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TTF Ladies Review Series: Sauce Cartel Hot Sauces…Part 2
By admin | May 1, 2008 | 
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Welcome to “Part 2″ of the TTF Ladies review series featuring Sauce Cartel Locura Mayan sauce, and their green sauce that goes by the name of Green River. These two reviews in part 2 are brought to you by Sandi and Grace O’ Malley.
If you missed “Part 1″, you can view it HERE…
I’d also like to mention that TTF welcomes all types and styles of reviews. What you’ll find on TTF, is that most of our reviewers like to share their experience with a sauce, as well as their honest opinions of what they like and dislike. Once again, I’d like to say THANKS to all of you who participate in these reviews, and thank you for sharing with us the good times you had while reviewing the products.
Cap’n
Sandi:
Locura Mayan Salsa Caliente:
Ingredients: Chipotle Peppers, Sun Dried Tomatos, Cidar Vinegar, Cayenne Pepper and Water
I’d like to thank Buddah for including me in this review and thanks again to Gary for sending this sauce to me…It took a while thanks to the USPS (no offense Buddah)…But it finally arrived in one piece!!
Appearance/1st taste: Looking at this sauce through the bottle it’s very bright red puree looking. No sign of any peppers or spices…but then label didn’t list any spices. When I went to shake it up it was really thick!! It did not want to come out of the bottle.
Smelling it…it smells almost Italiany. So I went for the spoon. Yup, it tastes like a marinara with a little bite to it off the spoon, which kind of threw me for a loop. I’m guessing the combination of the sun dried tomato and onion…couldn’t taste the chipotle in it. Looking for the heat I actually had to google the interpretation…this is what I found..Mad Mayan Warm Sauce.
I opened this bottle on the last night during our recent trip to Florida. There were about 10 people over for our last seafood feast so I decided to share some.
So on about a dozen of them I put a touch of the sauce on. Everyone there ranted about how awesome this sauce tasted on the oysters. Great flavor and no heat!!. I agree it added a nice tomato flavor that worked well with the cheese. Maybe a 1 on the heat scale.
The next day I left the bottle with Winnie and Turk since I knew I had one waiting at home.
After getting home and opening the other bottle…same impression..so I went searching for what to try it on next. I took it to work with me, since I work in a Deli type shop I have plenty of choices.
Still thinking Italian I went for a sandwich with salami, spiced capicola and provalone cheese and a little lettuce tomato and onion. On that sandwich it just gave a tomato saucy taste and a little warm the more I ate. One of my co-workers poured some on his potato chips. He said that it tasted like a smoky bbq sauce. So I had to try his chips. Sure enough the chipotle stood out on the chips. Very good, it seemed to lose it’s strong tomato flavor, but I personally didn’t think it tasted like bbq, just chipotle. Again my co-worker raved about what a tasty sauce it is!! And it didn’t burn his mouth up like other sauces I’ve brought to work!!
After taking it home that night we had some naked wings…so I thought..why not. Did not work at all with chicken!! It almost tasted like a warm ketchup. So I went back to sampling out of the bottle…still almost like a marinara tasting sauce. So back to the italian thought I went…..
Next tasting came with a ribeye steak sandwich, some melted cheese with peppers and onions. This was perfect!! This sauce screams use me on beef!!! You can actually taste the smoky flavor of the chipotle and the tomato blends perfect!! Not hot just a little warm the more you eat!!
It’s refreshing to have a hot sauce that doesn’t burn you up to eat!! No over powering pepper flavor , just a great versatile sauce!! I can see using this on pizza, meatball subs maybe even to add some kick to a spaghetti sauce!! Since the bottle is gone I’ll have to experiment with that another time!!
I have to include my 6 year old son’s opinion. He’s always pointing at bottles and asking if he’d like them. With this one I let him try it. He loved it!! “Mom it tastes like pizza”. He was having tater-tots with his dinner…usually he’s a fan of mixing ketchup and mustard for tater-top dip. Not anymore!! He loved it!! And “Mom! This is my new favorite sauce!!” . He went through the rest of the bottle!!
It’s nice to have a sauce that works this well that everyone can use! I don’t have to be afraid to share this sauce with any one!! I almost think this is more of a condiment than a sauce..but hey..just my thought. And it seems to me a majority sauce rather than a minority sauce as far as how many people I’ve had try it and love it!! I really think that this sauce should be in a bigger bottle with a wider mouth so that it can pour easier. Once I get some more I’ll share some recipes using this sauce…the ideas keep coming!!
