Nearly two weeks ago while visiting with UpWithTheMooses, I was offered the opportunity to sample a hot sauce he received from a friend. This friend is a member of a pepper of the month club and as part of that received a bottle of ghost pepper sauce. While a chili-head, they were quite afraid of the damage a ghost pepper can do to your mouth and decided to pass it along to someone with a bit more experience. Thankfully their loss was our gain.
Anyway, UWTM handed me a bottle of this sauce, as well as some other sauces he picked up in Alabama, and urged me to try it. I uncorked the bottle, (yes, I said uncorked) and poured a bit on my finger. The sauce had the most perfect mix of heat and smoked pepper flavor I have ever tasted from a bottle. While Bella Pepper’s website touts the high standards they hold themselves to, I rarely believe any marketing materials provided. However, in this case the sauce was spot on.
After trying a little more I decided right then and there I was going to buy some as soon as I could and placed my online order the next morning ($22 for two bottles with free S&H). After a little confusion with the ordering system on their website and some miscommunications due to the use of Google Checkout (communications from the company to me were sent through Google Checkout rather than via phone or e-mails direct to me) I had two bottles en route to my home.
Yesterday they arrived and were packaged well along with a surprise bottle of Chilosa hot sauce and a number of pens and some business cards. I don’t know if the extra goodies were because of the Google Checkout issues which I made mention of when I responded or what but they were certainly welcome.
Almost immediately I took one of the two bottles in my hand and shook it violently. While the bottle looks like it should hold tequila, it holds something a whole heck of a lot stronger and with a much bigger after effect. Pieces of pepper are clearly evident through the glass jar and I was quite excited to try it again. While the heat of just one or two drops at UWTM’s house wasn’t overpowering, I assumed that more sauce could possibly provide the desired effect.
After pouring the equivalent of two tablespoons of the sauce into a bowl I took an even closer look and could clearly see pepper seeds, pieces of pepper, and the reddish brown color of the sauce. While vinegar is usually most prevalent when you take a whiff of hot sauces, in this case all you got were pepper and smoke. The ingredients include chipotle peppers, crushed red peppers, and naga jolokia peppers and while it includes vinegar, it’s of the red wine type which may explain why it’s not as overpowering as when they use distilled vinegar.
The #1 concern of the pepper sauce creator is the flavor of the sauce and he definitely nailed that. The flavor comes out first and is bold, smoky and definitely takes precedence over anything else (vinegar, salt, or heat). So while I was disappointed in the heat at first, I kept at the sauce and finished off the two tablespoons over the course of five minutes. It was at this point that the heat hit me like you cannot believe. There was no gradual pickup, no warning signs, nothing. Just from nice barbeque flavor to BURN.
I admit…I was lulled into a false sense of security that this was just like any other hot sauce claiming to be “extreme” but there it was. Without the warning my mouth had no time to prepare and I paid the price with a 32oz jar of water and 8oz of milk. My hair was soaked with sweat immediately. I was a little dizzy and my mouth was still on fire. B E A U T I F U L.
Overall this is by far the best hot sauce I have ever tasted in my life. While not quite up to par with Girvan’s Ghost Wing sauce simply because it does not have the same viscosity, the flavor is so utterly enjoyable that I have to agree that it would definitely work with just about anything including sandwiches, fish, and especially bloody marys.
Have you ever tried Bella Pepper’s Bella Diavolo or any of their other products? If so what did you think of the flavor and the heat? What about other hot sauces you’ve had recently? What is your favorite thing to put hot sauce on? Whatever you have to say about this very excellent hot sauce go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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May 6th, 2011 at 8:32 am
While I enjoy a ‘spicy hot’ meal occasionally I don’t quite get the ‘extreme’ version. My taste buds go into shock and the dish’s flavors are thus muted – a numbing effect. Not for me, I enjoy the complexity of flavors too much.
May 6th, 2011 at 8:32 am
i’ll take your word for it:)
bb
May 6th, 2011 at 8:44 am
Sounds pretty good. Thanks for the tip, I think I am going to order some.
Interesting order options. Pay 20 bucks for one bottle, including shipping, or 22 bucks for 2. Gee, I wonder what direction they are trying to steer you to order? It is also kind of lame that they don’t seem to have the option to order one bottle of each of the two they offer.
May 6th, 2011 at 8:57 am
lefty, the two bottle option may allow you to do that. Call them and see and let them know Bill sent you. Maybe they’ll be extra generous ;-)
May 6th, 2011 at 8:58 am
C&V, then you’d like this sauce. You get to enjoy the flavors before the burn comes in.
May 6th, 2011 at 9:03 am
Place and order and shoot me an e-mail and I will send whatever combination you want. We are a small company and fully understand the limitations of Google checkout and are working toward a better system. We are all about our customers. I promise to do all that I can earn your trust and business.
May 6th, 2011 at 9:08 am
…and how long does the numbness (burn) last? Plus, “I paid the price with a 32oz jar of water and 8oz of milk” – this is enjoyable how? Plus, my hair doesn’t look good wet with sweat.
