Angry Goat Pepper Co. – Pumpkin & Habanero Hot Sauce

Vermont is something of an unexpected hot sauce hot spot. Known in most of the country for Bernie Sanders, Phish, and maple syrup, hot sauce isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you consider our nation’s 2nd-least populous state. Lurking beneath those idyllic snow covered hills and quaint villages smelling of woodsmoke and patchouli there’s a roiling cauldron of heat. Vermont is home to some of the biggest names in the craft hot sauce world including Butterfly Bakery of Vermont, Dirty Dick’s, Benito’s, and of course Angry Goat Pepper Company.

Angry Goat Pepper Company actually started out selling goat meat at famer’s markets (and I imagine the process of becoming meat is what made the goats angry) and launched some pepper jams and jellies to help attract more customers to their goat, chicken, and eggs. As it turned out the pepper jellies were the big hit so the company transitioned from livestock to hot products.

AGPC makes a wide variety of creative sauces but I hadn’t made time to try one myself yet. With the autumn chills finally reaching Florida it seemed appropriate to open this one up which is filled with fall flavors. Opening up the bottle the aroma is that of pumpkin pie with a hint of peppers. The sauce is thick and smooth of texture, and does require a nice vigorous shake to pour well. On the first taste the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices are at the forefront, with the habanero sitting back quite a bit, and not providing much in the way of pepper flavor – just a smidge of heat. The sauce contains cayenne peppers as well which add a little bit of background earthy smoky heat. The pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, maple syrup, and molasses are the big hitters in this sauce. The overall flavor is that of spicy pumpkin pie filling. I’d classify this as leaning heavily into dessert-sauce territory.

I opened this one up a few days before Thanksgiving to try it in a variety of settings. The sweetness and overt pumpkin flavor do limit the pairings but it’s excellent on waffles, works surprisingly well with bacon and sausage (though not so much eggs), and is one of the better hot sauces I’ve tried on vanilla ice cream. This was one of the sauces I tried out with Thanksgiving dinner and it pairs well with both turkey and ham. Pumpkin & Habanero wasn’t friendly with tacos or subs, but it does work very well on leftover ham and turkey sandwiches.

If you love pumpkin pie or pumpkin spice lattes and wish you could make them spicy and spread them on your food you’ll absolutely love this. If you’re a bit ambivalent on that idea but you like sweet fall flavors in your hot sauce it’s still worth checking out. If you’re a pumpkin spice hater then this one won’t be for you, it’s much more pumpkin pie with a tiny bit of heat than hot sauce with pumpkin.

This sauce is all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.

Ingredients: Pumpkin puree, Apple Juice from concentrate, Pure Vermont Maple Syrup, Apple Cider Vinegar, Orange Habanero Pepper Mash (peppers, vinegar), Cayenne Pepper Mash (peppers, vinegar), Molasses, Sea Salt, Pumpkin Pie Spices (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, & Allspice).

Heat Level: 1/10. This is quite a mild sauce, no hotter than your basic Louisana style sauces