It could be said that this review was a whole year in the making.

We originally heard from the Red Lion Spicy Foods Co. back in 2005, shortly after our blog made its emergence onto the scene. They were interested in us trying & reviewing their products, and we were hot-to-trot about doing it. The problem was…that it just didn’t happen. We got bombed by requests for other stuff, and these folks and us had our communication lost in the shuffle. A little over a year later, this request re-emerged and thanks to the USPS we got some salsa and other stuff to review.

It’s a darn good thing, too. We’d go so far as to say it was worth the wait…but we’ll tell you all about that a little further down the page. Needless to say, we tore into the box and quickly cranked this jar open and got it ready for the chip & dip tasting process here at Casa Joe & Linda. They describe this salsa as:

Made with our blend of 20 exotic chiles and all natural ingredients, with an extra kick.

So, is this 20 chiles per jar or 20 kinds of chiles? While it seemed a tad bit confusing, we looked at the list o’ goodies that this salsa is made of and found this:

Ingredients: diced tomatoes, jalapenos, white vinegar, sweet peppers, onions, mixed pepper blend, garlic, spices, cilantro, parsley, salt

I guess that sorta answered our question, and their 20 peppers must be in the “mixed pepper blend” that they use with several of their products which have that in the title of their name. With no preservatives and all-natural ingredients, this salsa certainly had potential before we had even tried a drop of it.

First impression: The smell of tomatoes & peppers wafted from the jar as soon as the lid came off, and it was a good one for a shelf-stable salsa. Despite the plethora of peppers within, it smelled more like jalapenos than anything else. This was our view of the salsa from the mouth of the open jar:

Bits of tomatoes and onions were visible along with a lot of seeds. Lots of seeds, especially in salsa such as this which is labeled as “Extra-Hot,” usually does equate to a hot salsa…if that salsa was made with spicy chiles, that is. Scooping some out onto a tortilla chip, this is how it looked before meeting our tastebuds:

We described this salsa as medium in thickness. Definitely not as thin as some traditional Mexican salsas and not as thick & chunky as some which will snap your chip in half when you try to get too much out of the jar. Pretty much a perfect consistency for snacking or for pouring on your favorite food.

Taste: Unlike some reviews we’ve done where we taste things separately, then compare notes later…we both tasted this salsa at the same time and compared tasting notes on the spot. Despite smelling so prominently of jalapenos, the taste was pure habanero joy. Actually, the great thing about this salsa was that you can taste the habanero without the pain of heat that can come with some habanero salsas. Even the presence of the vinegar (3rd on the ingredients list) didn’t unbalance the salsa, and it has a nice smooth finish which balances the tomatoes & onions with the peppers just nicely. At first taste, we didn’t think this salsa was all that hot…at least not hot enough to be worthy of its “Extra Hot” title.

It’s a good thing we don’t make snap decisions! Joe continued to munch the salsa for a while and after about a half-dozen scoopfuls of salsa on his chips, he noticed he was starting to sweat and suck a little wind. The heat is a bit insidious and really does sneak up on you as you eat it! We thought the heat was about a 6/10, but builds to a solid 8.5/10 with more consumption. Comfortable heat for a chilehead, but may be a little much for the gentler palates.

We even recruited an all-star opinion for this salsa. Our four year-old, Ari, has often liked some of the spicier food we’ve had. Not only that, but he’ll do anything to be allowed to eat some tortilla chips. Here you can see Ari taking the plunge for some extra-hot salsa:

Then came the real fun…into his gullet it went. His comment? “That’s hot, mommy!” Heh, we can’t argue with him on that observation. Definitely a bit hot, but really, really tasty.

Overall recommendation: Hailing from the Keystone State, the Red Lion Spicy Foods Co. makes a damn good spicy salsa. We polished off half a jar in a single sitting, relishing every bite of its somewhat thick and fairly spicy goodness. This salsa is ideal for any chip & dip plans you may have, although you might want to warn those who choose to partake of its heat level. We imagine that this salsa would also be great to cook with as well, particularly with an egg scramble or omelet topping. Thank goodness we have an additional jar, because we might just do some experimental cooking ourselves. Don’t wait a year to get yours, though. It’s too good to wait that long.

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