Primo’s Peppers – Swampadelic Sauce

Bitter: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Salty: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Sweet: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Umami: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Heat: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐✰

Quick Flavor Notes: Fruity, Floral, Earthy, Smoky, Sweet, Savory

Texture: Medium-thin and very smooth

Recommended: Yes

Ingredients: 7 Pot Primo Pepper Mash (7 pot primo peppers and vinegar), Water, Apple Cider Vinegar, Garlic Powder, Sugar, Aji Panca Chile Powder, Cajun Seasoning (salt, red pepper, dextrose, spices and paprika, dehydrated garlic, mustard bran, dehydrated onion, natural flavors and artificial color), Salt, 7 Pot Primo Chile Powder, Xanthan Gum

Troy Primeaux should be familiar to anyone who’s see the Hulu series Superhot, or who was a fan of his southern psychedelic rock band Santeria. Famous for developing the 7 Pot Primo pepper, as well as having a professional rivalry with Smokin’ Ed Currie, Troy Primeaux started selling hot sauce under Primo’s Peppers in 2012 with Swampadelic being his first sauce release. Since Troy, his company, and his pepper farm are all based deep in Cajun country Louisiana it seemed only fitting his first release would be Cajun inspired.

Primo’s Peppers Swampadelic features first and foremost Troy’s claim to fame, the 7 Pot Primo Pepper. The 7 Pot Primo is a hybrid between the Naga Morich, which is an extremely hot variation of the ghost pepper native to Bangladesh and Northeastern India, and the 7 Pot Pepper, which is a variation on the Trinidad Scorpion pepper known to be a bit more fruity, and so named because supposedly one pepper is enough for 7 pots of food. This sauce also makes use of the aji panca pepper, a Peruvian variety with mild heat and a sweet berry-like flavor. The rest of the sauce follows a Cajun style template – typically a variation of a Louisiana style sauce but with added spices such as garlic, onion powder, mustard seed, black pepper, or more. A bit of sugar to help offset the bitter notes that super hot peppers tend to have and some extra 7 Pot Primo powder to up the heat intensity round out the sauce. The texture is medium-thin and very smooth. The aroma belies the intensity within – you can smell some peppers but there’s also a sweetness and savoriness that wafts up along with the onion and garlic aromas.

While I’ve tasted some sauces and products that use the 7 Pot Primo pepper before, including the Crack Balls by Blazing Foods, the Primo Garlic Crunch by Heat Hot Sauce, and Smokin’ Ed’s own Unique Garlique which uses 7 Pot Primo peppers in the blend, this is the first sauce I’ve tried from the man Troy Primeaux himself and the first that uses predominantly 7 Pot Primo peppers. This sauce is a trickster. On the first taste it’s absolutely delicious – a little sweet, fruity, and floral (as you’d expect from a pepper based on a Scorpion pepper variant) but also earthy and savory, you taste the garlic and onion, and the ghost pepper genes in the Primo make themselves known with that earthy slightly smoky flavor. You take a taste and think “this is hot, but this isn’t so bad” and then the heat creeps in. I’ve been around the block, I’ve reviewed well over 150 sauces by now, I’ve had sauces made from Carolina Reapers, ghost peppers, scorpion peppers, Pepper X, and more, and no sauce has ever hit me the way that Swampadelic has.

The heat seems so manageable at first and the sauce is so delicious you add more, and then by the time those first bites start to hit you’re already in too deep. The burn starts at the roof of your mouth and the back of your throat. Your nose starts running and eyes watering. It spreads to your lips and tongue, your lips go numb and the endorphin rush starts. Chills creep over your body and some light stomach cramps begin all while there’s still that head rush. This sauce is no joke. Troy Primeaux has released a monster unto the world. If you’re not a chile head and have already built up some tolerance you’ll be in for a bad time. Even if you do have some tolerance, this will hurt. The only reason I’m not rating this sauce 10/10 in terms of heat is because their exists Primo Army (which I have a bottle of waiting for later) that’s even hotter.

The fruity floral smoky earthy sweet and savory thing that this sauce has going on goes well with a surprisingly wide variety of foods. A new chain Louisiana themed sports bar opened near me called Walk-Ons. Since there’s a dearth of Cajun and Creole food around here I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately the food is mediocre at best (chains are going to chain) but Primo’s Peppers Swampadelic was more than up to the task of elevating the subpar crawfish etoufee and uninspired boudin balls to the next level. Swampadelic is also great on pizza and fried chicken, the Cajun flavors in the sauce as well as the fruity pepper notes being great for greasier foods. This was even great in pork and bean soup, though again it’s easy to add too much so that while delicious, the pain creeping over your body can be too much.

Needless to say Primo’s Peppers Swampadelic Sauce gets my high recommnedation. If you’re looking for a delicious super hot sauce to add to your rotation this one is a must-have in my opinion. The only caveat I will give is that you’re at the level where grocery store habanero or ghost pepper sauces are still very hot to you you’ll be in for a bad time, on the other hand, this will up that tolerance quickly.