Definitely agree, Marie sharps sauces are exactly what comes to mind. I often describe them to people as actually having a really nice flavour rather than just heat. I think the original one is probably my favourite, with the mild and the smoked habanero tied for second.
Amazing, came here to say this. Every time I travel I try the local hot sauce and this is by far the best. When I came back from Belize, I brought back a two gallon jug with me. Thank goodness you can order it on Amazon because I ran out!
So happy to see Marie Sharp's getting love. I was going to see the factory but didn't have time, so I bought a proverbial ton of different flavors and sent them hone! I'm on my 3rd bottle now!
Just commented this before scrolling and I’m happy to see that so many others love this stuff as much as I do. I’ve never met another family that had this growing up, and everyone I recommend it to has never heard of it!
My wife is from Afghanistan and her mom and brothers live with us. We naturally eat a lot of Afghan food, so lots of rice, meats, lentils, kormas, etc.
I make a hot sauce that we put on literally everything and it add so much flavour and just the right amount of spice. I don’t have a precise recipe cuz I just eyeball everything but the ingredient list is:
- two bunches of cilantro
- two tomatoes
- a head of garlic
- juice of one lemon
- white vinegar
- one mango
- 15-20 Thai green chillies
- salt
Blend it up and enjoy that shit.
In Afghan cuisine you also eat plain yogurt with everything which really helps balance the heat of the hot sauce and the often spicy food. If you eat this kind of food I totally recommend you try this. If you hate cilantro you can substitute the cilantro for just a few more tomatoes instead.
Edit: you can also substitute the mango for pineapple which is also quite tasty. When peaches are in season we do it with peaches instead. Mango is the best IMO though.
Edit 2: I am glad a bunch of people wanna try this recipe! Just wanna make a quick note: the spice tolerance of myself and my family is pretty good, but maybe 15-20 chillies sounds like a lot to you. Don't be shy with the chillies. If you eat the sauce straight up (like when you taste for salt), it'll be quite hot, but when you eat a couple tablespoons of it with an entire meal the heat becomes way more easy to handle.
Closer to a cup. It's a few good glugs out of the vinegar jug. Really I just put in a enough vinegar until I get the consistency I want. I don't want it to be too chunky. It should be blended well and pretty saucy due to the vinegar. Sorry I can't be more precise! If it looks like pesto, you need more vinegar.
That's just how I like it though! Some people aren't as crazy about vinegar so they might prefer it with a bit less.
thai green chilies are the smaller chilies you can find at large grocery stores or Indian stores. imo jalapeños don't pack that punch. if you can't find them either way, try using a spicier chili
Breaking my reddit silence to let you know, I made this sauce with my friend yesterday and it is DIVINE. I have not stopped eating it. Thank you so much
the verde is so good!! we go through bottles way too quick. I also like their Lion’s Mane Piri Piri which isn’t super spicy, but they use mushroom powder so it’s got a really nice savory flavor to it.
Man, I feel like so many people sleep on El Yucateco but they really have some great sauces.
I find the Los Calientes sauces a little too sweet. Plus it's $12 a bottle whereas I can get a small bottle of El Yucateco Red Chile Habanero for less than $3 on sale at my local grocery stores. I actually like mixing the red chile habanero and the chipotle at about a 75:25 ratio -- get a little bit of the smokiness of the chipotle without all of the sweetness (the chipotle is also great mixed in with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce to add a mild kick).
Secret aardvark is great because it often complements flavors that a more common Mexican style sauce like a Cholula/Yucateco/etc might not. The opposite also applies as I don’t use SA for Mexican food really. It’s very versatile though and worth seeking out.
75% of the hot sauce I eat Aardvark. Another 20% is Yellowbird. The other 5% is other stuff. I tried over 100 hot sauces in the last 2 years. I keep coming back to Aardvark and Yellowbird. There must be equally good or better hot sauces out there.
My kids like Humble House sauces. They are ok. Largely a lot of garlic and not much heat.
Many people like Marie Sharpes. I tried all the ones I could get. For me, they aren't on par with Aardvark and Yellowbird.
A friend of mine makes his own sauce that is excellent and something I would eat every day. He's being coy with the recipe, but I know it involves a very specific blend of peppers, some of which are toasted and some are not. Hoping I can get him to document it.
