Review - Race City Sauce Works
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In my humble li'l opinion, Race City Sauce Works is one of the brightest new stars in the hot sauce world as of late. Owner Chad Lowcock and company boast a small but growing collection of fine sauces; among them is the delicious Lucky Dog Smokey Habanero Honey Mustard, and I'm still figuratively kicking myself for not picking up more at last year's Weekend of Fire show. I'm pledging to remedying that situation soon! But until then, Chad has generously provided a couple of newer condiments for me to try. The first is the scorching, bhut jolokia-infused 98 Octane Ghost Pepper Reserve and the second is a brand spankin' and mysterious new sauce called The Green Fairy Absinthe Inferno.
I must note that both bottles have had their tops dipped and coated in a wax resin. Collectors love these things and I think they're cool looking, but I always feel a tiny bit guilty for having to remove the wax in order to open the bottles, because they're "meant" to double as collector's items. But I am NOT a collector; I have only about 10 bottles of hot sauce that I'm intent on never opening. So off goes the wax because I wanna taste these sauces!
98 Octane Ghost Pepper Reserve
Ingredients:
Bhut Jolokia, Red Savina, Chocolate Habanero, Fatalli Chiles, cider vinegar, white vinegar, roasted garlic, onion, spices, salt, xanthan gum
Aroma:
3.5 out of 5. Great fresh chile pepper smell. It was rounded out by a bunch of roasted garlic, a touch of vinegar and...an auto garage? Don't think I'm nuts here. You know the distinctive odor of auto repair shops and tire stores, with the smell of gasoline engines, oil and rubber tires? I could have sworn that I detected some of that in here. Perhaps the batch of sauces from which this particular bottle was picked was stored in someone's garage, and some of that odor rubbed off on here. Anyway, it's faint and did not overpower the other ingredients, but was noticeable enough to mention.
Appearance and Texture:
4 out of 5. Looks tantalizing and appetizing for a sauce of its type. 98 Octane Ghost Pepper Reserve has a luminous red color speckled with black spices and a few lighter pieces of garlic and onions. The medium-thin texture is close to the way I like my hot sauces: pourable but certainly not to runny or watery.
Taste Straight Up:
4.5 out of 5. Thankfully none of the garage smell was present in the taste. A lick off a spoonful of 98 Octane revealed more of a prominent performance from the garlic, onions and vinegar and not too much salt. There's still a massive amount of terrific pepper taste with a nice balance of the citric-like overtones of the jolokias and habaneros with the bright harshness of the fatallis. Balance is also an accurate way of describing the overall savoriness of the sauce. There's not much that could be done to tweak and improve the flavor profile of 98 Octane; for an ultra-hot sauce it's close to perfect.
Taste on Food:
4.5 out of 5. Since I received this bottle I've put 98 Octane on a number of weekday, cook 'em up real quick things: a breaded chicken patty sandwich, pizza and boneless chicken breast wings. It was just flat-out amazing.
After eating these items and attempting to access what a number rating would be for 98 Octane, it seemed like it was missing the tiniest "something" to push this over the top to award it a 5 out of 5 rating. Maybe the SLIGHTEST touch of sweetness or a minuscule amount more of garlic would do the trick. But that's just splitting hairs. I'd rather just enjoy this sauce for what it is.
Heat:
4 out of 5. While this is below extract territory with its burn, 98 Octane Ghost Pepper Reserve is only for those who love serious heat (as well as flavor). There is some initial but small hotness upon first tasting the elixir. The burn is very slow to build up and depending upon your eating speed may take two or three bites before it really builds up steam. The sauce is really deceptive in this way. By the time you finish your meal you'll have a 4-alarm blaze in your mouth, and love every second of it.
Label:
3 out of 5. With the look of diamond-plated metal in the background and the pictures of flames, it nestles in comfortably with Race City's car theme. I do have a small gripe. The text, with the rounded font, as well as the shadows and stroking on the letters, are not very high contrast when viewed on top of the background. I like it when you can quickly scan a bottle and instantly tell what it reads. In this case, an extra second of studying is necessary to make out the words on this puppy.
The Green Fairy Absinthe Inferno
Ingredients:
Serrano chiles, green habanero, vinegar, cilantro, water, garlic, Absinthe, spices
Aroma:
3 out of 5. Vinegary yet smooth and not harsh at all, and almost buttery-like. I noticed a heavy amount of cilantro and chile peppers, but from this I smelled the vegetable tones of pepper pods and not the heat so much. Very unordinary.
Appearance and Texture:
3 out of 5. Light olive green and dominated by a galaxy of cilantro and spice flakes. It's a little thicker than the 98 Octane Ghost Pepper Reserve yet never ventures too far into thick n' chunky land.
Taste Straight Up:
3.5 out of 5. You know how people will use the word "interesting" when masking their dislike for something? Well, this is not a case like that. I do happen to like this sauce (just not love it), and it IS very interesting. A taste right off the bat proved this to be bright, hot, tart and steamin'. The absinthe was strong enough to be clearly tasted yet remained in a supporting role, and its licorice-like anise flavor coalesced well with the cilantro. There was beau coup chile pepper heat flooding out of the bottle that would please fans of the flame, but the overall flavor of The Green Fairy Absinthe Inferno may be too "left field" for a large segment of the pepper head population who are traditionalists.
Suggested Uses:
I'm thinking maybe an egg or omelet dish could get a weird but wonderful kick in the pants from this strange sauce. Marinading, baking or grilling meats such as poultry might also be good if you want a unique, licorice-like flavor.
Label:
3 out of 5. See photo above. Is the scary skull creature on the label "the Green Fairy"? Killer artwork and font but there was something that just screamed "incomplete" about this.
In Conclusion
Both 98 Octane Ghost Pepper Reserve and The Green Fairy Absinthe Inferno are worthy of a look, but I give 98 Octane a high recommendation. You can currently purchase 98 Octane online at the Race City Sauce Works website; The Green Fairy will be available soon.
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Spicy Food Reviews - Hot Sauce Reviews, Hot Snacks, Hot Wings, Seasonings, BBQ Sauces, Condiments, and More
Comments
2010-03-02 20:09:25
2010-03-02 20:11:21
2010-03-02 20:27:24
Buddah said that he brought some of the above sauce to the North Market festival and wanted to do a group review by having several people taste it on video, but couldn't find the opportune time to do so.
2010-03-03 09:43:58
2010-03-09 07:40:12
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