Marie Sharp’s hot sauces have had a needlessly bad rap on this blog for far too long. Several months ago, there were a couple of reviews that were done here for her Orange Pulp Habanero Pepper Sauce and Grapefruit Pulp Habanero Pepper Sauce that were not at all complimentary. It’s not that they were the worst sauces in the world, but were just so left-of-center from the ordinary so as to not be as palatable as desired.

Every losing streak was meant to be broken. Such was our task with this sauce, called No Wimps Allowed by Marie Sharp.

As the name of this sauce explains for itself, this is for the true hot pepper lovers. Despite the higher level of hotness, you can still taste and feel the unique blend of natural flavors that bring flair into your meals.

The bottle states that I must “be strong to handle this sauce” and that I should “avoid contact with the eye or skin.” So was this hot sauce or some sort of hazmat-requiring material? Few hot sauces fall into this rarified category of handling, so the first thing I did was pour some on my finger to taste it. Suffice to say, my finger is still alive and well.

Ingredients: habanero pepper mash, capsicum oil, fresh carrots, white vinegar, key lime juice, salt, tomato, N’awlins Cajun & Creole spices, onions, and garlic

From within the bottle lurks a bright orange, seed-laden sauce, but I couldn’t find out enough about it until I purged the bottle of the “nipple” so that I could get more than one drop out of it at a time. Does anyone truly benefit from having those restrictor nipples on bottles of hot sauce? The aroma of this sauce is fan-freaking-tastic. Not so heavy with strong vinegary scent, you can really appreciate how habaneros really smell, and with some tomato as well. The consistency is slightly more liquid than catsup, but doesn’t pour too quickly from the bottle.

Taste: Now this is what all Marie Sharp’s hot sauces should taste like. I was impressed at how fresh this sauce tasted, like I was chewing on raw habaneros. Like some habanero sauces that overwhelm you with heat, this sauce really doesn’t…and that really allows for tasting this sauce pretty broadly. While the habanero is the dominant flavor, I like the mix with the taste of tomatoes and lime. Speaking of heat, this sauce does not seem as hot as advertised. Marie Sharp rates this as a 3.5/4 on the heat scale, but I dispute that. Not sure if my taste buds have been too tortured with fataliis and Bhut Jolokias, but this didn’t push my heat sensors to their limits.

With a more modest heat profile than expected, I thought this sauce was more useful than I expected. Heck, I enjoyed eating this straight out of the bottle. Sure, it made me sweat a little…but why not? This sauce was pretty much great on most foods I tried, namely soups & chili plus a variety of meat and veggie entrees. I don’t eat a lot of pizza these days, but this would likely go fabulously well with your favorite slice.

Overall recommendation: Despite the name of this sauce, I declare that wimps are now officially allowed…to eat this sauce. Hot, but not unbearably so, this habanero sauce is a great example of what one should be. Full of habanero flavor, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you may consume this sauce. At least, that was the case for me since half the bottle disappeared in the space of about two days. That said, if you like it hot and flavorful, Marie Sharp has a sauce for you. Give the No Wimps Allowed sauce a try. Enjoy!

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