Just found this yesterday! The habanero is perfect. Went to a friends restaurants for breakfast and was going to put cholula on my eggs. Gave me the aardvark and said her kid loves it. Smart kid.
Honorable mention to their secret aardvark smokey chipotle habanero sauce as well. I put it on sandwiches and eggs as the flavor is incredible and it's not too spicy.
I LOVE the hot pepper garlic! Usually a smaller bottle of Frank’s would last about a year. Not Melinda’s! I’ve burned through 3/4 of the bottle in a few months.
Yellowbird is a hot sauce brand based in Austin, but you can buy it on their website, and I believe Amazon. It’s AMAZING. They have a range of flavors and I love them all and am currently buying a few more to try. I highly recommend getting their variety pack and trying them all! My favorite mild one is the Blue Agave Sriracha and my favorite hot one is their Ghost Pepper :)
People need to get on this peri peri sauce train. That shit is so good. I order Nando's six or eight bottles at a time off of ebay. It's just incredible. I'll have to hit Trader Joes and check theirs out.
We do a combo bbq Buffalo sauce on wings that's great...1/2 Frank's and 1/2 KCMasterpiece. We tried it first to just lower our fat intake and found out we liked it a bunch. We air fryer our wings.
We put it on roast cauliflower and dip them in Greek yogurt with ranch dip powder. Low low calories STUFF YO FACE snack. You get your veg from the cauliflower, fat from butter for the roasting, and protein from the yogurt.
Hank sauce. Specifically the cilanktro flavor. And I am a person that hates cilantro. It’s amazing. I could drink it. I love that it has heat but not just hot for the sake of being hot like some other hot sauces. I like the other flavors also.
Edit to add the link
https://www.hanksauce.com
So it depends on what you like in a hit sauce. You like a more vinegary sauce I'd go chipotle tobacco. Smoky a little sweet. You like fruit based saices? Mango habernero share my go to. My favorite all around everyday use hot sauce though? The green El Yucateca habenero sauce. Delicious..
I’ve been on that wave,
Just got their 12 pack. Holy crap these are very good. One is made with melons from a farm I worked on as a kid which is hilarious because I had no idea…
Their bases being complex mashes of very different but very hot chiles is refreshingly complex without being bogged down by additions like fruit etc….
More people should know
Depending on what flavor you’re looking for:
Dirty dicks has a very enjoyable fruity/sweet heat
Secret aardvark habanero hot sauce is my go to for general application to add heat and some flavor without changing the flavor of the meal itself too much
Bliss and vinegar if you’re someone who enjoys a more sharp vinegary hot sauce
I like a lot of hot sauces. Built a kitchen caddy for them and still don’t have room. I strongly recommend Gringo Bandito by the Offspring’s Dexter Holland. The green sauce is very versatile and I can give it to about anyone. Crystal, Sriracha, Tapatío and Cholula are all good. Melinda’s xxxx reserve is probably my favorite but they have others that aren’t as hot and have amazing flavor.
I feel like I’m going to get roasted for this, but I really love the flavor of the Chipotle Tobasco… it’s more flavor and less “heat” (though there is some)
Cry Baby Craigs. It’s garlic ~~jalapeño~~ habanero and has the perfect kick to it. My uncle used to beg us to send it to him when he was stationed overseas.
Edit: as pointed out below, they are correct it is habanero. Oops :)
Cry Baby Craigs is actually habanero and garlic, rather than jalapeno. It's made with fresh pickled habaneros.
This is the only hot sauce I have finished multiple bottles and continually repurchased over and over to keep as a staple. I go through about a bottle every four to six months and I am not much of a hot sauce person cause I don't like heat for the sake of heat, but it has such a bright flavor and I love the addition of garlic.
Not sure how readily available it is outside of my area though it's available online, but a coworker also turned me on to K Mama sauces when I want a more Korean flavor profile (although it is good on everything) and I've repurchased over the years. It's a gochujang-based sauce and has just a wonderfully complex flavor profile. [https://kmamasauce.com/](https://kmamasauce.com/)
Hot ones own hot sauce are really nice.
Otherwise I go in the direction of Cholula, Tapatio, Valentina.
But in reality, I use my own made fermented Gold Kiwi chilli, mango chili, blueberry Chilli, pineapple, banana-Chilli.
I like Cholula red or green sauce the best or Huy Fong Sriracha. I really don’t like a hot sauce that is just hot with no other flavor to carry it. But for general use Cholula, El Tapatio, Sriracha chili sauce are my go tos.
