Grace Foods proudly wraps itself in a blanket of of Caribbean pride. And why not? Producing foods from their central location in Kingston, Jamaica, Grace promises "Genuine Caribbean Taste, Enjoyed Worldwide." They have a heavy double edged sword to carry, however; on the one hand, Jamaica's climate makes it ideal for growing some of the hottest, sweetest, craziest peppers know to man. On the other, Grace Foods doesn't have its heart and mind in hot sauce, but rather spread thin across a wide selection of typical grocery items; it seems that without a strong focus on hot sauce, this "very hot" sauce falls very flat.
Let's look at the facts: Scotch Bonnet peppers are a cultivar of the habanero. A cultivar is a plant that has been given a unique name based on unique characteristics but is still part of a specific family. Pepperheads may know this, and also know that it usually runs between 100,000 and 350,000 Scoville units. That killer heat comes fresh from the Caribbean islands, where the pepper's unique sweet heat gives flavor to many traditional dishes from the area. These tropical goodies have nothing to do with their namesake dark, rainy Scotland; they actually get their name from their odd resemblance to Tam O'Shanter hats. Never wear a Scotch Bonnet on your head. Grace's "very hot" hot sauce claims that it has peppers, cane vinegar, water, and salt...yet the bottle has a bounty of Scotch Bonnet peppers bedazzling it with their bright colors and promise of serious burn. Do not believe this filthy lie! Grace Foods is far more interested in making mediocre foods for the masses than concentrating on a really great hot sauce for, well, hot sauce lovers.
Good Hurts: None here. This runny sauce is almost a carbon copy of Tabassco, which will get no love here on Good Hurts. The spice is a wimpy drop in a salty, watery bucket. Very conventional, very boring, and, unfortuantely, a flavor that's dramatically overexposed here in the USA already.
Flavor: Too much vinegar and water with anything can produce a bit of a stinky foot smell, and that's what you get when you open this bottle. The spice is weak, the sauce is little thicker than water, and you won't taste any sweetness of Scotch Bonnet. There's a chance they just used a pinch of cayenne pepper like Tabassco does and subtely advertised otherwise.
Availability: What is interesting about this otherwise bland sauce, however, is that where you find Caribbean communities, whether small neighborhoods of Haitians, Trinidadians, Caymanians, or Jamaicans, you are bound to find Grace products. Some other time I'll review Grace's Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce, which is actually quite good! I found this sauce in Brooklyn (Bed Stuy) in a little bodega. Grace's Caribbean pride seems to work its way into any solid area that might be looking for Caribbean pride. Of course, they have a very generic website as well.
Good for: I feel that hot sauces like this, Tabassco, and lousier Louisana sauces are best when the flavor is as muted as possible and the little spark of heat can add the oh-so-slightest kick for spice beginners. I'm thinking Bloody Marys, pizza sauce, or party dips packed with tons of flavorful ingrediants.
Review:
Heat: 1/2 star
Flavor: *
My Review: 2.6
Grace makes this and one other OFFICIAL Scotch Bonnet Sauce. Get that one. This sauce isn't worth your time, efforts, or taste buds.
Actually, I love this stuff! I'm by no means a hot sauce connoisseur, but I know what I like and what I don't, and I sure like this stuff. Comparing it to Tabasco is no fair. This stuff has some heat, and it has lots of flavor, unlike Old Crappy. Sure, it falls in the more vinegary-style sauce camp, but I think it has more going on for it than you give it credit for.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe you just know about the really good stuff and I'm just missing out :-D
I agree with Ry-Fi. Grace hot pepper sauce is great tasting and it does have heat. It's not Tabasco, but I like that too. It's far hotter than your average Louisiana hot sauce.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'd have to agree that this sauce actually does pack some heat, and it's very efficient at doing so!
ReplyDeleteThis is a bang-for-your-buck sauce, and it beats a $10 bottle of Blair's Original Death Sauce hands down.
