Grace Scotch Bonnet Sauce: One of Jamaica's best exports.

Immediately below is my review of Grace's Hot Pepper Sauce, which ranked in at a tragic 2.6. This sauce, however, blows its baby brother away with a raw, firey world of Scotch Bonnet flavor. This is about as basic as you can get, though it does seem to straddle the line a bit between hot sauce and condiment. When the sweet (Jamaican) smoke is cleared, however, this is not only a hot sauce, but a great hot sauce that's made to be enjoyed.

Let's look at the facts: I already said a lot about Scotch Bonnets in my last review of Grace Foods and their hot sauce lost in an overwhelming list of products. Scotch Bonnets are relatives of habaneros, but if habaneros are the serious, hard working pepper plugged into so many independant American hot sauces, Scotch Bonnets are their laid-back island cousin, just as hot but more relaxed and sweeter towards the worlds of spice and flavor. Scotch Bonnets would rather look silly and taste tropical than merely kill you with spice. This sauce, a colorful yellow, is Grace's best condiment by a long shot. The simple mashing of Scotch Bonnets (with some slight flavor accentuators) really captures the heat of the islands and flavor of a solid hot sauce.

Good Hurts: In the description on their website, Grace promises a challenge. "Add a drop or two to food for a truely serious pepper experience," it claims, though hot freaks may need to up this number by a few shakes of the bottle. This sauce does have a minor tropical blast (which you can see a major version of in my Dave's video) which won't floor you at once, but provides a long lingering burn cycle that will continue as long as you keep eating the sauce (well, duh, I guess). You will, however, still be able to taste your food-- a plus in a world of dangerous, murderous sauces lurking around every corner. It's hot enough to hang with some of the bad boys, but the flavor outshines the heat in the end.

Flavor: This is where the sauce gets unique. Sweet, rich, hot, and delicious, this sauce will absolutely not dissappoint. The double-punch of cane vinegar and cane sugar/citric acid give the sauce fruity tropical hints and a tangy, acidic flavor. The sauce becomes tricky when you factor in the fact that it contains modified starch and ascorbic acid. These ingrediants thicken the sauce, gelling it a bit so that it seems like crushed peppers in a sauce the consistancy of a heavier BBQ sauce. This is not a bad thing at all, but be prepared to feel like you're eating a hot sauce masquerading as a thick condiment. Flavor is spot on, but consistancy is a bit unnatural for a traditional hot sauce.

Availability: Like its little brother, the plain ol' Grace hot sauce, this sauce will show up where there are Caribbean folk to enjoy it. Grace seems to be a major supplier of groceries in the islands and that carries over to this country. Big cities (particularly NYC) are a good bet, as well as, of course, on the Grace Foods website.

Good for: I love this sauce on cold pizza and pizza crust. However, because it has such a bright, sunshine taste, I think it can replace/accentuate Caribbean dishes which tend to use jerk spice (also made from Scotch Bonnets). If you have a sandwich with sweeter ingrediants, this sauce is for you. If you have a mango or pineapple salsa, this sauce is a must-have tag team partner.

Review:
Heat: ***
Flavor: ****
My Review: 8.4/10

Skip anything else from Grace with the words "hot" or "sauce" in the title. This simple crushed Scotch Bonnet blend is bliss.