The Torchbearer fellas are awfully swell in our book for sending a rather tastefully designed basket full of hot sauce goodies to us for our devious culinary pleasures. Our only complaint is that there was so much sauce to taste that we had to work EXTRA hard to get through them all…which isn’t such a bad thing. Thanks again to Vid, Ben, and Tim.

Torchbearer Sauces is an up and coming star in the hot & spicy food world. If their cache of Scovie awards is any indication, then the mad geniuses at TorchBearer Sauces have a darn good shot at success for many years ahead. Their initial sauce premise is simple…take some tasty ingredients like habanero peppers, mandarin oranges, carrots, onions, etc…and manipulate their respective amounts to create a variety of heat levels and taste profiles. Only their Sugar Fire sauce deviates from the formula. We caught up with the gang from TorchBearer and had them share some info with us while snacking and playing with their brand-new Mystery Machine….

So let’s hear a little about the 3 of you…Vid, Ben, and Tim. Your backgrounds, your connection to each other, and who would play which role if you were re-enacting a scene from The Three Stooges.

Vid: I have a background in video production and photography. I met both Tim and Ben at Harrisburg Area Community College while I was there before I went to Penn State. We started throwing parties on a weekly basis where Ben and I would cook really spicy food and we would try to really hurt the people who came to it. Usually 20 plus people would come and our spice levels got progressively worse as the years went on.

Oh and I would be Moe in the Stooges cause I like to hit my friends and do mean tricks and I have a bowl cut.

Tim: I went to HACC, and met Vid on campus, and was brain washed into coming over for spaghetti. I went from acting to this, which kind of made my parents happy, I think. I would without a doubt be Larry cause I’m not Moe or the other one.

Ben: I grew up in Pa. I decided to go to college at a local community college.I met Vid and Tim and you know the rest. I worked retail and construction. I think i had one year involving restaurants and business management.

Yes, I would definitely be Curly. I grew up watching the 3 Stooges, with Moe, Larry, and Curly. He has always been the fall guy and that seems to match up with my life.

You have some of the most unique label graphics we’ve seen for sure. Please tell us a little about it and why you decided you go with that style.

Vid: I met with a girl I knew for lunch for her opinions on our (then) new labels. I met with her because she worked for a big ad firm and cause she was hot. A few days later they (The Neiman Group) called us up and said they wanted to do a pro bono campaign for us. A month later they showed us three versions of new labels. We felt this style of label showed more of our personality, also is young and edgy. We want to make sure to match the product seeing we are young.

Aside from the Sugar Fire, most of your sauces are variants of one main combination of ingredients. Was there another sauce (or sauces) that inspired you to invent from or was this a unique, mad-scientist-in-the-lab creation?

It was a mad scientist in a lab creation. We had done some research and were trying to create life. But there was a mishap and we lost Jonny in the process but we created the original (sultry) sauce. I think we came out ahead in the end.

How did you come up with the name for your company?

Vid: Well I had a production company before this, I did alot of research for naming it. It was alot of random words thrown together and then alot of surveys as to the best combinations. The winner was TorchBearer Productions. When we started with this sauce we were going to come up with a new name. But a friend of mine, John “Snakes” unknowingly convinced me TorchBearer was the perfect name for the sauces. And there is where it began.

What’s new on the horizon for Torchbearer productions? New products?

On the horizon for TorchBearer, there are a few things. The nearest thing would be the cheesecake sauce. We make a habanero cheese cake that people love, we plan to produce the sauce we use in it (it is sort of the sultry mixed with the sugar fire) and put the recipe out there for everyone.

Beyond that we have plans for a BBQ, salad dressings, habanero infused oils, spice rubs, an asian cooking sauce, spicy ketchup and a mysterious sauce known only as “TIM”.

So what’s in all this stuff? An Ingredient List!

#1 Everyday Sauce: Carrots, Tomato Concentrate [water and tomato paste, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, vinegar, salt, onion powder, spice, all natural flavor], Mandarin Oranges, Onions, Garlic, Habanero Peppers, Salt, Chili Peppers, Black Pepper

#4 Tingly Hot Sauce: Carrots, Onion, Tomato Concentrate [water and tomato paste, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, vinegar, salt, onion powder, spice, all natural flavor], Mandarin Oranges, Garlic, Habanero Peppers, Salt, Chili Powder, Black Pepper

#7 Sultry Hot Sauce: Mandarin Oranges, Carrots, Onions, Tomato Concentrate [water and tomato paste, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, vinegar, salt, onion powder, spice, all natural flavor], Habanero Peppers, Garlic, Salt, Chili Powder, Black Pepper