I agree. This sauce is hot and very flavorful.
ReplyDeleteI agree. This sauce is hot and very flavorful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other commenters. It is a very standard tasting sauce, sure, but for that reason it is my office/travel go-to. Plus, my tastebuds have a preference for tarter flavours, so a vinegary sauce is my preferred one anyway.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Unknown from 2013; this sauce is CHEAP and reasonably hot.
ReplyDeleteIf you're on the go, you don't have the time or the space or the inclination to cook your own meals with your own bulk-bought habenero powder...this is a quick and easy source of heat that beats the competition in terms of bang for buck SHU. A $1.29 bottle will give you the same level and volume of heat a $5 bottle from any other company will.
It's not very tasty. In that respect it is mediocre. It's just hot, and cheap.
If you cook your own meals, I definitely recommend some form of crushed/powdered peppers...but for those on the go times or for garnishes/burger toppings/etc... this one is a pretty decent offering.
I'd rather just slather the hell out of a burger with sriracha or gochujang...but Grace will do in a pinch, especially in combination with another particularly flavorful sauce, like a hot mustard or thousand island dressing.
Fantastic in tomato juice.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that bad. I love it on eggs, but not much else. It does have a place in a rotation like many other sauces. But you have peeked my interest and plan to read more of your reviews. Sounds like have some experience which is more than I can say. Watch the date Dec 29th 2017. I have a feeling I will regret saying it is not that bad. I also hope to find some outstanding Hot sauce in my travels.
ReplyDeleteAnd... another Grace's fan. Nice natural ingredients, does have some heat, quite a way Crystal or similar.
ReplyDeleteThe Grace Habanero Pepper Sauce I buy comes from Colombia, not Jamaica, and it is made from the Red Savina varietal, not the Scotch Bonnet. But this is 2018 and your original write-up was from 2011, so maybe they changed it.
ReplyDeleteDifferent sauce dude.
DeleteRe the above ⇑ I'm referring to this one ᎓
ReplyDeletebit.ly/GraceHabanero
This review is terrible. This guy knows nothing about hot sauce. This sauce is a vinegar sauce with a very specific place in cuisine; it's meant to be eaten with fatty, heavy foods as the acidic vinegar cuts the fat to brighten up dishes like fried foods. This is why other brands like Crystal, Rooster and Tabasco are popular in the south (and Jamaica) so it can soak into heavy foods. For a vinegar sauce (which aren't meant to be firey), this sauce packs a lot of heat.
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to write about food you should at least learn something before you go embarrassing yourself. You know nothing about sauce.
If I ever go to Jamaica I want to tour the Grace plant. I put this $&/# on everything! Love Grace
ReplyDeleteI love this sauce too. It's great on eggs, noodles, anything you need to kick up a little bit. I think it's good for what it is, a vinager sauce. I prefer it to the thicker style sauces anyday. For 1-2$ it does the trick and packs a nice, not uncomfortable heat.
ReplyDeleteThis is a terrible review. I am not a hot sauce fanboy, but I have dabbled more than most and I have to say that comparing this to Tabasco is a farce! Yes it is true, this sauce is not the hottest and it is a bit vinegary, but it definitely has more pop and flavour than Tabasco. Grace's Hot Pepper Sauce is a great everyday sause even for the most experienced connoisseurs and on top of that it is cheaper than most too!
ReplyDeleteThis review is awful and this site should be called "bad hurts". Please never review anything again
ReplyDeleteI totally disagree with this blog post. What a crock of horseshit really. I like a lot of different hot sauces, but when I'm eating pizza or BBQ, I like to grab a bottle of Tabasco or Grace Hot Pepper Sauce - Very Hot and splash some on my food. I like the taste of it. Doesn't smell like a stinky foot (maybe you were smelling your own breath blowing back in your face *shrug*) As the previous person commented here, this review is awful and maybe you should change the name to 'Butt Hurts. And please...never review anything again.
ReplyDelete