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| "We Bring Good Food to Life" |
I love hot sauce. I'm lucky because there is so much hot sauce out there to try. A lot. Some of it good, some great, and some terrible. What makes a great hot sauce is subjective on some factors, but I think there are a few qualities that really make a difference; a sense of history, good quality ingredients, and a passion. So I was excited when Ifoma Smart hooked me up with his small batch sauces, Wicked Smart from right here in Ontario.
DISCLOSURE: This was a free sample sent to me and I was not paid to promote the product. I like to support local small businesses, but my reviews are honest and come with no expectation of promotion. If I was being paid to promote, I would say so. I always appreciate being sent samples to review, but I'm here giving my opinion in as much of an unbiased way as I can.
Wicked Smart Hot Sauces are new on the block, but they are getting the word out quick! The CBC did a
report on them recently on the rise of small batch hot sauce makers in the Kitchener area. When I was sent samples of their sauces, I had a few questions myself about their sauces and themselves:
Who and What is Wicked Smart Hot Sauce?
"Hi! I'm Ifoma Smart, owner and creator of Wicked Smart Hot Sauce. We are a Kitchener-based company that creates small-batch hot sauce that balances heat with flavour. We are inspired by a family tradition of using the freshest local produce. All our sauces are vegan, gluten free, and contain zero preservatives or additives."
How did you get into the Hot Sauce biz?
"Hot sauce is in my blood. I grew up in a family that enjoys good food and vibrant music. Both were ubiquitous in my household and hot sauce was the perfect accompaniment for every dish and every gathering. These experiences continue to be a cultural linkage to the Caribbean for me and other West Indians. As I grew older, I experimented making different sauces for my friends and family often giving them away as gifts. When my mom "retired" from making hot sauce after trying my sauces, I knew I was onto something. The COVID pandemic provided the perfect opportunity to use my spare time to refine my recipes, and come up with a unique but creative branding for my hot sauces."
What does hot sauce mean to you? What sets your sauces apart from others?
"Hot sauce is a metaphor for life. It's a flavour enhancer that causes you to really slow down, be present and enjoy the complexity that each sauce brings to a dish." "The appeal of Wicked Smart Hot Sauces is that they bring the heat AND the flavour. Unlike other fermented sauces that rely on vinegar, salt or other additives, we use the natural flavours of the peppers and other produce to bring the flavour forward then we hit you with the capsaicin burn."
Where did the name "Wicked Smart" Come From?
"Beyond the obvious Bostonian/Good Will Hunting reference, Wicked Smart is a play on a few concepts. 1. Smart is my last name. 2. When a pepper sauce/hot sauce really hits you with the heat, Trinidadians say it's "Wicked"! 3. When hot sauce is nothing but heat, Trinidadians call it "an ignorant hot sauce" because it's a one-trick pony that doesn't have any other appeal or flavour."
I mean that all sounds great; movie references, cultural roots, fresh ingredients. And these sauces come from Kitchener Ontario and I'm always happy to promote and support small Canadian, and local Ontario businesses. When that package arrived, I was very excited to unbox and see these sauces in person.
Those bottles looked 'wicked'! Wicked Smart currently makes two sauces: Calypso & Soca. Right away my wife pointed out the names are based on music: "Both music styles originate from Trinidad and are a nod to my cultural heritage" Smart told me. Sounds like it's time to get this party started!
First off, I really like the aesthetic of this whole product. The name is great with the play on Ifoma's name, and the 'ignorant' vs 'smart' aspects. The logo also is cute but smart, even brandishing Smart's glasses and emphasizing the intelligent aspect of the sauce. The use of black as the dominant background really makes the other colours pop. Also the website is nice and clean as is their Instagram account.
The bottles are 148ml each or 5 fl oz. and are a good size to add to your sauce collection, or just trying if you are not a big collector of sauces like I am. The sauces are "vegan, gluten free, and contain zero preservatives or additives" so you are going to need to put them in the fridge after opening.
I was surprised when I pulled off the sealed tops and removed the caps to find a 'dripper' cap (fun fact, didn't know what this was called until researching it right now). That's a warning sign about heat and how they want you to distribute this sauce ... so you are not flooding your food but adding drips because you don't want to waste or flood your food with something potentially painful!
THE SAUCES
I was drawn to this bottle first. I love the name, the colour, and I had a feeling it was going to be a really good heat. It's a dark but nice colour of red, and you could see the chili seeds floating around. The fact that we were dealing with both Scotch Bonnet and Carolina Reaper peppers, you know there was going to be some bite ... but then the ingredients list some clementines in there so that sounds sweet and interesting!
