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The Kaiser's Hot Sauce List

I'm keeping some notes on hot sauces I've tried. First, a few definitions, then the list.

Spice Category Key

1	Use as a table condiment. Mostly adds flavor, with only mild heat
2	Elevated spiciness. Sprinkle drops as a topping
3	Industrial grade stuff. Use these more as an additive, diluting a few drops into a larger dish

Extract Key

🌶️	All Natural - these sauces get their heat from grinding or mashing up hot peppers, aka "the normal way"
⚗️	Extract - capsaicin (the chemical that makes stuff spicy) has been extracted from peppers and then added back into this sauce in a concentrated form. These sauces tend to have a more immediate and intense "hit" of straight up burning on the tongue

Favorite?	Manufacturer / Sauce Name	Spice Category	Peppers	Extract?	Consistency	Try it with...	Notes
⭐	Crystal Hot Sauce	1	Cayenne	🌶️	thin	pizza	a good go-to daily hot sauce and my favorite vinegary pepper sauce
	Dawson's Cremini Habanero	2	Habanero	🌶️	chunky	vegetables	highly unique and strong mushroom flavor, very earthy
	Blair's Mega Death Sauce	3	Habanero, Cayenne, Ancho	⚗️	thick	chili	crazy intense, totally over the top heat. Use with caution, seriously!
	Hell Fire Detroit Habanero	2	Habanero	🌶️	chunky	taco bell
	Adoboloco Hamajang	2	Ghost, Habanero	🌶️	thin	rice	very smoky, distinct taste. Goes well with anything that needs a strong dose of flavor
	Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce	1	Generic "aged peppers"	🌶️	thin	stew	a standard vinegar table sauce but with more kick. A good choice when Crystal isn't cutting it
⭐	Torchbearer Zombie Apocalypse	2	Ghost, Habanero	🌶️	thick	chicken	awesome garlic flavor!
	Dave's Gourmet Scorpion Pepper	3	Scorpion	🌶️	chunky		smells a little stinky? That might be good! Really dominates the flavor of whatever you put it in, you kind of have to be in the mood for the scorpion sting
	Dave's Gourmet Ghost Pepper Jolokia	3	Ghost	⚗️	chunky		Another strong Dave's extract sauce that will annihilate anything in its path. Definitely safer as an additive.
	Dave's Gourmet Total Insanity	3	Red chilis	⚗️	thick	tomato juice	the first next-level hot sauce I got into
⭐	Sriracha Rooster Sauce (?)	1	Red jalapeno	🌶️	thick	pizza, especially the crust	a legend, very versatile. Good as a topping, not as good for mixing
	Cholula Original	1	Arbol, Pequin	🌶️	thick	pork tenderloin	good thicker sauce. Not as vinegary.
⭐	Cholula Chili Garlic	1	Arbol, Pequin	🌶️	thick		loved this flavor. Not really spicy at all, tbh
⭐	Secret Aardvark Habanero Hot Sauce	1	Habanero	🌶️	thick	burrito	great flavor, works best as a topping. Not as good for dilution
	Cholula Sweet Habanero	1	Habanero	🌶️	thick	stir fry	somewhat hotter than normal cholula, but still spice category 1. Sweeter flavor due to pineapple
⭐	Heatonist The Last Dab XXX	3	<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_X">Pepper X</a>, "the world's hottest pepper"	🌶️	chunky	ramen	I was skeptical, but delivered excellent heat/flavor balance. Good general purpose category 3
	Shaquanda's Hot Pepper Sauce	1	Chili	🌶️	thick		good mix of flavors. Slightly sweet/tangy
	Bravado Spice Co. Black Garlic Carolina Reaper	2	Red Serrano, Carolina Reaper	🌶️	thin	fried rice	strong heat, unique flavor. Pretty decent
	Bravado Spice Co. Crimson Hot Sauce	1	Arbol, Red Jalapeno	🌶️	thin		not feeling this one
⭐	Bravado Spice Co. Serrano and Basil Hot Sauce	1	Serrano	🌶️	thin	paninis	Really good sauce. Perfect for specific dishes where basil would be a good addition
	El Yucateco Black Label Reserve Chile Habanero	2	Habanero	🌶️	thick		super smoky, musky flavor will dominate, so whether you like this depends on how well you dig that flavor
⭐	Gator Hammock Lethal Gator	2	Cayenne, Habanero, Red Scotch Bonnet, Jalapeno	🌶️	thick	tacos	great all around sauce, works well on lots of different stuff
⭐	Tahiti Joe's Ahi Of Kahuna XX	2	Habanero, Red Peppers	🌶️	chunky	chicken nuggets	has cheese and carrots (!) in it, which is kind of weird, but it totally works. You can use this for dipping too.
	Torchbearer Slaughter Sauce	1	Habanero	🌶️	thick		kind of underwhelming, didn't feel like flavor was adding enough
	McCormick Frank's RedHot	1	Cayenne	🌶️	thin	soup	not very hot at all, but adds a pleasant bit of vinegary flavor
	Sylvia's Restaurant Triple Strength Hot Sauce	1	Cayenne	🌶️	thin	bean stew	slightly elevated category 1 heat. Vinegary
⭐	Bravado Aka Miso	3	Ghost Pepper, Carolina Reaper	🌶️	thick	soup	Flavor is very complimentary, adding to a dish without hijacking it. Excellent sauce.
	Melinda's Extra Hot	1	Habanero	🌶️	thick	quesadilla	Pretty good category 1 sauce. Fresh taste, maybe slightly citrusy.
	Melinda's Mango	1	Habanero	🌶️	thick		Sweet and fruity. Mostly flavor, not much heat at all.
	Small Axe Peppers The Baltimore Habanero Ginger	1	Habanero	🌶️	thin		Packs a really intense ginger taste, so I find it less versatile...haven't quite found the right dish for it yet.