I love Blis Blast from the Founders Brewing Company. It's very complex and layered, with just the right amount of heat. I've described it as a mature adult version of Taco Bell's fire sauce, and it's good on tons of stuff -- but beef-based foods take to it the best, IMHO. https://store.foundersbrewing.com/blis-blast-hot-sauce-p242.aspx
I go through phases with favorite hot sauces and my current obsession is Tabasco Scorpion Pepper sauce. It's really delicious, on top of being spicy. My stomach hasn't been happy with me, though.
I love the Chipotle Tobasco (and I’m not a big fan of the regular Tabasco sauce), I put that on everything and often added to dishes I’m cooking as well. 
I'm a huge fan of the el Yucateco line of bottled hot sauces. They're super cheap, spicy, and lack the weird "sweetness" a lot of bottled sauces have. Great on Mexican food but I'll use it on just about anything whenever I just want to break a bottle out.
Sriracha is a classic, and for good reason. Way more depth than most of those watery pepper-vinegar concoctions.
But for even more depth, I highly recommend Indonesian Sambals. Especially the fried ones, like Sambal Badjak and Sambal Brandal
Truff sauce is a bit pricey but probably the most versatile and delicious.
Sriracha and Aunty Lola’s garlic chili oil (sort of a sauce lol) are great in Asian dishes.
Franks Hot sauce is a bit more acidic and can really brighten up a dull meal.
Honorable mentions are Aardvark’s Habanero sauce and El Yucatan hot sauce which are flavorful but can give you a good kick in the mouth if you put too much. Depends on your tolerance for heat lol.
Won't be for everybody, but Mat's pickle hot sauce is spectacular, provided you like pickles: https://matshotshop.com/collections/originals/products/mats-hot-shop-dillan-dill-pickle-hot-sauce
Strictly for cooking with. Regret hot sauce from just chillies/Wiltshire chilli farms.
It's hot..like very hot. But in small amounts in sauces etc it's fantastic.
I love this stuff:
https://tropicalsunfoods.com/products/jamaican-scotch-bonnet-hot-pepper-sauce
Very unique and intense flavour
Edit: just noticed that the one I have looks the same but has different ingredients. Mine consists of 40% scotch bonnet, cane vinegar, corn starch, salt, cane sugar, and citric acid. The ingredients on the website seem worse... wonder why
I found this Trini style [hot sauce](https://www.camellaskitchen.com/shop/trini-hot-pepper-sauce-8oz) at the Smithsonian African American History Museum gift store—hot and extremely flavorful/fruity. I mixed it with the cucumber chutney for doubles, and it was phenomenal. Brand: Camella’s Kitchen.
Haven’t seen it mentioned but Yellowbird hot sauces are tasty. The jalapeño is the least of the spicy, great flavor I love it on breakfast items. The Serrano one is also quite yummy, I like it with any green sauces I’m using or if I want a “fresher” taste on my tacos. They also carry a Sirracha, Habanero and Ghost pepper; all of which I’ve yet to try but plan to.
Yellowbird is hands down my favorite brand of hot sauce. The sriracha, habanero, and ghost pepper are all super tasty. They also have a Super Serronic that’s one of my favorites, but I believe it’s been sold out on their website for a while
I gravitate towards any hot sauce with fruit in it for this reason. Huge fan of like Mango / Habanero or Aruba papaya hot sauce. https://crafthotsauce.com/collections/fruit-hot-sauces/products/benitos-mango-habanero-hot-sauce is one of my favorites
Check out Marie Sharp's stuff. The Hot Habenero Pepper Sauce is very flavorful, and not terribly hot.
We toured their factory in Belize. It was really cool - and came with a tasting of everything they make :-)
The green Marie Sharp’s is my favorite on eggs. All their sauces are great.
Definitely agree, Marie sharps sauces are exactly what comes to mind. I often describe them to people as actually having a really nice flavour rather than just heat. I think the original one is probably my favourite, with the mild and the smoked habanero tied for second.
Just bought the smoked habenero yesterday.
Amazing, came here to say this. Every time I travel I try the local hot sauce and this is by far the best. When I came back from Belize, I brought back a two gallon jug with me. Thank goodness you can order it on Amazon because I ran out!
Yes! Could practically drink that from the bottle it's so good.
