberries, organic dates, organic coconut cream, salt, onions, cinnamon, and ginger.

There are so many unique (and bold) flavors here, yet somehow they all come together incredibly well in this hot sauce.

The vinegar hits right up top (just as the name promises), followed by the heat from those serrano peppers. It’s all quickly followed up with a fruity sweetness from those strawberries and dates. Mid-bite is where the coconut flavor comes in, and that coconut cream helps thicken up this sauce as well. The spices play a part towards the end of the eating experience — and there’s just enough “there” there to provide depth without the salt, cinnamon, and ginger overwhelming the flavor.

Yellowbird Bliss and Vinegar is unique, for sure. Overall, it is a pretty blissful flavor, bright and tangy at times, sweet and creamy at others, and spicy throughout.

On the salt: The sodium sits at 150 mg per tablespoon, 6% of your daily value. I’m surprised it’s as high as it is. And you can certainly use more than a tablespoon per use, so keep that in mind if you’re watching your salt intake. The amount can build up pretty quickly.

Heat Balance

Serrano peppers are the heat source here. Their bright-grassy notes (in terms of flavor) is a little lost in the shuffle with the sauce, but the sweetness (being mature red serranos) meshes right in with the fruitiness.

Serrano peppers range from 10,000 to 23,000 Scoville heat units, a solid medium heat chili. It’s about twice the spiciness of a jalapeño (2,500 to 8,000 SHU.)

Some reports have Yellowbird Bliss and Vinegar Hot Sauce at roughly 6,200 Scoville heat units. I didn’t find it quite that hot. That SHU level would put it above Tabasco (2,500 to 5,000 SHU), and it doesn’t feel like Bliss and Vinegar surpasses that spread.

The heat to me was mellower, and disappeared rather quickly. Those fresh red serrano peppers hit the tip of your tongue, but the spiciness doesn’t really linger past mid-bite. Overall, I’d call it a low-medium spiciness. It’s a level of heat most can enjoy without concern.

The overall balance is very good at this heat level. Really, the vinegar is the starring ingredient here, and the spiciness doesn’t get in the way of that at all.

Usability

So, how usable is something this vinegar-forward? If you like the vinegary-forwardness of Louisiana-style hot sauces, you’ll find plenty of uses for Yellowbird Bliss and Vinegar Hot Sauce as well. It comes down to the sweetness (and if these ingredients work for you.)

It found it delicious on tacos, chicken, and eggs. I also tried it on my potatoes and realized that Bliss and Vinegar is actually a great ketchup alternative for french fries and other fried potato dishes. The thickness is just enough to hold its own in this regard.

Bliss and Vinegar comes in a squeeze bottle with a small opening, meaning, given the thicker consistency, you can place this hot sauce precisely where you want it. The only issue with the squeeze bottle is that sometimes the fresh larger bits of ingredients can clog the topper. So you need to keep an eye on it and clean it as it happens. A small annoyance, but it’s there.

Collectibility

The flavor combos in Yellowbird Bliss and Vinegar definitely grab attention. Strawberries and dates aren’t everyday hot sauce ingredients, so that alone is a conversation starter.

And that name. There’s something I love about it. Hot sauces can tend towards the dark and ominous in their naming. This one, “Bliss and Vinegar”, is uniquely happy. It’s even fun to say.

Their label is fun, too, with a bright illustration of a strawberry right under their classic yellow bird. It also states that it’s “Limited by Nature” — a fun way of positioning that Bliss and Vinegar is a seasonally limited edition.

The Score

Your eyes may gravitate to the funky, happy name, but it’s your tongue that’ll have you coming back for more. Yellowbird Bliss and Vinegar Hot Sauce, leans into the tangy and pairs some surprising ingredients to deliver a delicious fruity sweetness and a mellow burn.