Please place your Holiday orders by December 19th to guarantee on-time delivery.
Do you love products that give back and help others? Who doesn't, right...especially around the holidays when it is season for giving. Well, today I wanted to introduce you all to an amazing hot sauce line, which is made in the USA (on a farm in Louisiana) in small-batches. In addition to creating jobs for veterans, a donation is made directly to military and veteran families who need help, with each and every purchase made at The General's Hot Sauce.
When it comes to shopping for family and friends, I find that shopping for the guys is the hardest, as they can never just come out and say what they want. Whenever I ask my husband he says, "Whatever you feel like," or the one that drives me crazy, "Surprise me." Then, when I surprise him he wonders why I bought that particular gift, while following up with a few options that could have been better. If only he had said that right off the bat, it would have made shopping for him and all the other guys on my shopping list that much easier.
Over the years, though, I have found that food, beer and wines work well for guys. Who is going to say no to food, right? And, you need something to wash it down with -- the smoother, the better my husband says. One thing my husband loves is hot sauces -- the hotter the better for him. Before we had the girls we used to travel to chili festivals all over the United States sampling chili and even buffalo wing and homemade hot sauces. We used to love putting our taste buds to the test and seeing how much heat we could tolerate. The more tears the hot sauce produced, the better the flavor and the spicier the hot sauce. Ah, I miss those days, walking around with a cold bottle of milk, to help cool the burn. It was torture but in a good, and one we loved putting ourselves through to find the best hot sauces around. And, during our travels we would stock up on the best hot sauces to bring home and share with family and friends. Whenever we had cookouts or game night, family and friends knew we would be pulling out hot sauces to have them sample. My husband would say that we would be separating the men from the boys and the ladies from the girls, as many people would walk away without even attempting our hot sauce challenge. I guess they were smart. :-)
Now that we have our girls we don't travel like we used to, which means we have to rely on buying hot sauces online or from local farmer's markets or pop up shops selling hot sauces, to enjoy at home. But, I have to admit, many of these purchases have been disappointing as they weren't that hot. Even ones boasting to use ghost peppers in their sauces weren't that hot. So, when I began preparing for my holiday gift guide this year, I made a point to find a hot sauce that was actually hot and would delight hot sauce lovers everywhere. When I stumbled across The General's Hot Sauce and saw their different hot sauces available, I was so excited to try them firsthand. I was also happy to learn about their mission and how they help veterans with job creation as well as donating money to those in need. And, the icing on the cake was seeing that this small-batch hot sauces company produces all their hot sauces here in the United States.
I reached out to the folks at The General's Hot Sauce to see about sampling their hot sauces and featuring them in my holiday gift guide. They graciously offered to send their popular The General's Gift Box -- The 1-Star, also know as their triple threat box, as it includes one of each of their 3 hot sauce flavors -- Dead Red, Marine Green and Shock & Awe. Within a week out talking with the folks at The General's Hot Sauce, a gift set arrived at my door.
I reached out to the folks at The General's Hot Sauce to see about sampling their hot sauces and featuring them in my holiday gift guide. They graciously offered to send their popular The General's Gift Box -- The 1-Star, also know as their triple threat box, as it includes one of each of their 3 hot sauce flavors -- Dead Red, Marine Green and Shock & Awe. Within a week out talking with the folks at The General's Hot Sauce, a gift set arrived at my door.
"The gift set arrives in a 1-Star gift box, made from northern white pine, and branded with The General's classic "Star and Stencil" logo, and lined with genuine shredded wood wool. These custom gift boxes are the perfect complement to our small-batch, premium hot sauce." Now if this wooden gift box doesn't scream "man gift" I don't know what will. Included with the hot sauces was a cozy to hold a cold beer, along with information about the company and their mission statement, as well as a recipe card for the General's Jerk Chicken which uses 1 bottle of General's Hot Sauce. I plan to try this recipe out soon using the Dead Red hot sauce and bring it to my parents for our Christmas pot luck. I hope everyone is ready for some great tasting jerk chicken with a kick! :-)
"Our mission (our “Why”) is all about creating employment opportunities for Veterans, and donating a meaningful percentage of our profits to help military and Veteran families. Our “What” and “How” is all about our passion for making the best hot sauce on the planet (as inspired by our friend The General), and putting it into never-before-seen, super cool packaging."
I couldn't wait to show my husband the gift box and see his reaction when he saw how the hot sauces were packaged. It is not every day you find hot sauces coming in a glass grenade bottle. This really added to the uniqueness of the hot sauce, and was a great reminder about the mission and how this company helps veterans. My husband was all smiles when he slid the lid off the gift box to reveal the hot sauces. And, just like I thought, he said, 'This is so cool," as he took out one of the hot sauces to look it over.
He wondered if these were actually hot, and I told him, he would have to try them to see. He was up for the challenge, and that night I made chicken wings for us to dip into each of the three hot sauces.
Before we did out General's Hot Sauce sampling, I did tell my husband about the three flavors and how they tasted -- without specifying which went with each flavor. Here is more about the three flavors and what you can expect heat wise and flavor from each...