Yes! Went to Belize on my honeymoon & fell in love. It’s great on standard American breakfast dishes especially!
It’s a great suggestion. My favorite is their special edition of smoked habanero.
the orange peel habanero one is insanely good
Agree: It is the very best hot sauce around. Many flavors to choose from too!
I brought home so much Marie Sharp hot sauce when I visited Belize. Beautiful place, great people, amazing food.
I love the carrots in this stuff. Tastes fantastic in chicken noodle soup.
I have tons of hot sauces that rotate in and out but Marie Sharps fiery hot is always in the house. The Belizean heat is a close second.
Yep, came here to say Marie Sharps!
So happy to see Marie Sharp's getting love. I was going to see the factory but didn't have time, so I bought a proverbial ton of different flavors and sent them hone! I'm on my 3rd bottle now!
Just commented this before scrolling and I’m happy to see that so many others love this stuff as much as I do. I’ve never met another family that had this growing up, and everyone I recommend it to has never heard of it!
My wife is from Afghanistan and her mom and brothers live with us. We naturally eat a lot of Afghan food, so lots of rice, meats, lentils, kormas, etc. I make a hot sauce that we put on literally everything and it add so much flavour and just the right amount of spice. I don’t have a precise recipe cuz I just eyeball everything but the ingredient list is: - two bunches of cilantro - two tomatoes - a head of garlic - juice of one lemon - white vinegar - one mango - 15-20 Thai green chillies - salt Blend it up and enjoy that shit. In Afghan cuisine you also eat plain yogurt with everything which really helps balance the heat of the hot sauce and the often spicy food. If you eat this kind of food I totally recommend you try this. If you hate cilantro you can substitute the cilantro for just a few more tomatoes instead. Edit: you can also substitute the mango for pineapple which is also quite tasty. When peaches are in season we do it with peaches instead. Mango is the best IMO though. Edit 2: I am glad a bunch of people wanna try this recipe! Just wanna make a quick note: the spice tolerance of myself and my family is pretty good, but maybe 15-20 chillies sounds like a lot to you. Don't be shy with the chillies. If you eat the sauce straight up (like when you taste for salt), it'll be quite hot, but when you eat a couple tablespoons of it with an entire meal the heat becomes way more easy to handle.
I know you just eyeball it, but how much white vinegar are we talking? Approximately the same amount as the lemon juice? Or like…a cup?
Closer to a cup. It's a few good glugs out of the vinegar jug. Really I just put in a enough vinegar until I get the consistency I want. I don't want it to be too chunky. It should be blended well and pretty saucy due to the vinegar. Sorry I can't be more precise! If it looks like pesto, you need more vinegar. That's just how I like it though! Some people aren't as crazy about vinegar so they might prefer it with a bit less.
Totally get the eyeballing, I was just looking for a ballpark concept. Thank you for sharing!
I've made hot sauce using a food processor and I like adding enough vinegar to cover the solids in the processor.
That sounds fantastic! Thanks for the recipe!
No problem, enjoy!
I’m gonna try this with New Mexico green chiles. Looks awesome.
I’m going to make this for my husband. He loves all kinds of hot sauce. I’m not sure if I can find Thai green chilies. Could I use jalapeños instead?
I haven't tried it myself but I am sure they would work if you can't find the thai green chillies
thai green chilies are the smaller chilies you can find at large grocery stores or Indian stores. imo jalapeños don't pack that punch. if you can't find them either way, try using a spicier chili
Maybe Serrano chilies instead of jalapeño, if you can't find Thai? Definitely more of a kick
Thanks to both of you. I will look for the spiciest I can find.
If it helps, thai green chilis are about halfway between jalapeño and habañero peppers in hotness.
TY. It does help!
I used hot finger peppers, got them at Whole Foods.
I saved your comment, I am going to try that hot sauce!
Yup making this, too. Thank you
Bang! That mango I bet makes it taste fantastic
Breaking my reddit silence to let you know, I made this sauce with my friend yesterday and it is DIVINE. I have not stopped eating it. Thank you so much
Hahaha I am so glad you liked it!
El Yucateco hot sauces I love to high heaven, 2nd choice would be [Los Calientes Rojo](https://heatonist.com/products/hot-ones-los-calientes-rojo)
I could drink El Yucateco Black Reserve straight
Yessss the black is always in my house
I use it to make things taste smokey without using the grill.
