Customer Reviews

Cholula Hot Sauce From Mexico, 12 fl oz

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

According to its makers, Cholula has been available in Mexico for three generations and imported to the U.S. for about 12 years. Named after a region of Mexico known for its ruins and ancient sites, Cholula is quickly becoming a hot sauce staple in the U.S. The bottle is a classic, with the yellow label, picture of a woman, and wood cap (the wood contains a plastic cap so that the sauce won't be contaminated).

The main ingredient of Cholula is the piquin pepper (also sometimes spelled "pequin"), which is a dried chile with the formal name "capsicum annuum." In terms of flavor, Cholula is definitely distinctive. The dried chiles add a slightly smoky essence with more dimension than Tabasco or similar hot sauces. The heat level is fairly moderate, which allows the sauce to season your food while not overwhelming it. However, the sauce sometimes seems a little watery or bland.

Cholula adds great flavor to a variety of foods, although I like it best on scrambled eggs; a plethora of recipes are available on the official website. With only 20mg of sodium per teaspoon, Cholula is one of the best sauces available for persons trying to avoid sodium. However, it may taste a bit plain to persons who enjoy a high salt content in their hot sauce.

(First of all, somebody is chasing me around and negging all my reviews so don't pay any
attention to that one NO vote.)

This is one of the best easily available hot sauces for regular people with normal tolerance
for spice.

Cholula uses a blend of arbol and piquin peppers. Piquin peppers are actually very spicy, so I'd
imagine that the amount of pepper per batch is fairly low, because this sauce has no spice at all
for Heat Freaks like me, but a decent little kick for regular civilians. I would compare the spice
to a low-level, mild kick, similar to a standard Tabasco sauce or vinegar/cayenne/arbol pepper
combination.

What it lacks in burning heat, it makes up for in solid flavor. Like basically all hot sauces, it
has a tangy vinegar base but contains a generous amount of spice for a robust, smokey tomato sort of
flavor. Piquin peppers are very flavorful in addition to being hot. I think they did an excellent job
of retaining flavor, even if they downplayed the spice.

If you live on the planet Earth, you're in luck. Cholula is available just about everywhere. I'd honestly
like to push for this sauce to become the go-to hot sauce instead of the less flavorful, just-as-spicy
Tabasco sauce. This sauce's wooden cap makes it stand out just a bit more than the standard hot sauces
gracing the shelves of grocery stores and bodegas. Can be found locally for under $3.

Good for pizza, salsas, chicken, steaks, sandwiches...with xanthan gum thickening this sauce, it works
really well as a strong alternative to ketchup or mustard without being like either one of those. Very
low heat rating so conditioned for most palates. If you are looking for flavor more than spice, this is
a great alternative to Louisiana style sauces. I highly recommend it! BTW, after rediscovering this great
sauce (after 20 years as a Tabasco snob) I have upgraded this review to .....5 Scovies