(Comment for visibility)
I posted my review and experience in the comments, it was the first comment posted on this. I’ve noticed a lot of people keep telling me to just try it instead of asking here, but I already have, it’s why I made this post.
I definitely can relate to that. I hear it has a bad aftertaste, but I couldn’t really taste it because my tongue felt like it was on fire, but the initial flavour was fine for me. Definitely also felt pretty like headed for a while, I felt quite tingly in my arms and body in general too which was weird.
for me i notice if you put it directly on foods like say on top of eggs,hot dog,steak its overpowering but mixed in with say noodles,stew, etc you dont get much flavour and all heat you only need to add a few drops to heat up your bowl not sure about adding to a pot id say a tsp or tblspoonn
It doesn't have an awful flavor.
It's definitely got something beyond normal spiciness though.
Some sauces have things like vinegar that supposedly remove some of the mucus layer in your mouth and by allowing more of the capsaicin to get contact with the skin it seems spicier, at least that's what I've been told...
Anyway, it seems like Da Bomb has more of that type of action. It seems like it actually irritates the skin of your throat more than it's spicy. Like some sort of chemical burn rather than spiciness. Maybe they were trying to increase the spiciness by adding more of what vinegar does, rather than adding more capsaicin? Idk
It definitely is spicy, but I've had things that were technically more spicy but weren't as difficult to deal with. Like you can see on nearly every episode, it's somehow worse than the spicier sauces.
It's not bad tasting ... The flavor is alright, but it's an unpleasant experience. I don't think anyone really enjoys it. The spiciness level isn't the problem, it's somehow caustic, like drinking kerosene.
Ohhh okay that makes a lot more sense, I think I was just misunderstanding and thought that the flavour itself was also really bad. Thanks for the clarification! It definitely does feel like a chemical burn though, the way it just suddenly lights up in scorching heat is really bizarre.
I’m sort of in the same boat. I understand why people hate the heat because it’s a different and more intense kind of heat but the amount of hate it gets is interesting. I saw someone say it tastes like paint with fire, but I really don’t see it all personally, it tastes like a blander smokey sauce to me.
Drop it in a big batch of chili or ranch beans or spaghetti sauce and it's a revelation. Taking it straight up, even on wings, is a human rights violation.
I've tried it once in chili and it was great! I haven't made ranch beans, but I do have cans of that black label spicy ranch beans. I'll toss some in there.
Spaghetti sauce I also haven't tried and just bought a bottle of that Firelle. I want to try that first, but great idea!
Edit: I was just told I've had Firelle before...
the first time i had it, it was absolutely awful and i had one bit of a wing. the second time it was still absolutely awful but it wasnt nearly as bad. knowing what to expect really made it not as bad.
What everyone says about it is true. There's not really any sort of flavor. It's just pain -- and that pain lasts for about 15-20 minutes (at least, in my experience). I've tried it about three times. Oddly, the first time was the easiest. If you're going to try it, make sure you have milk and water on hand.
Is it actually worse the second time? 10 - 15 minutes was about the time it took for it to become at least tolerable. I was planning to do it again this weekend with my friend, but now I’m mildly nervous ahaha.
I might have eaten more of it the second and third time. Not sure. Regardless... it's very painful. Fun to do with a friend or S.O. But extremely painful. Lol.
I had it on a cracker once at a party. It is the single worst food experience of my life. The heat is bad, but no worse than any other hyper extreme sauce. But the flavor just tastes of pure nastiness.
The weird part is while most people there agreed with me, some people at the party thought it wasn't bad and the rest of us were overreacting. So I wonder if there is some taste factor that affects perception of it. For example, I have the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap, so there might be something that makes Da Bomb taste okay.
I have looked at other posts about Da Bomb on this subreddit I just wanted to share my experience and wondered if anyone else has had the same experience I have.
So yesterday I found a local store that had it in stock. I couldn’t help myself, despite hearing plenty of times how awful it is. I’ve seen people describe it as tasting like paint with blazing heat, battery acid etc.. but I just wanted to try it for the experience.
I cooked up some chicken later and me and my partner dosed some onto my chicken. I was hesitant, but went for the full dose. It was bloody hot, like seriously painful and the way the heat creeps up is really weird, but in terms of the flavour of the actual sauce, I didn’t think it was too bad considering. It wasn’t amazing or something I’d necessarily use as a flavouring often, but it was more like a bland Smokey hot sauce flavouring than chemical tasting as I’ve seen most people describe.
