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Multi-review: Bigg Riggs Sweetfire Sauce
By DK | February 13, 2008 |
Bigg Rigg’s “Sweetfire Sauce”
Net Wt. 12 oz (320 grams)
Ingredients: Distilled vinegar, chile peppers (habanero, serrano, & jalapenos), Tomato concentrate, garlic, cider vinegar, sugar, salt & spices
DeBaggio’s Herb Farm & Grocery
43494 Mountain View Drive
Chantilly, VA 20152
www.biggriggsfarm.com
Tony Legner:
The Bigg Riggs Sweetfire sauce is in a 12 oz bottle. The ingredients are: Distilled vinegar, Chile peppers (habanero, serrano and jalapenos) tomato concentrate, garlic, cider vinegar, sugar, salt and spices. Pretty simple list.
The sauce itself is a reddish brown with plenty of seeds and pepper pulp. Opening the bottle to the nose gets a nice vinegar and peppery tomato aroma. The first taste straight up on a spoon goes like this. First I get vinegar with some pepper pulp, then immediate heat with a habanero flavor. Tomato is in the back and then a wisp of garlic flavor. Heat hits the lips and tongue and mouth all at once at about a 5 for me on a 1-10.It seems to linger about 1 to 2 minutes. I think the sweetness in the name sweetfire is there but a little overrated. I think that the sugar and salt for that matter are used nicely to not overpower but enhance and round out the flavor profile.
My first taste on food was a simple lunch. Grilled turkey and Swiss on 12 grain bread. Maybe not the best choice, but the sauce doesn’t have any recommended uses and that’s what I wanted for lunch. It was very good on my sandwich. Brought some great pepper flavor and some heat. My wife even liked it. She does not like extreme hot sauces and thinks that eating them is stupid. I however do not. So this sauce passed her stupidity test which is nice. I don’t have any idea how much this sauce cost or where you can find it. The bottle has a web address and a phone number. I called got no answer. I went on line to the address and found a picture of a cute girl and several click on buttons one was for vacation apartments and one for anger management?? Overall I would rate this sauce at a 9. I like it a lot!
Sandi:
Doing this review was tough since it was a couple’s review. Having to taste this sauce in different rooms and schedule times when we could sample alone was tough but we got it done…these are my thoughts on Bigg Riggs Sweetfire Sauce………
Upon receiving the bottle I looked over the gold label and immediately liked what the sauce intended. “Bigg Riggs is working with a small program to assist the small farmer. The intent is to add value to local crops and return a greater share of the consumer’s dollar to the small family farm.”
I really like the idea of helping out the small guys!! We are like small farmers ourselves from the size of our garden every year!
Looking at the sauce through the bottle you could see lots of chopped garlic and other spices. The color was dark red brownish. But seeing all the garlic made me think flavor. When I shook the bottle up I couldn’t believe how runny it was…almost water thin…so I took a closer look at the ingredients: Distilled Vinegar, Chili Peppers (habanero, serrano, & jalapeno), Tomato concentrate, Garlic, Cider Vinegar, Sugar, Salt, & Spices.The tomato concentrate on the ingredient list made met think of canned tomato paste….not a bad thought…just curious. With sugar and Cider vinegar on the list I thought it would have a sweet before it kicked your butt!!
Noting that Distilled Vinegar was the 1st ingredient I had to smell the sauce. Not something I normally do but some sauces have an overwhelming vinegar smell. So I just had to check before tasting. No vinegar smell here!! A very strong chile smell with a hint of garlic. So I had to taste it!!
Next I took a spoon sample from the bottle. It didn’t have a ton of flavor like I expected but the garlic did stand out and a very chili taste before the habanero taste and heat quickly set in. No Sweet to this Fire!!! Not an unbearable burn but it sure stuck around!!
I was making steak kabobs for dinner. So I decided to baste one of the kabobs in the sauce. When I poured the sauce in a dish for basting I was very disappointed when a 2 inch long piece of tomato skin came out of the bottle. I picked it out and moved on. The sauce smelled wonderful while cooking!! When you smelled the kabob basted it had a great garlic and spicy smell to it!!
