Fuego Box Hot Sauce Subscription Box Review + Coupon – August 2015

Fuego Box is a monthly hot sauce subscription box that brings the heat without being extreme, focusing instead on the best flavors (while still of course being hot – just without added heat extracts and the like).  They search out the best flavors to go with every type of food and discover new artisan hot sauce makers to bring to your door. Your first monthly box will be an introductory box (see our review of the Fuego Box into box), with a tasting journal and two favorite hot sauces from Fuego Box. Subsequent boxes include 3 full-sized artisan-made hot sauces like this box.

The information card gives the details on each product – the flavors, the peppers, and where it was crafted. The card also gives food pairings for each sauce.

The box is certainly distinctive, and it does a good job of keeping the precious bottles intact.

We received three table-size (for our literalists,that is sized for table use, not the size of a table) bottles (5 oz each), plus a bonus trial pack of hot sauce.

The sauces were pretty upscale looking.  The packaging is very professional, and the producers have other offerings, meaning this is not their first rodeo.  I was very pleased with the selection — none of the sauces were inedibly hot and the heat and flavor profiles of each was distinct from the next.

Friendly Fire Guava + Habanero Hot Sauce ($7):  The sweetest and least hot of the sauces, with a Louisiana-style viscosity.  It still packed a nice habanero kick, but the guava base is a strong note that adds lots of great fruit and sweetness (the apple cider vinegar is also a big contributor).  This sauce would be great on anything that could be paired with a fruit glaze or salsa (especially pork, fish, and chicken).

Howler Monkey Sauce Amarillo ($5.50):  A little hotter than the Friendly Fire, this is a Caribbean-style sauce with lots of yellow and red Scotch bonnet and garlic.  The sauce is slightly pulpy or chunky, with a bit of mustard, turmeric, and cumin for balance.  This has a great, bright flavor — a testament to the quality of peppers, as there is no fruit or citrus in it to create the effect.  This is a good all-around hot sauce.

Elijah’s Xtreme Ghost Pepper Sauce ($9.95):  Slightly thicker than the rest, this deep red sauce has a light and bright flavor, with a base of tomato, garlic, lime juice, vinegar, and carrots.  The main ingredients are naga jalokia (ghost) peppers and habaneros, so the heat level is pretty good, and the burn lasts for quite a while. Humorously, the spiciest sauce of the lot is also the only one without a dispenser top for splashing drops on your food — it just flows out.  This resulted in a pretty extreme first sampling!  This one best used to kick up stuff that you want to be hot (wings, chili, all manner of Mexican food).

Tabañero Hot Sauce Picante (sample):  Intended as a habanero-laden version of Tabasco.  After tasting the other sauces, this can be sucked straight from the bag, as it is quite mild compared to the naga jalokia.  Very sweet and flavorful, with some bits of pepper floating in an otherwise non-viscous sauce.  I would dump this on eggs, burgers, or anything.

This is a really great subscription for hot sauce lovers, particularly if you like to put your sauce on food as a complement instead of a test of mettle.  The heat level is great and varies between sauces — none was wimpy or too hot to eat.  Very flavorful sauces with lots of potential and versatility.

Visit Fuego Box to subscribe or find out more! Use coupon code AMIGOS to save $10 on your first box!