Calabria by Clark & Hopkins
As its name implies, Calabria was inspired by the Calabria region and calabrian chili flakes featured in the sauce. Per the ingredient list, habaneros and jalapeño are also in the mix. Clark & Hopkins heat rating on the bottle is 3/5, whilst Heatonist gives it a 3/10, making it the mildest option in this months box.
For the most part, when I try a sauce for the first time, I like to try a small sample straight from the bottle. Sometimes with others (mostly superhots), unless I have an idea of what I’d want to put it on, I’ll usually try it with something really neutral in flavor like a tortilla chip or french fry. Of course wings are always a great option, but I’m usually like a kid on Christmas Day when my box comes in and can’t wait for them to cook before I crack open the bottles.
I’m still working on a good way to photo the sauce on it’s own, so bare with me until I figure that one out. Either way, this is a thicker sauce that definitely needs a good shake of the bottle before pouring. You can visibly see some of the flakes of pepper, and it’s got an overall nice deep red color.
The first thing I notice in both smell & taste is strong tomato, vinegar & garlic. There’s also this kinda earthiness to it, my not-an-expert guess is that comes from shiitake mushroom powder. A favorite dinner in our household is shakshuka, and this sauce would be perfect for that! After a couple bites, another thought was this would be awesome to use straight out of the bottle as a BYOP (build your own pizza) sauce.
Heatwise, it is definitely on the lower end, but has a nice enough bite to remind you that it’s still a hot sauce after all. The slight burn that it does have doesn’t linger long and the aftertaste is pleasant.
Overall, a very solid sauce that I can see myself going through rather quickly. With a lower heat level and balanced flavor, there’s a lot of ways to use it and could be added to family meals easily without making everyone sweat at the dinner table.