A Frame Sauce Company – Double Barrel Hot Sauce

Bitter: ⭐✰✰✰✰

Salty: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰

Sweet: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Umami: ⭐⭐✰✰✰

Heat: ⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰

Quick Flavor Notes: Onions, tangy, savory

Texture: Medium and very chunky

Recommended: Yes

Ingredients: Onions, Red Bell Pepper, Louisiana Style Hot Sauce (Aged Cayenne Peppers, Distilled Vinegar, Salt, and Xanthan Gum), Apple Cider Vinegar, Red Wine Vinegar, Lime Juice, Garlic, Datil Peppers, Water, Crushed Red Pepper, Cilantro

A Frame Sauce Company was born out of the founders working abroad on a Nicaraguan coffee farm and discovering some datil-like peppers growing in the fields. Upon returning back to Flagler College (coincidentally also the birthplace of Hank Sauce) they decided to grow their own Datil peppers and start experimenting in the kitchen with them. Eventually their Original Datil Pepper Sauce was born. This sauce, their Double Barrel, was designed as a complimentary sauce without the sugar and with a tangier and zestier flavor profile.

For reasons unbeknownst to me (though I have a suspicion it’s due to cost controls) even though St. Augustine sauce companies go on and on about Datil peppers, they’re very rarely, if ever, the primary ingredient in any of those sauces (though Zab’s did have some Datil flavor). That’s the case here as well and while Datil peppers do make an appearance down the label this sauce is primarily onions, red bell peppers, and Louisiana style hot sauce. A duo (or trio if you include the vinegar already in the Louisiana style sauce) of vinegars plus lime juice bring the tang, and onions, garlic, and cilantro add aromatic depth. This sauce does have a really nice chunky quality to it. The texture is medium overall but with great bits of peppers and vegetables that make it a bit chewy, I love a rustic texture like that. The aroma is sharp with the vinegars and peppers.

Onions, being the first ingredient by volume, are prominent in the sauce. I personally love onions, especially in hot sauce, so I’m all for it. The Louisiana style hot sauce comes through also with the signature salty tangy flavor. I do get a gentle bit of background sweetness in this sauce which I believe is coming from the red bell pepper and perhaps some of the fruity elements of the datil shining through. There’s also a bit of apple cider vinegar in this sauce, which is a sweet vinegar, though it’s thankfully balanced out by the red wine vinegar and the distilled vinegar in the Louisiana style sauce so it doesn’t become cloying. The lime and cilantro do add a fresh element though I didn’t pick up a strong cilantro flavor, just a general sense of background herbs. As can be expected from the ingredients the heat level of this sauce is very low, certainly in the mild camp even for those without much tolerance, but it does pack a lot of flavor.

With some Mexican-food friendly ingredients I tried this out on some Mexican food first, using it to boost up some Bistek a la Mexicana as well as some tamales and it worked well on both. Since this is a high-acid sauce it also works great on sandwiches and melts. I was in a tuna melt mood and this kicked it up beautifully, the savory and tangy flavors being the perfect compliment. This also makes a great breakfast sauce, not too spicy first thing in the morning, but a great way to elevate scrambled eggs and hash browns.

I’ll recommend A Frame Sauce Company Double Barrel Hot Sauce. While it’s not very hot it does have a great savory flavor with just a hint of that fruity datil pepper flavor in the background. I do love how chunky it is, so if you like chunky tangy sauces this is one to check out.