Ingredients: Habanero peppers, tomatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, cilantro, vinegar, pasilla peppers, lime juice, mesquite smoked flavoring, salt, pepper, oregano, xanthan gum, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate.

John Cuda over at Barra Cudda Enterprises was gracious enough to send me a sample bottle of their new hot sauce, entitled Stairway To Hell. Since BCE is an agency specializing in tribute bands, it only makes sense that their sauce be a tribute as well. The label is a take off of one of Led Zeplin’s signature imagery of a Greek man holding a lantern, but in this version he is holding the hot sauce.

The sauce is thick and a little bit chunky which is always nice. Having tried this on many dishes, I find it goes best on antique Chinaware. I also tried it on many different types of food and got interesting results. For a sauce with so many ingredients, the flavor differences are subtle. The smokey, mesquite taste (derived from the smoked flavorings and the pasilla peppers) is right up front along with the lime juice, while the tomato flavor hangs out in the background with his habanero friend.

I found the flavor was squashed a little when I added the sauce to burritos and salsa. The real trick with this sauce is to apply it ON things, rather than MIX it with things in order to get its full flavor. It has officially become my “cold pizza” sauce. Seriously delicious when added on top of leftover pizza.

For a habanero sauce, this is not as hot as I was expecting. It gets you in the back of the throat and then dissipates. All in all, this is a pretty good sauce and would make an excellent gift for ANY Led Zeppelin fan.

Taste:7, Heat: 6