Peppers To Know About When Buying Specialty Hot Sauces
If you recently fell in love with grocery store hot sauce and want to take your taste experience to the next level, you might be planning to visit a hot sauce store in the near future. Before you shop for specialty hot sauces, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with common peppers used to make hot sauce. With a little bit of information, you can shop with confidence, knowing that you'll get the perfect level of heat and taste profile.
Hatch
Native to New Mexico, hatch chile peppers are known for their earthy flavor and mild heat. They are typically about 1/3 as hot as jalapeño peppers, but they can be hotter. In terms of Scoville Heat Units, they range from 1,000 to 8,000. Although many hot sauces use raw hatch chile peppers, some use roasted peppers, which have a smokey, buttery flavor. Hot sauces using these peppers will be rich, earthy, and slightly spicy, making them perfect for anyone new to specialty hot sauces.
Jalapeño
Jalapeño peppers are among the most well-known peppers, but they are far from the spiciest peppers around. At just 2,500 to 8,000 SHU, these peppers pack a little more of a punch than hatch chiles. You'll find them in many specialty hot sauces, but if you're looking for a low-heat hot sauce, make sure they aren't blended with spicier peppers. Sauces made from jalapeños typically have a bright, familiar flavor with a touch of bitterness.
Tabasco
Tabasco peppers aren't just used to make Tabasco Sauce. You'll find them in all kinds of specialty hot sauces. They have a medium level of heat at 30,000 to 50,000 SHU, which makes them perfect for many hot sauce recipes. Tabasco peppers are known for their slightly smokey flavor, and sauces made with them are perfect for anyone looking to branch out to new hot sauce varieties.
Habanero
Before hot sauce fanatics bred hotter and hotter peppers, habanero peppers were the hottest around, and at 100,000 to 350,000 SHU, they pack a punch. Beyond heat, these peppers have a fruity, tropical flavor that brightens bland dishes beautifully. If you want to expand your heat tolerance, make sure you try a few habanero-based sauces before moving onto those made with new, hotter peppers.
Ghost
Also known as Bhut jolokia, ghost peppers made waves in the hot sauce community when they were introduced to the world in 2007. They range from 855,000 to 1,041,427 SHU, so make sure you have built up some heat tolerance before buying a bottle of ghost pepper hot sauce. Underneath their intense heat, they taste fruity and earthy, but don't expect to taste any subtle flavors when you crack open your first bottle of ghost pepper specialty hot sauce. These sauces are made primarily for their heat.
Carolina Reaper
No specialty hot sauce store is complete without several varieties of Carolina Reaper hot sauce. At 1,400,000 to 2,200,000 SHU, these peppers set the standard as the current hottest peppers in the world. Hot sauces made with Carolina Reaper peppers are best enjoyed in tiny amounts. If you choose to buy a bottle from a specialty hot sauce store, be sure to keep some milk at hand when you try it.
These are just some of the common peppers you'll find in specialty hot sauces. To learn more about specialty hot sauce varieties, visit a hot sauce store in your area.
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