If you’re looking for heat and absolutely no flavour, this El Yucateco Chile Habanero sauce is for you. I grew up on scotch bonnet and habanaero sauces, but they all had a level of added flavour. Lime, garlic, shado beni and tropical fruits were all used successfully to give these sauces an extra punch, so I was a bit disappointed with this El Yucateco sauce. That said, my biggest turn-off with this sauce was the colour. That brilliant green (added artificial colour) was an immediate turn-off as it did not look appetizing. If you’ve ever made sauces using green habanero peppers you’ll know that the colour is not a brilliant green like the colour they added.
The Aroma.
Yet another sauce that failed to deliver when opened. I had to place my nose very close to the bottle’s opening to get a hint of true hotsauce scent. There was the ever present vinegar and a very slight hint of garlic, with an undertone of the actual habaneros which were used.
The Taste.
Yes, there’s definitely HEAT with this one. According to the El Yucateco website, the green habanero hot sauce is rated at 9,000 Scoville units and I don’t doubt this at all. Besides the fact that you could easily taste the vinegar and the heat of the peppers, you also got a sort of sour or tart taste as the sauce made it’s way around my tongue. And as mentioned above there’s a hint of garlic and there’s also another herb or spice used that I could not name. I’m not sure how they achieved it, but it also had a sort of smoky flavour as the heat subsided a bit.
Texture
The sauce itself is rather smooth with flecks of the green habanero peppers as you should be able to see in the pic (spoon) above. The bottle should have a bit of a smaller opening as the sauce is very thin and does pour out very fast. However, though it was runny it did not separate as some sauces tend to do when it’s poured.
Final Comments.
For the price (less than $4.00 at Walmart) it’s not a total waste, especially if you like raw heat. As mentioned I like my habanero sauces with some added flavours and not “artificial green”. The makers could easily improve on this sauce with some more salt to take away some of that tart taste, make it a bit thicker (or use a bottle with a smaller opening) and try to improve on that awe-full green colour.
I’d rate this 3.5 out of 5 for heat and 1.5 for any sort of flavour. This sauce is about heat and ONLY heat. The heat does last fairly long in your mouth and I think it work well with eggs at breakfast and on cold cut sandwiches.
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It’s green because it’s verde based. I think you’re misunderstood, so I’ll explain. Most hot sauces are red because they are based on red chile peppers like the cayenne pepper. Verde sauces are based on green chili peppers like the jalapeno and others. Hence the green color, as the hot sauce is not just habanero and vinegar.
I also think you got a bad bottle. I’ve never had it that runny, and I’ve never had it taste anything like you described. I also like their habanero sauce for it’s lack of heat. While hot, I would hardly call it strong compared to most every habanero sauce I’ve had.
El Yucateco Habanero is far and away my favorite tasting hot sauce. I must respectfully disagree with the entirety of your review. On the other hand, I have had El Yucateco’s Cayenne and Chipotle sauces and found them to be horrible. Their red sauce tastes too strongly of cayenne, and their Chipotle sauce tastes like my work’s dumpster smells.