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Zane and Zack’s Hell-Fire Habanero Cream Cheese & Incendiary Chocolates
By Buddah | October 17, 2008 |
Welcome to another Multi-Review from the CrackerJack review staff here aboard the good ship TTF.
~Cap’n
A few months back some of us lucky Chileheads got a package of goodies from Sam of Zane and Zack’s World Famous Honey Co. Within the package were the two items we are reviewing today. Hell-Fire Habanero Cream Cheese and some dark chocolate habanero truffles called Incendiary Chocolates. I am not a fan of either cream cheese nor dark chocolates, so I decided to give it over to my bud Eric. I figure he would be able to do it justice in a review more than I would. I did have one of the two truffles, but as soon as I tasted the bitterness of the dark chocolate I knew I had made a mistake. No offense to these chocolates, but I prefer milk chocolate and do not care for the bitterness of the darker blend. I do not need to talk about it any further, that is what I tabbed Eric for.
Thanks again Sam for letting TTF review your newest products, and now on to the reviews…
HUDD
Hell-Fire Habanero Cream Cheese
I received a package from Zane and Zack’s World Famous Honey Co. a while back. It contained several items and this is a review on one of them, Zane and Zack’s Hell-Fire Habanero Cream Cheese.
As soon as I saw the jar of Hell-Fire Habanero Cream Cheese, I had to open it. I dipped a Town House cracker into it immediately. Then another and another, and before I knew it I was about half way through the jar. Had I not ran out of crackers it probably would’ve been finished off right then. Man this stuff is great. Addictive as well! I loved the taste, texture and the lingering habanero burn.
The next day I had my son Danny try it. I assured him that it was hot, but he could handle it. He got a bag of Bugles from the cabinet and scooped some up. While he was enjoying it, my wife came in. The wife and son are a little leary about trying anything new that I get, especially if habaneros are involved. After some coaxing and a couple of “don’t be a wimp” from Danny and me, she gave in and tried it also. She found the burn from the habs just a bit much, but she did agree with us that Hell-Fire tastes very good. The cream cheese helps keep the habanero heat down just enough that it isn’t overwhelming. The habs still grab you and linger long enough to let you know they are there.
The website www.zandzhoneyco.com claims; “The best part is the delayed burn will allow your non-Chile head guests to get a second bite in before they ask what they’ve done to themselves.” This is a very true statement! This is a brand new product from Zane and Zack’s and I think they have a definite winner on their hands.
Incendiary Chocolates
Then, saving the best for last I also received a plastic box with a melted blob of chocolate in it. Sam had said to disregard the melted appearance and to eat it. Habanero Chocolate Truffles!!! These little bits of goodness are outstanding! When you first bite into it it’s dark chocolate with a creamy chocolate center. Just about the time you think, “man this is good…” the habanero hits you. About the time you think, “whoa this is hot…” the chocolate mellows the burn. These things are a taste sensation. If you ever get the chance to try these, don’t pass it up.
JUSTIN
Hell-Fire Habanero Cream Cheese
When I got this cream cheese it was a very hot day and the cream cheese was very thin. I put it in the fridge and it hardened right up though. The weird thing is that my chocolate truffles were fine. After being refrigerated the consistency was nice and spreadable. It was a little different from cream cheese because it didn’t seem as creamy, but almost foamy. Possibly from melting and then re-solidifying in the fridge. It wasn’t a bad consistency though at all, and it spread perfectly on my bagels which are the only thing I tried it on. At first taste it is sweet with a definite habanero flavoring, and then the heat hits you just a second after the sweetness. There is more heat to this product than there is sweet and it builds through your bagel, but the sweet honey cream cheese never fades away to just habanero flavoring.
Incendiary Chocolates
I got my package of review stuff from Sam today, and the first thing I pulled out was the chocolate truffles. It was a hot day and they where soft, but not melted. I threw them all in the fridge and had dinner. I wrote a review up for another sauce and blogged a little on my favorite website www.tastethefear.com. I hadn’t forgotten about the truffles, but I wasn’t really in a hurry to try them because im not a big chocolate fan. About 2 hours later I made my way upstairs to take a piss -whisky went through me- and grabbed one of the truffles on my way back downstairs. For just a second I sniffed it like a wild dog would sniff a piece of meat, and then stuck the whole thing in my mouth which filled my mouth because they are big. The outside was a chocolate shell that cracked open when I bit it, and the entire inside was a thick almost fudge type of chocolate that melted into my mouth. For just a brief second I tasted only a dark chocolate, then the heat and flavor of the habanero’s blended perfectly into the background just enough to let you know they are there without taking away the fact that it is a piece of chocolate. I know why my crazy mother in law puts chili powder in her hot cocoa now. I thought the sugerfire brownies were good, (and they were), but no chocolate I have ever had before could even come close in comparison to the level of how much I enjoyed this truffle. The second one I took a few pictures, and ate it in about 4 different bites just letting it melt in my mouth and savoring it. After it was all gone it left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth that I know is from dark chocolate.