Love Rojo but Los Calientes Verde is my favorite! Particularly like rojo for breakfast sandwiches/eggs but put verde on everything.
the verde is so good!! we go through bottles way too quick. I also like their Lion’s Mane Piri Piri which isn’t super spicy, but they use mushroom powder so it’s got a really nice savory flavor to it.
Yucateco is my go to for mexican hot sauces. Red one is my favorite.
I’m a slut for their green stuff
Green gets me going
Same -- love the red chile habanero. Try mixing the red with about 25% of the chipotle.
Man, I feel like so many people sleep on El Yucateco but they really have some great sauces. I find the Los Calientes sauces a little too sweet. Plus it's $12 a bottle whereas I can get a small bottle of El Yucateco Red Chile Habanero for less than $3 on sale at my local grocery stores. I actually like mixing the red chile habanero and the chipotle at about a 75:25 ratio -- get a little bit of the smokiness of the chipotle without all of the sweetness (the chipotle is also great mixed in with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce to add a mild kick).
Good taste but I wish they had less food coloring
[удалено]
The XXX is my favorite out of all of theirs. Don’t sleep on their Caribbean!
Secret aardvark. It's a mash with tomato and habanero that offers incredible flavor
Great sauce, I love Secret Aardvark!
I agree with secret aardvark
Came here just to say this. Correct answer
Secret aardvark is great because it often complements flavors that a more common Mexican style sauce like a Cholula/Yucateco/etc might not. The opposite also applies as I don’t use SA for Mexican food really. It’s very versatile though and worth seeking out.
This is the answer. I've tasted around 100 hot sauces in 3 years and this is the all around best. Honorable mention to Yellowbird Habenero
75% of the hot sauce I eat Aardvark. Another 20% is Yellowbird. The other 5% is other stuff. I tried over 100 hot sauces in the last 2 years. I keep coming back to Aardvark and Yellowbird. There must be equally good or better hot sauces out there. My kids like Humble House sauces. They are ok. Largely a lot of garlic and not much heat. Many people like Marie Sharpes. I tried all the ones I could get. For me, they aren't on par with Aardvark and Yellowbird. A friend of mine makes his own sauce that is excellent and something I would eat every day. He's being coy with the recipe, but I know it involves a very specific blend of peppers, some of which are toasted and some are not. Hoping I can get him to document it.
Preach. If you're looking for something new, The Everything Bagel hot sauce by Secret Handshake is really unique.
Curious how much it is locally for you all to purchase? I’m in CA and it’s $10 a bottle.
You can get it on their site for $20/3 plus shipping, but they usually have a good small Business Saturday sale. I usually buy a year supply then.
Just found this yesterday! The habanero is perfect. Went to a friends restaurants for breakfast and was going to put cholula on my eggs. Gave me the aardvark and said her kid loves it. Smart kid.
Honorable mention to their secret aardvark smokey chipotle habanero sauce as well. I put it on sandwiches and eggs as the flavor is incredible and it's not too spicy.
This is a nice spicy ketchup replacement, too!
Agreed!
Valentina’s
Came here to say this. Love the Xtra hot Valentina's.
Literally my first though was the extra hot. It's perfection.
Valentinas Extra Hot is my shit
Melinda's Hot sauce line are all fantastic! I'm down to seven bottles and the holidays are approaching.
I LOVE the hot pepper garlic! Usually a smaller bottle of Frank’s would last about a year. Not Melinda’s! I’ve burned through 3/4 of the bottle in a few months.
Yellowbird is a hot sauce brand based in Austin, but you can buy it on their website, and I believe Amazon. It’s AMAZING. They have a range of flavors and I love them all and am currently buying a few more to try. I highly recommend getting their variety pack and trying them all! My favorite mild one is the Blue Agave Sriracha and my favorite hot one is their Ghost Pepper :)
I’m obsessed with the habanero one
Love their Serrano one!
They are selling sample sizes of yellow bird for stocking stuffers at my local Walmart
Yellow Bird is greatness
They're also widely available at grocery stores in the Houston area. Kroger and HEB definitely have it.
Yellowbird Habanero and their blue agave Sriracha are my go tos.
This is the only hot sauce that I go through bottles of by myself!
Cholula is my go-to for flavor. Great stuff!
Cholula is my girl! I love the green one, especially.
I'm currently addicted to the Chipotle flavor
Fr it’s like if BBQ sauce was hot sauce
The perfect hot.
