Wow how time flies. It’s been almost two years since Joe and Linda interviewed our buddies over at Kato Productions. Mick and Rita have been turning out some great products including their newest creation, Hemi Hot Sauce, so we felt it was time to do a little catching up.

So, Mick, it’s been a while since we’ve heard from you guys. What’s the latest news from the land of Habanero eating dogs?

We just finished up our 4th fiery food competition on March 4th having combined our contest with Florida’s oldest festival, Florida Azalea Festival. The competition has grown from our little humble contest to a contest that included 97 entries from the professional division and amateur division in hot sauce, bbq sauce, and an other category that included everything from a spicy mayo to spicy chocolates. So it was a tough time for our judges.

We plan on many refinements for next year like more categories to include salsa, sweet snacks, and different styles of hot sauces and more as we continue to grow this competition.

We are trying to help grow this industry from where it was 10 years ago when we started and expand it to include all sorts of companies from all over the world as peoples tastes change.

When I received the Hemi sauce, it was lacking a label due to time restraints. Have you gotten the label yet?

We do have a label now. The Hemi hot sauce is named for our newest family member, Hemi, an AKC Chocolate Lab, who as of yet has not acquired the taste for chiles that Kato had. As we like to say Hemi has Kato’s spirit and hopefully over time will acquire the taste for chiles.

Last time we spoke with you, you stated, “We are continually refining our recipes”. Is this still the case and if so, what sauces have you refined?

Well our latest sauce the Hemi hot sauce is similar to our Kato’s Down South Hot Sauce in that they our both made using fresh Scotch Bonnets, Carrots. The Hemi uses both those and now Fresh Garlic.

As for refining some of our older recipes we just modified our Kato’s Rajun Cajun from using cayenne mash to using fresh cayennes and our Kato’s Mean Green to our Kato’s Meaner Greener which went from a green jalapeño sauce to more of a salsa Verde using fresh green habanero’s, fresh tomatillo’s and freshly squeezed lime juice along with fresh cilantro.

All your products are really fresh tasting, what’s the secret?

We try to use fresh produce when practical a little more expensive, but I think well worth it in the long run. As flavor has always been very important to us.

I’m not a huge fan of sweets, but after I tasted your Habanero Chocolate bar I felt like a junk food junkie! I wanted MORE!!! What was the inspiration for this creation?

Funny story. About 6 years ago I wanted something that would attract people to our booth at the fiery food show out in Albuquerque. Just sort of a novelty not actually thinking of it as a future product. So I took 200 habanero bars to the show and sold them all by Saturday afternoon. Not long after our return home to South Florida the Food Network called and wanted to do a feature on Food Finds (a no longer running show) on our habanero chocolate bars. We had to scramble to find a chocolitier who was willing to produce such a product. We were lucky enough to find a local chocolate maker who was adventurous as we were.

Any plans for a Naga based sauce?

We are just this season growing 3 types of Nagas. Naga Morich, Naga Dorset, and a Bangladeshi Naga and will experiment with a few sauces. Right now we have plans for a sauce using Trinidad Scorpion peppers that we have found extremely hot not sure if they will rival the vaunted Naga’s. But more importantly that they taste great as well as provide the heat.

I’m glad to here that everything is going smoothly Mick. Thanks a lot for the interview and for shipping me all your products for the review, including that awesome chocolate bar! I think I’ll start my review with that.

Kato’s Habanero Chocolate Bar Ingredients: Sugar, chocolate liqueur, pure habanero powder, fractionated palm kernel oil and hydrogenated palm oil, cocoa powder, non-fat dry milk, milk fat, soya lecithin and vanillin

This is your standard, gourmet chocolate bar but with a kick. As I stated above, I’m really not a big fan of sugar or chocolate or junk food, but this one really had me craving more. Silky smooth chocolate mixed with powdered habanero makes this bar one amazing little snack. A definite must to own. It has nice warmth to it but nothing blistering. Because of this, it makes it enjoyable for almost anyone. Taste: 10, Heat: 4.5

Kato’s Meaner Greener Habanero Sauce Ingredients: Tomatillos, green Hanaberos, garlic, onions, cilantro, cider vinegar, lime juice, and spices

This really meets my definition of a “green sauce”. Not all that hot and surprisingly sweet. The cider vinegar mixes well with the rest of the ingredients and the tomatillos really dominate the overall flavor. I’ve found that this goes great on eggs and breakfast burritos. Taste: 8, Heat: 1.3

Kato’s Rajun Cajun Cayenne Sauce Ingredients: Cayenne peppers, vinegar, garlic salt, and spices.

This is the only sauce in Kato’s line that I am not too keen on. It reminds me very much of Tapatio because of it’s large amount of vinegar and salt which is really distracting. The bite and taste of the Cayenne are very prominent and I detect just a small hint of garlic as well, which makes it a step above Tapatio in regards to complexity. This would probably pair well with Crawdads. Taste: 4, Heat: 2.5

Kato’s Chipotle Steak Sauce Ingredients: Chipotle peppers, tomato paste, soy sauce [No MSG], garlic, onions, and spices

I’m officially addicted to this one. The Chipotle peppers give this sauce a smooth, smokey taste and unlike a lot of chipotle sauces, it isn’t overwhelming. The rest of the ingredients hit your tongue in the order they are listed on the ingredients. The tomato paste and onion lends to the sauce quite well, giving it a little bit of sweetness. When combined with the soy sauce and garlic it makes this sauce pure heaven in a bottle. Like the name of the sauce say, slather it all over a nice steak and call it a night. Taste: 10, Heat: 1(it hits your tongue for a fraction of a second and then disappears)

Kato’s Island Sauce Ingredients: Habanero and Cayenne peppers, mangoes, mustard, brown sugar, vinegar, and spices.

This is another sauce that will overwork your taste buds. I usually hate mustard, and by hate it, I mean dislike it with fury of a 1000 burning suns. But for some reason it is awesome in this sauce and gives it a nice texture. The sauce also has one of my favorite things; mangos! This and the Habaneros makes it really fruity and the brown sugar kicks the sweet factor into overdrive. Put it on chicken and grill it, use it as a shrimp dipping sauce, or even put it on your salad at lunch. Taste: 9, Heat: 5

Kato’s Down South Hot Sauce Ingredients: Scotch Bonnet peppers, carrots, and vinegar.

This one is simple and straight forward. The Scotch Bonnets give it a large kick in the heat and flavor department but are drowned out by the carrots. I would say that this has more use as a cooking sauce then just a straight out put it on food right before your eat it sauce. The cool thing is it comes in a 6 fluid ounce flask with a super groovy transparent label. Taste: 6, Heat: 6

Hemi Hot Sauce Ingredients: Scotch Bonnet peppers, carrots, fresh garlic, and vinegar.

This one is basically the same as the Down South sauce with a few improvements. It doesn’t have as much carrot flavor, which is good, and it has a lot of garlic. I went through this bottle in about two weeks, it’s just that good. At one point I found myself eating spoonful after spoonful right out of the bottle. If you are a garlic lover like me then this sauce is for you! Taste: 10, Heat: 6