Poor Vida Hot Sauce – Cherry Limeade
Ingredients:
White Wine Vinegar, Serrano Peppers, Water, Jalapeno Peppers, Lime Juice, Olive Oil, Wild Cherry Balsamic Vinegar (grape wine vinegar, grape must, natural flavor), Tart Cherry Juice, Sugar, Garlic, Cilantro, Cherrywood Smoked Sea Salt, Seasoned Pepper (black pepper, paprika, red bell pepper, sugar), Xanthan Gum
Cherry Limeade Hot Sauce was the first vinegar based hot sauce formula created for Poor Vida, but it wasn’t the first time I had ever made a hot sauce like this. My first attempt was closer to the Pomegranate Ghost version, but used actual tobasco peppers that I had grown. The plant didn’t do very well, and I only wound up with a couple of handfuls of peppers, so I decided to try my hand at making a vinegar hot sauce. It actually came out really well, but then I was out of peppers. I went shopping to see if I could find more, but all I could find at the store was serranos and jalapenos. I decided to make a green hot sauce, and went with it – serrano, jalapeno, cilantro and lime. As I worked my way through a few iterations, I was running short on my vinegar, but I remembered I had a cherry balsamic vinegar in the fridge. I thought it might be weird, but hey, why not. And once I had made that decision, it hit me… Cherry Limeade. Back to the store, searching for ingredients to try to make this theme come to life. Tart Cherry Juice to cut some sugar, Cherrywood Smoked Sea Salt instead of salt, bump up the amount of lime juice… voila! It was so good, I bought a few empty bottles online so I could give it away to a select group of friends. Posting the picture (and the feedback) of those first few bottles online is what triggered this whole “let’s make a hot sauce company” thing.
– Colin
Joel LaPrade –
I’ve had all three and this one is definitely my favorite. They are all good, but this one is basically good on everything.
I made some tritip tacos with a fresno pepper pico the other day and used this as my sauce. The lime and the hint of cherry gave a really bright flavor to all of it.
Robert Thompson (verified owner) –
excellent hot sauce, the cherry breaks through with a sweetness that almost hides the heat. but then the heat sets in and I’m reaching for more
Melissa Ortiz (verified owner) –
Gotta agree with Joel: this is my favorite of the three in the sense that it’s good on everything – tacos or eggs, especially. The cherry and lime definitely come through on top of a fundamental serrano heat that just works. My husband is not even normally a fan of any sauce that is green, but he was all over this one. Highly recommend!
Megan (verified owner) –
Bought this for my husband, as the name didn’t appeal much to me. Little did we know, I would love it as much as he does! Flavor is on point and I have used it in multiple dishes so far. Can’t wait to try the others.