Bottom Line: The variety pack from Hoff’s delivers some quality hot sauces with that next level of taste and they bring the heat as well. This is a perfect gift for the holiday season.
It is the gift-giving time of year, and as I said in a recent post, don’t be giving people those cheap hot sauce sets that you find in big-box stores and gift shops. Instead, if you know somebody that likes spicy foods, give them a craft hot sauce gift set. It may cost a little more, but they will certainly appreciate it, and I have a pretty darn good recommendation for you right here.
I recently reviewed the Hoff’s Smoken Ketchup (you can read that here), something that I received in hand-picked a gift set (the best type!) with multiple craft sauces. The good people over at Hoff’s were kind enough to send me a variety pack of their sauces to sample, and I eagerly popped those open because I was already quite impressed with their spicy ketchup. This set includes four 3.4 oz bottles of their signature sauces and provides a good sampling of their products. Here is my rundown on each of the sauces:
Your Everyday Hot Sauce: This one is made with Red Jalapeno, Habanero, and Chipotle peppers. It has a good tang with a bit of smokiness in the background. It is a vinegar-based sauce, but not to the point that the vinegar is overpowering. Everyday sauce is certainly a good description for this because I could see a bottle becoming a fixture on my table. It is somewhere between a Louisiana-style sauce and a Buffalo sauce, but with that next-level taste that comes from using quality ingredients. The heat is above Mild level, though not quite all the way to Medium. But it still delivers a good kick.
Mean Green Sauce: This one uses Green Jalapenos and Habaneros to bring the heat. It starts with a very rich taste and finishes off with a nice tang. It has the good Jalapeno flavor you expect from a green sauce, but there is a citrusy herbaceousness to it as well. Sure enough, lemongrass and parsley are in the ingredients to give it that little something extra. But not to the point that they overtake the other flavors. They just add a nice brightness and freshness to the sauce. The Mean Green Sauce has a uniqueness to it that I really like, and I see being able to use this with a lot of different cuisines. Heat-wise, it is real similar to the Everyday Hot Sauce.
Smoken Ghost Hot Sauce: This one is the highlight of an already excellent hot sauce set. The smokiness of the Chipotles hits right away and compliments that raisiny taste you expect from the dried Ghost Peppers that are the main focus. There is not much sweetness here, but that is okay because the richness and tang help to carry the flavors. This is definitely a bold sauce that can kick things up when you want some smokey heat. And speaking of the heat, that burn hits right away and this one is quickly up to the Hot heat level and heading to Insane. It doesn’t quite make it all the way to the latter, but this sauce will please those who like it hot.
Original BBQ Sauce: I mentioned above that the Smoken Ghost Sauce does not have much sweetness, and that is because they saved it for their BBQ sauce. You get the sweet right away, but it is definitely not cloying and the smokiness balances it out perfectly. Then there is a nice onion flavor in the background to give it a good finish. This is a thicker sauce as you would expect and it will certainly kick up any meats you put on the grill. The bottle does not specify what chilis are used, but I am guessing habaneros are in there and possibly a ghost pepper or two because this brings the heat. I would put this beyond Medium level and heading towards Hot.
The variety pack retails for $50 on the HoffandPepper.com website plus shipping, though it is currently on sale for $30. That is a bit pricey, but you expect to pay more for craft sauces made with quality ingredients. This is a much better value in my opinion than the $10 to $20 set that was made in China, and it is made here in the U.S. in Chattanooga Tennessee. You can check Hoff’s website for deals, and they do offer free shipping on order over $49. (I can easily reach that amount!) You can also buy individual bottles if one or more of these sauces pique your interest.
I highly recommend the Hoff sauces, even if you just buy a bottle or two, because these are made with care and in small batches and they deliver quality taste with some nice heat. And keep an eye out in the coming weeks for more spicy gift recommendations as we approach the holiday season.
Explore the Hoff & Pepper Website
Tale of the Tape:
Every Day Hot Sauce
Ingredients: Red Jalapeño, Habanero, Chipotle, Salt, Vinegar, and Garlic
Serving Size: 1 tsp (4g)
Calories: 0
Fat: 0g (0g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 0g
Carbs: 0g
Sodium: 60mg
Mean Green Sauce
Ingredients: Green Jalapeño, Habanero, Vinegar, Salt, Parsley, Lemongrass, Onion, and Garlic
Serving Size: 1 tsp (4g)
Calories: 0
Fat: 0g (0g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 0g
Carbs: 0g
Sodium: 60mg
Smoken Ghost Hot Sauce
Ingredients: Red Jalapeño, Habanero, Chipotle, Ghost, Salt, Vinegar, and Garlic
Serving Size: 1 tsp (4g)
Calories: 0
Fat: 0g (0g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 0g
Carbs: 0g
Sodium: 60mg
Original BBQ Sauce
Ingredients: Tomatoes, Vinegar, Cane Sugar, Water, Molasses, Salt, Fresh Chiles, Garlic, Onion, Spices, and Smoke Flavor
Serving Size: 2 tbsp (27g)
Calories: 30
Fat: 0g (0g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 0g
Carbs: 8g
Sodium: 290mg