I had lunch at Firehouse Subs today with a friend and his son. Before I started eating my sandwich, I got up to get some pepper and then noticed that they have dozens of varieties of hot sauce on the counter (more than a hundred, I bet). I asked which was the hottest and was directed to Dave’s Gourmet Ultimate Insanity Hot Sauce.
I expected it to be a liquid sauce of the tabasco variety but when I opened the bottle I saw that it was much thicker — more like barbeque sauce. I would estimate that I put between one and two teaspoons onto half of my sandwich. After just the first bite I knew that the recommendation, if you can call it that, was a good one. A few bites later and I had to take a break and eat some of the other half of the sandwich. By far the hottest sauce I’ve ever tried, at least as far as I can recall. I think the only thing I remember being hotter was one of those dark peppers sometimes used in Chinese food — and I don’t think I was supposed to eat that.
At that point, I asked my friend if he wanted to try a bit of the sauce, but he’s not really a fan of very spicy food and declined. His 10-year-old son, on the other hand, wanted to try it. The friend protested at first but eventually relented and let his son try a tiny amount from a toothpick dipped in a bit of the sauce. It took several seconds before there was a reaction, but after that it got progressively more intense. For the next ten minutes or so, perhaps longer, he was suffering through the after-effect (as was I, though I did finish the sandwich). And remember, he had only a tiny amount. Eventually, he got a brownie and I think that did the trick.
“The New Hottest Sauce in the Universe” indeed!
I’d like to discuss the flavor, but I honestly don’t remember anything but the heat. I’d have been happier if I’d used less of the sauce — maybe a third of the amount I used. I may have to make a habit of eating at Firehouse Subs just to try more of the different sauces they have available.
This post inspired by Janna, and I see that she’s a fan of Dave’s Gourmet Insanity Sauce, which is the precursor to the Ultimate Insanity Sauce.
Renagerie 
#1 by whall on April 19, 2009 - 12:40 pm
What a wimp!
/hypocrite
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#2 by Ren on April 20, 2009 - 9:20 am
whall – Hey, I ate the whole thing *and* plan to try other of their sauces in the future. No wimpiness here!
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#3 by Janna on April 19, 2009 - 8:02 pm
This sounds yummy!
I wish we had “Firehouse Subs” here where I live.
I’d be ecstatic to find a place with a wall full of hot sauce.
And brownies. 🙂
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#4 by Ren on April 20, 2009 - 9:22 am
Janna – Firehouse Subs is a recent arrival in Austin (or at least north Austin), though I see that they’ve got several locations popping up around here now. At least they’re growing — maybe you’ll get one eventually.
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#5 by Ken on April 24, 2009 - 1:07 pm
Just saw this at Jaun’s Mexicalli near Sunset Valley. It reminded me of this thread – though I guess it wouldn’t really be considered a “sauce”… It’s rated at 1,500,000 Scoville Units and is indicated as a “food additive”.
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