Hot Sauce Diaries numero seis. Today, we’re eating one of the best sellers at Peppers: Green Lava Hot Sauce from Catch a Fire. I always hear people talking about how good this stuff is, so I’m really looking forward to seeing if the all the hype is true. For the most part, the sauce seems pretty straight forward with cilantro, avocado, lime juice, salt, and spices. Up to there it sounds pretty much like guacamole. There’s the addition of apple cider vinegar, which I suppose could also find it’s way into a guacamole recipe and jalapeno peppers which I’ve never had in guac, but could still see it.

So I’m wondering if we’re dealing with guac in a bottle or a hot sauce. Opening up reveals the crisp and fresh smell of cilantro and a hint of sweet-hot jalapeno’s. The consistency is no where near a really chunky guac, but isn’t quite as liquid a regular hot sauce. Pete claims this one comes in at a 3 on the Peppers Heat Level Rating Scale, so let’s see how hot this puppy is.

Since it is very similar to guacamole, I’m going straight in with the standard tasting medium, a.k.a. tortilla chips. The sauce is thick enough to get a good scoop and have a lot of it remain on the chip. With the first bite, it’s immediately evident that this certainly does taste a lot like guacamole. The biggest differences are the added spices that give it a more robust flavor, the consistency that leans more towards sauce than guacamole,  and the heat from the jalapeno’s. I have to agree with Pete on the heat, it’s a 3 out of 10. There’s enough heat to make it interesting, but not so much that my nose is running, eye’s watering, or throat closing up. The cilantro flavor is huge, really huge. That’s great, in my opinion, as I think you could add cilantro to dirt and it would taste amazing.

There’s a little hint, by the way. If your significant other, mother, in-laws, whoever, makes a really bad dish, there’s an easy way to make it edible without hairlipping the governor. Just say something like, “Wow, this is really good. Do you know what would make it absolutely stellar? A little fresh cilantro.” Then, throw in half the bunch and eat it with a smile. If you happen to have access to a bottle of Green Lava, even better.

My wife and I made some soft taco’s for dinner. To be honest, we heated up some flour tortillas and pulled a bunch of left overs out of the fridge: shredded chicken, some steak left over from a restaurant dinner, a can of refried beans (organic of course). We reheated it and put it all on the table along with some shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, and diced tomato. On a side note, my wife won’t eat tomato unless it’s been peeled. I have no idea where that damage occurred in her childhood, but it’s there and now I have to deal with it. Ever try to peel a ripe tomato? Yeah, not pretty. Anywho, his is a go to meal for us because the kids love putting together their own taco’s or folding them up and calling them burrito’s. Half dozen to the other, I suppose.

We will often add avocado or full on guacamole to the list of accouterments for our  mish mosh taco concoctions, so it seemed natural to try Green Lava Hot Sauce on them too. It was a good call. The consistency of the sauce is perfect for this purpose. It’s fluid enough that it gets into the nooks and crannies, but not too fluid that it runs off the taco or spills dripping out with every bite. The cilantro and avocado compliment the Mexican flavor intent and the heat from the jalapeno’s is perfect. The heat can easily be handled by people who like spicy foods, even if they don’t care for extreme heat. I can’t wait to make some white fish tacos and add this as the sauce, I can already tell it will be amazing. The kids did try a little taste, but the heat was a bit too much for them.

My wife and I don’t agree on everything, like the peeling of tomatoes (I mean seriously, what is that about), but she concurs fully on this one. We can both see why this is such a popular sauce.

The bottom line: 3 out of 10 for heat. A solid 9 out of 10 for flavor. I am admittedly biased by the strong cilantro flavor, which I love, but I am still going with a high rating of 9. Carne asada, nachos, even mixed with rice- all uses that I think will taste great with Green Lava. Even used as a salad dressing would be good to go. What do you use it for? Inquiring minds (okay, maybe just my mind) want to know.