About Dead Read:
"Our classic signature product. Perfect for buffalo wings, but great on pretty much everything else. Made from Louisiana-grown, fully ripe red cayenne peppers hand-picked at exactly that right time, and then salted down and aged until the mash is perfect for conversion and bottling. An all-natural product that is almost 90% cayenne peppers, this sauce packs a truly authentic, fresh cayenne flavor that will be very different when compared to other sauces that typically have a stronger concentration of vinegar. Cut it with some butter to make wings (The General suggests 75 sauce/25 butter). Depending upon each growing season’s weather patterns, heat (1-10) will range between 6-7. This sauce won’t melt your brain, but depending upon your palette, you may need to reach for a cold beverage."
About Marine Green:
"We discovered almost by accident that green cayenne peppers picked just before they turn red can bring a truly unique, tangy, earthy flavor; still carries the same fresh flavor as Dead Red, and that same rich concentration of all-natural cayenne peppers. Much of the harvesting of the green peppers happens at the end of a growing season, when these mature, perfectly balanced (but somewhat stubborn) peppers just decide to stay green; as such, we usually age these peppers a bit longer. A "late heat" that won't jump out at you right away, very popular at the breakfast table, the perfect balance of flavor and heat, still brings a solid heat (1-10) of 5-6, some vintages run a touch hotter during hot, dry summers. "
About Shock & Awe:
"Not for the faint of heart, this sauce was a special request from our beloved heat freak fans that we have since opened up to the rest of the universe. Made with almost 90% Louisiana-grown orange habaneros (we liked that flavor the best from all our testing), you'll get a unique punch of deep, powerful, sustained heat that is offset by a sweet aroma and taste. Many of our fans will use this sauce to "spike" Dead Red when making wings, it checks in (1-10) around an 8.5-9, according to most folks. So as not to distract from that sweet-heat combination, we add a touch less salt so that the true flavor of the habanero pepper really pops in the sauce. You can set your watch by the habanero pepper—it delivers a fairly consistent heat and flavor even in varying conditions."
---
Which flavor do you think my husband liked the most? Yep, Shock & Awe. He loves heat and loves when it is so hot it makes his mouth feel like it is on fire. You can put in the class with heat freak fans, and he is proud of it. I, on the other hand, tried it, but am still feeling the residual of the heat this habanero pepper hot sauce carried -- well, not really, but it was hot hot and burned even after a few glasses of cold milk. I, on the other hand, am a fan of green peppers, so gravitated towards the Marine Green hot sauce. It is hard to find a hot sauce that is made with green peppers, and the ones I have found, aren't that hot, or have that earthy taste you expect from a green pepper hot sauce. So, I was happy to have stumbled up The General's Marine Green as it has been the hot sauce I have been longing for. In addition to eating with the chicken wings that night, I have been using this hot sauce on chili and breakfast omelets. What better way to get a pick me up in the AM, than taking a bite out of an omelet that has been doused with green pepper hot sauce. Yum! and Holy Cow! both at the same time.
My husband and I had a great time sampling the three General's Hot Sauce flavors to find which was our favorite. And, now whenever we want to add a little heat to our food, we read for our General's Hot Sauce. If you have a hot sauce lover in your life, and you have been trying to figure out what to get them for the holidays...or, if you love heat and trying new hot sauces, then you will want to head on over to the General's Hot Sauce website to learn more and pick up the The General's Gift Box -- The 1-Star., or any of their other gift boxes. You can also buy different flavor combinations if you know which pepper you prefer. I am confident that once you give General's Hot Sauce a try, and your palette is put to the test, then you will see why my husband and I, and so many other hot sauce lovers, say this is the best hot sauce hands down. And, when you pair it with their positive mission statement and how they help veterans, you can't go wrong.
The holidays are fast approaching, so don't delay in order a General's Hot Sauce gift box today.
Stay up-to-date on all things related to The General's Hot Sauce including specials and promotions, news and more, by following them on their social media channels below...
----
Our Story and Mission:
"Smoke Hall Foods L3C, the veteran-owned, Louisiana-based parent company of The General’s Hot Sauce, was conceived by its founders at the 2012 Army-Navy football game tailgater in Philadelphia (yes, Navy won that year). Inspired by a close friend who actually serves as a general in the military, hails from Buffalo, and loves to make wings for his friends and family (and shall remain anonymous until the end of time—we’ll never tell), the company launched with a simple mission:
- Honor The General by producing the highest quality American-made, all-natural, small batch cayenne hot sauce possible, using the very best ingredients and process, and borrowing tactics from the bourbon and wine industries. Simply put, the world does not need another average hot sauce. It just doesn’t.
- Support the American farmer by growing all our peppers in the U.S. We think you should be able to trace every pepper back to the acre of land where it was grown.
- Serve the greater good by creating jobs for veterans, and by donating a meaningful percentage of our sales back to organizations that support our troops, veterans, and their families
- Build an honorable company that we can all be proud of, and have as much fun as humanly possible as we do it
For us, it’s not a race to be the biggest, nor will we cut corners to be the cheapest. We’d much rather focus on making a hot sauce that is almost 90% (yes—ninety, that’s not a typo) aged cayenne peppers. If you’re looking for cheaply made, cheaply priced products that are loaded with chemicals, we are definitely the wrong company for you. But if you care about authentic, all-natural products made by an organization that is committed to goals that extend far beyond just maximizing profits, then you’re in exactly the right place. "
A GREAT SAUCE FOR THE GREATER GOOD ™
What a fun gift box of hot sauce! I'd probably have to go pretty easy on the sauces!
ReplyDeleteThis made me laugh,especially after I was telling my husband about this! He would really love this,he loves his food pretty spicy!
ReplyDelete