I know that I like to point out the fact that I don’t eat a lot of sweet stuff in every review of something sweet I do and its true. I haven’t bought chocolate in a long time and if I do like a sweeter product its usually one that is only sweet for a second and then hits you with a large blast of heat and balances it out for me. That is not the case with these truffles though. The heat is mild and it is the flavor that the (I am assuming habaneros) adds to the chocolate that makes it so good. I was never really big on candy bars, but these truffles could get me hooked on chocolate for the first time in my life.
10/10 Everybody needs to try them.
EGGrant
Hell-Fire Habanero Cream Cheese
I really had a hard time with this review and tried several combinations I usually have with cream cheese. Whether it was celery, carrots, club crackers, or Saltines everything combined with the cream cheese seemed to taste sweet and made for a very unpleasant taste. I finally got around to getting an “everything” bagel and tried the cream cheese with it, which had no sweet taste but still tasted very unpleasant. I must admit that the heat level of the Hell-Fire Cream Cheese was a bit much for me for this type of product, but it was the taste of habanero peppers and cream cheese that really did not go well together. The taste of the pepper was too overwhelming, and as a cream cheese product these flavors just seemed to clash by themselves and got worse with any food combination.
Heat Level: Hot (7 / 10)
My Rating: 1 (EGG Scale)
EGG Rating Scale:
1 : Novelty or Party Favor / Would not buy it again
2 : Has potential / May try it again
3 : Great taste / Would likely buy it again
4 : Excellent taste / Staple home product
5 : Incredible taste / Gotta have it and will go outta my way to get it
Incendiary Chocolates
I am a bit intrigued by chocolate pepper products in general. This dark chocolate truffle mixed with habanero sparked that interest even more. It had a surprisingly good taste that was topped off with a creeping mild heat from the pepper. I say surprising simply because combining hot peppers with the sweetness of chocolate just does not make sense to me. Regardless, I believe it is the dark chocolate that really makes this work because it is not as sweet as it’s milk chocolate counterpart. Putting the truffle into the mix really improves the overall taste and blends well. I think even an average joe would likely try it and actually enjoy it. I only say this because I also handed out a sample to my visiting family (who are not fans of hot food) who later in the evening went out of their way to tell me they liked it.
Heat Level: Mild (5 / 10)
My Rating: 3 (EGG Scale)
EGG Rating Scale:
1 : Novelty or Party Favor / Would not buy it again
2 : Has potential / May try it again
3 : Great taste / Would likely buy it again
4 : Excellent taste / Staple home product
5 : Incredible taste / Gotta have it and will go outta my way to get it
Related Posts
- Review: Spice Rack Chocolates- En Fuego (On Fire) Collection
- Multi-Review: Flaming Joe’s Island Fire Tropical Fruit & Habanero Marmalade
- Review: Zane and Zack’s Honey Company
- Kato’s Meaner Greener & Habanero Chocolate Bar
- Multi-Review: Mild to Wild’s Fiery Hot Habanero (BBQ) sauce
Topics: General, Hot Product Reviews, Reviews | 9 Comments »
Thanks for the great review guys. What are the ingredients for the Hell-Fire Habanero Cream Cheese
DUH! OK nevermind.
I loved the truffles that Sam gave me at ZestFest. Good stuff and an award winner.
The Hell-Fire Habanero Cream Cheese sounds interesting as well. I bet it would be good mixed in with the bacon wrapped stuff jalapenos.
definitly
Mmmmmm sounds great!
I’m thinking back to basics.
Celery, Bagels, I gotta go…this is making me hungry.
ME WANT! ME WANT!!!!
I would like to thank you all very much for taking the time to review these products. These were two products that had already advanced past the prototype stage and I fealt were worthy of being sampled by the chilehead community. Just so you know unless specifically requested for a review I send these out with no expectations and you are welcome to use them or dump them as you see fit. I highly value all opinions and suggestions (good or bad) regarding our products. That is what helps us to decide what to run with or how to improve our products. I plan on sending out more samples to people who didn’t make the first round of mailings. If they end up being reviewed awesome, but if not that is cool as well. Please just do me one favor and don’t not say something if you hate a product. That is probably the most valuable information.
I hope that all of you who are traveling back from FMK have (had) a safe trip.
Once again thank you!
…stuffed black olives, grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza (holy crap, instead of traditional pizza sauce)…