Once again thanks to Buddah and Gary!! When you see orders coming out of Northern FL and out of Champain Ill and Southern IN…I passed out your web information to everyone that I shared this sauce with!!
Green River:
I’m not usually a fan of green sauces so I was a bit disappointed when I saw that it was green. The name green river made me think of the soda pop they serve at the local 50′s style diner in town. Looking through the bottle at the sauce the first impression I got was baby food…Gerber strained peas with black pepper flakes in it. But when I shook it up it was much thinner than strained peas.
Ingredients: vinegar, jalapeno peppers, brown sugar, onion, pineapple, black pepper…….I liked that the ingredients are straight to the point with no words I didn’t know Nice fresh ingredients…Seeing the brown sugar and pineapple got my interest…MMMM..sweet
Giving it a big sniff…no vinegar smell..I was relieved of that since it was listed first on the ingredients. Couldn’t smell the pineapple either, just a mild pepper hint. So I went for it straight out of the bottle. Not to thick or thin and poured very nice. Not the flavor I expected from a green sauce. It has a very sweet pineapple peppery taste, but not jalapeno green taste. Very tasty by itself. I was surprised at the heat this sauce had. I’d give it a 4 on the heat scale with a burn that stuck around for about 2 minutes.
Next I went for the tortilla chips. It didn’t work for me. I think it’s just too sweet for a chip dipper. So I began to figure out what food to use it with. Decided on making steak tacos for dinner. The peppery taste seemed like it would work well. I made the tacos without a lot of seasoning to get the full flavor of the sauce. I was really pleasantly surprised at how awesome this sauce worked out. What a great compliment the sauce gave to the tacos. Added great flavor, sweet with a nice warm finish. You couldn’t taste the peppers in the sauce on the tacos just the sweet and pineapple. But the more you ate the warmer it got. I will be doing that again…as soon as I get my hands on more of this sauce
I would recommend this sauce for anyone who likes pineapple with heat. I think it would be a great pork chop marinade or to baste on shrimp on the grill Gonna experiment with both of those this summer!
Grace O’Malley:
Locura Mayan
Ingredients: chipotle peppers, sun dried tomatoes, cider vinegar, cayenne pepper, water
OK, so our friend Buddah came to me with a project he had in mind. He wouldn’t give me all the details but left me no option but to join in on this multi-review. So being I enjoy getting my mail on a daily basis, I eagerly agreed. Guess what? Before you know it, I had a box with two bottles of Christmas colored hot sauces! Plus of course all of my other mail was there too. Phew, word of advice, never say no to a person who works for the USPS. That is like saying no to the Mob. Just not the smartest move.
Now where was I? Oh, yea, the sauces. OK, so let me start with the Locura Mayan. First looks are promising. Gorgeous red color and wonderful ingredients. Although I am a little perplexed with the lack of salt in the product. But hey, make me a believer that I don’t need any salt in a product to make it taste good. When I open the bottle, the wonderful aroma hits my nose. There is such a sweetness there. My mouth is watering. I take out my tasty spoon and go to pour some sauce on to it and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait……you get the idea. This sauce is THICK!!!! To thick for me personally but maybe the taste will out weigh the thickness of it.
OK, so once I get some sauce on my spoon, I taste. I love the initial smokiness of the chipotle peppers and then the wonderful sweetness of the sun dried tomatoes. But then it fails me. It seems lacking. It feels like a link is missing to make this sauce all it can be. It has the after taste of salt free tomato paste, not to mention the texture of tomato paste. I detect no heat. Maybe a novice chili head can find some heat but not me. So, I put the smallest amount of Kosher salt on it. PERFECT! Still very thick but everything just flows and seems to scream to have attention brought to it. OK, so I can add the missing salt. No problem. But the true taste test is on food. My first foray with this sauce and food is on my famous taco pie. No go there. This sauce is too delicate and just gets lost. My second try with this sauce is on tomato sauce a frittata with sausage, oven roasted root vegetables, and left over roasted turkey from Easter. Now it shines! It is the perfect smoky tomato taste that this dish deserves. There is no heat to speak of, but plenty of flavor with the rest of the dish.
OK, so my thoughts on this sauce. I would like to see it a lot thinner. I would love some salt to be added for that natural flow of flavor to begin to mingle before I open the bottle. I personally would like more heat, but that is up to individual preferences. I think there is wonderful possibilities here. I hope that this sauce becomes all it can be one day!