On tasting, the kabobs the flavor was quite different. On the steak it had a much more dominate tomato taste and lost the garlic flavor but the heat was still there…just not as quick to come but definitely lasted!! The vege’s on the other hand held the heat just like it was straight out of the bottle. The mushrooms had a lot of flavor but really picked up the heat from this sauce!!
I took the sauce to work with me every day this week so I could try it on a variety of foods. It amazes me how 1 sauce has different flavors depending on what you use it on!! On ham it really holds it’s punch and has good flavor, you could taste a little more spices…couldn’t quite place it…but it was from the sauce not the ham… It adds a great kick to a hard boiled egg! But on a turkey bacon club it really worked!! That’s where I finally found the Sweet in the Fire!! For a second there was a sweet taste before the chili heat set in!! Will use the sauce on that again!!
Overall despite its runniness this sauce packs quite a punch!! Still not sure about the Sweet
part of the Fire. My taste buds couldn’t find it…except on the club. I don’t know that I would use this sauce on a regular basis…but now that I’ve tried it I keep thinking up new ways to use it!! Definitely worth a try for anyone who likes the lingering burn with a garlic flavor!! And it’s for a good cause to help out the small farmer!!
Bill:
Our buddy Buddah sent Sandi and me a bottle of “Bigg Riggs Sweetfire Sauce” for review. We were told to use the sauce however we wished but to keep our opinions to ourselves so that we could write separate reviews. Well, normally we always share our opinions of most everything we eat so this was a bit of a challenge but, we did as we were asked and this is my personal impression of this sauce.
FIRST IMPRESSION-The sauce is packaged in a large 12oz bottle with a nice large cap. Seeing this along with the name “SWEETFIRE” on the label my brain says barbecue or dipping type sauce so I take a closer look at the label which has the appearance that it kind of worn or faded. For some reason the label screams “Wal Mart clearance isle”.
INGREDIENTS- Vinegar, chile peppers (habenaro, serrano, jalapenos) Tomato concentrate, garlic, cider vinegar, sugar, salt & spices. I didn’t spell these ingredients-they did.
The label also states that “Bigg Riggs is working with a program to assist the small scale farmer. The intent is to value add local crops and return a greater share of the consumers dollar to the small family farm”. Huh-OK.
TASTE- Let me just say that it took me a whole lot longer to type all of this than it did for me to get the bottle open and actually get to the sauce. The sauce appears to have the consistency of a thin tomato puree with lots of seeds and tomato “meat” along with a rich brownish red color. I proceed to shake the bottle real good, remove the cap, and give it a whiff. Smells like garlic and tomatoes. I kind of peered into the bottle and without hesitation took a sip straight from the bottle. I can honestly say that this is where I was kind of thrown for a loop.
What I tasted was a STRONG GARLIC flavor and the heat was considerably more than I expected! This stuff is actually HOT. Not hot like Defcon Zero mind you but on a scale from 1-10, I would give it a very solid 5. The burn stayed on my lips for at least 3 minutes and kept reminding me of garlic with a cayenne burn. I was expecting a “Sweet” taste as the stuff is called “SWEETFIRE” but never did I taste any sweet what so ever.
ON FOOD- Ok, so I hand the bottle over to Sandi and seeing as how we already had plans for Steak Kabob’s for dinner we mutually agree to try this sauce on them. Dinner time rolls around and Sandi is prepping the kabobs with this sauce and all of a sudden she says to me “What’s this?” so I get off my butt and go take a look. What came out of the bottle was a piece of thick tomato skin that actually measured 2 inches square. Maybe that was the reason for the big opening on the bottle-but I doubt it. Anyway she proceeds to finish the kabobs and all in all I would say that they were just OK. I really didn’t think the sauce worked for them. I personally haven’t tried the sauce on anything else probably because we have so many other sauces that I like a whole lot better.
IN CONCLUSION- I would like to thank Buddah for sending us this sauce to try but I did not really care for it. The label is misleading and the sauce definitely needs some refinement. It does pack enough heat that I believe the average consumer would consider it “Too Hot”. We definitely buy sauces that are food specific but this will not be one of them. I think I will use the remainder in a crock pot of chili that we will be making tomorrow. I am sure it will blend in just fine.
