From Mild To Wild: Diving Into The Hot Sauce Challenge

Last weekend, we did a version of the Hot Ones Challenge. My partner has been talking about purchasing the hot sauces himself and doing this for several months now, and it just so happened that a friend was throwing a wing challenge party.

I built a high tolerance for spicy food as a child, so going into the challenge, I knew I would be able to handle every sauce. Ultimately, my goal was to drink no milk.

I videoed a bite of each of the wings, plus a little commentary. I did eat the full wing for every sauce, even the ones I did not like. If you absolutely hate watching people eat, maybe don't watch this video.

We skipped the first sauce, the garlic one. We had so many people in attendance, that our host was afraid she would run out of wings (we did).

Level 2 was a classic chili maple sauce, and it had a lovely taste. There was little to no spice, but it was a yummy bite.

If I'm being honest, level 3 confused me. The description declares that the sauce has espresso, chocolate, and cinnamon...but it tasted mostly like garlic to me. It had a noticeable spice to it.

I did NOT like the level 4 Truffle Fire sauce. Not because it was spicy, I just detested the flavor. It was a weirdly sweet and tangy combination and I just wasn't into it. It definitely brought more heat than the previous sauces

Honestly, level 5 was just as gross tasting as level 4. It was another mushroom-based sauce. I love mushrooms. I do not like them in a hot sauce on chicken wings. It was not terribly spicy for those with a heat tolerance.

Level 6 hit me with a vinegar punch. It had a great, albeit vinegary, taste. The level of spice felt lower than that of the previously consumed level 4 sauce.

I would say that the level 7 original hot sauce was probably my favorite of the day. This is the sauce I would order on my wings for a full meal. It was spicier than the previous levels and deliciously classic.

Level 8 was hot. People at my table had tears running down their faces, they were sucking in breath, gargling milk, the whole nine yards. This sauce was made with Carolina reapers and I honestly don't know why it wasn't higher up in the levels. She was a spicy B word. This sauce hurt my mouth. I am not terribly reactionary and have a high spice tolerance, so at one point the guy across the table from me yelled at me, "How are you not reacting at all?" Hey, man, my nose started to run a little bit, ok?

I absolutely hated the level 9 sauce. It was by far my least favorite. It was a watermelon ghost pepper sauce and those flavors together are a weird sort of bitter. I found it to be less spicy than the level 8 sauce and was generally not into it.

We ran out of wings by level 10, so we substituted dinosaur chicken nuggets. They were so cute, they made the sauce more fun. The sauce itself was meant to be the hottest, and I guess it had a slow burn and a heat that built, but I still felt like level 8 was hotter. I kept describing the flavor of this one as "spicy dirt." It was not for me.

By the end, I had consumed no milk, nor did I drink any afterward. Overall, I sort of expected more spice than I received. The search continues. I also wish that eating spicy food was some sort of marketable skill.