Elijah’s – Elijah’s Xtreme Ghost Pepper Sauce
Elijah’s hot sauces, especially their Xtreme line, have been popular in online hot sauce forums for their combination of solid heat and flavor. The has been a father-son duo since its inception, with this particular sauce being the first one launched by the company. I had been wanting to try some of their lineup for a while but with a large sauce backlog I hadn’t had the opportunity yet. I received this bottle as part of the Reddit r/Spicy Secret Santa program which gave me a great excuse to skip it to the front of the line and give it a try.
Elijah’s Xtreme Ghost Pepper Sauce has a great pepper aroma when you open the bottle. The sauce is blended to be extremely smooth and pours a smooth medium consistency. While I personally prefer sauces with a more rustic consistency, it works in this sauce and it does do a great job of coating whatever you put it on. The sauce is a blend of Naga Jolokia (ghost peppers) and habaneros, with the company’s website specifying the habaneros are of the ultra-spicy Red Savina variety (the first special pepper cultivar to earn the World’s Hottest title). In addition the sauce contains various sugars, aromatics such as onions and garlic, and a variety of ingredients commonly seen in Caribbean style sauces such as carrots, tomatoes, and passion fruit.
The flavor of this sauce is very pepper forward. You’re hit immediately with a one-two punch of the smoky earthy ghost peppers and the fruity and bright Red Savina habaneros. The habaneros bring an initial rush of heat and just as that fades the slow-burning lingering heat of the ghost peppers kicks in. The flavor profile goes from bright and fruity to smoky and earthy mixed with sweetness from the sugars and carrots. As smooth as the sauce is I wasn’t able to detect the vegetables or passion fruit individually, but they do blend together to create a flavor base that melds the sweet and savory and adds a foundation for the flavor of the peppers to sit on top of. Xtreme Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce has a heat that builds over time as you eat more of it, the long trail of heat from the ghost peppers building up with each bite. Even though this sauce contains quite a bit of sugar there’s enough heat to keep that in check and keep the sauce from tasting overly sweet or cloying.
With a Caribbean style base I went straight to Cuban food to try this sauce out. It’s a great flavor booster for moro rice and empanadas and the bright and smoky punch of this sauce was perfect to kick up some ropa vieja to the next level. Switching to American food this sauce is great on a burger – the consistency and sweetness are somewhat ketchup-like but with a lot more flavor and heat. This sauce also pairs very nicely with steak and grilled pork chops.
This sauce earns a recommendation from me. The flavor and heat are both very good and it’s quite a versatile sauce. It’s evident that time went into crafting the flavor and heat profile of this sauce and it is quite well balanced. I do wish that this sauce didn’t have as many added acidity regulators, antioxidants, and thickeners as it does, but according to the company’s website they do have a contract with Bass Pro shops so they may need to be concerned with the longer shelf life requirements of a retail chain.
Ingredients: Naga Jolokia and Habanero Peppers, Water, Tomato, Salt, Sugar, Glucose, Roasted Garlic, Apple Cider Vinegar, Garlic, Acetic and Citric Acid (acidity regulators), Onion, Soybean Oil, Carrot, Lime, Cellulose Gum and Gel, Xanthan Gum (thickness), Passion Fruit, Ascorbic Acid (antioxidant).
Heat Level 5/10. This is a solid true medium-hot for chile heads. For those with low tolerance this would feel extremely hot.
