Zombie Product Review: “Zombie Apocalypse” Hot Sauce From Torchbearer Sauces

I’ve been a fan of hot spicy foods and zombies for more years then I care to admit. I’ve been dying to try some of the hottest peppers in the world and this sauce contains one of them, Ghost Chili peppers. So it should be no surprise I was very excited to try this hot sauce. Zombies AND hot spicy goodness? Count me in!  When the co-founder of Torchbearer Sauces, LLC emailed us asking if we’d like to review their “Zombie Apocalypse” hot sauce made with Ghost Chili peppers I could barely contain my excitement. I mashed away a response on the keyboard and a few short days later the mailman dropped off our own personal bottles of liquid fire.

Before I share my thoughts on the Zombie Apocalypse sauce, I should give you a little background on just how hot the peppers this sauce contains are. The Ghost Chili, or Bhut Jolokia pepper, was once dubbed by Guinness World Records to be the hottest pepper in the world! (They have since been surpassed by the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Pepper.)

To put it mildly…they’re hot! The intensity of a pepper’s heat is rated on the Scoville Scale. The higher the Scoville rating, the hotter the pepper. To put things into perspective, a Jalapeño pepper typically rates about 3,500 to 8,000 Scoville Units. Ghost chilis typically rate between 855,000 to over 1.4 MILLION Scoville Heat Units! That’s enough pepper education for now because we need to talk about this awesome Zombie Apocalypse hot sauce.

I’d like to start off by saying I like hot sauce. Actually I should clarify that. I used to like what I thought was hot sauce. What I knew as hot sauce before trying Torchbearer’s Zombie Apocalypse simply doesn’t cut it as hot sauce anymore. My family and friends love to get me those huge boxes of hot sauce gift packs around the holidays. You know the ones: The gift boxes containing a dozen or so different hot sauces. I love receiving them but after a while you start to think all hot sauce tastes the same. The cheap ones are usually a very mildly hot vinegar concoction. Some are slightly smoky vinegar flavor, some are a mild spicy vinegar flavor and some are a sweeter vinegar flavor. The main ingredient and underlying flavor always seems to be vinegar. It only gets more acidic and vinegary tasting as the sauces sit and age.

Here’s the typical experience with cheaper hot sauces.  You twist off the top and you smell little except that pungent acrid vinegar aroma. You pour out the sauce and it rushes or splashes out of the bottle as a thin watery mess.  Zombie Apocalypse from Torchbearer sauces is the absolute antithesis of cheap vinegar laden hot sauce. Simply put, this stuff is amazing.  Let’s get into all of the things I love about this sauce and discuss the sparse negative comments I could make.

Appearance:

At first glance you’ll notice the wonderful zombie themed label. Each 5 ounce glass bottle features a label that reads “Torchbearer Sauces All Natural Zombie Apocalypse Sauce” in a round logo with a skull border. There’s also a cool little “Winners of 52 National Awards”  emblem in the upper right hand corner. It  lets you know these guys know how to make hot sauce.   The best part of the label has to be the three founders of Torchbearer Sauces in cartoon zombie form. You can really tell these three zombies love cooking up insane new hot sauces!

After the label you’ll notice wonderful orange amber color of Zombie Apocalypse. The all natural ingredients blend to form an amazing blaze of orange color that hints at the kick-in-the-tastebuds heat this sauce packs. The sauce contains Bhut Jolokia Peppers, Habanero Peppers, Carrot, Mandarin Orange, Tomatoes, Distilled White Vinegar, Vegetable Oil, Garlic, Sugar, and other unnamed all natural spices.

SMELL:

I eagerly cracked open the bottle of Zombie Apocalypse and immediately knew by the smell this was going to be good. I was amazed at the natural organic and earthy smell. Instead of that horribly familiar vinegar smell that haunts cheap hot sauces,  my nostrils were blessed with the earthy smell of fresh peppers and all natural goodness. This sauce is extract free and believe me it smells like it!  You can definitely smell a very subtle hint of vinegar in there but it’s secondary to everything else. Vinegar is a part and not the whole.

This is a very aromatic sauce. It literally fills a room with it’s earthy and spicy scent.

CONSISTENCY AND TEXTURE:

I would say you immediately recognize the quality in this sauce when you pour it out of the bottle. That wouldn’t be an accurate statement however. You’re not going to simply pour Zombie Apocalypse.  This sauce is as thick as a horde of the undead that have cornered some fresh meat. This stuff has to be persuaded to leave it’s cozy bottle home. You’ll smack the bottom of the bottle, rap the neck with a knife and use every other trick in the book.  If you’re new to very hot sauces you probably shouldn’t be pouring this stuff anyway because it does pack a little heat, but more on that later.

Once you have finally coaxed the thick sauce out of the bottle you’ll be rewarded with sauce that looks as good as it smells.  It’s a thick and gritty sauce that you’ll even find seeds in from time to time. This looks like some genius  professional organic chef cooked it up with love in his kitchen.

I think what I love best about the appearance of the sauce is it’s thickness.  It’s absolutely ideal if you want a sauce that sticks to whatever you put it on.  It doesn’t run off of food like other hot sauces do. It’s perfect for coating chicken wings and other finger foods.

