Bottom Line: The Spicy Gnome’s gourmet sauces are made with all-natural ingredients, taking the flavor to the next level while definitely bringing the heat.
These days there are many, many (many) people out there trying their hand at gourmet, small batch hot sauces in a large part because the market has really expanded for spicy foods. The competition is certainly stiff, and it is hard for some of these small producers to get their names out there. But the true winners here are the people that buy their products because many, many (many) of these craft hot sauces are really quite good.
Case in point is newcomer The Spicy Gnome which has three signature hot sauces for sale at their website and more spicy products available as well. I connected with them via social media and they sent three of their hot sauces for me to sample, all of which I count as big hits. Following is my rundown of each of the sauces I sampled:
Enchanted Flame: This green sauce has a strong green chili taste. Its main peppers are jalapeno and serrano, but it reminds me of sauces that use New Mexico, Hatch, or Anaheim chilis. There are some ghost peppers and habaneros in there as well that help kick up the heat, and it has a nice tang with the taste of cilantro in the background. This is a more subtle sauce and the flavors may get lost if you add it to a dish with bold flavors. But I found it paired very well with eggs and grilled chicken breast. (I imagine it would go well with grilled shrimp as well). Heatwise, I would put this one between Mild and Medium.
Fine Hot Sauce: This is a tangy red sauce not dissimilar to Cholula, though with less Mexican spice and a more complex flavor. The main chili is the Fresno, with Habanero and Ghost Peppers added to give a boost to the heat. That makes for a good combination that brings a full flavor, and this would be a good all-purpose hot sauce that should go well with anything that needs a kick of spice. I would put this at or above Medium on the heat scale.
Dragon’s Tears: My favorite of the three hot sauces, this one has a distinct habanero flavor to it which just happens to be the first chili on the ingredient list (and my particular favorite pepper). It also has a richness to it which I assume comes from the olive oil (not a typical ingredient for hot sauce). Plus, there is that little something extra in the taste which I am guessing comes from the pickled carrots that are part of the sauce (there seems to be a hint of cumin which may come from those carrots as it is not part of the ingredients list). When you first taste this sauce, it does not seem too hot, but as with many habanero-based sauces, it sneaks up on you. I would place it beyond the Hot level and approaching Fiery. It definitely pairs well with beef or chicken fajitas and would actually go well with quite a number of dishes if you want to amp up the heat and give an extra boost of flavor.
These sauces are made from all-natural ingredients, and each has its own interesting combination of flavors that makes it stand out. They do not use vinegar but work with a fresh citrus base instead. That gives a similar tang, but not quite as overpowering as some vinegar-based sauces can be. You will probably want to store these in the fridge once you have opened them unless you work your way through them pretty quickly (which I am currently doing).
The Enchanted Flame and Fine Hot Sauce sell for seven bucks per 5 oz bottle, and the Dragon’s Tears is a buck more. That’s actually a bargain for gourmet hot sauces as I see similar products selling for ten dollars or more on a regular basis. The shipping costs are set at a flat rate of $4.99 and the sauces are available to order from their website with more products on the way. The trio sampler of sauces runs nineteen bucks and that would certainly make a good gift item for someone who likes spicy foods, and definitely a better choice than those generic sets you find in big-box stores and gift shops. (Read more about why you should avoid those here.)
There may be plenty of hot sauces to choose from these days on the grocery store shelves, but with all the gourmet options available, I recommend checking further than your local market. They may be a bit harder to track down and cost a little extra, but the best of these are certainly worth it. I would put The Spicy Gnome’s sauces in that category (especially the Dragon’s Tears), and I look forward to future offerings coming from this company which includes rubs and seasonings, BBQ sauces, and jerky.