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Battle of the Bottles™ – Love Edition
By Buddah | February 13, 2009 |
We all know how much struggle goes into working on a good relationship. There are lots of bumps in the road, but with all the bad times there are certainly good times. In the end Love wins out. This Battle of the Bottles™ is dedicated to all the couples out there that know that there is no better love than the one after a good battle.
With that said, this Battle of the Bottles™ will be a special one, because we have 3 loving married couples to be our judges- David(Hudd) & Betty, Sandi & Bill, and Art(Xero) & Jennifer. Plus the two hot sauces are called “Amore“, which in Italian means love. We will have each person vote separately on which sauce they like the most without having their significant other make the decision for them. You know how that can be. :P If there is a tie in the voting, then this will be the first ever Battle of the Bottles™ that ends up in a tie. How fitting would that be? 
Our first competitor, hails out of Sayville, New York, weighing in at a svelte 5 fluid ounces Mango Amore Habanero Hot Sauce by Fat Kid Sauces. We are using the mild Mango Amore version so we don’t hurt anyone. The Mango Amore product won a 2008 Scovie, so we all ready know it has a winning background.
Their rival for this Battle of the Bottles™, hailing from Las Cruces, New Mexico weighing in at a hefty 15.7 ounces is Cherry A’ More Gourmet Sauce from Desert Farms Products. With a 10.7 ounce advantage our judges might be swayed by the extra sauce they will be able to use for their review. Let us hope they do not hold that against the Mango Amore product.
Let us get the bottles in the Cage of Condiments™, and get the first 2009 Battle of the Bottles™ underway!
Couple Number 1- Bill & Sandi
Bill
For this “Battle of the Bottles” review “The Boss” Mr. McBuddah decided that he should pit two sauces against each other that the only common component in them is the fact that they both contain the word “AMORE” in the name of the sauce. Well me being kind of a simple hick first off decided to see what exactly “amore” meant. Well, I still can’t find it, but I have gathered that it kind of stands for Love in Italian. OK-with that being said “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble”!
In this corner we have Cherry A’More Gourmet Sauce, and according to the label I will be “Lovestruck by the winning combination of cherry and chipotle”, and also that “It’s love at first bite”. Before getting into all of that let’s meet it’s competitor: from Fat Kid Sauces we bring you Mango Amore Habanero Hot Sauce-Mild.
The label suggests a few different applications that you can use it on, but because of the ingredients I will be the judge of that. Ok, let’s get this battle started.
As I sit waiting for the bell to start the match and because I have already gotten up close and personal with the competitors I can’t help but want to say that this match is going to be kind of like “Andre the Giant vs Mini Me”. Glad it wasn’t me that paired these two against each other.
Think you can guess the winner? Let’s find out.
The FKS Mango Amore arrived for the battle first, so let’s start there. As usual FKS sauces have very colorful labels and the ingredient list is pretty simple: Mango, kiwi, peaches, apple cider vinegar, red savina habanero, lime juice. Well I do love peaches so I figured that was a plus seeing as how I’m not real familiar with mango or kiwi. After shaking, I opened the bottle and took a sniff. I wasn’t real sure what I smelled other than the habanero, so I figured I would just give it a try. To me the sauce has kind of a sour peach or mango taste with enough heat in it to be more of a medium than stated mild heat level. I am going to bet that more than one reviewer say’s the same thing. As much as I want to like it straight, I just can’t, so we will try it on some food.
After comparing notes with Sandi we decided to try a recipe that Sam from Z&Z Honey Co. had posted on the HSB using the Mango Amore. It was a shrimp wrap with avocado and tomato and a few other things that I can’t remember, but it worked well with that. No leftovers. We also used it as a dipping sauce for some Crab Rangoon that Sandi made and it worked well. I guess that the sour is just the lime juice when you try it straight. Personally, I think it should be a little sweeter and less hot-at least for this battle. Personally neither one of us liked the sauce that much to continue to experiment with it. Sorry.