FLAVOR:

One of the great things about Zombie Apocalypse hot sauce is the wonderful flavor. This stuff doesn’t skate by on heat. Nor does it rely on vinegar as a main ingredient to give it any flavor.  This sauce tastes amazing. On first taste it has an earthy tomato-like flavor before you taste the peppers.  There is a little mandarin orange in the sauce to give it a very slight touch of sweetness but it definitely isn’t a sweet sauce. The tomato flavor is quickly over ridden by the rush of fresh pepper taste. Very shortly after the heat kicks in to wonderfully compliment the flavor.

I haven’t gotten around to using the sauce in a recipe so I can’t comment on how cooking with it changes the heat or flavor. I’m too busy enjoying it on chicken, pasta, pizza, sandwiches, vegetables and anything else I can think to slather it on or dip in it.

HEAT:

Let’s get to what you’re all really wondering about. Yes. This sauce is pretty darn hot. A Ghost Chili pepper can be 175 times hotter than a Jalapeño pepper so you know this sauce has to have some fire!  Now I’m someone who enjoys very hot and spicy foods so I may not be quite as susceptible to the heat as an ordinary person.  I have to think someone who doesn’t eat spicy peppers often is going to have a more difficult time tolerating the heat in this sauce.

My Experience With This Sauce:

I had never tried a Ghost Chili pepper prior to trying this sauce so I must admit I was just a little nervous. I had seen YouTube videos of others trying Ghost Chili Pepper containing products and watched them be brought to tears. I’ve seen overly dramatic reactions, red faces, sweating, crying and more. I was a little worried I couldn’t handle the heat. My son, coworkers, friends and family however couldn’t wait to eagerly gather around and watch me try this sauce.

Fortunately I didn’t break down into a sniffling,sobbing mess. I had milk at the ready just in case I wasn’t up to the challenge, but I’m proud to report it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Do NOT take this sauce lightly however.

I initially tried this sauce as a dip for some plain grilled chicken breast. I took about a teaspoon on my first bite. The aroma and tomato and pepper flavors were the first to hit. The heat holds off just long enough to lull you into a false sense of security.  As soon as the “this isn’t so bad” thought hits your brain the heat kicks in.

The heat starts off on your tongue about 15 seconds or so into the first taste. It continues to build as the heat spreads throughout your mouth.  It’s pretty insane how the heat just keeps building and building for a good 10 minutes before it levels off. During that time your lips will tingle and go numb. Your mouth and tastebuds definitely tingle and let you know they aren’t sure this stuff belongs in your mouth.  I did notice I was sweating a little on my forehead but nothing too intense.

After about 15 minutes the heat starts to go away on it’s own.  Milk can help a little at this time but probably wouldn’t do anything beforehand. I would advise you to stay away from drinking water because I suspect it would only make things much worse.

The cool thing about this sauce is you still pick up the earthy sauce flavor throughout the experience. At first the heat intensifies flavor and then as it builds it suppresses tastebuds slightly as your mouth becomes a mixture of tingly numbness. It’s a refreshing change to have a sauce that is super hot without forgetting flavor. To many sauces and product out there are just hot. Balancing intense heat with flavor is something this sauce does very well.

The Aftereffects:

Slight tingling and lip numbness from this sauce can go on for over 20 minutes after eating it. It’s actually a wonderful warm sensation that I enjoyed.  There’s a very little pain at first and subdued fire thereafter. The real trouble I had with this sauce was a case of indigestion/heart burn after eating it the first time. It felt like someone was sitting on my sternum for a good 40 minutes after I had this sauce the first time. Subsequent encounters with this sauce have not produced the same effect for which I am truly thankful because I love eating it.

********************************************************************************

What We Love:

The Bottle: We absolutely love the zombie apocalypse label featuring the three founders of Torchbearer Sauces in cartoon zombie form.

The Appearance and Aroma: This stuff looks and smells as good as it tastes!

The Flavor: It’s Delicious

The Heat: Not to be messed with! This sauce is hawt! Not too hot to handle but hot enough to make you wonder if it was a good idea at first.

What’s Not So Great:

The price tag of $19.99 is a little steep but we understand why. Ghost chili peppers are not cheap. Secondly a bottle of this stuff is going to last a normal person a long time.   I’ve been through half a bottle but I’ve been putting it on everything. I’m not normal either. 😉  Last but not least it’s worth it. While I would of course rather see a price tag of $9.99, I have to admit the quality of this sauce makes it worth the $19.99 price.

The Final Verdict: 4.75 Out of 5

I couldn’t give this one a full 5 brains because I feel the price is a little steep for the typical consumer. I totally understand why (it’s made with Ghost Chili peppers and is a high quality product made in small batches) but I still feel the average consumer and zombie fan will be turned off by the price. In the long run it’s worth it me. I’m totally hooked on the sauce and would be willing to pay for it once or twice a year to have this delicious hot sauce as part of my collection.  Other than the slightly high price tag this sauce is nearly perfect. It has a great aroma and flavor and just the right amount of intense heat! I’d highly recommend this to any zombie fan that loves spicy food!

*********************************************************************************

More Info:

About Torchbearer Sauces:

For more information on Torchbearer Sauces visit their website at http://www.torchbearersauces.com/

Be sure to like Torchbearer Sauces on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Where to Buy Zombie Apocalypse Hot Sauce:

You can buy Zombie Apocalypse directly from Torchbearer Sauces’ website. Visit their online shop here.  Torchbearer Sauces products are also available locally at many grocery stores, health food stores and markets such as Whole Foods Market. For a complete list of local vendors selling Torchbearer Sauces products click here.

Zombie Apocalypse Hot Sauce is also available via Amazon: