I've always enjoyed hot sauces but some much more than others. Cholula runs at the top of my pack now, because they have heat without the bitter back bite of some, and they have interesting flavors that make them stand out in the hot sauce category.
You may have come across Cholula, because they are the hot sauce of choice some restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen and On The Border. We don't have those here, so I was missing the boat as is common out here in the sticks.
Chloe emailed about Cholula though, and she asked if I'd like to try the sample pack. Since I love hot sauce and don't have much of a selection here, I said I'd check the hot sauces out and hoped they would be good.
First I tried out the flavors sans food, so I'd have an idea about how I'd want to use the hot sauces. Hot sauces vary a lot, so you want to know if you have something you want to use in grilling or cooking or just as a condiment. In this case, the flavors were great, and these were smooth sauces that could do double duty.
There are four flavors of Cholula:
* Original - Great all purpose hot sauce - in the kitchen, to add heat to other sauces or as a splash.
* Chili Lime - Yum. Nice complex mixture. I like this one where it can shine like on nacho chips or on eggs.
* Chipolte - This hot sauce is my favorite to heat up barbecue sauce when I'm using a milder sauce for those who can't handle too much hot. I just add Cholula Chipolte to part of the suace for grilled foods and leave the others mild.
* Chili Garlic - If you're bored, then here you go. This is an interesting hot sauce that makes your dish perk up. The garlic pops but not over the top. I like this one best as a condiment.
This is a house divided as you'll know if you've been reading Barbecue Master. We have our mild saucers and our spicy saucers. I'm in the hot category, although a few people have sent me stuff that has made me cry uncle.
What I like about a hot sauce like Cholula is that I can divide out the sauce and heat up some of it with hot sauce. I can hit medium, hot or super hot - depending on how much hot sauce I splash in. I find Cholula's Chipolte works great for this.
If I am custom heating the food with hot sauce, then I like to use Leslie's Grill Charms. You can see those in the chicken photo. Grill charms are like wine charms but for grilled foods. I just stick the chili pepper stamped charms in the chicken breasts that have been doctored up with hot sauce. Then, I don't burn the heck out of my family and friends who can't handle the heat kick.
The Cholula hot sauces are all great as condiments too. I've had them on a variety of meats and vegetables and even on outdoor fried eggs. I've always kind of grossed out on fried eggs, but adding the hot sauce finally converted me. I still don't like those eggs too runny, but I can see why fried eggs are a Southern favorite and especially when notched up with a good hot sauce.
You may be able to find Cholula hot sauces at your local grocery. I've not seen them at mine yet (no shocker). Right now, you can also get a $1 off coupon if you like Cholula on Facebook. I'm not sure how long that deal will last, but it's a sweet deal for a hot sauce.
I also noticed that Cholula has a beef jerky Jack Links on the market now. I've not had a chance to try that, but I could certainly see these premium hot sauces making for a really nice jerky. I'll have to keep an eye out for Cholula jerky too.
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