Mail Bomb!

Death By Salsa
http://www.pepperpalace.com

So I've been hearing about this salsa made by Pepper Palace, a pepper shop out of Gatlinburg, TN. They call it "Death By Salsa". Usually the majority rules when they say something is so hot, it's inedible, but I had to try it for myself. Upon placing the order online, I decided to have them throw in some jolokia powder as well. Anticipating the delivery for what seemed like forever, I made sure I had everything I needed: Chips, milk and beer. I pulled in the driveway this afternoon and didn't see the package on the front porch. How could this be? Today was the day. Just as I started wondering if the mail bomb went off in a truck somewhere between here and East Tennessee, the UPS man pulls up and calls my name. The timer had been set and this thing was ready to explode. I took it inside and instantly opened it up, grabbed some chips and dove in. At first, I tasted the very bland flavor of the extract, the same flavor as Mad Dog 357. It was obvious at this point that this salsa wasn't made to go as a side dish with your fajitas. I kept eating a few more chips and after around my 5th one, the timer went off and the bomb exploded. 10 minutes and a cup of milk later, I was able to try more. Same flavor, very bland and not salsa-ish, but EXTREMELY hot! The amazing part is how long it takes to kick in. Usually stuff this hot is instant but not so much in this case. This salsa gets two thumbs up from Burn My Mouth because it did just that. Oh yeah, the ghost pepper powder had to take a back seat because by the time I got to it, I could barely feel my tongue. I did try it and it has amazing flavor, however. Like a super hot chipotle pepper. I will use both when cooking mass amounts of chili and Mexican foods, but this salsa is not something to grab and enjoy with dinner like your normal salsa, no matter how hot your salsa is that you buy at the grocery store.