Steve’s Snaketuary Pygmy Rattlesnake Venom / Irish Spike’s Black Cherry Abyss

Bitter: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Salty: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Sour: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Sweet: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰

Umami: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Heat: ⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰

Quick Flavor Notes: Cherries, Thyme, Habanero, Black Pepper

Texture: Medium and semi-smooth

Recommended: Yes

Ingredients: Cherries (Cherries, Water, Cherry Juice Concentrate), Red Wine Vinegar, Sugar, Habanero, Reduced Red Wine, Lemon, Unsweetened Chocolate, Salt, Minced Garlic, Black Pepper, Arrowroot, Thyme, Allspice, Xanthan Gum

Pygmy Rattlesnake Venom is both the second sauce I’ve tried from Steve’s Snaketuary as well as from Irish Spike’s, who make all of the sauces for Steve’s Snaketuary. As I mentioned when I reviewed Steve’s Snaketuary Cottonmouth Venom / Irish Spike’s Drunken Green, Steve’s Snaketuary out of Shreveport Louisiana is dedicated to helping combat the fear of snakes through education about the biology and role in the environment as well helping to rehome pet snakes to keep them from being destroyed or released where they could become invasive species. Irish Spike’s Hot seems to be cobranded with Vandal Pepper Sauces and is based out of Moscow, Idaho, home of the University of Idaho Vandals.

Irish Spike seems have an affinity for kitchen-sink style sauces that combine many unexpected ingredients. When it came to their Drunken Green (Steve’s Snaketuary Cottonmouth Venom) I found the result more interesting on an intellectual level than successful as a hot sauce (the decision to use unfinished beer wort instead of actual beer in the sauce is IMO its biggest failure). Pygmy Rattlesnake Venom / Cherry Abyss does have a seemingly more cohesive ingredients list and is listed by Irish Spike’s as a dessert sauce. With cherries being the first ingredient and the sauce pairing them with classic combinations like red wine and chocolate the ingredients list mostly supports the dessert sauce vibe. Savory spices including black pepper and thyme can still be classic pairings with fruit and work in sweet and savory applications but the addition of garlic is surprising for a sauce claiming to be meant for dessert. I love garlic, but it’s not something I’ve ever considered using in sweets. This sauce has a medium texture that’s mostly smooth but there are some small bits inside. Cherries do come forward in the nose of the sauce as does the aroma of the habanero peppers.

Cherries are at the forward tip of the flavor profile followed quickly be the habaneros which turn out to be a good pairing – the darker fruity taste of the cherries compliments the bright fruity taste of the habaneros. The thyme and black pepper quickly overwhelm the other flavors however, making it difficult to taste any notes of the wine much less the chocolate in this sauce. Thyme has a strong herbal woody peppery flavor which works with the habaneros, and is in fact a common pairing such as in jerk chicken, but the thyme and black pepper combined with the garlic pull this pretty far from a dessert sauce flavor profile. In fact, while Pygmy Rattlesnake Venom / Cherry Abyss does have some sweetness it strikes me as more of savory sauce than a sweet one. There’s some of the garlic flavor that lingers after the thyme fades and maybe a hint of the wine in the mix, but the chocolate is mostly lost other than perhaps just a bit of background bitterness.

Since Irish Spike’s calls this a dessert sauce I tried it on some ice cream first. While it wasn’t a deplorable pairing, it wasn’t something I particularly enjoyed either. The garlic did rear its head too much there, and thyme isn’t a flavor I’d usually pair with ice cream. Moving to savory applications this is a great sauce for pork chops, and with the sort of jerk spices thing going on in the sauce I used it to baste and serve with some grilled chicken and that turned out beautifully as well. It’s a solid breakfast sauce also – that hint of sweetness is especially great with sausage and waffles (I’ve never been a syrup fan).

The second time may have well been the charm because I found Steve’s Snaketuary Pygmy Rattlesnake Venom / Irish Spike’s Cherry Abyss to be a far more enjoyable sauce than my first outing from the companies. While I don’t feel that this works as a dessert sauce it’s still delicious so I will happily give this my recommendation.