My first memory of a persimmon was after tasting an unripe one. Wow, it nearly turned my face inside out, it was awful tasting. Still to this day my mom and step dad get a laugh from it, and looking back it was funny. However when I read the label for this product and spotted this infamous berry listed as an ingredient, I was quite cautious.
Persimmons range in color from nearly white, to a shade of orange; the color of this sauce is right in between the two. The aroma of this sauce is very earthy and salty. Also present is a sharp, tart smell.
The taste of the sauce is a little disappointing. Rather than calling this a hot sauce, sour sauce may be more fitting. The astringent zing of persimmons, combined with the white vinegar and salt is very overpowering. There is no balance of flavor here.
As far a heat, this is a low heat sauce, the bottle says Habanero peppers are used, but the sauce is so bitter that you really can’t make out what pepper you taste. This sauce would undoubtedly be best on a type of white fish, such as tilapia or catfish. I really enjoy malt vinegar on my fish, and this sauce makes for a great substitute, and adds a little heat too (that’s always a plus).
My favorite aspect of this sauce is that it is all natural and even uses some organic ingredients. Respect for food and food production is very important to me.
Overall, this sauce was not what I hoped for, the persimmon has not redeemed itself in my book. But it’s not all bad, I’m going to definitely keep this sauce around for my next fish fry.
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Thanks for tasting, Lane! We indeed had seafood in mind with one of the pairings when we made this sauce. The acidity & tartness of the sauce is also a great pairing on succulent foods, like pizza, a quesadilla, or a breakfast sandwich.
Sounds as if you were hoping for more heat, sorry we let you down there. We do want to make a product that many customers can enjoy, and if you have a high heat tolerance you will find this mild. Indeed I have seen customers though that gasp for air. Heat is just perceived so differently by everyone, makes it really hard for us to classify the heat level. Also, our focus is to really showcase the flavor characteristic of the heirloom ingredients, so we balance the heat accordingly.
Cheers, Lee