First impression: Now I fully realize that this sauce was made as a sort of collectible bottle, signed and numbered, to have sales of it benefit the American Cancer Society. That aside, I couldn’t help but wonder how the contents of the bottle tasted. Since we acquired three bottles at the time, I decided that bottle #28 was going to make the ultimate sacrifice and get used on everything we could find to pour it upon. A great many seeds were seen floating within the bottle, so I imagined that the contents were probably fairly spicy. A whiff of the open bottle caught distinct scents of serrano and garlic. (This sauce appears to be the Danny Cash Stays Cool Pepper Sauce from the folks over at Danny Cash.)

Taste: During the first pour, I was unprepared at how watery this sauce is. Like as liquid-y as many of your vinegar-based Louisiana-style sauces such as Tabasco and Trappey’s. Tasting a little bit from my fingertip, it has a fairly pronounced serrano bite to it with a strong garlicky aftertaste. Seeing the word habanero made me worry about some lingering heat, but this is actually fairly mild given some other hot sauces of the same ilk. The hint of habanero flavor adds to the taste profile without overwhelming your senses. It has more salinity than expected, but the overall flavor makes you forget about that almost instantly.

What foods would it be best with? Alternate uses? Like was hinted above, it’s liquidity makes it ideal for uses in dishes such as soups, stews, burgoos, etc. It was tried with chili and gumbo, and the serrano flavor was a nice plus. It would also give some added schwerve to any boring salsa by giving it a little spicy kick. It was also great poured right over scrambled eggs as well.

Ingredients: habanero & serrano peppers, garlic, vinegar, limes, and salt

Overall recommendation: This sauce is mild enough for pretty broad use in your kitchen or anywhere else you want to take it. Not everyone wants to open a collectible bottle of hot sauce, but this one will probably not make you regret it if you do. I still think it’s too watery, but its dominant garlic & lime flavor combined with the nice flavor bite of the serrano gives you plenty of opportunity to try this with a variety of dishes. Don’t get scared when you see the word habanero on the label, though. This one’s safe for general consumption by chileheads of all ages & heat tolerances.