By now, only on my third review for BBQ Sauce Reviews, I’m startin’ to notice a lot of g’s missin’ in the packagin’. I guess it’s how most of these sauces are marketed - as kinda casual and fun - as the process of grilling and eating BBQ’d foods is inherently fun.
Although this Caribbean model uses a similar BBQ sauce industry marketin’ technique, this sauce is a welcome change from a lot of BBQ sauces I’ve tasted. Straight outta the bottle this stuff will spice up your night. I like the hot stuff occasionally, but as a dipping sauce I found the heat to overpower what great flavors that reveal themselves after a solid grillin’.
I used chicken wings, but the bottle recommends - in order - fish, seafood, chicken & “Goat”! Kinda funny I guess, but notice the uses of seafood twice in the description. I guess you could put it on crab / lobster and other non-fish seafood, but I think they were really aching to fill some space on the label.
That aside, the bottle presents itself as a distinguished Caribbean woman’s pride along with a steel drummer, palm tree leaves, and a boat on the beach in the background. It’s a welcome appetizer for the main course of chicken lathered in this tasty sauce.
It went on the chicken without issue, being thick enough to really stick to my wings.
Once grilled and settled, the taste was wonderful - a complex blend of mango, spices, and peppers (scotch bonnets are used). There’s heat for those who desire heat, and flavor for everyone else.
But is it too hot?
No way. There’s a bit of heat, yes, so if you don’t like hot foods you should probaby sit this one out. But it’s not the kind of heat that results in who-can-eat-this-stuff contests. It’s a great mix of heat and flavor - but again, after it’s been grilled. Without the grill, I found the heat a bit overwhelming.
Ingredients:
Water, Sugar, Mango Chutney (Mango, Sugar, Vinegar, Salt, Ginger, Garlic, Chili, contains sulfates), Tomatoes (Tomato Juice, Citric Acid, Calcium Chloride), Modified Food Starch, Salt, White Vinegar, Scotch Bonnet Peppers, Onions, Jalapeño Peppers ( Jalapeño Peppers, Salt, Calcium Chloride, Acetic Acid), Ginger (contains sulphites), Herbs and spices, Onion Powder, Canola Oil, Garlic Powder, Potassium Sorbate as a preservative, Polysorbate 80.
May 25th, 2007
Posted by
brian |
All Reviews, 5 Star Reviews, General |
7 comments
Positive: High scores due to creative use of natural ingredients and flavor.
Negative: Similar taste can probably be achieved by adding a little Worcestershire Sauce to a giant national brand.
Marketed as natural, gluten-free BBQ Sauces, Charley Biggs’ has several flavors to choose from, including Hot Pepper, Sweet Bourbon, and Maine Apple, which pays respect to the Wyndham Maine birthplace of this sauce.
That small town coziness has of course taken a turn, as this item was picked up at a local supermarket. The company also has franchised Chicken N’ Sauce QSRs (quick serve restaurants) so the local, small town feel is really only a history lesson.
On to the tasting.
Uncooked, you could really taste what was happening in this sauce. I dipped unsalted crackers into a small pool of CB’s Sweet Bourbon so I wouldn’t throw off my taste buds with external flavors. Heavy molasses and Worcestershire Sauce and a mix of spices (garlic and onion were most dominant) really tempted the taste buds. There is no heat to this sauce, as was intended in this simple, sweet sauce.
The consistency of the sauce was medium I’d say. Not too thin to be slippery when applying yet thick enough to hang on to the meat on the grill. I tend to prefer a thicker sauce, but their accomplishment of making the sauce this thick using all natural ingredients and no glutens is quite an accomplishment. I think the heavy use of molasses had something to do with that 
When I grilled some chicken wings with the sauce and that’s where the flavor started to get a little toned down - which was expected. It did, however make for a very satisfying BBQ meal. I see this as a nice replacement to big brand sauces made by Kraft and others.
All in all, a very good value for the $3.39 I paid for an 18.5 ounce bottle.
Smell: Nothing special for the olfactory senses. Smells mostly like diluted Worcestershire Sauce.
Taste: A nice mild sauce for when your cooking for people with conservative taste buds.
Consistency: A little thinner than expected, but higher than average marks for achieving this thickness through non-gluten techniques.
Packaging: A good bottle with an open mouth means it ready to pour into an intermediary medium like a basting bowl.
Ingredients: Tomato Puree, Molasses, Sugar, Cider Vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce, Sea Salt, Bourbon, Horseradish, Garlic (dry), Onion (dry), Spices.
Nutrition Info: 12G carbs, 0g Fat, 300mg Sodium, 45 Calories per serving (35g)
Website Link
May 25th, 2007
Posted by
brian |
Sweet BBQ Sauce |
no comments