Soca is the party sauce. It's a bright yellow and you can see the fibres as well as chili seeds in the mix. The yellow tells me it's going to be sweet, and seeing it's made with 'fresh organic peaches' sounds really interesting. "Finally a hot sauce for people who want that fruity sweet heat on pizza but can't stand pineapple. Hot but approachable."
Before going right to wings or other food, I wanted to sample the sauces au natural. I shook each bottle to get some sauce on the plate to compare the two. Both sauces are not thick and not thin in a great balance of texture. Thick enough that there is substance to the sauce but still pours nicely, but not so watery that it just washes everything out. You can tell that if you toss something into both, the sauces are going to cling on.
I was expecting a real fruity smell from Calypso that I have had with sauces made from Scotch Bonnet, but the smell was much more balanced. There is a sweet note in the smell, but I also get the peppers, the garlic and the vinegar. It's really intoxicating and appealed to my tastes.
The sauce immediately stings the tip of the tongue; like little needles. It glides back and attacks the throat, causing slight coughs. At the same time, the flavour of the pepper is there, that garlic, and the sweetness from the clementines. That sweetness is mild but it really helps round out the sauce. It had a bright and dark element to it and I like that. The heat is killer and this is not a sauce for the uninitiated!
Soca did provide an immediate fruity smell, but with that bright yellow colour it's to be expected. My smell detectors aren't that refined, so I couldn't tell it was peaches. There is almost a light sour smell after the fruity burst. It smells yummy.
My first fingerfull is almost like the flavour of jam; bright, sweet and a just a bit thick. But as I taste it, a small storm of spice goes to the back of the mouth. It's a nice little sting, but definitely not overpowering. This sauce zings with sweet and then spice. As Smart says, Soca "is more fruit-forward due to the peaches but the habanero definitely lets you know it's there!"
THE WING TEST
I dusted up some fresh chicken wings and tossed them into the airfryer and cooked till they were crispy. I did ask Smart which sauce was best for wings and how he would serve them on wings and this is what he said:
"Both sauces are unique in their own regard but I'm a huge advocate of having multiple flavors of sauced wings. My recommendation would be to try them both!! Smoked and tossed then smoked again."
I think these sauces would really compliment a BBQued wing, especially smoked. However, I'm not set up for smoking on my grill and I was really wanting to try the sauces on crispy wing so that's the direction I went.
I split my wings into Soca and Calypso batches. I had to remove the dripper plug because I wanted lots of sauce coming out. I wanted the sauce served raw and not incorporated into butter or anything to get the full flavour of each sauce. After generous globs of each sauce, I tossed and plated the wings.
They looked great and I was excited to try these sauces on wings! You could easily tell the difference between the two in colour, with Calypso being a more red-orange colour like a traditional hot wing, and the Soca being that yellow/orange colour from the peaches.
As I predicted, the sauce really clung to the wings well. They were well coated and not much dripped off, which is kind of a shame as I wouldn't have minded dipping exposed bitten segments of chicken into leftover sauce.
I haven't been this excited to eat wings at home in a while! They smelled good, they looked good, so I was hoping they were going to taste good too!
On the wings, this sauce was definitely unique. I have not had a wing flavour like this before. You have that sweet and sting going on that compliments the rendered skin. I liked it on wings, but I think it would have been better on a smoked or at least grilled wing. It's bright and not sickly sweet, and I could really see this going well with grilled shrimp or even pork tacos.
CALYPSO
This sauce just went naturally with wings. It's like a classic hot wing sauce that's been leveled up several times because you have the heat (and it brings the heat!), but there is a depth of flavour that makes it stand out. I really like the 'wicked' levels of heat but that it isn't all scotch bonnet (which isn't one of my favourite pepper flavours). The reaper helps kick up that heat but also flavour. And while I can't taste the clementine specifically, the nuance of the sweet is there. I would be tempted to add some melted butter but I also wouldn't want to erode the flavour of the sauce ...
I really enjoyed these sauces, but my clear favourite is Calypso. Both sauces you can taste the quality of the ingredients, the history and love that has gone into making them that only comes from small batch sauce. I'm reaching for Calypso more often for the full flavour heat. It's exactly as Ifoma put it - this isn't just 'ignorant' heat; it's smart and it's wicked!
I've been using it in soups, on meatballs, even on popcorn. I like the way it burns and still tastes good. When I think of the sauce names and the feelings and flavour Wicked Smart sauces induces, it keeps reminding me of that Simpson's quote; "It's like there's a party in my mouth, and everyone's invited!" Go out and try it for yourself - I know I liked it.
Wicked Smart Hot Sauces
Where can one buy Wicked Smart?
Wicked Smart Hot Sauces can be purchased at Brady's Meats, T&J Seafood, the Little Mushroom Food Shoppe, Caudle’s Catch Seafood, The Little Green Grocery inc., Halenda's Oshawa, and directly from the website.
