Honey Barbeque Sauce by Torchbearer Sauces

My introduction to these sauces and products came as an evolution-like process. First I saw the media articles come rolling across my computer screen. Then came the impressive list of awards through the Fiery Food Challenge and Scovie competitions. I even read a review or two about the sauces on another site […]

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Honey Barbeque Sauce by Torchbearer Sauces

By: Joe on April 29, 2008- 9:20 pm

It can be a rarity indeed when we crank out a review truly quickly, so we allow a little inspiration to take hold of us when we have the chance. Such is the case with this new Honey BBQ sauce from the mad geniuses at Torchbearer Sauces. This is the first new product we’ve tried from Torchbearer in quite a while, but we have always enjoyed their products in the past…so we had no inclination that this sauce would be any different. It’s the first bottle that strays from their non-woozie eight ounce bottle that’s been a standard issue for their stuff, and comes in a huge-mongous sixteen ounce bottle.

Ingredients: tomato paste, water, honey, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, molasses, worcestershire sauce, yellow mustard, chili pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, lemon juice, oregano

Kudos to the gang for sticking to all-natural ingredients. An automatic thumbs-up from us for that!

First impression: A pretty straightforward BBQ sauce in both aroma and consistency. It pours easily and readily from the jar, and has a honey-sweet aroma that won’t rankle your nose hairs when you take a whiff of it. Not much in the way of chiles detected in the scent, but it doesn’t fall prey to being too heavy on the ubiquitous mesquite that seems to be in just about every other BBQ sauce on the market these days either. The label is of the same style as their other sauces…a little busy but wholly unique and graphically cool. A few pepper seeds are visible lurking within the sauce as we poured out a little to taste.

Taste: Surprisingly mild but tasty, this sauce is high on taste but low on heat. This is one honey BBQ sauce that takes the honey part of it pretty seriously, and is a dominant part of its taste. I liked its sweetness because it was not too sweet, even with its notable flavor of brown sugar and molasses. The heat is mild at best, certainly no more than 2/10 on my personal heat scale. There’s just enough chile pepper in there to get a hint of heat, but no more than that. Just a touch of peppery-ness to this sauce.

After tasting this sauce amongst ourselves, Linda declared that this BBQ sauce would be absolutely ideal with grilled pork chops. Stopping by our local grocer, she picked up a few boneless ones that we plopped on the grill after the lightest dusting with a little salt-and-pepper dry spice for taste. After about ten minutes over high heat, these chops were nearly done and ready for their coating of honey BBQ sauce.

After coating the pork loins with sauce, we dropped the heat to low and let them simmer for another 10 minutes to let the sauce cook in a little and hopefully not scorch on the meat. As it turns out, that made them just about perfect. Juicy and tender, the meat was perfectly complimented by this BBQ sauce. The grilling accentuates the flavor of the sauce so much, and the subtleties of taste come out with the peppers quite nicely. It’s still a sweet sauce, but the mellowness of it is well suited to grilling. This sauce would be a great addition to just about any meat on the grill, and we imagined this to be ideal with ribs or chicken as well. Try this as a dipping sauce for chicken fingers as well.

Overall recommendation: This product is the first time that Torchbearer Sauces has veered away from their sauce recipe which has been a mainstay of nearly all their other sauces they feature. Mildly spiced and all-natural, this sauce was a pleasure to taste and won’t take a toll on your capsaicin-weary tastebuds that the Torchbearer hot sauces will tax. Even the meekest of palates would like the BBQ sauce on just about anything you might grill up. Enjoy!