Hello again all you Hot-Headz!

Sorry for the delay in posting, it's been all go here at Hot-Headz!

If you're following the latest trends in the hot sauce world then you'll know that there has been a hot sauce related bit of news that has rumbled on over the past few months - namely the temporary closure of the Huy Fong Sriracha manufacturing facility in California.

For those of you not familiar with the product, it was one of the first sauces we imported to the UK along with other classics such as Blair's Death Sauces, Dave's Insanity Sauce, Mad Dog Inferno, Endorphin Rush and many others.  Known often just as "Rooster Sauce" because of it's instantly recognisable logo on the iconic squeeze bottle Huy Fong Sriracha is a beautifully balanced simple sauce made with fermented Jalapenos and loads of garlic and we sell a ton of it!

Although there is an apparent shortage of supply in the USA we have plenty of stock here at Hot-Headz! HQ and what's more we have had a gourmet version of a Sriracha sauce made especially for us - and it's a beauty!

Our very own Hot-Headz! Sriracha Garlic Chilli Sauce has a garlic hit and a Jalapeno tingle that's great for virtually all foods.

Sriracha is type of hot sauce named after the coastal city of Si Racha in Eastern Thailand where it is frequently used as a dipping sauce, particularly for seafood. If you like garlic and you like chilli - then you'll love this sauce. Use as an everyday condiment, as a dipping sauce or on the side with all your favourite foods. Add to seafood, splash in your stir fry or add to rice and noodles for a hot garlicky treat!

More hot treats coming your way soon.  In the meantime why not grab yourself a bottle of Sriracha sauce now and see what all the fuss is about?

Have  a Hot Day!

Dr. Hotz!

Well this blog has been a long time coming.  Apologies for the wait to anyone who's interested!  I've actually been eating hot sauce non stop as you might have guessed so I've missed out on sharing lots of my experiences and opinions but I'll try to rectify that from now on.

This week I have mostly been eating.....Hot-Headz! Trinidad Scorpion Hot Sauce

As many UK sauce makers are finding out, it's incredibly hard to make a well balanced sauce with super hot chillies as the bitterness that's often associated with the flavour of such high capsaicin content chilli peppers is often overpowering.

Well our sauce has been tried and tested all over the UK this summer at chilli festivals and shows and has become one of our best selling products during that time.  People are blown away by the amazing fresh flavour and then startled by the heat that follows.  Stunning for a non extract sauce.

How can you describe it?  Well the best way is to say that it's like a Scotch Bonnet on steroids!  Full of fruity, flowery, tropical flavour and big on heat.

I've been topping pizzas with it, adding to soups, splashing it on beans on toast, adding it to sandwiches, lasagna and pasta dishes.  It's a great all rounder and worked very well on a takeaway curry after returning late from a chilli show last weekend.

The only down side is that we won't be able to get another batch made until fresh crops are available in October time.....so buy now to avoid disappointment!

Latest News From Hot-Headz!

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!

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.

New Smoked Mexican Chilli Sauce

Just in from a new company importing authentic products from Mexico comes Gran Luchito.

Described as a "Salsita made with rare smoked Mexican chillies" it's certainly been getting lots of press recently.

Ingredients Mexican Chillies (24%),Safflower Oil, Onions, Dark Agave Nectar, Balsamic Vinegar, Garlic, Vinegar, Salt, Spices

An authentic Mexican smoked chilli paste made in Mexico using chillies that have been ethically sourced directly from local farmers.

When you try the product, the first thing you'll notice is the smoky flavour, but then you'll get the full depth of the flavour; a hint of agave sweetness, perhaps the nuttiness of garlic and off course a medium heat. 

Perfect as either a table sauce or cooking ingredient, Gran Luchito will enhance the flavour of any dish.

Ideas for use include

• Blend with cream cheese 

• Mix with mayonnaise 

• Rub with butter 

• Fry in a wok 

• Stir into creme fraîche 

• Spread onto steak 

• Shake into a Bloody Mary 

• Marinate some chicken 

• Whisk into a gravy 

• Dollop into a stew 

• Spoon onto side of the plate 

Although it has a higher than average price tag, you'll be seduced by the depth of flavour and smoky sweetness.  The intensity of the flavour means that a little goes a long way.

Why not see what all the fuss is about and order a jar today?

http://www.hot-headz.com/chilli-sauce/chipotle-sauce/gran-luchito-rare-mexican-chilli-sauce/

Retro Sweet Heat from Hot-Headz!

Recently someone asked a question on a Facebook page about whether anyone made a Plum hot sauce.  Well we did many years ago!  In fact it was the best seller in the range of tropical fruit sauces that we released at the time.

The range was packed in a "special" bottle for us.  So special in fact that we couldn't re-order and had to change our labels to fit the standard 5oz/148ml bottle all hot sauces used.  You live and you learn eh?

Although chilliheads in the USA may have been getting used to the idea of sweet heat and fruit based chilli sauces, when we launched these in the UK some 12 years ago and told people that the Mango & Pineapple and Kiwi Lime hot pepper sauces were great with ice cream, fruit salads, meringues and pastries they were shocked!  Now that kind of use is mainstream.

The range consisted of:

Burning Passions Plum Hot Pepper Sauce - a delicious blend of plum, tamarind and raisins with chilli.

Mystical Mango & Pineapple Hot Pepper Sauce - a wonderful mix of pineapple, mango, tamarind, red chilli.

Kickin' Kiwi Lime Hot Pepper Sauce - a sharp blast of kiwi, lime and chilli.

Also in the range but not in the sweet heat category we had Scorchin' Scotch Bonnet and Crazy Caribbean which sold very well indeed.  As you can see from the image below, all of these featured my (Dr. Hotz!) mug slap bang on the front of the label with varying degrees of smoke blasting from my ears and nose.  Exciting back in those days but corny in retrospect!

The plum in particular was great with stir fries and good with chicken, duck or lamb.  I think we dropped the line because the market for super hot took off and the flavour of these beauties was lost on the crowds when we were burning people up at shows with the likes of Insanity Sauce, Blair's After Death, Mad Dog Inferno and Endorphin Rush, all of which were so sensationally hot at the time that punters at shows were literally in a frenzy!  Would you fellow Hot-Headz! like to see a return of this range?  If so I promise we'll make the labels better next time around.....

Well I hope you enjoyed this brief trip down memory lane.  There's plenty more where this came from as I've been selling hot sauces for quite a while in case you didn't realise!

If you've found this post interesting please share it with your friends, family, work colleagues and fellow Hot-Headz!

Thanks & Have a Hot Day!

Dr. Hotz!

This week I 'ave mostly been eating.....

Want to know which hot sauces I've been eating this week and what they work well with?  Well you're going to if you read this section!  This week I 'ave mostly been eating.....and you can feel free to tell me which of our products you've been using and what they go well with.