Getting back to using some of the Tahiti Joe hot sauces was going to be pure joy, but where to start with so many from which to choose? When we did the original review some time ago, the Kumawanakilya sauce, being one of the hotter ones, became a house favorite, so I opted to try out another of the hotter sauces in the collection…being the Ahi of Kahuna XX hot sauce.

From the side of the bottle, the label reads:

Ahi of Kahuna XX with CHEESE
One day, while Tahiti’s Hot Sauces was cooling under a coconut palm, he heard voices in his head: his tastebuds were talking to him. They wanted him to make a sauce so “HOT” and flavorful, it would please any chilihead’s addiction for heat, and the tastebuds wanted it with cheese! So Tahiti’s Hot Sauces asked the great Polynesian Fire God for help, and at the urging of Tahiti’s sister Kimbalyawanalaya, Tahiti’s Hot Sauces gives you “Ahi of Kahuna XX Hot Sauce with cheese”
(her favorite sauce).

Taking a casual stroll through the list of ingredients, you can see this mondo list:

Ingredients: aged red peppers, red wine vinegar (contains sulfates), concentrated vegetable juices: (water, tomato, lemon, lemon oil, salt, dehydrated parsley, carrots, bell pepper, celery, ascorbic acid, malic acid), worcestershire, honey, key lime juice, clam juice, parmesan cheese, romano cheese, fresh carrots, fresh garlic in water, fresh habaneros, fresh onions, spices

It’s a mostly natural bunch of stuff, and I like to see the word fresh as much as possible on any list of hot sauce ingredients. In shelf-stable hot sauces, that taste can be tough to come by! A couple of other thoughts about the ingredients. First is the presence of clam juice, which is also another one that you don’t typically see used all that often. At first thought, it didn’t seem like an appetizing notion…but I remember that there was no real clam taste in any of the other sauces I’ve ever tried that’s had it. Also, using cheeses like romano and parmesan is another novel idea as well.. Not sure if this makes it destined to get poured over my spaghetti or not, but it certainly enticed me to see how well that meshed with the usual other hot sauce ingredients like the peppers, garlic, and vinegar.

Cracking the bottle open, I loved seeing the wide-open bottle mouth. Narrow openings and/or plastic nipples make it frustrating to get some sauce out, but this makes it nice and easy to pour out as much as you like. The aroma is mostly vinegar and vegetable juice, and actually smells pretty good. It’s a tad bit on the thinner side of the spectrum, but not in an off-putting sorta way. I poured a bit out onto my plate to take a closer look:

You can easily see the bits of vegetable from the veggie juice floating within the mixture, not to mention some spices as well. It’s not exactly what you would call a finely-blended sauce or anything, but it had a certain appeal plus inspiring some culinary uses as well.

Taste: Tasting some of the tip of my fingers caused me to exclaim, “Oh, me like-ee a lot!” A little tangy and medium spicy, it seemed like the heat builds a little with consumption. I’d give it initially a 6/10 for heat, which builds to about 7.5/10. Hot, but definitely manageable. As expected, the cheeses give the sauce a tasty, but grainy, texture that not everyone may like. If you like your hot sauce with lots of “stuff” in it, then this may be one for you. Lots of spices that are taste-worthy.

Texture and taste aside, this sauce was pretty easy to mix and match with foods. Marinara seemed to be a good choice given the veggie component of the sauce, and that indeed was a big-time hit with me. Whether over pasta or with other tomato-based sauces, this hot sauce mixes in pretty seamlessly and adds both flavor and heat with aplomb. It’s a little thin to be used as a pure condiment, but I did like it poured over my hamburger like you would do with any steak sauce. Overall, it was nearly as good mixed into food as poured upon, so there’s good utility to be had with this sauce.

Overall recommendation: At long last, my return to Tahiti Joe’s stable of sauces was a rousing success. Medium-hot, spice-laden, and full of flavor, this sauce will not fail to disappoint most. The texture may not be to everyone’s liking, but that is pretty well nullified when mixed into foods. While the heat may not wow the most die-hard chileheads, the flavor just might. It’s fairly unique compared to many sauces on the market, so I give it a big-time thumbs up. Enjoy!

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