Monthly Pepper Box Reviews

I recently had the chance to try a three month subscription to this. Each month you'll get three full size 5 oz bottles. These can be from a single company or multiple. Along with the three bottles, you will get a card that highlights the manufacturer and describes each sauce. Along with each description is what foods compliment each sauce. These are mostly taken from the labels, though it depends on the month on how much is on the label. The monthly pepper box folks call the hot sauces artisan sauces as they're from smaller vendors. For the most part, I'd just call them good. Each month, you'll get sauces with a variety of spiciness, from the mild side to the wild side. One month in particular, I liked the Carolina Reaper pepper based sauce. (I like the spice, in case you couldn't tell.) The best part about the whole thing is the variety of sauces you get to try, most of which you probably never even knew existed. And, if you find one you like, you can always buy more. My only con... perhaps the vendor should offer the option of spreading the 3 month subscription over 6 or 9 months. I'm currently overwhelmed with so many bottles of hot sauces... While I like the heat, there is no way I'm going to go through three bottles in one month. Great gift option for the pepper head.

For me one of the most fun aspects of this particular subscription service is seeing the creative names and labels on the sauces I’ve received so far. This month’s shipment of High River Sauces included Tears of the Sun, Hellacious Hot Sauce, and Foo Foo Mama Choo. Their ingredients were as individual as their names–of course they all include peppers of one kind or another, but you will also see mango, papya, peach, agava, lime, and ginger in the ingredient list which is helpfully included in each shipment along with a description of each variety. Last month’s selections included two Captain Assjack selections (Minorcan Ghost and Minorcan Gold) and one from Frankie Flamingo & Company (Flamingo Fire). I can’t wait to see what they send me this month! A note on customer service: I didn’t even notice this because who looks at this kind of thing, but the Flamingo Fire in the first box was past its expiration date. The folks at Monthly Pepper Box were extremely apologetic about this, and a replacement bottle was shipped out the same week. In addition to the original email apologizing for the error, I received at least two updates regarding how the company was working to correct the situation. I don’t know about you, but I find it easy to forgive mistakes when a company provides that kind of follow up. Now, I am probably not the best person to review these sauces because I have a very low tolerance for hot and spicy things. But my spice-loving oldest son who loves to cook with hot sauces was very excited about them. What I appreciate about them is the variety, which honestly I didn’t even realize existed! I am looking forward to experimenting with them more (I’m making chili tonight) especially when it’s warm enough to start grilling again. The value and variety of these boxes are undeniable; my one question would be whether a monthly subscription is necessary. I mean, how much hot sauce can a family use? But that’s probably a matter of personal taste, and a three-month subscription will stock up your kitchen with a nice variety of sauces to use.