DK:
Bigg Riggs Sweetfire Sauce. First thing that comes to mind when I see this Bigg ‘ol bottle (12 oz’er here, no wimpy 5 oz woozy!) is a Bigg ‘ol semi Mac truck rolling down the hiway and BAM! Roadkill. Oh yea, this review is gonna be fun! So I jump in the car and head out in search of some fresh vittles to try this sauce with. Well, actually, the bottle has been sitting on my kitchen table for a couple of days as I haven’t had time to prepare a proper meal. So, instead of roaming the hiway looking for roadkill, I’m actually on my way to work and carrying the bottle with me in hopes that I’ll have time to try it with lunch today. Yummy!
So there the bottle sits on my desk for the first half of my day and I’m really anxious now that it’s getting close to lunch time. I’ve picked the bottle up a couple of times to admire the sauce through the glass. The consistency looks really good. Nice dark reddish color to it with lots of pieces of ingredients floating around. Lots of pepper seeds visible through out giving the sauce the look of being really fresh and tasty.
Well, lunch time us creeping up slowly, so I decide to open the bottle early and try it on a good ‘ol standby. A pack of crackers from the snack tray in the office. Simple, but effective. Besides, I didn’t have a plastic spoon handy. The sauce pours very nicely. Nice medium consistency. Thin enough to pour, thick enough to stay put on the cracker.
First taste I would describe as sweet and tangy. Not a fruit kind of sweet, but it seems to come from the tomato concentrate. Not a huge tomato flavor, just the nice sweetness from it. The tangy comes obviously from the vinegar, but it’s not a sour vinegar hit like with most vinegar based sauces. Very pleasant and tasty. Nothing fancy, just a really good tangy tomato/pepper sauce. The heart of the flavor comes from the peppers, but it’s balanced really well with the vinegar and tomatoes.
There’s three different peppers here (habanero, serrano, and jalapenos), but I can’t pick out anything distinctive to pinpoint any one them. The heat is what I would call a medium hot. Gives a good little sting to the tongue, but it takes a bit of the sauce to get the burn going. The more you eat, the more pronounced the burn gets. It’s a full mouth burn, stinging the tongue and back of the throat, it even brought out a couple of sniffles by the end of the pack of crackers.
So I finally make it to lunch and because of the predominate flavor of the peppers, I decide to try the sauce with something Cajun. So I stopped just up the street from the shop at my local Bojangles for a bowl of Jambalaya. Closest thing to roadkill without actually having the real thing. Hehe!! Meat (chicken, sausage, & more sausage), rice, beans, and cheese all mixed together in a bowl. I applied a generous amount of the sauce and dug in. Yep, deeeeeeeeelicious! The dominate flavor of the peppers and tanginess of the vinegar really made this a great choice for a Cajun type cuisine. The sweetness didn’t really come across with this as much as it did with crackers. It’s called Sweetfire, but the sweetness of it seems to more to tone down the vinegar tartness more than anything.
So, to sum it up, I give this sauce three “Hell Yea’s” and would highly recommend it to anyone. A huge thanks to Buddah for sending this to me to review. Top notch sauce bro!
BUDDAH:
There are many things that keep pirates happy. The sacking & pillaging of defenseless sea vessels with lots of booty and pretty maidens is always all in a days work. It wasn’t the mere conquest but the spoils from the conquest that made the risk worth it. Then there was the never-ending quest for thirst quenching beverage and satisfying food to keep the belly from gurgling on the wide open seas. Yaaar! Yet, above all that, there is still one thing that any good pirate keeps a lookout for, and that is, buried treasure!
Often accompanied by a map, the pirates set sail to parts unknown for the “X” that marks the spot. Danger might lay in wait or the trail might lead to no where. The treasure itself might not be worth the journey to find, but if the treasure turns out to be something special, then you will have very happy pirates indeed.
Well folks, it was a search for a local pepper grower that led me to such a treasure. I can’t exactly say where I saw the name of DeBaggio’s Herb Farm & Grocery first, but I believe it was an article in the Chile Pepper Magazine that was sent via email. The article caught my eye because it mentioned a town close by me, Chantilly, Virginia, which is a hop, skip and a jump away from my residence in Northern VA. I found their website which included a mega offering of pepper plants of all heat varieties. Unfortunately, they were closed until late November. So perusing their plentiful peppers online was all I could do. I recommend checking out their chile pepper section it’s pretty big, and they even rank the heat levels of each pepper.
