An “Evil” meal of pork tenderloin and green beans with Big Evil BBQ and Asylum Hot Sauce for the beans!

I met Patrick McGill at Peppers on the Beach this past May, and while waiting at Starbucks for coffee he shared that he just started his sauce company a couple of months prior and that his background was in the cellphone business.  Well, he’s phoning in some great marketing and an entry lineup of sauces that rival some industry veterans.  He sent me his Asylum Crazy Hot Sauce and his Big Evil BBQ sauce to try, and If the inmates are running this Asylum, you may just need a ticket! We’re taking off the straight jacket, coming out of the Twilight Zone, staring Nurse Cratchet in the eye, and taking a look at Evil Seed Sauce Company’s Asylum Crazy Hot Sauce! We’ll talk about Big Evil BBQ Sauce soon. Bwahahahahaha!!!!!

With a sophisticated label and timed fairly close to the start of the Asylum TV series, Evil Seed scores with their Aslyum hot Sauce. Great marketing, for sure.  I don’t know if Patrick does his own graphic design, but he’s managed to combine some novelty with a clean, stylish look to his sauce label, with smart graphics and a picture of the saucemaker that would make Alfred Hitchcock proud. I also like the tagline that appears on all their products – “Live Good-Eat Evil”. Short and catchy, with a emoticon based devil holding a pitchfork that is appealing and memorable. I give the label high marks! I’m not sure if the Crazy Hot Sauce that’s on the label is part of the official name or not, but no matter – nothing really “Crazy” about this sauce but a nice blend of flavor and heat.

Oh yea, flavor and heat comes from what’s inside, so I don’t want to forget to tell you what’s in nurse Cratchet’s medicine:  Water, Apple Cider Vinegar, Onions, Sugar, Red Habanero Peppers, Red Chile Peppers, Red Serrano Peppers, Scorpion Peppers, Garlic, Lime Juice, Butter, Soybean Oil, Dijon Mustard, Pickled Ginger, Lemon Pepper, Molasses, Cayenne Pepper, Black Pepper

Speaking of flavor and heat, this is a sauce that feels more like a condiment than a hotsauce additive.  It has a medium consistency and just enough “chunkiness” to shout through the Asylum bars, “Hey, nurse Cratchet! I’m a natural sauce with lots of ingredients and goodies!!!” I can taste the onions and a hint of the pickled ginger, but the five pepper blend is smooth enough where I couldn’t detect pieces of any one type of pepper.  Asylum does a good job with it’s heat profile, making me wonder if electroshock therapy feels similar – A little front-end wake up call created by layering the red habaneros with the serrano, cayenne, and other reds, while allowing the scorpion peppers to hang back a tad and then “ZAP!! I GOT YOUR HEAT RIGHT HERE, CRAZY PERSON!!!” But like all good electroshock therapy, the ZAP only lasts a little while, getting you ready for another dose of craziness!!!  I pick up the mustard note, the sweet of the molasses and apple cider vinegar (yes, I think apple cider vinegar is sweet!), and the other ingredients fall nicely in line.

Overall, I’ve had about a month to really try this sauce, and have used it on the usual culprits- eggs, of course, and pork, chicken, boca, veggies, salad (yep-love hot sauce on my salad!).  It’s a solid enough player to go on most things, but I have to admit, I didn’t enjoy it in chili for some reason.  Maybe it’s the mustard note or my specific pre-determined sauce bias for chili, but nonetheless, it worked really well on most everything else.  Not too shabby!

So as I stare down nurse Cratchet, hand the big Indian a pillow for poor ol’ Jack, and laugh the “evil” laugh, I give Asylum a solid 3 1/2 Fiery Worlds – a very respectible rating for yours truly! Stay tuned for my take on Evil Seed’s “Big Evil” BBQ Sauce and remember, ladies and gentlemen:  It’s a Fiery World!