by Bottom Line: Both the Hell’s Passion Habanero and Devil’s Lightning Jolokia hot sauces from Cin Chili & Co. deliver good flavor along with a notable amount of heat.
With so many craft hot sauces out there, it is nice to find some that are made relatively local from time to time. I was in a hot sauce shop in the Houston area and found a couple of different sauces made by Cin Chili & Co., which is based in that town, and I decided to give them both a try. And I definitely scored with this duo as both deliver on the flavor while also bringing a good amount of heat.
The Hell’s Passion has an immediate tang along with some sweetness, and that is followed by a notable peppery kick. It also has a nice richness, likely from the combination of cayenne, red pepper, and black pepper. You don’t get that floral habanero taste, but you definitely get the heat from the chili as this stuff delivers quite a kick. The sauce has some warmth right away, and that builds until it gets to the Fiery range on my scale. I was tasting it with some chips and found myself eating more and more, as this stuff is quite addictive! I could see this going quite well on wings (though have a fire extinguisher nearby!) or added to chicken or seafood that is headed to the grill.
The Devil’s Lightning sauce has a smokiness and sweetness along with some notable tang. It also delivers a peppery kick along with some of that prune taste you get from dried ghost peppers. It starts off hot, though balanced some by the sweetness, and it reminds me of Rustlin’ Rob’s Jolokia sauce (more on that one here). The burn on this sauce goes beyond Fiery on my scale, and you will want to apply this judiciously, but it does add good flavor. I could see using this with chicken or fish or maybe adding some to a pot of Chili con Carne. But what I really want to try is this on a hamburger fresh off the grill, as I believe it would go well with the ground beef and kick the heat up quite nicely.
I found the sauces at Simply Texas Gourmet Foods in Old Town Spring (a good place for spicy food lovers), which is in the north part of Houston. And it is available in other gourmet shops across the country according to this locator. You can also buy directly from their website, and the Hell’s Passion Habanero sells for $8.99 a bottle, while the Devil’s Lightning Jolokia costs $11.99—both of which are reasonable for craft sauces of this quality.
