Review: Sweet Sunshine Chili Sauce Atomic

Hello All, today’s sampling for The Last Bite is Sweet Sunshine Chili Sauce Atomic flavor. It’s been a little while since my last review and I’m excited to share my experience with this very interesting looking sauce. The label boldly states “FLAVOR BEFORE FIRE”

Initial Impression: I like the multifaceted bottle being used here, and I think it would have made a great statement if it were not wrapped with one of the most ADHD labels I have seen in a long time. There was so much going on here I almost had to take a Xanax to remove the tamper seal. While we’re on the subject of tamper seals, in my opinion clear is a bad choice for a clear bottle. The inside of the neck is always goopy and makes the products overall appearance sloppy looking. A complimenting color may have even toned down the label a bit.

Ingredients: Sugar, Water, Vinegar, Ripe Red Savina Habanero Peppers, Mustard Seed, Ancho Peppers, Corn Syrup, Cayenne Peppers, Habanero Peppers, Molasses, Modified Food Starch, Salt, Worcestershire sauce, Natural Flavors, Onion, Spices, less than 1/10 of 1% sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate.

When I started reading the ingredients I became a bit confused. Sugar is the most abundant ingredient on the label. There is also corn syrup and molasses, just in case your blood sugar starts to drop during your meal. The ingredients looked a bit more like a spicy barbecue or steak sauce.

Appearance: This is a thick one. Dark and rich looking, it still has me thinking barbecue. There are tiny red flakes, and light and dark colored seeds. Overall the sauce has a nice look and is fairly appetizing, but I just can’t help wanting to put it on ribs or brisket; maybe it’s the color?

Aroma: POW! Red Savina is definitely the first thing you smell, however I get the sense that this is a pepper mash that I smell. It has that tangy slightly fermented pepper smell you get from a mash. I left the bottle open for a little while to let it breathe. The pepper smell is so pungent I can’t really pick up anything else.

Taste: Straight from the bottle, I tried a small drop. The label says it’s ATOMIC, so I approached it carefully. There is even a caution warning across the label. Sweet, No, not “sweeeet!” as in awesome, just sweet as in sugary sweet. A little heat followed but nothing that I would call atomic. No hazmat cleanup crew needed to do tonight’s dishes people; it was a false alarm. Oh, and if the flavor that they were going for is sweetness, then you certainly do get flavor before fire.

The Food Test: I was hoping this sauce would be elevated by the right food choice. Since it was very sweet and close to a steak or barbecue sauce I thought steak might be a good choice. I dipped my first cut of juicy rib eye into a small puddle of Sweet Sunshine Atomic Chili Sauce. The juice from the steak mixed with the sauce and hit the back of my throat as if I had just swallowed a handful of thumbtacks. After I coughed up a lung I drank a little iced tea and tried it again. There is a lingering heat from the chiles, but the overriding flavor here is the sweetness. I don’t get any layered or flavor complexity during the consumption of this sauce but there is a slight smoky aftertaste after some time.

Conclusion: Sweet Sunshine Atomic Chili Sauce is ok. If you like sweet sauces and are a fan of red savina mash you will like this sauce. If it’s amazing flavor or incredible heat you are looking for this sauce might leave you wanting. For me, this will go in the fridge with the other 30 hot sauces I have in there, and I’ll give it another shot on something out of the smoker.

Packaging 2/10 – Hyperactive Label
Aroma 3/10 – Overpowering
Appearance 8/10 – Thick, Rich, BBQish
Taste 2/10 – Sweet and Flat
Heat 7.5/10 – Not Atomic.

Overall 5/10 – This much sugar is better suited for waffles