Well it finally looks like spring has sprung....or has it? As I write this the sun is shining through the office at Hot-Headz! HQ and it's also just thrown down a quick shower of hail stones!
We're finally moved fully in to our new offices and warehouses and despite some teething problems with telecoms and computers, broadband etc. we're almost settled.
I've been a very busy man - latest releases are all finalised recipe wise. Lots of tasting and testing over the past few months have resulted in some superb and unique products all being released under our ever expanding Hot-Headz! brand.
Following on from our hugely popular Hot-Headz! Chipotle Ketchup and our delicious Hot-Headz! Habanero Ketchup we have an absolute killer Roasted Naga Ketchup. It's rich, full-bodied and HOT!
This should be available around the end of May and in time for most of this summers chilli shows and festivals.
One of the most exciting developments has been the perfection of our new Ghost Pepper Queso. Those of you familiar with our Who Dares Burns! Habanero Chile Con Queso and it's follow up sibling Who Dares Burns! Chipotle Con Queso will know just how amazing these sauces are. Great with burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and they make the best, quickest nachos in the world! The new Ghost Pepper Queso uses the deadly Naga Bhut Jolokia or Ghost Chilli as it's widely known, to add some serious heat and flavour to an already amazingly tasty chile con queso (chilli cheese sauce).
Available in around mid May - not long to wait.
Trying to do something different in this industry is a challenge but I feel we have remained at the forefront of product development with our unique take on how chilli can be used for all us Hot-Headz! out there. Finished and ready soon we have developed a Pique (pronounced pee-kay) sauce, which I believe is the first in the UK. Pique is found predominantly in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico where for generations islanders have been making it in recycled rum flasks and bottles. It's an unblended sauce where locally grown chillies, herbs and spices are steeped in vinegar along with garlic, cilantro and even pineapple. Of course a good Pique also includes cayenne and/or habanero chillies for good measure. The vinegar takes on the medley of flavours and is great for adding zing and flavour to almost anything. The used vinegar is then topped up to keep on maturing.
The flavour is complex and hot so we've decided to give it the Hot-Headz! treatment and blend it down into an amazing sauce. Our Hot-Headz! Pique should be available end of May. Look out for it at the chilli shows.
Well that's about it for now other than more top secret ideas and products that are still in development. I'll be telling you all about them as they get nearer completion. In the meantime check out all that's new at Hot-Headz! via our New Items section of our website.
Thanks for reading.
Hot Regards
Dr. Hotz!
Friday 26 April 2013
Tuesday 9 April 2013
Endorphin Rush! Hot Sauce - A True Classic!
This week I had the great pleasure of talking to my very first hot sauce supplier in USA who just so happens to be the inventor and manufacturer of the legendary Endorphin Rush! Hot Sauce.
When we first started in this crazy business there were four distinct products that were known as the hottest of the hot. Dave's Insanity Sauce, Blair's After Death Sauce, Mad Dog Inferno and Endorphin Rush. Back then people's tolerance for heat was measured by a well known brand of Louisiana hot sauce or the odd Caribbean sauce brought back from holiday. People were absolutely blown away by the heat and intensity of these new super hot sauces. To most serious Hot-Headz! nowadays these original trail blazers, whilst given the utmost respect, no longer evoke the fear and sense of foreboding prior to sampling that they did years ago - the game has moved on!
What I loved about Endorphn Rush! was the fact that it had such an amazing flavour as well as some serious heat. Now many people bang on about flavour AND heat but it's a very difficult thing to balance. Endorphin Rush! was right up there in terms of heat but it certainly had (and still does) a wonderful depth of flavour. I remember sampling it on a barbequed sausage for the first time. The flavour worked so well with barbequed food - the slight sweetness of molasses, the ketchup like texture from the tomato paste base with the hint of soy really brought out the flavour of the food....momentarily.....until I was engulfed in the flames of the Endorphin Rush!
Probably one of the best names in the hot sauce world but where did that name come from? When you eat hot sauces false pain messages are sent from the tongue to the brain which then floods the body with it's natural pain killers, called endorphins. A large, fast release of this can lead to a rush or high similar to that of morphine - if you take enough - and that's called an Endorphin Rush!
Rumour has it that long distance lorry drivers in the USA were using this sauce to keep them awake on long journeys! I know that the recipe has been kept exactly the same since it was first made and the manufacturers purposely didn't increase the heat to compete in the hot sauce heat race. A good move in my opinion as the flavour and heat balance is still wonderful.
If you haven't tried this sauce then you really are missing out on a piece of hot sauce history and also on a damned fine condiment!
Ingredients: Tomato paste, water, pepper extract, vinegar, sugar, molasses, soy sauce.
Here's a review which you can see on our website - I think it speaks volumes!
Taste Sensation: I've been using Endorphin Rush in my cooking for more years than I care to remember, probably from about the time Hot Heads started! And though I have tasted a wide variety of super hot chilli sauces, I always come back to old faithful. Try it, it will blow your socks off
Over the coming weeks I'll be taking a walk down memory lane with Dave's Insanity, Blair's After Death Sauce and Mad Dog Inferno as well as a few other original super hots that are still around today.
When we first started in this crazy business there were four distinct products that were known as the hottest of the hot. Dave's Insanity Sauce, Blair's After Death Sauce, Mad Dog Inferno and Endorphin Rush. Back then people's tolerance for heat was measured by a well known brand of Louisiana hot sauce or the odd Caribbean sauce brought back from holiday. People were absolutely blown away by the heat and intensity of these new super hot sauces. To most serious Hot-Headz! nowadays these original trail blazers, whilst given the utmost respect, no longer evoke the fear and sense of foreboding prior to sampling that they did years ago - the game has moved on!
What I loved about Endorphn Rush! was the fact that it had such an amazing flavour as well as some serious heat. Now many people bang on about flavour AND heat but it's a very difficult thing to balance. Endorphin Rush! was right up there in terms of heat but it certainly had (and still does) a wonderful depth of flavour. I remember sampling it on a barbequed sausage for the first time. The flavour worked so well with barbequed food - the slight sweetness of molasses, the ketchup like texture from the tomato paste base with the hint of soy really brought out the flavour of the food....momentarily.....until I was engulfed in the flames of the Endorphin Rush!
Probably one of the best names in the hot sauce world but where did that name come from? When you eat hot sauces false pain messages are sent from the tongue to the brain which then floods the body with it's natural pain killers, called endorphins. A large, fast release of this can lead to a rush or high similar to that of morphine - if you take enough - and that's called an Endorphin Rush!
Rumour has it that long distance lorry drivers in the USA were using this sauce to keep them awake on long journeys! I know that the recipe has been kept exactly the same since it was first made and the manufacturers purposely didn't increase the heat to compete in the hot sauce heat race. A good move in my opinion as the flavour and heat balance is still wonderful.
If you haven't tried this sauce then you really are missing out on a piece of hot sauce history and also on a damned fine condiment!
Ingredients: Tomato paste, water, pepper extract, vinegar, sugar, molasses, soy sauce.
Here's a review which you can see on our website - I think it speaks volumes!
Taste Sensation: I've been using Endorphin Rush in my cooking for more years than I care to remember, probably from about the time Hot Heads started! And though I have tasted a wide variety of super hot chilli sauces, I always come back to old faithful. Try it, it will blow your socks off
Over the coming weeks I'll be taking a walk down memory lane with Dave's Insanity, Blair's After Death Sauce and Mad Dog Inferno as well as a few other original super hots that are still around today.
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