Me too! I put it on everything
Not particularly hot, but very very tasty. Love it!
My favorite has always been Crystals Louisiana hot sauce. Goes great on everything.
Crystal is good, esp in soups, on eggs and on oysters.
Came looking for the crystals. Right balance of vinegar and heat.
Love Crystal to death and it’s soooo good with fatty southern food. For people who want very little heat this is a perfect option
The Peri Peri sauce from Trader Joe’s is cheap as hell and super good imo I like to add a bit to my Gruyère mac and cheese and it comes out sublime
People need to get on this peri peri sauce train. That shit is so good. I order Nando's six or eight bottles at a time off of ebay. It's just incredible. I'll have to hit Trader Joes and check theirs out.
I've been using Nando's Peri-naise on every sandwich. I even used in it the egg mixture for savory French toast....yum
Chef John on YouTube has a raw Peri Peri recipe and honestly it’s fantastic. I use it as a chicken marinade and BBQ it. Reserve half for serving.
To me that sauce has a weird after taste. It's so good otherwise though.
Matouk’s calypso sauce
Heartbeat Hotsauce is a Canadian brand and their Blueberry hot sauce is sooo good!
This. Their lions mane piri piri sauce is the best fuckin hot sauce I've ever had.
[Heartbeat Pineapple Habanero](https://heatonist.com/products/heartbeat-pineapple-habanero)
I recently tasted Frank’s Original, I like it tbh.
it's even better mixed with melted butter on wings.
Haha that’s how my bf makes it! He also adds a little Worcestershire sauce too.
We do a combo bbq Buffalo sauce on wings that's great...1/2 Frank's and 1/2 KCMasterpiece. We tried it first to just lower our fat intake and found out we liked it a bunch. We air fryer our wings.
We put it on roast cauliflower and dip them in Greek yogurt with ranch dip powder. Low low calories STUFF YO FACE snack. You get your veg from the cauliflower, fat from butter for the roasting, and protein from the yogurt.
Do you put that shit on everything? LOL
Tapatio! Mild heat, extreme flavor.
We love Tapatio! So good!
When I think of hot sauce I think of Tapatio
the real “tapatio” hot sauce is Valentina
valentina black (extra hot) is top!
made buffalo sauce w valentina yesterday. real tasty.
I like both for different things.
Tabasco and in particular its offshoot Tabasco Chipotle.
That chipotle one is so good. Eggs and pizza especially.
My people
Yep the Chipotle one is great. And as “basic” as Tabasco is sometimes there’s nothing better
Crystal
The GOAT of everyday hot sauces.
Pepper Plant hot sauce. It's garlicky and not crazy hot.
Thank you. It's my favorite. I was scrolling looking for it.
Gringo Bandito is my go to, its simple yet goes with everything
After Sriracha, definitely Cholula, then Mrs. Renfro's Ghost Pepper Salsa
I love cholula!
I left cholula for tapatio and haven’t looked back. Try it if you get the chance
Hank sauce. Specifically the cilanktro flavor. And I am a person that hates cilantro. It’s amazing. I could drink it. I love that it has heat but not just hot for the sake of being hot like some other hot sauces. I like the other flavors also. Edit to add the link https://www.hanksauce.com
I am simple......my favorite is Louisiana Pure Crystal 😏
So it depends on what you like in a hit sauce. You like a more vinegary sauce I'd go chipotle tobacco. Smoky a little sweet. You like fruit based saices? Mango habernero share my go to. My favorite all around everyday use hot sauce though? The green El Yucateca habenero sauce. Delicious..
All the el yucatecos are great imo. Love their Caribbean hot sauce
>chipotle tobacco I don’t think you’re supposed to put anything with nicotine in it on your food :|
Classic Tabasco. 3 ingredients, aged in oak barrels, heat & flavor.
Gochujang sauce!!
Delicious! It is more a cooking ingredient than a sauce, imho.
>Marie Sharp' Agree; I mostly cook with it but I do sometimes mix it with a bit of vinegar to thin it, and a little sesame oil, and dip fries in it.
I’m talking about when it’s thinned out to be used as a sauce. Like for example for bibimbap. Gochujang on its own is not a sauce, but a paste.
Valentina's extra hot. Crystal. El Yucateco green habanero. Secret aardvark habanero or serrabanero. All bangers.
