Poirier’s – Louisiana Style Hot Sauce by Heartbeat Hot Sauce Co.

I’ve never followed the UFC or other fighting sports (football is quite violent enough for me and I actually understand the rules vs UFC and boxing) but from what I understand Dustin Poirier is a mixed martial arts UFC competitor and is generally known as a pretty nice guy as far as the sport goes. Hailing from Lafayette, LA where he’s leveraged his celebrity to do quite a bit of charity work, he’s also a native Cajun and thus would have an affinity for a good hot sauce.

Poirier’s Louisiana Style Hot Sauce is one of a trio of sauces Dustin has launched in collaboration with Heartbeat Hot Sauce Co. out of Ontario, Canada. Louisiana style hot sauces are one of the most common varieties out there, with stalwart examples being Crystal, Louisiana, Frank’s Red Hot, Texas Pete, and the grand daddy of them all Tabasco. This style is responsible for the vast majority of hot sauce sales in the United States and is typically based on (usually aged) cayenne peppers, vinegar, and salt.

Poirier’s Louisiana Style doesn’t break that mold but it does diverge from the style in some key ways. The sauce has the typical Louisiana style thin consistency and vinegar-forward nature but with the addition of habanero peppers, celery, (a quite underutilized vegetable in hot sauces in my opinion) and a bit of canola oil it manages a flavor that’s both familiar and noticeably different from other entries in that segment.

The red habaneros add an extra punch of heat but also play a prominent role in the flavor profile. The first flavors that hit your tongue are a mix of that tangy vinegar, the slightly funky aged cayenne peppers, and the fruity and vegetal habaneros. The celery and garlic play together to add a savory depth to the sauce and prolong the taste past the usual quick finish of a Louisiana sauce. Canola oil in this sauce doesn’t make it oily, but rather acts as a natural emulsifier and also helps carry some of the essential pepper flavors that are only fat soluble. Compared to other Louisiana sauces I’ve tried this does taste noticeably fresher with more prominent peppers while also being more complex with a flavor that develops the more of it you enjoy.

I believe a large part of the popularity of Louisiana style sauces is there incredible flexibility. They can go great with eggs and bacon, in mixed drinks like bloody marys or prairie oysters, in soups and chowders, in creamy pastas, in creole and cajun food, on pizza, of course on wings, and anywhere else you’d like to put them. This holds just as true for Poirier’s Louisiana Style as it does for the the common supermarket varieties of the style, though with the prominent habanero flavor and the added savory notes of celery and garlic Poirier’s adds an additional level of flavor beyond just more acid and heat. I did especially love this sauce on hash browns, on pizza, and in a bowl of clam chowder.

I can strongly recommend Poirier’s Louisiana Style hot sauce. It’s a great example of taking a style everyone is familiar with and taking it up to the next level without straying too far from the original template. This sauce is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.

Ingredients: Distilled White Vinegar, Aged Cayenne Peppers, Celery, Red Habaneros, Sea Salt, Garlic, Canola Oil

Heat Level: 3/10. A definite step up in heat from the basic Louisiana style sauces, but till very manageable in the low-medium heat range.