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TTF Ladies Review Series: Sauce Cartel Hot Sauces…Part 1
By admin | April 24, 2008 |
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
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.
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.
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.
Related Posts
- TTF Ladies Review Series: Sauce Cartel Hot Sauces…Part 3
- TTF Ladies Review Series: Sauce Cartel Hot Sauces…Part 2
- The Scoville Brothers Hot Sauces Review #2
- The Scoville Brothers Hot Sauces Review #3
- Review: El Yucateco Green Hot Sauce
Topics: General, Hot Product Reviews, Reviews | 55 Comments »
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ok, now that im done celebrating that i got the first post, nice review. is this the same gary that used to be with hells kitchen?
Yes, same Gary.
I’m off to read the review.
Sweet….I have all the old Hells kitchen bottles.
Noice!
Nice review ladies!
Welcome to TTF Celeste! Nice recommendations on the uses of the Green River. I really like your honest straightforward approach to the review. Pointing out the “language” on the label was really good insight based on firsthand knowledge of the language. Maybe Gary will jump in here with a little insight on the label.
Nice job Celeste. I would love to see more reveiews from you in the future.
Now I gotta go order me up Some Green River. Sounds tasty!
Oh, almost forgot. I love the Mayan. I’ve had it with eggs, chicken, and tacos. It’s a really good mild sauce when I’m not in the mood for a lot of heat.
Nice review ladies!! Welcome Celeste!! Very nice…short and to the point…I’m afraid that my review is a bit wordy..too long…gonna have to work on that in the future.
Don’t get a
complex Sandi! LOL!! Pics tend to make it seem less wordy. If anything, they always make me drool. 
Looking forward to reading the other reviews ladies!
Great review all………. It’s sweet to be in such fine company.
Well
payback is a biotch 
I thought the first lady reviewer did a fantastic job.
And of course the other ladies did a fine job as well but they could learn a thing or two about being a woman from that first reviewer.
Great reviews and welcome Celeste, from one newby to another.
Wow, another review and in a timely fashion. More than I can say for other sites on the interweb.
Thick sauces? That’s right up my alley as well.
Sometimes, and only for a a millisecond, I wish I lived in the US, just so I could mail order products like this for me to try without getting ass raped by the postal service on freight charges.
Great reviews, I’m thinking I need to be trying these sauces.
Keep up the good work TTF!
I forgot to say hello earlier.
Welcome abroad Celeste & Zero.
Did you get my pictures???
Who are you asking?
Sorry buddy to do you up like that, but it was supposed to be an April Fool’s Day joke. Unfortunately the review, the shipping, and the posting took a while because of how huge it end up being. It would’ve been funny to unveil it the day after your b-day and the end of your “10-day period of niceness”. Of course if payback was a biotch as you say, then I am still paying you back for the “mask” episode.
Yes I used to be apart of (and still own the name) Hells Kitchen Hot Sauce.
Yo Gary! Thanks for drop’n in. Stay tuned for more reviews of your sauce in the near future.
Cap’n
Yo Gary!
Love the last run of bottles, sad that I won’t open them though. :cry:
I’ll have to try your New stuff~
Try Gary’s Apple Bomb Habanero applesauce. Whhoooo hoooooo. Now that’s something different. I ate almost the whole jar at once.
Yeah exactly Hudd! If you order anything from Gary, make sure you get his Apple Sauce, that shit builds in heat until you tap out. It gets hot very slowly, then the next thing you know, it is kicking your ass.
I also like to mix the Green Wave and the Orange Explosion and together they make a brownish tsunami. Those were my favs of the hot sauces I tried at the Columbus Fiery Food Show.
Orange Explosion is one of the most unique sauces I’ve ever had. Great sauce, great label art.
The Apple Bomb applesauce is a wonderfully unique product as well. Hot as sin and very tasty.
DK u get all my pics?
:nerd:,
It is called GREEN RIVER. Named after the Chicago river…
No worries, open them, I still have all of them, so I would be more than happy to send them your way. I think the sauces we have now a WAY better, before everything was just HOT, HOTTER and even HOTTER. No real flavor…What do I know though…
If anyone wants it, there are less than 3 cases, and I REALLY don’t want to make more until I can pick the apples myself, makes it special….
I’ll most likely grab another jar or two of the applesauce next week at the salsa contest
The first time I was eating the apple sauce, I was chowing down on it without any thought that the heat would bother me. I was about 1/2 way down when it hit me, and it was a serious ass kicking burn that wouldn’t relent for a while. I was impressed.
i dont know if you remember me, i sat to your left in the deathmatch last year. anyway, do you still have any of your old bottles for sale i would like to get a set with the pictures like you where selling on the website and i waould also like another bottle of the 666 so i can eat one because what i got right now is for collecting.
Hudd,
Are you entering anything for the hot sauce contest?
Yea man I remember you…You want 666 to eat? Well…there is no more 666. There is however going to be something else…
I can sell you the stuff man, a few of the recipes are still in use under the new name same artwork, same product…Do you want those, or do you really want the HKHS ones?
I f&$ked the name of the sauce again, I keep calling it Green Wave for some reason. Ugh!!! Sorry Gary, I will redeem myself someday to you.
:nerd:,
I told you, I am going to make one and name it Green Wave. Any thoughts on artwork???
I picked up 5-6 different Hell’s Kitchen sauces around Easter at Jungle Jim’s. Don’t recall seeing any of his old stuff last week there though.
did you ever end up eating your 666 sauce or did you decide to save it?
didn’t eat it. Gary said it tastes terrible anyway.
justin. sent you pics of my Wall of Fame. The Gene Simmons Time magazine cover I drew bac in 77 for art class. If I ever get another chance to meet him that’s what I’m getting autographed.
You looking for artwork then DK is your man. He has designed quite a bit this past year, labels, TTF banner and whatnot. You want a great design see him, you want an idea see me.
Green Wave, I see a Jalapeno riding a wave. Simple and to the point.
Gary, you sign into TTF wrong yesterday? I am just seeing all your comments this morning for the first time.
Green Wave- A jalapeno on a surfboard.
The name came from someone that works for me. I told him I wanted to Translate “mayan Madness Hot Sauce” and I got “Locura Mayan Salsa Caliente”…perhaps I will change it…
Thats because Max and I worked out a deal with Bret. All the HKHS stuff is gone, and is replaced with Sauce Cartel.
Not that I know of, everything I posted said waiting for Admin or something like that….Perhaps It was the computer I was on…
Correction: it says your comment is awaiting moderation, whatever that is… :?:
Gary, I just check your comments. You don’t have a valid email address entered into the line for your email address. Try deleting what you have typed there and re-enter your email address on your next comment.
Yeah, that’s what I thought. I saw all your Cartel items this last time I was there. Danny wanted a bottle of That’s Hot and we got it for his Easter basket. I picked up 6 other Hell’s Kitchen sauces just to put up on my shelf thinking they may become collectible. Wish I would’ve got me a That’s Hot also.
Funny thing, there was oe bottle left at Jungle Jims, so Max bought it…He never actually got one, so he grabbed it…
I have a Core of Hell bottle.
Got the 666 T-SHIRT?
call me mr softie