I had a request last week for an article on hot sauce. So I am going to take up the challenge and do the first (and maybe last) on the "Pain is Good" line of blended hot sauces.
These sauces are made like fine beer in micro breweries. All of the Pain is Good varieties are made in numbered micro batches, using all-natural ingredients that show. The first thing about Pain is Good sauces I noticed was the intense freshness of the sauce. No preservatives makes all the difference in the world, and when you’re using the kinds of ingredients these sauces uses, you’re getting a beautiful sauce in every aspect.
First the hottest of the three, Garlic Style. This one has a vivid bright orange color and it’s packed with seeds, garlic, onion, and pepper pieces. The pepper in residence here is the respectable habanero. As the name implies, garlic is the star of the show, but it shares the stage with the habanero to deliver an overall hot garlicky flavor that is downright addictive.
Other ingredients in this sauce include lemon and lime juice, mustard, mustard seed, white vinegar, paprika, carrots, salt, additional spices, and a touch of olive oil. These ingredients are perfectly balanced with the garlic and habaneros, delivering an explosive round of heat that is very quickly soothed by the delightful flavor. The heat will linger for a while on your lips, and you may even notice some swelling, dang that's hot!
I use Pain is Good Garlic Style with chimichangas, tacos, and in chili. It’sgood enough to be a table sauce at your house, used at just about every meal of the day, breakfast on eggs, lunch on a wrap, and supper with rice and beans.
Second up to the taste test is Louisiana Style – Crack this bottle open and take a whiff. You immediately get a sense that you’re in for something that is going to taste awesome. The aroma that wafts from the bottle to lovingly caress your nostrils is pleasant and mouth watering.
The ingredient list here starts with habanero and cayenne peppers. There’s some lime juice, seasoned salt, Worcestershire sauce, onion, garlic, brown sugar, and liquid smoke to go along with it. Combine all these wonderful ingredients in an easily pourable sauce loaded with pepper seeds and vibrant red coloring and you have a down-on-the-bayou flavor explosion that will add a splash of fire and flavor to anything you want to use it on. Believe me when I say, there is nothing you won’t want to use this on. I can’t say enough about the balance of taste and heat. This is one you have to take my word on and pick up for yourself. One bottle isn’t going to do the trick.
The brown sugar adds a hint of sweet, but the star of this show is the combination of peppers along with the Worcestershire sauce. For me, the addition of Worcestershire to any hot sauce (if done properly) is a plus. This one uses it to full advantage. As for combining peppers, there’s an art to it, and the Pain is Good sauce line knows how to get it done.
Macaroni and cheese never tasted better than it does with a splash or two of the Louisiana Hot Sauce. Neither has cheese pizza, or any pizza for that matter. That probably goes without saying. You don’t need to stick with Louisiana-style cuisine to make full use of this sauce. It is a welcome addition to breakfast on my eggs and in my breakfast sandwiches. Mexican dishes benefit from a few splashes as well. You could easily also use it as a straight steak sauce.
Third, but by no means the least, is the Jamaican Style Hot Sauce. This sauce has nice heat factor and a great Jamaican taste going on here. Lemon, lime juice, and pineapple juices, habaneros peppers, salt, garlic puree, onions, tomato paste, and Jamaican jerk seasoning bring this sauce to life. There’s an extremely pleasant aroma when you open the bottle, a respectable heat level, a sweet undercurrent, and a beautiful colored sauce loaded with habanero pepper seeds.
Let me start with the heat level and flavor combination. The heat spreads rather quickly and evenly. It burns. There’s no doubt about it. This is where pain and pleasure come together. I am convinced that the company took it's name from this blend. There’s an underlying Jamaican tropical type sweetness that gives this sauce high marks in my book. Despite the fire that bursts across your tongue and down into your belly within seconds of ingesting this wonderful concoction, the tantalizing taste will have you eating more. And more. And more. It's so good, and so painful that it's hard to stop eating it. The heat will get you sweating, and the Jamaican Hot Sauuce is the only one of the three that makes the top of my head hurt, but in a good way. It’s delicious there’s just no other way to say it.
The Jamaican flavors that mingle with the peppers here. The pineapple juice adds a particularly attractive flavor element that can’t be stated enough.
If the Jamaican or tropical taste is appealing to you, and if you’re looking for a sauce that will leave a trail of hot flame in its wake without taking away from beauty of the ingredients, Pain is Good Jamaican Hot Sauce style is the sauce you need to try. Grab two bottles while you’re at it, because it’s an almost sure bet you’ll become a fan. I am always sad when I reach the end of the bottle.
Well, that's it! Pain is Good. If you liked the review let me know. I would be happy to review the other sauces we carry and let you know my thoughts. And if we have sold out after this review then at least I know it was effective. Speaking of which I better stock up before you get here. Gotta go!