Blind – Montana Huckleberry Hot Sauce

Blind Hot Sauce is a small craft operation out of Columbia Falls, MT, which appears to be about as remote and beautiful a location as I’ve seen any sauce hail from. Having begun development of their sauces in 2011 and retail sales in 2015, the company is nearing their ten year anniversary, which is impressive for a small sauce maker.

This is the second sauce from the company I’ve tried, the first being their Habanero Smoke hot sauce, which featured hickory-smoked habaneros, and was by far the smokiest tasting hot sauce I’ve ever had in my life. This sauce caught my eye because I don’t recall having ever tasted Huckleberries. Looking them up they’re supposed to taste somewhat like blueberries, which I love, so I thought this would be a fun sauce.

I was actually expecting a very sweet dessert sauce from the berry-laden label and the rich dark purple color of the sauce, but that was a false assumption. Not a sweet dessert sauce, yet still absolutely delicious, this sauce does have a prominent habanero flavor, fruity yet vegetal, and that juicy sweetness from the huckleberries, but the inclusion of garlic and onion swing this into a very savory direction.

Sweet and savory can be a great combination (I have to stop myself from buying chocolate covered pretzels because I know I’ll end up eating the entire bag within a day) and it works in this sauce. The huckleberries do have a somewhat blueberry taste, but also maybe a hint of grape and something that reminds me of blackberry jam or preserves. The habaneros lead the taste profile, with the fruit being a natural pairing, and the aromatics play a supporting role in this very tasty sauce. This is also the best use of Apple Cider Vinegar as a prominent ingredient I’ve tasted. Apple Cider Vinegar can become cloyingly sweet if used in the wrong mix, but in this case it’s perfectly counterbalanced by other flavors so that I wouldn’t have even known it was the vinegar type used before reading the label.

I applaud Blind for making this an all-natural sauce with no artificial preservatives or thickeners.

I’ve tried it thus far with chicken, some steak, and some tacos and it’s worked well in each. I feel that this would be an absolutely astounding pairing with game meats such as Elk or Venison, and that would tie well into the wild Montana origin of the sauce, so I may well have to search out some via mail order because my local grocers don’t carry anything more exciting than Bison.

This is a great tasting and unique sauce and one I can heartily recommend. If you love fruit sauces but don’t want something cloyingly sweet this one will be exactly what you’re looking for.

Ingredients: Apple Cider Vinegar, Habanero Peppers, Huckleberries, Honey, Sea Salt, Granulated Garlic, Onion Powder

Heat Level: 2/10. Though this is a habanero sauce it’s overall quite mild, just enough heat to warm, but still delicious