#10 Sombrero Salsa: Diced tomato, Green Pepper, Vidalia Onion, Petite Diced Tomato with Lime, TorchBearer Sauces Super Fancy #4 Tingly Sauce (carrots, onions, mandarin orange, tomato concentrate [water and tomato paste, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, vinegar, salt, onion powder, spice, all natural flavor], Garlic, Habanero Peppers, Salt, Chili Powder, Black Pepper), Mandarin Orange, Garlic

#10 Sombrero Salsa – Special Reserve Hot: Diced tomato, Green Pepper, Vidalia Onion, Petite Diced Tomato with Lime, TorchBearer Sauces Super Fancy #4 Tingly Sauce (carrots, onions, mandarin orange, tomato concentrate [water and tomato paste, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, vinegar, salt, onion powder, spice, all natural flavor], Garlic, Habanero Peppers, Salt, Chili Powder, Black Pepper), Mandarin Orange, Garlic

#11 Sugar Fire Sauce: Papaya, Mango, Mandarin Oranges, Habanero Peppers, Brown Sugar, Pumpkin Spice

#23 Fever Hot Sauce: Carrots, Onions, Mandarin Oranges, Tomato Concentrate [water and tomato paste, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, vinegar, salt, onion powder, spice, all natural flavor], Habanero Peppers, Garlic, Salt, Chili Powder, Black Pepper

#37 Tarnation Hot Sauce: Habanero Peppers, Carrots, Onions, Mandarin Orange, Tomato Concentrate [water and tomato paste, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, vinegar, salt, onion powder, spice, all natural flavor], Garlic, Salt, Chili Powder, Black Pepper

#42 Slaughter Hot Sauce: Habanero Peppers, Carrots, Onions, Mandarin Oranges, Tomato Concentrate [water and tomato paste, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, vinegar, salt, onion powder, spice, all natural flavor], Salt, Chili Powder, Black Pepper

Joe’s $0.02

#1 Everyday Sauce: It’s a shame that I tried this sauce last, because it probably suffered by comparison to its spicier brethren sauces. It’s rather unexciting without the heat, although you do get a taste for the underlying orange-tomato-pepper trio which is the basis for most of these sauces. Mild enough for even the meekest of palates.

#4 Tingly Hot Sauce: Given its place near the bottom of the heat spectrum for these sauces, I imagined that this would have the same amount of heat as your average jar of baby food…and boy was that an incorrect assumption. It really does spread like preserves, but you would never mistake that habanero pepper aroma for anything else in the fruit kingdom. A nice green pepper-y flavor when mixed IN foods, but I preferred it lathered on top of your favorite dish. Makes plain rice into a spicy side dish worth eating at every meal.

#7 Sultry Hot Sauce: More ‘tingly’ than the Tingly sauce above, I was surprised at the tartness and bite of this sauce, despite the similarity in ingredients to all the rest. I slathered a spoonful of this on my tongue…and was surprised at the cumulative heat of this ‘milder’ sauce. Mild it ain’t, mind you, but I am quite content ladling this over nearly any kind of dinner entree, but it worked best as a condiment on sandwiches. Try a tbsp. of this mixed with 2 tbsp. of mayo and you’ll wonder why you would ever eat plain mayo again.

#10 Sombrero Salsa: At first, I thought this was going to be a little too sweet for me since the mandarin orange and green pepper seemed so prominently featured in the taste, but it has a a great sweet/hot combo that is very satisfying. Mild enough for the faint of heart but enough heat to tingle the tongue, this is a solid effort of salsa goodness.

#10 Sombrero Salsa – Special Reserve Hot: Now this is my sorta salsa! It also starts out a tad bit sweet, almost deceivingly so…but the heat catches up fast. It’s like the regular Sombrero salsa, but built for the spicy-lovin’ crowd. This salsa disappeared awfully fast, both on chips and spooned lovingly over some Baja Fresh tacos. Ay caramba!

#11 Sugar Fire Sauce: Even though it’s the last ingredient on the list, I was struck by the pumpkin spice taste right away. The mango really dominates the fruity taste, and the insidious habanero heat follows…but just enough so you know it’s there. I liked the taste quite a bit, but wished this sauce was a little thicker in consistency to use more like a sweet-hot glaze.

#23 Fever Hot Sauce: Probably my favorite heat level of these sauces, as it left a steady medium burn…I put this sauce on a wide variety of foods. It’s hot enough that you could eat it straight from the jar and suffer a bit, but its flavor goes so well on meats such as poultry. A little made a finishing glaze potent enough to get everyone’s attention at the table after one bite. Now that’s good eatin’.