A little time went by, and DeBaggio’s Herbs was not on my radar as the holiday season was kicking into second gear at my job with the US Postal Service. Whilst sorting mail an herb and plant catalog caught my eye. It was no other than the good people at DeBaggio’s sending out their seasonal catalog. I scrawled down the directions on a scrap of paper, so I would have a map of sorts to get there. What I didn’t know is that it would be a treasure map in the end. The first Saturday of their re-opening I found myself a little lost. Thinking that I had traveled too far, I finally found my destination in due course. I headed down a small country road off the beaten path and I was there.
Here is a little about DeBaggio’s offerings:
Products/Services: Herbs and vegetable plants, edible flowers, annuals, perennials, books, pots, organic growing supplies, bird feeders, herbal soaps and crafts. Their herb and vegetable selection is the largest in the area. They grow over 100 varieties of tomatoes, 70 types of peppers, and 20 types of basil. You’ll find varieties there that you won’t find in other nurseries. Tour their herb display garden. Free catalog and herb growing guide available at the greenhouse or from their website. They do not ship their plants nor sell seeds, so you will need to find a way to buy in person.
I had a very pleasant experience talking to Francesco DeBaggio and his helpful assistant Tammy Boggs. If you have never heard of the DeBaggio name, just Google it. Francesco’s Dad, Thomas has written many books on the subject of herbs, as well as his battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He is the man that launched DeBaggio’s Herbs, and in due time the reins of the business were passed along to Francesco. I noticed in my searches online that Francesco has done a few interviews here and there so it looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, so if you are in the need to know about horticulture, then Francesco more than likely will have an answer for you. I was there asking all about peppers, and both Judy and Francesco were very informative. I think I will give it a whirl when the plants are ready in April. They were so friendly and helpful in answering all my questions.
I did walk away with something though which brings me to the hot sauce review, the hidden treasure in my expedition. DeBaggio’s was selling some products from Bigg Riggs. Some jellies, a bloody mary mix, a garlic bean dip, and the product I bought, the “Sweetfire Sauce”. The bottle is nicely sized at 12 oz for $6.00, a price you would often get if you were to buy the normal 5 oz sized hot sauce bottles. The sauce is quite thin as it swims in the bottle similar to a marinade, except the appearance of pepper seeds. I probably wouldn’t have bought it if it was in a store of hot sauces, but because I was in the middle of nowhere and I never heard of this product, I figured no better time than the present to buy a bottle. I love the idea of finding a diamond in the rough. The sauce might suck, but I wanted to give it a try and find out.
I can begin to tell you how much I enjoyed this hot sauce with my egg omelet or with some chicken or with some steak or with some chili, but I will just say I did and tell you how much I love this hot sauce. There are some great hot sauces in the market, but there is something very special about this product. I just loved it the moment I got it on my tongue. There is some very nice heat in the bottle, and there is a nice sweetness that accompanies the tomato, garlic and peppery flavor. Together it creates a go to hot sauce. Everyone’s taste buds are different, so I really don’t know if it is me or not. I am so young to the world of hot sauce, and sometimes my over-exuberance in trying a very good product doesn’t equate to other chileheads likes or gripes over spicy products. This is why I organized this multi-person review.
When I organize reviews, besides sending the product out with some extra thank yous in the package, I also like to contact the maker if possible. Sometimes the people I contact don’t come to make comments, sometimes they do. I informed DeBaggio’s Herbs that I was going to do a review of Bigg Rigg’s product, and that I would also mention them in the process. I did have a problem with Bigg Rigg’s though, and the info they have on the bottle seems to be outdated. There is an expiration of 2009 on the bottle, so the label isn’t too old, but the website is dead and the phone number goes to voice mail. I have left 2 voice mails and both have gone unanswered. I have done web searches, and so far have come up empty. DeBaggio’s told me the man behind Bigg Rigg’s is Calvin Riggleman. He is enlisted in the military and every now and then is called away for duty. I hope all is okay in his world, and he gets to read this review sooner or later. I did a search for him, and although it led me to an empty trail. I did come up with a picture of him and his co-hort Erin, (see below). I did find Erin’s email address and have contacted her in hopes that he could pass on my contact info about the review. I hope in do time, Erin or Calvin contact me so I can tell them about this review. You guys have made a great product, and I wish you much success for the future of Bigg Rigg’s products. Unfortunately for me, my bottle only has about 1-2 ounces left, and this hidden treasure might be the last of its kind. I hope not.