May 6th, 2011 at 9:10 am
I will of course include extra goodies on every order.
May 6th, 2011 at 9:13 am
Wow.
May 6th, 2011 at 9:21 am
C&V,
1. 10 minutes maybe.
2. I needed to hurry out the door to Sam’s to buy some more shelving for the garage and I wanted to be done with the enjoyment of the burn thus the water and milk. Otherwise I would have just dealt with the burn.
Just like all things, sometimes you want a lingering flavor and in, this case, the resultant endorphin rush that comes along with heat levels this high.
May 6th, 2011 at 9:23 am
Sounds yummy! Like Bill, I’m a hot sauce ‘snob’. It’s hard to find balance of heat and FLAVOUR.
May 6th, 2011 at 9:26 am
Order placed for one bottle of each. For the record, I was originally going to *eventually* order this. When I saw the two notes from Joe above, I immediately went down to get my credit card from my car.
Providing good service is really not that difficult, but it is hard not to want a company to succeed when they know what they are doing in that respect.
Kudos.
May 6th, 2011 at 10:56 am
Happy for your new-found PAIN! :)
May 6th, 2011 at 10:58 am
Hmm, left my comment a few minutes ago, but it didn’t appear. So forgive me if this is a duplicate.
I agree with Bill. This is by far the best sauce I have tasted out of a bottle. I have used it on smoked ribs (more than once, of course), grilled chicken, eggs, chips. It tastes great on everything. I salute the folks at Bella for concentrating on heat and flavor equally — one without the other just leads to disappointment. I am also impressed with their customer service, as illustrated by Bill and Lefty above. Best of luck, Joe Muscarella. Hope you’re making hot sauce for years to come.
May 6th, 2011 at 11:00 am
UWTM it was in the spam filter. No idea why.
May 6th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
I’d rather have intact taste buds.
May 6th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
People who eat and tolerate an array of spicy foods actually have a more enhanced palate than those who do not.
May 6th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
Says lefty? :-)
May 6th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Well, I reiterated it of course, but it is true. Exposing your palate to a high amount of spice enhances the more subtle areas of your flavor detection.
I don’t agree with Bill on a lot of things, but I rarely disagree with his food opinions. He eats food spicier than about anyone I have ever met. That is one example. Ms. Lefty is probably one of the more discriminatory foodies I know, and she also can handle copious amounts of skoville units.
Just a few examples of many I could cite.
May 6th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
‘I immediately went down to get my credit card from my car.”
Well, I guess its better than saying lefty went to the car to get an “uzi-like” weapon. ;-)
May 13th, 2011 at 9:35 am
IMPORTANT: ATTENTION ALL PEOPLE WHO READ THIS!!
Buy this sauce. I received my package yesterday and tried both the “hot” and the “Extreme Hot”.
I don’t think I have ever tried a sauce this good from a bottle (or anywhere maybe). Like mentioned before, the flavor hits first and the flavor is perfect, then, slowly the heat comes. It does not come hard, or make you fall down in pain, but gradually works its way through your senses resulting in an orgasmic endorphin rush that even the most beautiful woman (or man, whatever you fancy) in the world would struggle to recreate upon the body.
Not only does the sauce live up to the extreme expectations of the man you know as lefty, but the service by the owner guy is great. Even if his product was crap, he earned the initial business by taking care of me his customer.
I am going to do everything I can to ensure he stays in business so that I can keep buying his hot sauce.
I am well aware of my penchant for hyperbole here on LL. In this instance, I have not exaggerated a thing. Give this stuff a try. If you don’t like it, I will reimburse you personally. It’s the lefty guarantee!
Also, the “hot” is just as good, but less hot.
May 13th, 2011 at 11:13 am
Ok. First, I feel slightly dirty after reading the first half of Leftys post.
Second, I will have to order some of this sauce.
May 13th, 2011 at 11:29 am
Chad, you must.
I am having dinner at The Oceanairre tonight. I think I might bring in some of this to put on the Hash Browns a la Oceanairre or even on oysters!
Life is good.
May 13th, 2011 at 11:34 am
I bet it would fucking kick ass on oysters.
May 13th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
On a 100% unrelated note, I am having dinner at Il Nonni tonight. Can anyone who has been make any recommendations?
May 13th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Chad,
I am pretty sure you know I go there a lot. I feel like you knowingly just threw me a fat fastball. Here goes.
If this is your first time, I would suggest you try the calamari. It is lightly battered and fried, salted perfectly and tender as can be, and great when you squeeze a lemon over them. No red sauce provided or needed here. It is about the only thing that is on the menu year round it is so popular.
I had dinner there last Thursday (so I assume the menu has not changed since) and the caprese’ inspired ravioli was very good, though hardly the most inspired thing on the menu. The misticansa (sp) salad with grapefruit really did the trick as well. My wife had a spaghetti style pasta with blue crab and spicy red chili peppers (I didn’t try but I think it was fresh jalapeno). I just got off the phone with her and her exact quote was, “Oh my god was that good”. This is high praise indeed from her indeed.