#37 Tarnation Hot Sauce: This is brooching some serious habanero heat level, and was difficult to eat much of it straight from the jar without pain. There is that characteristic mandarin fruitiness to it, but the habanero heat overwhelms that rather quickly. The real advantage for me was finding good foods that would accentuate the taste. The orange didn’t affect the flavor profile enough such that it couldn’t be used in soups, stews, and even mixed in to a little taco meat. Keep the milk handy, though, as the temperature climb is quite cumulative.

#42 Slaughter Hot Sauce: Yikes, I definitely reached the top of the habanero food chain with this sauce. Hotter than some sauces but not as much as some others with similar Scoville ratings, it packs a punch. As a non-extract sauce, there definitely IS some good taste there, but my eyes watered as I got close enough to savor the aroma of the habaneros. This is another of the TorchBearer line that I thought would benefit from being a little thicker in consistency, but is far from being too runny either. There was nothing I tried spooning this over that wasn’t a little too hot for my palate, but a spoonful in my eggs made some of the best egg scramble I’d had in days. Use often…but at your own risk.

Linda’s $0.02

#1 Everyday Sauce: The title really says it all. If you’re looking for something that literally everyone can handle, this is it. I’m thinking that this would be a great addition to 7 layer dip instead of the salsa.

#4 Tingly Hot Sauce: This has a nice, slow burn to it and is virtually useful in everything you can think of. I liked using this with egg dishes, especially omelettes.

#7 Sultry Hot Sauce: This is my favorite of all the hot sauces. It’s not hellacious, but not at all wimpy. It’s got a slightly sweet taste that doesn’t overpower anything, but just adds that hint of fruit. I loved using a teaspoon of this in a couple of tablespoons of mayo to create a sandwich spread.

#10 Sombrero Salsa: I just adore this salsa. It was nearly gone before Joe got to try any. No, really. I think what I like best about it is that it differs from many salsas in that it doesn’t taste like it’s been simmered for days, thereby making the ingredients indistinguishable. It tastes super fresh, like all salsas should. In fact, I liked this salsa better cold because it made the freshness that much more noticeable.

#10 Sombrero Salsa – Special Reserve Hot: Everything the aforementioned includes, but don’t be fooled by the lack of heat at first. This one builds and when it catches up, you’ll know it.

#11 Sugar Fire Sauce: Do you want to make vanilla ice cream extraordinary? Use this! It’s sweet, fruity and not so hot that it is overwhelming. If you’re brave, use a little of this mixed with your favorite jam or jelly and then on some biscuits or toast. Yuuuuuummmmm!

#23 Fever Hot Sauce: I can’t help thinking of the song Fever (originally by Peggy Lee, but remade by Madonna). It’s the last line of the song that should be listed here with regard to this sauce. “What a lovely way to burn.” This sauce really gets you going, but doesn’t scorch you.

#37 Tarnation Hot Sauce: Did you know that the word tarnation is a euphemism for the word damnation? I guess I spend a little too much time on the Merriam Webster site. But I digress. This is really pushing the hotness envelope. Use with care if you’re a lightweight, but slather liberally if you love habaneros.

#42 Slaughter Hot Sauce: Slaughter IS the appropriate word here. This one is actually a bit over the hot edge for me, but I love it as an additive, especially when wanting the habanero flavor while distributing the heat a bit. Of all others, this is what I would use for chili.

Don’t just take our word for it! Here are some online reviews of these sauces:

HSB- Slaughter Sauce
HSB- Sugar Fire
HSB – Tingly Sauce
HSB – Tarnation Sauce #1
HSB – Tarnation Sauce #2

Give these reviewers a shout and ask them to review TorchBearer’s products as well.

Carl’s Big List of Reviews
Alien Zombie
Virtual Hot Sauce Museum
Saucerater
The Hot Sauce Guide

Want to review Torchbearer Sauces’ products for yourself? Go here and leave your own opinion:

www.rateitall.com
www.thehotpepper.com/viewforum.php?f=3

Recipes

You can find a number of tantalizing recipes through the Torchbearer Sauces website. Their big list o’ recipes can be found HERE.

Here’s one from us, just for kicks:

Joe’s TorchBearer spicy condiment

4 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tbsp. mustard (yellow or brown…I used brown)
2 tbsp. of your fave TorchBearer sauce (I used the Tarnation sauce)

Mix ingredients in a small dip bowl. Works well as a condiment for sandwiches or as a tasty dip for veggies.