*Note of interest. Since writing this review I have tracked down some of the people behind Bigg Rigg’s products. I did run into Calvin Riggleman’s Mom and Dad at a Farmer’s Market in Leesburg, VA. Their business is still moving along, good news for my taste buds. Unfortunately, they were carrying all of their tasty products, except the one I wanted, the “Sweetfire Sauce”. The lady there gave me Calvin’s business card which has his new web address, www.biggriggsfarm.com. As I was writing this little addition to the review, Calvin called me up and we had a friendly chat. You know me, I talked his ear off. Very friendly guy, and seemed happy to get some exposure for his company. I also found that Erin is his fiancée, and I wish them the best for their future.
A little about his company. Calvin had always sold produce (e.g. – apples, cherries, peaches, etc.) from his farm in Loom, West Virginia. While he was stationed in Iraq, some of his fellow servicemen encouraged Calvin to expand upon the produce which was a seasonal market. He got into jams and stuff. One person suggested he do something with the peppers and the “Sweetfire Sauce” was launched. He was called away again on another tour of duty, but now that he is back he has been spreading the family out between 2 farmer’s markets in locations across Northern Virginia. The one in Leesburg and the other in Old Alexandria near DC. It has been successful so far. Thanks for contacting me back Calvin; I wish you and your family the very best for your business. Looks like I will have to hoist my sails in the near future and set sail to Old Alexandria. Who knows what might lay in wait for me there besides my treasured “Sweetfire Sauce”? Yaaar!
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Topics: General, Hot Product Reviews, Reviews | 15 Comments »
Nice Job on this review, I really enjoyed the info on the maker and your effort in tracking them down. A+
Wow that was just to nice of a comment, so I’ll end with Good nite ********s. :fu:
Goodnight
:dork: !
Yep, I enjoyed the additional info on the manufacturer as well. Good job :nerd:! And thanks for sending the sauce for review.
I would like to add that I’ve used this sauce quite a bit since doing the review. It’s really great as a marinade for chicken or pork chops before grilling or even frying.
Great Review everyone, it was great to read everyones take on it. Thanks for joining our ranks Tony, and I look forward to seeing you first hand in Albuddahquerque in 14 days!
:chili2:
Nicely done, I wish Calvin and Erin the best of luck, The farmer’s markets have really worked out well for us. :nerd:, once again, well done! I can’t wait for FFS, I know Tony and Maddie have some new stuff to try out. I look forward to meeting DK, Bill and Sandi in the near future….
Alright, I have talked to DK on the phone and I know he doesn’t sound like this but, when you read DK’s review in your mind use the Larry the cable guy voice
Dk, please don’t be mad, I’ve had several beers since I got home, and the roadkill references just brought that voice to mind. It really cracked me up! No disrespect meant.
Who’s Larry the cable guy?
Welcome Aboard Tony!!
This is probably my favorite multi-review so far. I haven’t had the chance to try the Rigg’s sauce, but for some reason it makes me think of the “Blue’s Habanero” sauce. If anybody has tried them both, please let me know how they compare.
When I first tried this sauce it tasted really familiar..I ended up going through everything in our collection to find the same flavor. Finally did. It tasted exactly like Mild to Wild’s Red Savina Garlic Sauce.
Thanks for asking me in on the review. And I hope to see and meet all of you in (what was that)
Albuddahquerque.
I had Blues Habanero Reserve, but I didn’t think they were close to being the same type of sauce. Blue’s is similar to a thin bbq sauce with a little heat. Its pretty hot sauce and goes well with many things. Thanks for all kind words folks. I couldn’t have put this multiple review without my review teams help. All the pics were great, thanks!
I really like the Mild to Wild Red Savina Garlic.
I bet it would be good over eggs with a side of bacon and hashbrowns
I loved it on my cheese omelets. That was my favorite use for it.
I don’t know what to think about this sauce.
Maybe TMI?
Welcome to TTF Leanne! Thank you for the updated info!!