If you look in the refrigerator of every high line chef in your city, you'll find a bottle of Siracha hot sauce. It provides heat without any appreciable taste.
I like all the flavors especially the green. Never tried the sweet and spicy or the buffalo style yet. Looking at the web site I see you can get them in 1 gallon jugs. Now that would be the perfect present for some people on my list!
I grow my own hot peppers, garlic, and tomatoes and make my own very tasty hot sauce (with garlic, cumin, and lime juice). That said, Tabasco Sauce is unique and has a wonderful taste, better than any other commercial sauces I have tried.
Originally Posted By: bigt61
Huy Fong Sriracha - try that and you'll say good bye to Tabasco. (which was good back in the day when there were fewer alternatives)
My local Asian grocery store has 3 brands of Sriracha so I bought all 3 and did a taste test. The one with the rooster was the best tasting one to me. Met a guy in line who was buying the rooster brand. Asked him about it and he said his wife is Asian and told him to make sure to get the rooster brand.
It's good stuff although I would disagree with it's heat without flavor. Habanera is heat without flavor.
I like variety. My favorite Tobasco version is the chipotle sauce. It is not very hot, but adds a nice flavor. I like Louisiana brand habanero sauce as my go-to for adding heat. And, Sriracha has been a staple in my house since the late 90's.
BTW, did you know that Srirachi (The one with the rooster) was actually invented in California? It is "inspired" by Asian sauces, but it's a U.S. product.
I think Crystal is pretty dang good, and you can get a big bottle cheap enough.
I always keep a bottle of Tabasco around because it does have a distinctive flavor in my opinion. Is it true that the number on the bottom side of a Tabasco bottle is how hot the peppers are? Mine has a 22 on the bottom side of the bottle.
I like the Rooster Sriracha sauce too, but If I use too much it will light me on fire! I bought a bottle of Sriracha from an Asian store about a year ago, and everybody in the house liked it better than the Rooster. I think it was the Kum-Lee brand, but I can't remember exactly. It was not as hot as the Rooster.