While the weather may not yet be at its hottest, why not turn up the heat with a hot sauce or salsa tasting party? Spec’s has a great selection of spicy and sweet spreads – plus all the cooling drinks any hot party needs!
To put together a comprehensive spread, start with the mild end of the spectrum and build up the Scoville scale (the official measurement of the heat of chili peppers). Within this huge range, there’s room for some delicious variations with roasted, sweet, or otherwise unusual flavors to keep guests guessing.
There are several often-seen peppers at different points on the scale. Poblano or Anaheim chiles are among the milder peppers. Roasted or green salsas, such as chipotle and tomatillo sauces, will often be found in the mild-to-medium hot range as well. These sauces have a smoky, tangier, “greener” flavor than red or brown sauces.
Moving up the scale at medium-hot to hot, Jalapeno and then Serrano chile sauces are next, with Cayenne peppers topping the range.
Habanero peppers are even hotter, with some habanero sauces heading towards the “very hot” end of the spectrum. Occasionally, these hotter peppers will be blended in salsas with tropical or stone fruits to create a delicious, sweet-and-spicy salsa.
At the very highest end of the spectrum are Scotch bonnet peppers, along with Red Savina and “ghost chili” (Bhut Jolokia) peppers. The ghost chili is the hottest of these – in fact, it is rated as one of the very hottest peppers in the world! There are also some sauces with concentrated capsaicin extracts added to turn up the burn. These sauces will usually have warnings on them, and are extremely hot, with a long-lasting afterburn.
Spec’s recommends offering both toothpicks and tortilla chips to guests to sample sauces, so that guests don’t accidentally taste more than they can take! Of course, a full range of party supplies is available in the party planning section, along with delicious libations to pair with any sort of sauce.
Whatever your capsaicin comfort level, Spec’s selection of premium salsas and hot sauces is sure to have something to please every palate!