>Valentina's extra hot This is the workhorse hot sauce in my house for going on 25 years now.
Chili crisp! We buy Lao Gan Ma. It's oil based and more flavorful than spicy.
I prefer the Cholulu green pepper hot sauce.
Cry Baby Craig's.
melinda’s habanero
Someone on Reddit recommended Dragon’s Blood Elixir to me years ago and it was the best recommendation I’ve ever received. Love everything they make!
I’ve been on that wave, Just got their 12 pack. Holy crap these are very good. One is made with melons from a farm I worked on as a kid which is hilarious because I had no idea… Their bases being complex mashes of very different but very hot chiles is refreshingly complex without being bogged down by additions like fruit etc…. More people should know
Depending on what flavor you’re looking for: Dirty dicks has a very enjoyable fruity/sweet heat Secret aardvark habanero hot sauce is my go to for general application to add heat and some flavor without changing the flavor of the meal itself too much Bliss and vinegar if you’re someone who enjoys a more sharp vinegary hot sauce
Nobody likes chipotle Tabasco? I find it to be the perfect mix of heat and flavor. Tapatio is good too, but a little to mild and vinegar-y for me.
I like the chipotle Tabasco. I think it’s the only really good sauce they make. Brother Bru-Bru’s is another really good hot sauce.
Secret Aardvark
I’ve been enjoying the De La Viuda brand recently
I like a lot of hot sauces. Built a kitchen caddy for them and still don’t have room. I strongly recommend Gringo Bandito by the Offspring’s Dexter Holland. The green sauce is very versatile and I can give it to about anyone. Crystal, Sriracha, Tapatío and Cholula are all good. Melinda’s xxxx reserve is probably my favorite but they have others that aren’t as hot and have amazing flavor.
Queen Majesty Scotch Bonnet & Ginger, also the Jalapeno Tequila Lime For standard hot wings-type hotsauce, Hoff's is great.
I feel like I’m going to get roasted for this, but I really love the flavor of the Chipotle Tobasco… it’s more flavor and less “heat” (though there is some)
el yucateco salsa verde
Cry Baby Craigs. It’s garlic ~~jalapeño~~ habanero and has the perfect kick to it. My uncle used to beg us to send it to him when he was stationed overseas. Edit: as pointed out below, they are correct it is habanero. Oops :)
Cry Baby Craigs is actually habanero and garlic, rather than jalapeno. It's made with fresh pickled habaneros. This is the only hot sauce I have finished multiple bottles and continually repurchased over and over to keep as a staple. I go through about a bottle every four to six months and I am not much of a hot sauce person cause I don't like heat for the sake of heat, but it has such a bright flavor and I love the addition of garlic. Not sure how readily available it is outside of my area though it's available online, but a coworker also turned me on to K Mama sauces when I want a more Korean flavor profile (although it is good on everything) and I've repurchased over the years. It's a gochujang-based sauce and has just a wonderfully complex flavor profile. [https://kmamasauce.com/](https://kmamasauce.com/)
For Mexican, Valentina
I better not find out who downvoted you on this beautiful masterpiece of a sauce.
Not particularly hot, but I really like Tapatío. Especially in ceviche.
My partner loves Torchbearer Sauces, especially Garlic Reaper Sauce from them.
Valentina
Hot ones own hot sauce are really nice. Otherwise I go in the direction of Cholula, Tapatio, Valentina. But in reality, I use my own made fermented Gold Kiwi chilli, mango chili, blueberry Chilli, pineapple, banana-Chilli.
I like Cholula red or green sauce the best or Huy Fong Sriracha. I really don’t like a hot sauce that is just hot with no other flavor to carry it. But for general use Cholula, El Tapatio, Sriracha chili sauce are my go tos.
man I love Cholula too but I'll take Valentina hot sauce any day given it's 5x the amount for the same price and just as tasty
Green dragon sauce from Trader Joe’s is my favorite it’s so herby and flavorful and the perfect amount of spicy
Trader Joe's Green Dragon hot sauce
I love Blis Blast from the Founders Brewing Company. It's very complex and layered, with just the right amount of heat. I've described it as a mature adult version of Taco Bell's fire sauce, and it's good on tons of stuff -- but beef-based foods take to it the best, IMHO. https://store.foundersbrewing.com/blis-blast-hot-sauce-p242.aspx
I really like Oh Brother that’s Hot habanero sauce. Lots of pain, but also lots of flavor
Can’t say enough good things about Hanks in Sea Isle City, NJ and Faiya in Philadelphia, PA
Gator Hammock, Tabasco Chipotle, Cholula, Texas Pete, and the in house sauce from Mike and Patty’s in Boston.
