TTF Ladies Review Series: Sauce Cartel Hot Sauces…Part 1

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TTF Ladies Review Series: Sauce Cartel Hot Sauces…Part 1

By admin | April 24, 2008 | Add to Favorite Posts

Originally this review was going to be published as one Multi-Review, however given the fact that most chileheads that read this blog all suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder and can only read for a few minutes at a time, I’ve decided to split this review of Sauce Cartel products, and stretch it into a 3 part series. Two reviews at a time, that will feature reviews of two different sauces from one of the newest sauce makers to hit the hot sauce scene, www.saucecartel.com

Cap’n

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A short intro by Buddah…:)

Welcome to another TTF special review. I am always looking to change things up a bit and we did it big time with this review. We are introducing a number of first time TTF reviewers into the mix. Not only that, we are having a special All Ladies’ review team. We have a nice mix of Chileheads and Manufacturers. Everyone has an opinion and I think we should get the ladies’ point of view. Our panel consists of Heather that I found from her Sopressata web blog www.sopressata.blogspot.com, check it out. We also have, Wendy from Ass Murdering Hot Sauce fame with friend by her side, Grace O’Malley pops her head out of the ships galley once again, and we have my co-worker Celeste who brings her Latin American background into the mix which as you will see adds a new dynamic to this review, TTF regular and future bee keeper Sandi also joins us, and finally there is the loveable Princess from Headwinderlicker.com.

We should get an interesting mix of opinions, and I hope you like the review.

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Reviewer #1…Princess Blane

To start off I would like to thank Al for organizing this multi review and also thank Gary from Sauce Cartel for incurring the total cost of this review.

I first met Gary from Sauce Cartel at WOF in 2007. I had picked up all of their sauces, but unfortunately for me I had sent all of them to Parker in California. He was looking for something new and original. I figured this would be right up his alley (He’s lucky he got them ). So needless to say I was really looking forward to these sauces.

The day I received the two sauces Locura Mayan and Green River I opened them and poured out a spoonful of each. Reading the ingredients first I was not to scared with doing this approach.

Green River ingredients: Vinegar, Jalapeno Pepper, Brown Sugar, Onion, Pineapple and Pepper.

I would rate heat on this sauce as a 2 but what is cool about the sauce is it has a instant bite of heat, not much but was a nice surprise. The jalapeno followed by the pineapple are the first flavors to hit. I would say that I really enjoyed this sauce all the ingredients blended nicely, but I began to think what would this go on?

In the pictures you can see I made up some homemade tacos. I thought it would be a good test for both sauces. I was very surprised how well the sauce went with the tacos. It’s not like your ordinary fruit based hot sauce. I have finished the bottle by using it on several types of food. It was excellent each time. I will be buying more. It is one of the best fruit based sauce that I’ve had in some time.

The Locura Mayan Salsa Caliente Ingredients: Chipotle Peppers, Sun dried Tomato’s, Cider Vinegar, Cayenne Pepper and Water.

I would rate this sauce also at a 2-3 on the heat scale. Upon opening the sauce it had a nice aroma of Chipotle. I was looking forward to this sauce because of the Sun dried tomato’s and it was not a let down. The sun dried tomato’s added a nice flavor to the sauce. It’s a nice change of pace. Trying both of these sauces side by side was awesome on the tacos, it gave a nice contrast from one bite to another. I have used about 1/2 of this bottle. I did enjoy the sauce but it did not have a wow factor like the Green River did for me. Both sauces are thick, a little hard to pour, but I like my sauces that way.

Overall Gary has did an excellent job for being new to the hot sauce world. I look forward to trying all his sauces in the near future.

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Reviewer #2…Celeste

Green River Mild Sauce

What really surprised me about this sauce was its ingredients, jalapenos and pineapple. Are you kidding me? I never thought that these two could be combined to get such a good flavor. I really admire the creativity of making a hot sauce like this. The green color of this sauce gave me the idea of a sweet mild sauce, but when I tasted it, the heat kicked in right away. Since I like jalapenos this sauce was made right for me; it is very good, but I would prefer it a little looser or more liquefied. I recommend it with guacamole, roasted peanuts, apple with lemon and green mango with lemon. Quick recipe: Cut an apple or a mango in pieces, put the pieces in a bowl, add lemon, salt, and green river sauce.

Locura Mayan Hot Sauce

My first impression with this sauce was the label that says “Locura Mayan”, it sounds kind of awkward to me. I do not know if the creator of this sauce has intentionally picked out this name, but as a native Spanish speaker I think he meant to create the sauce’s name, “Locura Maya” which in English means Mayan craziness . Also, on the label it says “salsa caliente”. If “salsa caliente” is stated with the purpose of creating a signature hot sauce, it is fine, but if it is a translation for hot sauce, then the right translation should be “Salsa Picante“. Anyway, after reading the label of this hot sauce I tried it out and I liked it for its mild flavor. I would not use this sauce with all kinds of food because it is too sweet. Nevertheless, I would recommend it with breakfast. It tastes great with scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, and especially with spaghetti with kielbasa sausage. It also tastes good with pizza, fried homemade tomato sauce(sofrito), and chicken with fresh tomatoes. I recommend this hot sauce to everyone. Try it, and you will not be disappointed. Ahh… It also tastes good in spaghetti with cream sauce.

Sauce Cartel contact information:

WWW.SAUCECARTEL.COM