I had very low expectations going into this bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Original Hot Sauce. Their BBQ sauces are run of the mill and overly sweet, so I generally avoid them. I'm also not one for flavored hot sauces since they're full of additives that mask the real flavor. I stuck with their standard original release for this trip into the unknown.
It could have been so much worse than it was. In fact, it's actually halfway decent.
The flavor is akin to being Texas Pete's older and bolder brother. It's spicy, but only moderately hot; nor is it overly vinegary. It's not thin or runny; there's actually some body here. The after-taste and swallow has some short-lived bite, too. I would not call it sweet at all, contrary to the name.
I'm grew up in Eastern Carolina and Southern Virginia, so I'm well acquainted with hot sauces that suit BBQ from that region – Texas Pete, Crystal, and Louisiana chiefly. This would be a welcomed addition to that line-up.
I enjoyed this hot sauce with an omelette and it did the trick. Nothing funky was detected. The ingredients are cayenne red peppers, vinegar, salt, xanthan gum, sodium benzoate, and potassium sorbate — a very basic retail hot sauce recipe essentially.
Admittedly, I have no interest in trying any of the other Sweet Baby Ray's hot sauce varieties, but I think this original flavor might be worth the $2 I spent on it. Give it a shot. You could do a lot worse.
by JaredUnzipped