Today we’re taking a deep dive into the Torchbearer Garlic Reaper Sauce. Torchbearer makes some great sauces and this one is no exception. This fiery sauce definitely brings the heat, with the Reaper sting shining bright. This is a no joke, hold on to your britches hot sauce, that just barely clings to some semblance of flavor profile outside of ‘ouch’.
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Smell
Yum yum in my tum tum. The Tourchbearer Garlic Reaper sauce has a killer scent. It’s creamy and garlicky, and smells like an aioli you would slather all over a good panini. There’s a distinct smell that’s very reminiscent of cole slaw, which makes sense considering the ingredients (minus the Reaper pepper) are very similar. Considering the taste I’m surprised the garlic isn’t super sharp and pronounced. I’m also surprised by the lack of Reaper in the smell. Most Reaper sauces hit you right off the bat and you immediately know what you’re getting yourself into….not so with this sauce. The Reaper is hidden, which is a good thing or a bad thing depending on how the rest of your afternoon is looking.
Taste
Oh the Reaper pepper you tremendously flavorful asshat of a food. I haven’t been eating too many sauces on this level of spice recently. It’s sharp and painful and a good reminder of why I love eating spicy things to begin with. After using a lot of 4/10-7/10 spice level sauce over the last week, the Garlic Reaper Sauce from Torchbearer really hits home for spice nerds like me.
Right off the bat, there is no denying this is a spicy sauce. The creamy look and texture is so deceptive because it lures you into a false sense of security. It looks creamy, it must not be too spicy…WRONG. There’s definitely fresh garlic in there, but surprisingly the garlic flavor that comes through the most is the garlic powder, a little smokier. The emulsified nature of this sauce coats the mouth and makes the flavor and spice linger. It’s a great sauce that just lands on the “this is still useable” side of the “my mouth hurts now” line.
Eat It With
This sauce goes great on fattier meats. We really love it on dark meat chicken dishes, especially dishes with a sweet flavor profile. I’ve had this sauce on BBQ and it’s great with dry rubbed ribs, but I would stay away from sticky sauces and pulled pork. It’s a little too powerful for eggs and sandwiches, but I’ve been mixing it in with mayo + mustard to dip cold cuts sammies in and that’s a fantastic combo for a lunchtime pick me up. I also like it to spice of simple fish and rice meals, with a little dab on the rice to kick it up.
