While we try to avoid re-reviewing sauces that any of our other writers have done (there are a lot of sauces out there, y’know,) I found myself drawn to this Mad Cow Naga Jolokia Sauce more than some of the others. Our good friend Passow passed along a bottle of this sauce a few months ago while he was here for a visit, and just a few weeks ago I decided it was time to put this sauce into regular usage in my daily meals. Passow also did a great review of this sauce a few months ago, so check that out again as well.

My understanding is that this sauce has its origins in Australia, but now is available through Chilli Head Gourmet Foods of Strongville, Ohio. I don’t think the company has a direct website to order this sauce, but there are a few online sites where you can order this sauce here in the U.S. Heather’s Heat and Flavor and Armadillopepper.com are just a couple that have this sauce.

First impression: The label isn’t the best piece of art or anything, but heck…what can you do to make “mad cow” have a sense of legitimacy? I love the consistency of the sauce. It’s a little thinner than catsup, and is pretty well-blended and comes out of the bottle rather easily. I also like the aroma of the sauce as well. Lighter on the vinegar than expected, I can catch a whiff of mostly the peppers with some hints of the garlic and onion.

Ingredients: water, vinegar, tomatoes, bih jolokia chile, onion, garlic, sesame oil, salt, spices, citric acid

Taste: Other reviews have spoken that they taste the tomato in this sauce first, but I found Jolokia pepper to be front and center. Yeah, I can taste the tomato, garlic, and all the other ingredients to some extent, but this sauce makes the Jolokia pepper taste good. What’s great about this sauce to me is that it seems pretty balanced for such a hot sauce. Did I mention the heat? Oh yeah, it’s got that too. I’d call it about a 8.5/10, which is pretty respectable for a non-extract sauce. It does get a little more heat buildup if you eat more, but it doesn’t take much before your tongue’s heat sensors will hit critical mass. I won’t list all the foods I tried it on, because the point of that would be to say that this sauce has great utility. Whether IN food or ON food, I keep looking for ways to use this sauce with food…and it has done well with all of them.

Overall recommendation: This is one of the better Jolokia sauces I have tried, especially since many of them are almost too hot for consumption. This sauce really does have a great balance of heat and flavor, both of which are exemplary with this sauce. I still use a little of this sauce quite often, and give it a hearty thumbs-up. Try it for yourself and see. Enjoy!