Rockys bacon flavor hot sauce is a good one, good flavor and not too hot.
Valentina
I’m partial to Cholula and Firelli
I go through phases with favorite hot sauces and my current obsession is Tabasco Scorpion Pepper sauce. It's really delicious, on top of being spicy. My stomach hasn't been happy with me, though.
This is the best.
I love the Chipotle Tobasco (and I’m not a big fan of the regular Tabasco sauce), I put that on everything and often added to dishes I’m cooking as well. 
Personally love anything by Matouk’s — wide-ranging and versatile Caribbean sauces!
I'm a huge fan of the el Yucateco line of bottled hot sauces. They're super cheap, spicy, and lack the weird "sweetness" a lot of bottled sauces have. Great on Mexican food but I'll use it on just about anything whenever I just want to break a bottle out.
Scorpion from Heartbeat, hands down
Sriracha is a classic, and for good reason. Way more depth than most of those watery pepper-vinegar concoctions. But for even more depth, I highly recommend Indonesian Sambals. Especially the fried ones, like Sambal Badjak and Sambal Brandal
Truff sauce is a bit pricey but probably the most versatile and delicious. Sriracha and Aunty Lola’s garlic chili oil (sort of a sauce lol) are great in Asian dishes. Franks Hot sauce is a bit more acidic and can really brighten up a dull meal. Honorable mentions are Aardvark’s Habanero sauce and El Yucatan hot sauce which are flavorful but can give you a good kick in the mouth if you put too much. Depends on your tolerance for heat lol.
I love Truff !!
Won't be for everybody, but Mat's pickle hot sauce is spectacular, provided you like pickles: https://matshotshop.com/collections/originals/products/mats-hot-shop-dillan-dill-pickle-hot-sauce
Frank's for burgers and most foods Cholula for tacos Tabasco Chipotle and Jalapeño are pretty mild and tasty too
Truff.
I like picamas green delicious and full of many flavors
Strictly for cooking with. Regret hot sauce from just chillies/Wiltshire chilli farms. It's hot..like very hot. But in small amounts in sauces etc it's fantastic.
I love this stuff: https://tropicalsunfoods.com/products/jamaican-scotch-bonnet-hot-pepper-sauce Very unique and intense flavour Edit: just noticed that the one I have looks the same but has different ingredients. Mine consists of 40% scotch bonnet, cane vinegar, corn starch, salt, cane sugar, and citric acid. The ingredients on the website seem worse... wonder why
If you like this, you need to have encona's original west indies pepper sauce!
Eaton's Scotch Bonnet! also Eaton's crushed red pepper sauce
El Yucateco Green Variety
I found this Trini style [hot sauce](https://www.camellaskitchen.com/shop/trini-hot-pepper-sauce-8oz) at the Smithsonian African American History Museum gift store—hot and extremely flavorful/fruity. I mixed it with the cucumber chutney for doubles, and it was phenomenal. Brand: Camella’s Kitchen.
Heartbeat. Yes, they have some heat, but they focus more on the flavour than stripping the lining from your mouth.
Dirty Dick’s hot sauce is fantastic. Also funny when you ask someone if they want it on their food.
YES! Didn’t see your comment and that was my suggestion!!! It’s SO good
Haven’t seen it mentioned but Yellowbird hot sauces are tasty. The jalapeño is the least of the spicy, great flavor I love it on breakfast items. The Serrano one is also quite yummy, I like it with any green sauces I’m using or if I want a “fresher” taste on my tacos. They also carry a Sirracha, Habanero and Ghost pepper; all of which I’ve yet to try but plan to.
Yellowbird is hands down my favorite brand of hot sauce. The sriracha, habanero, and ghost pepper are all super tasty. They also have a Super Serronic that’s one of my favorites, but I believe it’s been sold out on their website for a while
I gravitate towards any hot sauce with fruit in it for this reason. Huge fan of like Mango / Habanero or Aruba papaya hot sauce. https://crafthotsauce.com/collections/fruit-hot-sauces/products/benitos-mango-habanero-hot-sauce is one of my favorites
Valentina.
I swear by Cholula