Flying Goose Sriracha - Thailand

Ingredients: 61% red Thai chillies, sugar syrup, salt, garlic and acids

I'd never had this brand of sriracha before, and I won't be purchasing it again anytime soon.

"Made from carefully selected and sun-ripened chillies, our Original Sriracha Sauce is considered one of the world’s favourite brands of Thai Sriracha hot chilli sauces," the brand says on the bottle.

There is no heat at all in this hot sauce, and I'm not a fan of the flavour. To me, it tastes quite sweet, and while I don't mind a little sweet/spicy combo, there's no spice so it's all just weirdly bland.

I'm not a fan of food waste so I can see myself perhaps adding this to stews, sauces and curries... but I'm not sure what it will actually add!

Spice level: 1/5

Taste 1/5

Price: $6.49 (for 730 mL)

Frank's RedHot Original - USA

Ingredients: Aged Cayenne Red Peppers, distilled vinegar, water, salt and garlic powder.

Frank's is an interesting hot sauce to me in that I find it to be very middle of the road. I like the cayenne pepper flavour, but with the spice being more on the mild side, I occasionally find I want a bit more out of it.

Like, it tastes good, but it's not great, if that makes sense. If it's there, I'll happily add a dash or two to my food, but it wouldn't be the hot sauce I'd reach for if there were other options.

To be fair though, Frank's on chicken wings absolutely slaps, but that's the only concession I'll give it.

Spice level: 2/5

Taste: 3/5

Price: $3.99 (for 354 mL)

Grace Hot Pepper Sauce - Jamaica

Ingredients: Hot peppers, water, cane vinegar, salt, xanthan gum.

Grace is a very popular brand made with "an authentic Caribbean recipe using the very best of Jamaican red peppers."

I found it to be quite vinegary in a pleasant way, but to be honest, as someone with a Caribbean background, I didn't get the Caribbean taste I was expecting. I guess I was anticipating more of a Scotch bonnet flavour, but to me, this felt quite similar to Tabasco.

That being said, this would be delicious on some eggs or as a way to jazz up an avocado toast!

Spice level: 1/5

Taste: 3.5/5

Price: $1.49 (for 85 mL)

Tabasco Original Red Sauce - USA

Ingredients: Aged red peppers, salt and distilled vinegar.

It's been a minute since I've had Tabasco, and my first dab of it reminded me why it's a classic. It has a straightforward, no-nonsense taste of pepper and vinegar, and after doing some research, I found out that it's in fact only made with three ingredients: peppers, vinegar and salt.

It's got a great front-of-the-tongue sharpness, and it made me crave some fresh oysters, which taste so, so good with a bit of Tabasco and lemon.

Spice level: 1/5

Taste: 4/5

Price: $3.99 (for 57 mL)

Cholula Original Hot Sauce - Mexico

Ingredients: Water, peppers (Arbol and Piquin), salt, vinegar, garlic powder, spices and Xanthan Gum.

I'd never tried Cholula, and I was pleasantly surprised by this tasty little number.

"Cholula Original Hot Sauce features carefully-selected arbol and piquin peppers and a blend of signature spices that deliver unique flavour and piquancy with just the right amount of fiery heat," says their site, and I'd have to agree.

It's tastier than the more vinegar-forward sauces I tried, and I noticed in the ingredients it has apple vinegar and "spices" listed, which seem to bring a more well-rounded flavour. I can definitely see myself adding this as a seasoning ingredient to recipes as well as using it as a traditional hot sauce.

Spice level: 2/5

Taste: 4.5/5

Price: $6.99 (for 150 mL)

Laoganma Spicy Chili Crisp - China

Ingredients: Soybean oil, chilli, onion, soybeans, monosodium glutamate, Sichuan pepper powder, sugar, salt, sulphur dioxide, sodium sulphite.

I’m aware that this is more of a spicy condiment than a true hot sauce, but the overall purpose of the product is the same: to bring heat and flavour.

This product is so delicious and pleasantly spicy. Because it's oil-based, the spice seems to stick to the inside of your mouth a bit and warm everything up, which is delightful. It reaches the level of "Oh, that's hot," without actually burning your mouth, which is the ideal level of heat for me.

The crunchy bits add some fun texture along with the heat and flavour, so it's more of an all-around sensory experience.

This was delicious on top of my ramen, and it's likely going to be the product I reach for when I need to mask the bland flavour of a recipe I've butchered and give it a little extra oomph.

Spice level: 4/5

Taste: 5/5

Price: $3.49 (for 210 g)