Bottom Line: El Yucateco’s XXXtra Hot Habanero definitely brings the heat, but also good taste as it achieves that sweet spot where Fire meets Flavor.
El Yucateco is a Mexican company that started small way back in 1968 but has since grown into a worldwide brand with its hot sauces widely available. They make several varieties of hot sauces, and I have enjoyed all of the ones I have tried. But the one that I always have in the pantry as a go-to is the XXXtra Hot Habanero Sauce.
This sauce is a blend of habaneros, tomatoes, and seasonings, and for me, it strikes the perfect balance of taste and heat. It definitely has a strong taste of habanero, which is one of the most flavorful chilis and my particular favorite. (What? You don’t have a favorite chili pepper?) It also has a nice tang and somewhat of a rich, roasted flavor, even though there is no indication that they roast the chilis. This is a water-based sauce as opposed to vinegar-based sauces like Tabasco, but you wouldn’t know it because it has a similar tang; most likely from the citric acid.
Heat-wise, this is El Yucateco’s hottest sauce, coming in at 11,600 Scoville units according to their website. It definitely packs a punch, coming in above Hot on my scale, but the heat does not overwhelm. The taste still comes through and acts as a nice complement to the burn that follows. The average mortal will probably not be able to handle more than a small amount of this, but chiliheads should definitely be satisfied. This sauce comes in right at that sweet point where flavor meets fire, and I count it as one of my all-time favorites. I add it to the usual things like tacos, eggs, burgers, and more, but it has plenty of uses. Add it into a chili or stew to give a nice kick, or try something unexpected like putting a few drops into spaghetti sauce.
For those who may not be ready for this level of heat yet, I recommend starting with their Red Habanero Sauce. That is basically the same ingredients (plus the red dye to give it color), but with fewer habaneros because it comes in at about half the heat (5,790 Scoville units). The taste is similar, and it still has some good heat. Consider it a starter habanero sauce. The green sauce is in between the two in heat and has a slight variation in flavor because they add garlic to that. Some have a hard time dealing with that one, though, because of its nuclear green color (courtesy of the combination of Blue Dye Number 1 and Yellow Dye Number 5).
El Yucateco got its start as a small family business but has since grown into a well-known producer of hot sauce. You can pretty much always find their sauces on the store shelves in Texas, and if you can’t find any at your local market, they are widely available online. One of the nice things about their sauces is that they are very economically priced. While many gourmet sauces can cost as much as ten bucks or more, El Yucateco sells its sauces for about two to three bucks a bottle. (They might go for a little more online unless you buy in bulk. So buy in bulk!) They also have a jalapeño sauce and chipotle sauce among their selections in case you are looking for something milder. But for a truly hot sauce with plenty of taste (that’s also easy on the budget), you can’t do much better than their XXXtra Hot Habanero.