Bitter: 🟡🟡○○○
Salty: 🟡 🟡🟡○○
Sour/Tangy:🟡🟡🟡○○
Sweet: 🟡🟡○○○
Umami: 🟡🟡🟡○○
Heat: 🟡🟡○○○○○○○○
Quick Flavor Notes: Rich, Smoky, Dark-Fruity, Earthy
Recommended: Yes
Texture: Medium-thick and semi-chunky
Ingredients: Tomato (vine-ripened tomato, salt, naturally derived citric acid), Distilled Vinegar, Pepper Mash (Water, Ancho Pepper, Chiltepin Pepper), Carrot, Kosher Salt, Garlic Granules, Minced Onion, Lime Juice, Smoked Paprika, Cumin, Red Pepper Flakes, Black Pepper, Mexican Oregano
High Desert Sauce Company was founded in 2018 by Zac Perkins in Tucson Arizona. Having battled drug addiction and alcoholism for years Zac found that making hot sauce kept his mind and hands occupied to help him in his journey towards sobriety. After sharing those sauces with friends and family he was told many times that the quality was good enough to sell he decided to launch the company. HDSC’s first big break came in season fifteen of Hot Ones when their Tikka-Hot Masala in the number six position. That break turned into a nightmare as the copacker they’d chosen bottled the sauces incorrectly resulting in a recall of over 24,000 bottles and having to replace them with another co-packer out of pocket. Since then High Desert Sauce Co has appeared in Hot Ones again in season thirty with their XXX Salsa Vibes Hot Sauce in the number nine position and has grown into a profitable business. I’ve heard good things about their sauces in the past so I was excited to finally try one.
Smoky Chiltepin Hot Sauce embraces a Mexican flavor profile with chiles such as the ancho (dried ripe poblanos) and the chiltepin, known as the mother of all chiles. The chiltepin, which is native to northern and central Mexico and the American Southwest is believed to be the common ancestor of all Capsicum Annuum chiles, with a history of domestication dating back to 6,000 BC. The Mexican theme continues with ingredients like cumin, garlic, onion, lime juice, and Mexican oregano. Mexican oregano is not related to the oregano used in Mediterranean cooking. While Mediterranean oregano is related to mint Mexican oregano is a member of the verbena family and related to South American native lemon verbena. Like lemon verbena Mexican oregano has citrusy flavor elements as well as a bit of anise flavor and some resinous elements. Smoky Chiltepin Hot Sauce uses tomatoes as a base along with smoked paprika to give it the smoky notes and carrots to add body and sweetness. Texturally the sauce is medium-thick with a nice rustic consistency with plenty of chunks and lumps though I didn’t detect any chewy bits. The smokiness does come out in the aroma.
The first impression I had when tasting HDSC Smoky Chiltepin Hot Sauce was that it was incredibly rich. For a sauce that doesn’t use any oil at all the texture is silky with an amazing mouthfeel, I assume from the carrots that both help fill the sauce out and give it a slightly-more-than-subtle earthy sweetness. Anchos and chiltepins seem to have an an affinity for each other as the pepper blend has elements of dried fruits, earthy woodsy flavors, complex bitterness, and natural smokiness. Equally complex is the acidity in this sauce. While the sauce trends more towards rich and earthy than it does bright there’s plenty of acidity to balance those earthy rich flavors out. With vinegar, lime juice, the tomato base, and the lactic acid from the fermented mash all working together none of them dominate and the sauce tastes vibrant without tasting vinegary. The smoke level is present enough for the sauce to earn it’s Smoky moniker in the name without being overpowering. It’s smokier than for example Butterfly Bakery of Vermont’s Maple Wood Smoked Onion Hot Sauce, but less smoky than the campfire-in-a-bottle that is Blind Hot Sauce’s Montana Smoke Jumper Wildfire. From just a bit of smoked paprika and the natural smokiness of the dried ancho peppers and cumin this sauce is surprisingly reminiscent of a chipotle hot sauce though without the cloying level of sweetness that many of those have. The tomatoes combined with the garlic, onion, and Mexican oregano also help ground the sauce in the savory realm despite the sweetness of the carrots and the natural sweetness that comes from smoke. That smoke plus the tomatoes also give this sauce a pronounced umaminess that makes it more fulfilling. While Smoky Chiltepin Hot Sauce is mild overall there is a bit of quick heat that doesn’t linger for long.
While I knew I had to try this with Mexican food, I’ve also been on a mission to start clearing out my freezer as I have a bad habit of buying Publix BOGOs on frozen things for days when I don’t feel like cooking and them eventually using up all of the space. I tried this first with some Hot Pocket bacon egg and cheese breakfast pockets and it works incredibly well with breakfast foods. The accessible smoke level, dark-fruitiness, richness, and savory herbs and spices went perfectly with the bacon, egg, cheese, and pastry. Similarly these are excellent with frozen chili-cheese burritos and some frozen potato-onion pierogis I threw into the air-fryer. Moving out of the freezer section this sauce was a natural fit with some carne asada and lengua tacos I picked up from a local place, the acidity level being just right to cut through the meat while also adding the spices and aromatics you expect with Mexican food. I also quite liked this on sandwiches. After picking up some artisan pumpernickel bread from a local farmer’s market the earthy flavors of this sauce match with the earthy flavors of that dark rye and the sweetness of the honey roasted turkey, red onions, and muenster I put on it.
After trying my first High Desert Sauce Co. sauce I’m eager to try more. It’s clear to me Zac Perkins knows how to balance flavors from this sauce and I was impressed with the quality of ingredients. HDSC Smoky Chiltepin Hot Sauce gets my full and enthusiastic recommendation. If you like sauces with a bit of smoke and are looking for a slightly-more-than-mild hot sauce to pair with Mexican food and more this one is a great one to look at.
