As an early Xmas gift, my wife and I received a really nice bundle of three Pain Is Good hot sauces from a friend (thanks, Jennifer!). One was an old favorite, one was a sauce I'd tried before and didn't hate and the third was new to me and has now become a solid favorite.
I was introduced to this brand years ago at a Ross (Dress for Less!) of all places. They usually have a tiny aisle full of weird "discounted" kitchen gadgets and such and the next aisle over is usually stocked with odds and ends of snacks and stuff like cocoa mixes, weird cookies and occasionally random hot sauces. I was probably drawn to the sauces by the eye-catching label art, featuring various faces contorted in hot sauce-induced agony (ecstasy?). But their respectable heat and good attention to flavor kept me coming back for more.
Pain Is Good Batch #37 Garlic Style Hot Sauce
This is one I'd had before and liked it well enough, but not enough to buy it over and over again. It has decent heat and a very sharp flavor. Not quite in that hated Tabasco range of vinegary garbage flavor, but enough to overpower the garlic just enough. But a little on some potatoes or on pasta or in a soup is fine if you're in the mood for a more piquant flavor and some heat. It's not my favorite, but I'm not kicking it out of my food-bed.
Pain Is Good Batch #114 Jamaican Style Hot Sauce
This one's definitely an old favorite. I think this is the first one I ever bought from this brand and I've purchased it several times since. It was my introduction to habañero-based sauces as well as to jerk spices in general. I really like the flavor on this one. It's sweet from the pineapple juice and the jerk spices give it an exotic kick. I liberally use it on foods with existing flavor profiles that are probably not appropriate for the addition of jerk seasoning because I'm a goddamn savage. Italian pasta? Yep. Now it's Jamaican jerk Italian marinara, motherfucker! Chinese fried rice? Yeah! Welcome to Jamaica! On a side note, Pain Is Good also makes a Jamaican Pineapple Salsa that's milder, but has the same flavor profile as the Batch #114 sauce. It's really, really good. I actually avoid getting it because we go through it too fast to justify the price tag.
Pain Is Good Habañero Pepper Sauce
I'd never tried this particular one before and it's such a new favorite that the bottle's already almost empty. When I first got it, I swabbed some on my finger and tasted it and immediately let out the longest "Mmmmmm". (This, by the way, is my usual method odf first tasting any hot sauce.) It's mustard-based and tastes like a delicious barbecue sauce with a really nice level of habañero heat. It's savory and smoky and tangy. I'm still a savage, so I also throw it on pasta and soup and such, but because of the mustard and barbecue aspects, it's really perfect for slathering on burgers and sandwiches. I'm definitely a fan of this one and need to pick up some more soon. My bottle's woefully close to empty.
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