Now when the Cherry A’More arrived I was surprised by the size of the bottle, but once I opened it I quickly found out that I was glad it was soo big. The sauce is thick and chunky and has a beautiful color-like cherries. The smell is sweet like cherries with cinnamon and a hint of clove. I didn’t even bother to read the ingredients before the top was off and I took a drink of it like I was drinking a bottle of beer. OMG! The first thing that came to mind was these spiced apples that we use to have on holiday’s when I was a kid. I really miss those days. Anyway, I stood there kind of awestruck by the flavor. This isn’t a hot sauce it’s a dessert sauce I said to myself. Seeing as how I was at work I had a few unsuspecting co-workers to try it on and the reviews were all the same. “Damn that’s good” was the consensus. I had to pick Sandi up from work that day and the funny thing is that by the time I did so the bottle was almost more than half gone. I just couldn’t stop myself from taking shots of it straight from the bottle.
Now we have to try the Cherry A’More on food and at first that was a little tougher than you might think solely because the sauce is SO SWEET but that didn’t matter once we got going. We also used this as a dipping sauce on the Crab Rangoon and also on egg rolls. Man oh man is this stuff good! It has a little burn after you swallow it but it is just perfect. Just the right blend of everything. In the package was also a couple of recipe ideas and one of them was for a salad dressing. Yep-it was great.
The last thing we used the Cherry A’More on was as an ingredient for a ham glaze using brown sugar, root beer, lemon jest and Cherry A’More. Totally over the top!
In conclusion- Xero you were right on target, I love this sauce. FKS, head back to the kitchen.
Well enough said. I think you can figure out who the winner is. I would like to thank everyone involved and hopefully next time the competitors are matched a little closer.
Winner: Cherry Amore
Sandi
I have to agree with every part of Bill’s review. While it sounded like a good idea at the time to take on this review, it turned out to be an unfair match. The Mango Amore has a slight bitter peachy taste…hotter than I expected for a mild sauce. But there is no way you could put it against the sweet and spicy Cherry Amore. That sauce was much more versatile and flavorful. Hands down the Cherry Amore is the winner.
Maybe consider pairing a different mango sauce with Fat Kid Sauce’s version. I did that this weekend with very different and fair results…Mango vs Mango…much better pair for a review.
Winner: Cherry Amore
Couple Number 2: David & Betty
David
Well it’s time again for another monthly installment of Battle of the Bottles. Buddah called me with the idea for this one a while back, and asked if Betty would be up for a couples review. After assuring her there was no right or wrong way to do a review, but to just try the product and give her honest opinion and pick which of the two she liked better, she agreed to do it.
So this could be called a battle of love since we are reviewing two Amore’ sauces. We have Fat Kid Sauces Mango Amore (mild) up against Desert Farms Products Cherry Amore’.
The ingredients lists were different as night and day on these two.
Mango Amore: mango, kiwi, peaches,apple cider vinegar, red savina habanero, lime juice.
Cherry Amore: cherry puree, sugar, lemon juice (from concentrate, sodium benzoate, sodium metabisulfite, sodium sulfite (preservative), lemon oil), honey, chipotle (red jalapeno), cornstarch, pectin, cinnamon, ground cloves.
I have to admit right off I was worried about all those sodium ingredients.
Right off I check the appearance of the two. I find the Mango Amore to be thicker looking and I’m thinking this will be a good thing while grilling. Thick is good. The Cherry Amore I thought wouldn’t hang on to my chicken and would just drip off into the fire. Ended up being the opposite.
I did my usual Sniff and Taste straight from the bottle. Now I’ve only had mango once and I’m not sure if I ever had a kiwi. Therefore I really didn’t know what to expect as far as smell or taste when I tried the Mango Amore. It had an apple sauce sort of smell to it and the (mild) hit me pretty quick and was on the high end of mild to me.
The Cherry Amore I was expecting a strong cherry aroma. It wasn’t what I expected and I believe that was due to the cloves. This sauce also had a nice little bite to it.
On to supper. I put some boneless skinless chicken breast in zip locks and added half of each sauce into bags. One with each sauce. I let the breast sit for a while as I got the grill ready. During this time Betty took some Philly Cream Cheese and made a couple spreads to use on crackers. Betty had gotten out Honey Grahams and I was using Ritz. We also fixed some Grands buttery biscuits and Betty had picked up some loaded baked potato salad at the store. Afterwards we had ice cream and tried both sauces on it. So after a nice meal and not comparing notes with Betty, here’s my results.
