La Anita – Habanero Pacifico
Bitter: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Sour: ⭐⭐✰✰
Sweet: ✰✰✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Heat: ⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Habanero, vegetal, tangy
Texture: Medium to Medium-Thin with a slightly unnatural conistency
Recommended: Yes, Conditional
Ingredients: Water, Habanero Chiles, Iodized Salt, Acetic Acid, Xanthan Gum, Modified Corn Starch, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate as preservatives, Yellow FD&C #6.
La Anita seems to one of the larger hot sauce brands in Mexico but has very limited distribution inside of the USA. I picked this sauce up along with many others on a trip to Mexico. Having tried a couple of La Anita sauces previously with mixed results I was never the less interested in trying this one because of the “Pacifico” label. It apparently has nothing to do with Pacifico beer (a shame, as that could have been a tasty combo) but is rather a Mexican Pacific style sauce.
I’m not sure what exactly defines this sauce as Pacific compared to other La Anita sauces but the ingredients are very similar their Habanero Xtra Picante but with fewer food colorings and fewer preservatives as well as no extra added spices. The sauce is fairly straightforward with just habaneros, vinegar, salt, water, some thickeners, and some preservatives. You can tell it uses some thickening agents due to the sauce having a bit of that unnatural surface tension that comes from using gums and the texture overall is medium to medium-thin. There are some little pepper bits inside though they are too small to provide any texture. Habaneros do come through in the aroma with a tinge of something acidic that doesn’t come across exactly as vinegar.
The taste of La Anita Habanero Pacifico is straightforward as well with habaneros being the dominant flavor. This sauce thankfully tastes much more natural than the brand’s Habanero Xtra Picante which I found had an unpleasant chemical taste. From the label, flavor, and the color I’m assuming that this uses the common orange habaneros which have less fruitiness and sweetness than the red variety and lean more into the vegetal side of the habanero flavor spectrum, though not so much as the green variety. There’s a bit of the habanero fruit flavor but not nearly so much as you get with more craft sauces. This is an inexpensive table sauce in Mexico so likely uses whatever mass produced factory farmed habaneros they can get for the lowest price. That being said it’s still tasty and has a good balance between pepper flavor, heat, acidity, and salt.
With a simple flavor profile this sauces is very versatile as most straightforward habanero sauces are. Great with Mexican food of course and I enjoyed this with a breakfast burrito as well as with some cheap tacos from a truck. It’s just as flexible outside of the Mexican realm however and goes very well with leftover pizza, a tuna melt, a cheeseburger, and any thing else I throw it on.
While I wouldn’t go out of my way to seek this sauce out if you can find it for a low price (or if you’re in Mexico where I believe I paid the equivalent of about $1 USD for this) it’s worth picking up, so I’ll go ahead and give it my recommendation. It is far better than their Habanero Xtra Picante though not as tasty as their Kut-Ik Salsa con Chile Habanero Tatemado.
