Review - Cajun Heat Mercy Beaucoup Cajun Wing Sauce
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New Orleans transplant (and now Virginia resident) Clement Bourg of Cajun Heat roared out with his Liquid Napalm Hot Sauce and Voodoo Ash Seasoning a few years back and has recently added to his lineup a mustard (Fire on the Bayou), a medium level pepper sauce (Fiery Cajun) and the subject of his review: a cajun-inspired chicken wing coater named Mercy Beaucoup
I acquired all three of the new goodies at the most recent Weekend of Fire show in hopes of being able to provide my take on them. Clement has already suggested that we will make possible tweaks to one or more of the new products. That having been said, here's my take on the original version of Mercy Beaucoup wing sauce that debuted at the show.
Ingredients:
Vinegar, Habanero Peppers, Water, Soybean Oil, Cajun spices, Salt
Aroma:
2.5 out of 5. Middle of the road scent. Smells heavily of black pepper, spices and even a bit of onion powder. Not appetizing but not horrible either.
Appearance and Texture:
2 out of 5. Even after shaking up, I found this to be somewhat on the thin side of the viscosity scale. Mercy Beaucoup is a brownish-red color and is densely packed with large flecks of spices. As I mention later, the wateriness of the sauce did not translate well to clingability.
Taste Straight Up:
2.5 out of 5. Very bright and a touch spicier than I anticipated. Like the smell hinted at, this flavor profile was heavy on the black pepper leading the way in a chorus of spices that simply didn't harmonize very well. The expected vinegar twang was decent, and the habanero heat was very welcome, yet the taste at the forefront didn't persuade me that this might be a go-to wing sauce. Perhaps on chicken itself Cajun Heat Mercy Beaucoup would fare better.
Taste on Food:
2 out of 5. I fried up a batch of chicken drumettes and flats in typical style and spun four or five in Mercy Beaucoup sauce. Most of the sauce dripped off the hot, crispy skin, prompting additional tosses until I was able to get sufficient pools resting atop the wings.
When it came to chowing down on these babies, I found that the nagging taste of black pepper was even more prominent. Added to that was a sense of a weird onion powder-like aftertaste and even some greasiness that was slightly unpleasant.
Heat:
3 out of 5. This was perhaps one of the only shining spots. When I'm in the mood to hunker down with a batch of hot wings, they better be incendiary enough to deliver on a nice burn while still being mild enough for me to consume several of them with exploding my mouth. This sauce was able to nestle in that sweet spot of a comfortable heat that most chileheads would like.
Label:
Clement always gets fun cartoon artwork to adorn his label bottles. The chicken on this one fits in line, but upon close inspection it looks like the bandana-ed fowl is spitting wing pieces out with watery saliva - a visual that I was sort of turned off by.
Overall: 
Sorry, Clement. You've had a couple of hits in the past, and I'm sure you'll hit paydirt again (as I will mention in upcoming reviews). But with Mercy Beaucoup Wing Sauce, there lies a big misfire here. Maybe a re-formulation will make this a product worthy enough for the refrigerators of wing fanatics nationwide.
You can visit the Cajun Heat website to order this or any of the other "Eat Like A Freak"-themed products.
Related Articles:
Review - Cajun Heat Liquid Napalm and Voodoo Ash Seasoning
Comments
2010-10-31 08:22:34
We tried this sauce a little while back, and didn't care for the heavy black pepper taste either.
I loved the appearance of the sauce, but was disappointed in the overall taste and consistency.
Good, useful review.
2010-10-31 10:07:55
2010-10-31 11:09:27
2010-10-31 11:28:33
2010-11-02 18:06:24
2010-11-16 11:52:18
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