Jak Jeckel Pepper Sauce believes “hot sauce should be more about flavor than overwhelming fire”. They might want to re-think that philosophy, as I find the trio of sauces they currently offer as hot, hotter, and hotter-er. 🙂
Jak Jeckel Pepper Sauce
We first met the Jak Jeckel team at the Pepper Festival in Bower’s PA last year. I was blown away with the graphic designs and labels. After all, the first thing you see that may determine if you are going to buy a given sauce is the label and appearance.
There’s no denying Jak Jeckel sauces have a great look to them.
The Original Trio
Jak Jeckel Gourmet Pepper Sauce: “Our Original Pepper Sauce is a thick, rich and zesty fiery hot sauce with a blend of jalapeno and fiery habanero peppers.”
Jak Jeckel Red Heated: “All the flavor of our original Pepper Sauce with extra heat for those who like it hot!”
Jak Jeckel’s Jak Frost Winter Cinnamon: “Our 2013 Jak Frost Winter Cinnamon is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, maple and other winter spices combined with our distinctive smokey flavor and thick texture.”
Ingredients:
Original and Red Heated Ingredients: habaneros, jalapeños, red bell peppers, ground chipotle, fresh minced garlic, habanero salt, paprika, orange peel, lime peel, lime juice and spices. contains soy.
Winter Cinnamon 2013 Ingredients: habanero pepper, water, jalapeño pepper, lime juice, red bell pepper, jerk sauce, chipotle pepper, habanero salt, maple syrup, cinnamon, bullion, lemon pepper, smoked paprika, citrus spices.
Texture & Appearance:
Jak Jeckel Original Hot Sauce
Jak Jeckel Red Heated
Original and Red Heated: Superb. Amazingly good. Lots of bits and chunks to chew on. Fantastic mouth feel.
Jak Jeckel Winter Cinnamon
Winter Cinnamon: Thin and weak. Nothing special.
Taste Straight Up:
Jak Jeckel Original on burritos
Jak Jeckel Original on nachos
Original: Searingly hot – no flavor. You may like a blaze of heat in your habanero sauce, but I find the supporting ingredients sadly overpowered. Too hot to enjoy.
Jak Jeckel Red Heated on pizza
Red Heated: Surprisingly NOT as hot as the original (IMO). Perhaps we received some goofy bottles, but the Red Heated we have is not as hot as the Original, but we find it more flavorful! Jak Jeckel may have a consistency issue with their sauces. Best tasting of the trio.
Jak Jeckel Winter Cinnamon on pizza
Winter Cinnamon: Dusty and gritty. Full mouth of habanero heat, very little cinnamon flavor. Again, all those delicious looking ingredients do nothing for me – they’re lost in the heat. Unremarkable.
Heat Level: 
– All three of these flavors seem to have the same searing heat level. Only the Red Heated deserves some dignity by trying to be flavorful and palatable. Disappointing.
Label/Graphics: 
– Of course. The colorful graphics and custom labels are beautiful. Sadly, the sauces are not as pretty. Award winning labels.
Final Thoughts
These sauces are not bad by any means. I just know there are chileheads out there, and some reviewers too, that would love these sauces. The whole package is colorful and inventive. They even have some “Coffin” packaged products for you collectors.
If this were school, I’d give them an A+ for effort, and a D- for execution. But it’s not school, it’s the real world of hot sauce. So I can only award them 
Overall. I think the boys at Jak Jeckel need to re-think their recipe and shoot for more flavor and less heat. But that’s me.
Visit http://www.jakjeckelpeppersauce.com/ for these 3 flavors, and to see what they have up their sleeve for 2014. (Something new is brewing!)
Also, they WILL have a booth at the upcoming 2014 NYC Hot Sauce Expo, so if you are going, stop by their booth.
Disclaimer: We received this product courtesy of the manufacturer for review.
About Brian Meagher
Definitely have some rock star labels, it catches the eye.
Knowing you are a habanero sauce guy, you might like the middle of the road flavor, “Red Heated”.
I’m a bit embarrass to admit this … but it’s actually the first time I’ve heard of and seen Jak-Jeckel Pepper sauces. Yes they do look deliciously hot and those labels are pretty cool.
I haven’t tried this sauce yet. But from al the ones I have sampled to date, I agree that what you see on the label isn’t always what you’re gonna get. And I agree with you that overwhelming heat just doesn’t do it for me. I like the flavors and fun of hot sauces. Sometimes with a hot sauce all you get is heat and very little flavor. Unfortunately, that’s what some of the leading hot saucd producers have, all bark and no flavor.
Sorry, I have to disagree, and I HAVE tasted this sauce. Jak Jeckel’s pepper sauce is definitely not all that hot. It is much more about flavor to me, and I also love the label. The flavor of this sauce, I would describe as like a more flavorful version of Taco Bell hot sauce with more freshness and a touch of citrus… I know that sounds bad, but it’s actually really good! The lime and chili flavors really pop out of this one to me. It’s balanced and really not hot at all. It’s like a table hot sauce somewhere above chalula in heat level. Maybe I’m biased towards something hotter than the usual restaurant hot sauce heat level though.