Now the Green River sauce.
Ingredients: vinegar, jalapeno pepper, brown sugar, onion, pineapple, black pepper
It has a wonderful ingredient list. A wonderful color. An aroma to die for. I have high hopes for this sauce. I love green sauces! But to find a good one is hard. So I am keeping my fingers crossed with this one.
Again, the thickness of this sauce is a turn off. Remember when Dairy Queen came out with the Blizzards? Remember the commercial of the person holding their Blizzards upside down and the ice cream concoction stayed in the cup? Well, so does Green River stay in the bottle.
Once I do get the sauce on my spoon, I am let down. I first get the wonderful flavor and kick of the jalapeno peppers. But then I get the sweetness of the brown sugar and left with a very green weedy flavor. Can someone say 4:20? Anyway, this sauce is also missing a link. Even with the Kosher salt I added, it was missing something. It was like riding a roller coaster but without the big drop. It needs more of a savory component. More onions maybe? Garlic?
I tried it on food. I tried it on a few things; taco pie, brined roast turkey, ham, nachos, dim sum, and everything and anything I could. It always seemed to be too sweet or too green to go with the dish. I think if it had that savory component and a little salt, it would work wonders on my meals!
As for my final thoughts on this sauce, well it is not one of my favorites. However I do see such wonderful potential here. The great green flavor from the jalapenos with the sweetness of the brown sugar can go a long way if paired with something that makes the back of my mouth water. Also, the thickness needs to be thinned out a lot. Otherwise it should be sold as a concentrate, not a sauce. I hope that this sauce grows up to be all it can be one day. And when it does, I will be the first in line!!
Related Posts
- TTF Ladies Review Series: Sauce Cartel Hot Sauces…Part 1
- TTF Ladies Review Series: Sauce Cartel Hot Sauces…Part 3
- The Scoville Brothers Hot Sauces Review #2
- The Scoville Brothers Hot Sauces Review #3
- Multi-Review: Mild to Wild Pepper Co – Smokin’ Chipotle Sauce
Topics: General, Hot Product Reviews, Reviews | 27 Comments »
First Comment….
Great write up Sandi & Grace. I like the Sauce Cartel because I think they are really taking chances with the creative ingredients in their sauces. Sometimes when you don’t “play it safe” you can see a polarization in opinions as with this review…some are crazy about the taste while others are a little less enthusiatic (i.e. – some like it sweet, some don’t; some like it smokey, some don’t; some like it hot, some don’t, etc.). Never the less, good job to the Sauce Cartel. When I tried these sauces they didn’t knock me out of my socks directly out of the bottle but they were descent sauces when you get them on the right foods.
Where’s :nerd:’s review?
Part three maybe?
buddah aint no woman. he’s just a wussy.
You seen his junk?
Well…..have ya punk?
speechless
You guys crack me up!!
I hope that every one doesn’t mind that I included so many other people’s opinions in this review….I tried not to make it too lengthy..But I had to include what an impression the sauce made with other people..
You did a great job Sandi. I feel like I was there with you guys enjoying a great time.
Great time ladies! Thanks for taking us on your journey, it was a fun read. Been a busy day, and at ballgame now, but wanted to say thanks for the contribution. I look forward to part 3.
Btw…u guys shouldn’t be thinking about my junk.
Thanks Cap’n!! It was a blast! I hope Gary comes back to view this!!
The Sauce Cartel’s “Orange Explosion” sauce is really good…I can’t remember what I tried it on, but I do remember that I liked it.
Hey Hey. Sorry about the delay…Been super busy at my awesome day job, plus equally busy with this thing.
Ok,
First, thanks for being honest. Thanks what I what to hear (or read). Some people thought I might be mad or something, I was not, humbled yes, mad no. Thanks!
Thanks Cap’n…Maybe Chicken, I love it on Chicken…
We are working on Something New…I will fill in the details later…
Orange River?
Hardee Har Har
Mmmm…Hardees. Hey don’t you know we have a weight loss challenge going on? Keep your fast food joints to yurself!
Dude! I just ate some Arby’s with a new hot sauce we just released this week…The Godfather! My eyeballs are burning!
I love the name!
I think this would make a better name!
“My eyeballs are burning hot sauce”
Didn’t see that at your table Saturday. Just the one you gave John. I must’ve missd it.
And use a pic similar to my gravatar on the label
Thats because I am working out a few of the finer details, before I can sell it…
Well I gotta get one of those.