So these are the sauces I ended up buying during my time in the States. Some were ordered from Amazon, some were picked up at grocery stores, and some were bought at this wonderful little specialty store in LA called Light My Fire (at the Farmers Market right next to The Grove; Doug, I recommend it if you've never been):
Left to right:
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Frank's Red Hot Original. Basic, but classic. Really love this stuff. Had to get a bottle.
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Walkerswood Jonkanoo Hot Sauce. Picked this up at a Publix in Miami. Haven't tried it yet.
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Bravado Spice Pineapple and Habanero. Delicious. Not super hot, but very tasty. Was the first one we finished. Goes wonderfully with pizza. You'll notice we had to use a wine cork because we lost the cap in a discarded pizza box. Ordered a second bottle of this.
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Tabasco Green Jalapeño. It's good! It's a nice twist on the classic Tabasco taste, and it's a table-pleaser because it's fairly mild.
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Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce. Really nice, though more of a "paste" than a sauce. This is going on memory because I've had it before but I haven't opened this one yet.
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Huy Fong Sriracha. Still one of the best. It's just really versatile, goes great on literally everything. I love Sriracha.
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Pickapeppa Spicy Mango Sauce. Crazy addictive. Really nice tangy mango flavor and not super hot.
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Dirty Dick's Hot Pepper Sauce With a Tropical Twist. A flavor explosion. VERY fruity. This might turn some people off because of how sweet it is but I really loved it.
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Queen Majesty Red Habanero & Black Coffee. It's good, but I'm still kind of warming up to it. It's a very... particular taste, and I could see it only going well with certain flavor profiles. Definitely not a "put it on everything" kind of sauce, but very layered and interesting.
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Great White Shark Predator Hot Sauce. Got this one as a gift from my brother. Holy shit, the hottest sauce I've ever had. The taste is nice enough, but the heat is extreme. I'm talking can-actually-hurt-human-beings hot. I suggest using a few drops at a time. I could see myself cooking with this, but not applying it directly to a finished meal.
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Secret Aardvark Habanero Sauce. SO fucking good. Probably my favorite of the bunch. This stuff is awesome. I ended up buying two more bottles 'cause I knew I'd finish the first one in no time. A "Caribbean / Tex-Mex hybrid", really delicious mix of tomato flavor with the habanero and white wine vinegar, with a good amount of heat. Did not expect to like this one this much, but it won me over immediately. My recommendation to all of you.
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Bravado Spice Blueberry and Ghost Pepper. Delicious. Would love to have this one on pancakes. A very nice blueberry flavor. Expected it to be hotter from the ghost pepper, but it's wonderful.
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Cholula Green Pepper and
Cholula Chili Garlic. I also got these as gifts. I've had them both before and they're quite tasty but not very hot. Cholula always leaves me wanting more heat.
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Frank's Red Hot Sweet Chili and
Frank's Red Hot Wings Sauce. Both solid, but not as good as the original. Sweet Chili one was especially good on sandwiches.
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Nando's Peri Peri Sauce. I've heard it's quite good but I haven't tried it yet.
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Pain Is Good Fire Roasted Green Sriracha Pepper. Really good stuff, and fairly mild for Pain is Good. Unfortunately this bottle broke during travel, but not before I had a good amount of it on some tacos a few nights before.
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Marie Sharpe's Habanero Pepper Sauce. This one was recommended by the girl who worked at Light My Fire. It's got a really nice, savory kind of onions-and-carrots flavor that is a nice contrast from the other fruitier stuff I bought.
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Gringo Bandito Super Hot. I've been wanting to try this one for a while because it's made by the guy from The Offspring, my first-ever favorite rock band. His hot sauce is better than his music. Nice savory flavor and a decent amount of heat.
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Pain is Good Garlic Style. I've never had a Pain is Good sauce I didn't like. This one's no exception. I only tried a little bit of it but I can tell this one's going to be a favorite.
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Dr. Assburn's Fire Roasted Habanero Pepper Sauce. Probably my least favorite sauce I bought. It's got an interesting, dark, smoky flavor, and it's REALLY hot, but it's also overwhelmingly salty. I can see myself experimenting with this one in the future, trying to make it a bit more palatable, but right out of the bottle it's not very good.
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Dave's Gourmet Creamy Garlic Red Pepper. I hadn't purchased this one originally, but my sister did. We walked over to a little empanada place nearby and she opened it and we tried it and I knew I needed to get one for my own. A really rich, smooth, creamy garlic flavor. On the mild side, but very tasty.
Not pictured here:
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Pain is Good Jamaican Style. Really wonderful flavor. Just a hint of sweetness complements the spices perfectly. Also: very hot.
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Pain is Good Louisiana Style. I haven't opened this one but I've tried it before and it's great. Kind of like a very spicy BBQ sauce, which is a good thing in my book.