If you are looking for a bit of variety, they always have a prix fix option in which you can choose 3 or 4 items for about 35 dollars if I remember correctly. This is a good deal because it includes both a pasta option and a main course meat option (steak, lamb, fish, etc.) along with either an appy and/or soup or salad (I can’t remember if you get both. It is a good deal, and hopefully you got in on the groupon a few weeks ago to make it better.
If you get Jay for a waiter, it is a special treat. He is the best and most consistent waiter I have ever been served by, but he can seem a bit intimidating because he knows so much about the food. You can also be comfortable that the bar staff is awesome pairing the wine with your specific food. It is a bit difficult for me even now navigating their Italian wine list without some help.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we always do.
lefty
May 13th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Mine came yesterday. Can’t wait to use it on my bbq pork tonight!
May 13th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Thanks lefty, exactly the type of info I was looking for.
May 13th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
“People who eat and tolerate an array of spicy foods actually have a more enhanced palate than those who do not.”
I did a little internet research here. Really spicy food does actually temporarily numb the ability of your tastebuds to do their job.
May 13th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Yeah, I made that up.
May 13th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Congrats to lefty on comment #500. If he keeps up his current pace he will post comment #1000 on January 21, 2012.
May 13th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
I hope the McDonalds are still open then!
May 16th, 2011 at 9:19 am
Hey Chad,
How was dinner at I Nonni? I hope I steered you right.
Also, I have been eating this sauce on about everything over the weekend. Pizza, eggs and leftover hash browns from Oceanaire. I couldn’t figure out a good way to carry it into the place to try on oysters, so that will have to happen another time.
lefty
May 16th, 2011 at 9:23 am
I mixed it in with some tomato sauce I was sauteing tempeh in and I have to admit that it was quite possibly the best spicy pasta sauce I’ve ever had. This shit is even more versatile than Sriracha and Frank’s.
May 16th, 2011 at 9:38 am
I agree. I have about half of a bottle left after less than a week of use. The whole family has been putting on everything basically. I am going to place a bulk order soon. This guy needs to get a distributor up this way. Paying for shipping is going to get old.
May 16th, 2011 at 10:39 am
Chad, lefty, I moved your comments about I Nonni to the proper thread: http://www.lazylightning.org/osteria-i-nonni-lilydale-mn#comment-100152
Normally I wouldn’t have done that but since it was a review and lefty’s comment referenced my poor service there I figured it was better off living there instead.
May 17th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Bill:
How long did it take for your pepper sauce shipment to arrive? My
order is in over a week and Joe doesn’t answer the phone.
May 17th, 2011 at 8:13 pm
I have been in touch w/both Ron and Bella Pepper privately.
May 17th, 2011 at 8:29 pm
I have sent a note to Ron and explained the delay. The reality is that there is no good excuse. My delay in getting Ron’s order out will never happen again. I promise to make it up to Ron and hope that he gives me a second chance.
May 19th, 2011 at 7:01 am
[...] week I reviewed the very excellent ghost pepper based Bella Diavolo sauce and ranted and raved about its flavor, powerful heat, and later its versatility. My sole complaint [...]
May 23rd, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Skipped using the smoker and made homemade carnitas yesterday
This stuff was the perfect sauce to put on my food, damn if they were not the best carnitas I have ever eaten.
May 31st, 2011 at 10:06 am
@Joe Muscarella,
If I could change one thing about your sauce, it would be the packaging. The cork looks great, but if there is even an iota of sauce hovering around the edge of the bottle when I pop the cork back in, it is pretty much guaranteed to end up on my shirt. I have taught myself to basically cup my hand over the cork so that the violently propelled sauce ends up on my hand vs. my clothes for now, but I can’t believe I am the only person to encounter this concern.
Thought you would like to know.
lefty
May 31st, 2011 at 10:12 am
Yeah, I use it as an excuse to lick the sauce from my fingers/hands after I do exactly the same thing.
June 6th, 2011 at 7:01 am
[...] sauce itself is very similar to the Bella Pepper Sauce as you get a nice mouthful of flavor first. The unmistakable taste of garlic hits you in a wave [...]
September 21st, 2011 at 11:17 am
bought bottle of chilosa green hot–liked it –cannot find place to purchase more—help anyone
September 21st, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Where did you buy the Chilosa Green Hot?
September 21st, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Joe,
Is that your product as well?
September 21st, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Yes
December 1st, 2011 at 5:44 pm
Hi Joe,
This is Thomas from your production facility. Was just checking to see how you were doing and what plans you have for your company. I am hoping that your sauces are selling well. From all the replies on here i am guessing its going well.
i had no doubt, since the sauce is so good.
May 8th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/03/151962981/taste-testing-the-hot-sauce-spectrum?ft=1&f=1053