Ingredients: goes to Mango Amore due to the simple nature of the ingredients. I wasn’t real thrilled with all the sodiums in the Cherry Amore list.
Appearance: also to Mango Amore. Although it didn’t hang onto the chicken breast as well as I thought it would.
Sniff and Taste: went to Cherry Amore. Not so much for the smell but I did enjoy the taste better.
Food Usage: the Cherry Amore had a better flavor on everything I tried it on and it stayed put on the chicken breast while grilling.
So in this special edition of Battle of the Bottles, I have picked Cherry Amore as the winner.
Winner: Cherry Amore
Now with her first ever review is my wife Betty…
Betty
Since this is my first review, I guess there is no wrong or right way to do it. Oh by the way I’m Betty (Hudd’s wife). The only thing on this review David and I talked about was what food we were going to try. The two sauce we tried were:
Mango Amore by Fat Kid Sauces and Cherry Amore by Desert Farms Products. Both sauces were mild (yeah) not everyone likes the feeling you have just had your tongue peeled off a frozen pole. We had grilled chicken breast. I like Cherry Amore best. I also mixed 2 oz cream cheese and 1 1/2 tablespoon sauce and made a cream cheese dip. We used graham crackers and ritz, Mango Amore was best for this.
The finish was ice cream on this I was surprised, I didn’t like either on ice cream. Both sauces were good, but my choice for this review is Mango Amore. The cream cheese dip is really good with ritz crackers.
Winner: Mango Amore
Couple Number 3- Art & Jennifer
Art
Cherry Amore Gourmet Sauce- “Its love at first bite!”
Ingredients- Cherry puree, sugar, lemon juice, honey, chipotle, corn starch, pectin, cinamon, cloves
Size- 15.7 oz, Price- 9 bucks
Greetings All, Happy Valentines Day- Tis the season of love, amore, Liebe, ayattn, aimer. Whatever you call it, its the greatest of human emotions.
Jim and Cleda at The Truck Farm are our co-packers, so we are quite familiar with their products. With this particular sauce, the name says is all. Lets face it, it tastes like cherrys with a little kick. There are subtle undertones of the cinnamon and cloves, but the cloves do not stand out or linger. This is truly a dessert sauce. It is great on cheese cake and ice cream. I didnt really like it on the pancakes because I am a maple man through and through. I wish this sauce was a little thicker as it runs right off of the crackers with sausage and cheese and the pancakes, although it was quite good with the crackers. It was also quite tasty on the phylo cups with brie cheese. I didnt like it on the pork chops or the chicken legs as its just not my thing, but I highly recommend this sauce. Except that its a little runny, there isnt anything bad that can be said about this sauce.
Mango Amore Habanero Hot Sauce
Ingredients- Mango, Kiwi, Peaches, Apple Cider Vinegar, Red Savina Habanero, Lime juice.
Size- 5 oz, Price- 6 bucks
This is my first time having this sauce so I took a swig right out of the bottle. Mango and peaches, just what I was expecting. Sweet, warm and tingly on the tongue. Even the mild is hotter than the Cherry Amore. Once again, I was not enamored with it on the pancakes, and it lost its sweetness in the phylo cups. Probably because the brie is just so savory. It really needs a strong sweetness. We made a fruit salad with mandarin oranges, grapes, bananas and cocoanut flakes and mixed the Mango Amore in with some mascarpone and powdered sugar. Love in a bowl!!! I forgot to buy the little marshmallow. Oh well.
This is a tough call. I like the flavors on both sauces. The Mango is hotter, although I feel that the Cherry has more uses. I am going to have to say that the Cherry is my favorite of the two. although I dont think that they are interchangable and will continue to use both.
Winner: Cherry Amore
Jennifer
Hello everyone, I am Jennifer. I am not the chilehead that my husband is and about the only sauce I use is Tabasco Chipotle that I mix in with mayo to dip french fries. In fact, Art made his Mellow Salsa just for me. I have never done anything like this before and I personally feel that computers are the tools of the devil, but if it will get Art to paint the bathroom, then I can spare a few minutes. I didnt like the Mango much because it burned my widdle tongue. I dont even want to try the hot. It wasnt sweet enough on the food to be used in desserts. I would have liked in on the pancakes, because I like fruit sauces on my pancakes, but it was just too hot for me. The Ambrosia salad that we made was great because the mascarpone toned down the heat. We will be having that again during the summer. I like the Cherry better but unlike Art, I like the thinness of it.
