We try not to duplicate any reviews that any of our other reviewers have done, but rarely there comes a product like the O’so Bueno! Chipotle Salsa that we find unique and worthwhile enough to do so. Like our esteemed chilehead reviewer Passow, we also picked up a bottle of this salsa from last year’s Weekend of Fire show…but let it sit on our shelf for a lot longer than he did waiting to review it. Quite simply. Passow’s outstanding review is not one that we will try to trump. Rather, we will give our own “attaboys” about this product.

Ingredients: tomato, chipotle pepper, salt, brown sugar, garlic, spices, and canola oil

First impression: Nice, simple label featuring buildings from the Mt. Adams area of Cincinnati, OH. Big sixteen-ounce bottle of salsa goodness, and it has a fresh salsa aroma when you open the jar that is unmistakenly the smokiness of chipotle.

Taste: This salsa is very much like a mixture of chipotles en adobo plus tomatoes and spices, save for the fact that we know the chipotles are fresh and high-quality after talking to Bill, one of the owners of the company. It’s more of a traditional Mexican salsa in its consistency and has an earthy, slightly sweet, and mildly hot flavor. Chipotle lovers will be able to scoop this right out of the jar, but we didn’t find it perfect for use with every meal. What it worked well with, it added an immense element of flavor to the meal. For example, see the picture below…which is a homemade fish taco in a flour tortilla. This salsa was a great compliment to the fish! Chip & dip snacking was good at times, but you really need to like chipotles to eat more than half the jar at any given time. Also good in egg scrambles, the smokiness in the salsa adds great flavor to something as flavor-less as plain ol’ scrambled eggs.

As for heat, it’s definitely mild to medium. As you might expect for something that’s essentially a smoked jalapeno, it’s about 5/10 for heat.

Overall recommendation: Chipotle lovers will not be able to find a salsa as close to natural chipotle as this salsa is. Mellow, smoky, earthy, and full of flavor, this salsa is not to be missed. An all-natural salsa from down-to-earth people make this a product that we give a hearty thumbs-up that you should consider trying. Enjoy!