Hot Monkey Nuts – Black Widow’s Bite
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I get a good childish chuckle out of Hot Monkey Nuts’ slogan every time I see it. Having previously reviewed their double-entendre laden Fromage a Trois peanuts and feeling as if they could have used quite a bit more flavor and heat I had high hopes for this product – their Black Widow’s Bite and the spiciest peanut they produce.
Promising 8 kinds of peppers (I suppose that’s how we got to the spider reference) including cayenne, ancho, chipotle, jalapeno, habanero, ghost pepper, scorpion pepper, and Carolina reaper as well as red wine vinegar and black lava salt this sounds like it has the potential to be both incredibly spicy as well as flavorful. The ingredients list is very clean and in fact the first three peppers by volume are jalapeno, Trinidad scorpion, and Carolina reaper, so they’re not just shuffling the super-hots down to the bottom of the list.
On first taste the red wine vinegar comes through nicely to give these a bit of a salt and vinegar effect, though nowhere near as strong as an outright salt and vinegar product, followed up closely by the wave of peppers. The downside to using so many different types of peppers is that you don’t pick up the flavor of any particular one. There’s some smokiness from the chipotle and ghosts, some fresh vegetal notes from the jalapeno and habanero, some definite heat from the scorpions and reapers, but if I didn’t have the list on the front of the bag about which peppers were included I don’t think I’d have been able to identify any of them just from eating the nuts. That’s not necessarily a bad thing however, as the blend of peppers do meld into a flavorful whole even if each is not distinct. Importantly you can still taste the flavor of the peanuts even through all of the other ingredients.
The bag shows 5/5 “insane” heat and while these do have much more kick than their Fromage a Trois I’d rank them as a solid medium to medium-plus on the heat scale. If you have a lower spice tolerance you may have some challenges with these, but any chile head won’t face a challenge here (though I did want to have a drink nearby while snacking on these). The burn on these is more of a lingering building one than an outright assault on the senses. No one will confuse these for a heat challenge product, but if you sit and keep munching for a while some real burn can set it.
I found these to be much more flavorful and have a good amount of heat compared to the previous product I’d tried from Hot Monkey Nuts, so I’m happy to recommend their Black Widow’s Bite. These nuts are also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or other ingredients.
Ingredients: Roasted Peanuts (Peanuts, Peanut Oil, Salt), Red Wine Vinegar Powder, Black Lava Salt, Jalapeno Pepper, Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Pepper, Carolina Reaper Pepper, Chipotle Pepper, Habanero Pepper, Ghost Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Black Pepper, Ancho Pepper
Heat Level: 4/10. This is a solid medium heat for a chile head with a burn that builds the more you eat