So in this household, the Cherry Amore is the winner, but the Mango Amore will always have a place on the end of Cupids arrow.
Winner: Cherry Amore
Overall Champion of the Battle of the Bottles™ – Love Edition: Cherry A’ More Gourmet Sauce from Desert Farms Products!!! I would like to thank both companies for their contributions, and although this was one sided, it was about love and not necessarily the ingredients!
Cherry Amore
Desert Farms Products
Call (505)-523-1447 or 1-800-A1-Honey
email: tiarita@zianet.com
More info HERE
********************************
Mango Amore
Fat Kid Sauces, LLC
Sayville, NY 11782
631-278-3176
www.fatkidsauces.com
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- Review: Mango Amore from Fat Kid Sauces
- Taste The Fear’s Battle of the Bottles III™: Carrot Wars
Topics: General, Hot Product Reviews, Reviews | 23 Comments »
1st comment
I loved Mango A’more so if the Cherry A’more can compete at that level then it must be quite a sauce. Any chance Xerachs and Desert Farms will be coming to the Weekend of Fire?
D’yah have that bathroom painted yet?
So they don’t sell Cherry Amore on their website?
No website on the bottle, only the phone number listed.
Great reviews guys. Sorry Huv for the disappointing showing. You know your sauce rocks on sweets. It is a dessert sauce and I think I will take the blame for the matchup thinking the Cherry would be one too. Banana, whipped cream and Mango Amore will always have a special place in my kitchen.
I had some of the Cherry A’More they were nice enough to send me for the picture end of the battle. It is super sweet and very nice on chicken. That is probably what won everyone over, their sweet tooth. There is 10 grams of sugar per serving and no sugar in the Mango Amore.
Hey
you might have hit the nail on the head about the sweet tooth but then again the FKS sauce is labeled a hot sauce-it say’s so on the label, the cherry sauce is labeled a gourmet sauce, hot sauce is nowhere to be found on the label. Sorry but I really think this was an apples vs oranges battle. In my opinion all of the reviews that we do should be taken as “Constructive Criticisim”. EVERYONE that is hear LOVE’S hot sauce/condiments and that is why we take the time to do these reviews and why the readers read them. I love all you folks and the products you take the time and effort to produce.
Happy Valentine’s Day!!
Bill
I Love you to Bill!
I googled Cherry Amore, she works at the Mustang Ranch. I will work out a deal for the Canyon Krew weekend.
Her Videos will be available at cost in the GeneralLee store.
I googled her and she turns out to be a he.
did she/he enjoy being googled?
Looks like Parker googled the Cali Cherry, and not the AZ Cherry. I think yer safe AJ.
WoooHooo! Lucky me! 13th comment on Friday the 13th!
Good job on the review ladies and gentlemen.
I have never had the Cherry Amore. It sounds like it was pretty mild. Not always a bad thing. For me the Mango Amore is a delicious one of a kind sauce. The peaches kiwi and mango all work together, then there is the habanero, and the lack of salt is a Big plus.
Try adding it to whipping cream to top your desserts or foo foo drinks(:nerd:), espresso topped with Mango Amore whipped cream rocks! Mango Amore Mai Tais, Perfect Mimosas featuring Mango Amore… Wait a minute, don’t any of the reviewers drink?
You can say that again.
I enjoyed the review. I’ve had both of these products and I knew ahead of time what the reviewers would be challenged with. “Amore” is what it is, however, Cherries and Mangos are what they are…Both are winners, just in a different class.
Blane is
Happy now Blane?
ouch – that smarts.
Oh well more for me.
I still use the whip creamer charger and the MA
As for the salt…. high blood pressure – I try and do everything as low salt as possible
I thought that this would be a cool battle as they are both fruit based, but after having them both, I dont think that they are interchangable. The mango was great in my fruit salad but the cherry would be too much. The Truck Farm recently purchased another line of sauces that they are resurrecting and are also redesigning the website.