Butterfly Bakery of Vermont – Smoked Eggplant Paprika Hot Sauce
Bitter: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Sweet: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Heat: ⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Tangy, rich, smoky, bitter
Texture: Medium consistency with some nice pepper bits
Recommended: Yes
Ingredients: White vinegar, Quill Hill Farm Boldog Hungarian peppers, Honey Field Farm maple wood smoked Carmen peppers, Full Moon Farm onions, maple wood smoked eggplant, Pete’s Greens garlic scapes, salt, lemon juice, smoked paprika.
Miracle of miracles I actually got around to reviewing a Butterfly Bakery of Vermont micro-batch hot sauce while it’s still actually available for sale. Despite being one of my favorite hot sauce makers it’s been a while since I’ve opened up a new bottle from Butterfly Bakery of Vermont, so I thought it was about time that I did. This one looked particularly interesting to me as I’ve never seen eggplant used in a hot sauce before.
In addition to the aforementioned eggplant this sauce also has other interesting things going on, including the most prominent pepper by volume, the Boldog Hungarian Pepper. Originating from Boldog, Hungary this is an extremely mild pepper that’s often dried and ground for paprika. Carmen peppers, an Italian variety that’s low in heat but very fruity, are also present and in this sauce have been smoked. The eggplant is also smoked as is some paprika in the sauce. Garlic scapes, lemon juice, and onions round out the ingredients. With several smoked ingredients in this sauce it’s no wonder that there is some smoke that comes through in the aroma, as well as some of the tang from the vinegar. Texturally this sauce has some nice pepper bits and pieces inside with a medium consistency.
Butterfly Bakery of Vermont isn’t new to smoked hot sauces. Their Maple Wood Smoked Onion is one of their best sellers and their Rum Barrel Fermented Smoked Jalapeno is one of my favorite hot sauces of all time. One thing I’ve appreciated about their smoked sauces, and something that still holds true here, is that they’re very good at balancing the smoky flavors so that they don’t overwhelm the sauce. Smoked Eggplant Paprika Hot Sauce is perhaps the smokiest sauce that I’ve tried from them but it still keeps the smoke in check so that the sauce is balanced. I don’t taste eggplant specifically in the sauce other than perhaps a slightly bitter flavor that provides some nice contrast. There is some fruity pepper sweetness in the sauce, I’m assuming from the carmen peppers, and a rich dried fruit type of pepper flavor that I’m guessing is from the Boldog Hungarian peppers, and that reminds me some of ancho and guajillo peppers. This is a rich sauce but it’s also vinegar-forward which brings enough acidity and tang to the party to keep it from tasting too dark. Smoky, rich, tangy, slightly bitter, and with the foundation of the alliums I found it to be delicious.
The bottle suggests using this on pulled pork and burgers, and as it happened the night I opened this I’d picked up a pulled pork sandwich from Wawa on the way home. I can confirm this is great on pulled pork, and far better than any sickeningly sweet barbecue sauce could ever be. I also thought this sauce was great on pizza and in some grocery-store pasta carbonara (which also strangely came with peas, but I thought they were a nice addition if non-traditional). Smoked Eggplant Paprika Hot Sauce was also killer in chicken corn chowder as well as in black beans. I meant to try some wings with this but I discovered I’d finished all but a tiny bit before I had the chance.
Butterfly Bakery of Vermont Smoked Eggplant Paprika Hot Sauce gets my full recommendation. This is one of the tastiest micro-batch release hot sauces that I’ve tried from the company, and even if I can’t quite taste a lot of eggplant in it, the sauce overall is wonderful. This sauce is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.