Hot sauce has come a long way since it was first popularized and bottled for consumption over 200 years ago. Many varieties of flavors are available that use unique combinations of ingredients and exotic processes to complete. In addition, many of these hot sauce varieties have reached astronomical heat levels that challenge even the highest tolerance levels.
Blair’s 16 Million Reserve is the hottest sauce available on the market but many varieties challenge the million Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) mark. Sauces at this level become an extract because capsaicin, the element responsible for the heat, is extracted from the hot pepper. Hot sauces that expand beyond the 10 million SHU range are rare, expensive and should only be consumed if someone has a high tolerance for spice.
Blair’s 16 Million Reserve
OK this is not a sauce at all but is pure capsaicin crystals.
The mere presentation of this product implies a high level of almost intolerable heat and a spiciness that goes beyond what a typical hot sauce delivers. Many sauces that rank among the hottest sauce in the world can become somewhat of a collector’s item. Eating, consuming, sharing and collaborating on hot sauce recipes has become a hobby and favorite pastime for many people and that is partly what makes this special.
Blair’s 16 Million Reserve is available in a custom bottle shape and signed by Blair himself. Supplies are probably limited…and as always…consume with caution.
**Disclaimers**
Any product beyond the 6 to 7 million SHU rating will usually have disclaimers to protect the manufacturer from a lawsuit from an unprepared consumer. These extract re not intended to be eaten straight, used in a challenge among friends, or misused otherwise and will usually have the following disclaimers:
**This is a collector’s item: not to be ingested in any form**
**Exercise extreme caution**
**Not intended for direct consumption**
Consumers are constantly and continually seeking the hottest sauces available on the market to challenge their abilities to tolerate the next level of sauce and build up a tolerance level. Just when you think a sauce has reached the peak of being “the hottest sauce in the world”, a new sauce is introduced. We examined the top 100 hottest sauces available in the world and here is what we found.
A classic and traditional hot sauce flavor like Franks Redhot or Tabasco® Original is not even close to being included on this list. Other sauces manufactured by Blair’s, Cajohns, and Ashley Food Company top the list with extreme levels of heat, almost becoming nonedible or only consumable by those with a high tolerance level. Consumers are building their tolerance level with expectations to challenge their desires by consuming the hottest sauces available. Read here on How To Build a Tolerance Level to Hot Sauce.
How is heat determined?
There are more sauces that have a heat level below 50,000 SHU for a few reasons; 1) Hot peppers lower in heat level are easier and less expensive to obtain, 2) Hot sauces lower in heat can reach more consumers; 3) Consuming hot sauce that is hotter than the next has become a phenomenon for many consumers and it has forced manufacturers to produce sauces that challenge even the most tolerant palate.
Our recommendation
If you insist on attempting some of the hotter sauces…start with a few that are lower in heat that you know you can tolerate. Hot sauces listed at the million SHU mark should be taste tested with caution and can often be experienced with only the dab of a toothpick.
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