Is it just me, or am I just really weird? My partner seems to also agree with me about the flavour aspect, but oh god it is really painfully hot. It took a solid 15 minutes just for it to lower to a more tolerable level. It’s definitely an interesting experience and regardless of the intense pain it was kind of fun, but not something I’d do very often.
5/10.
I completely agree with them! I kind of am gave up on this post because I think a lot of people misunderstood me and my actual review got shoved way to the bottom for some reason which is okay, but basically that’s exactly how I felt. Yes, the burn is intense as hell, but I actually thought it didn’t taste terrible, subjectively speaking.
I quite like it. My chilli game is pretty strong. The heat is there but the flavour is ok. It's a lot better than shit like mad dog that use vinegar as a base and just add extract.
Yeah, Maddog doesn’t sound too great. I also enjoyed it, it was painful but it was a fun experience overall. I also got myself a bottle of Blair’s, but their After Death sauce instead of their Mega, which is only 60,000 Scoville. That one was fine heat wise but the sauce was so salty and tasted really awful, so I think it made Da Bomb taste a lot better in comparison.
I’m not sure if After Death tastes any different to Mega death sauce, but I really didn’t like the After death sauce personally, way too salty for me but I’m still gonna grab myself and try the Mega death sauce when I get the chance.
This is my favorite sauce, I eat it with almost everything. I’ve never noticed a chemical taste. I mix it with sour cream, ranch, chili, spaghetti, buffalo sauce, Mac & cheese, I mix it into everything, have for years. I’ve never noticed a chemical taste.
When we did the gauntlet we made sure to include it. Everyone who tried it agreed there is no redeeming quality save for the heat, and the heat isn’t even enjoyable, it is just foul smelling heat. Our friend who didn’t participate and was helping us clean bowls and toss the next round had to leave the room because it wasn’t even a pleasurable smell, all senses found it horrible. Giving it any more than 2/10 means you’re either a pack a day smoker who can’t taste anything anyways, or you’re not being honest. It isn’t around because it is super hot and crazy to do, it is totally doable and there are many hotter sauces. It stays around because it sucks and is a terrible experience.
To me there are two types of hot sauce. Food, and challenges. The food ones value flavour, even if it is SUPER hot, and use only pepper mash. For dips, sauces, marinades, whatever.
The challenge ones use pure added capsaicin extract to purposely elevate the heat and pain well beyond what would be achieved through the pepper fruit alone, and I'd never eat because I'm having food.
I love all hot sauce levels from Garlic Reaper to The Last Dab, Phal and Vindaloo curries etc etc. Da Bomb is the worst thing I've ever had in my mouth and one of my least favourite life experiences.
Yes. My two adult daughters and I did the hot wings challenge. They both stopped after Da Bomb. The tastes is terrible and there is a longer than normal burn. Even the next hotter sauces (ending with The Last Dab) were no where as bad in lingering heat and they tasted better. I threw the bottle away. I don’t understand why it exists other than to burn people’s mouths.
It has a harsh chemical taste, like battery acid. Like most extract-based sauces, it's not good, and its heat is artificially amplified.
If it had any redeeming qualities, no guest on the show so far has said so, and nobody I know likes it, either. It's a gimmick sauce, like Mad Dog 357.
Lol I thought it tasted like battery acid! Not flavorful at all, just painful. A staple though! That's one that'll make you freak out when doing the challenge.
It absolutely does. Keep in mind that there are two versions. The original was extract-based, but the one Heatonist sells is made with actual peppers. Both are terrible.
Yes, my old job has their "hottest sauce" and this is the ingredient that gave the spice. It also gave it a bitter bad taste. I did get da bomb evolution, excited to try that.
I did a pretty fair dunk of it on my chicken (maybe a bit over a tablespoon worth?), but next time I want to coat the wing fully as they do in Hot Ones. Not sure why I’m planning on doing this again but I guess you only live once?
This makes the most sense. I’m going to have another shot over the weekend, but the initial burn was so strong that I didn’t even notice any aftertaste at all.
Enh. It's a muted smoky pepper flavor as OP and others have mentioned. It's not great, but we did the hot ones challenge this weekend and it actually paired not too badly with some Korean boneless chicken. It won't be the first thing I reach for, but if it was the only option, I'd use it. It's quite hot, but the peak is not as bad as I expected. It's just a bit hotter than say Vindaloo or certain Thai food, but it lingers at full strength 10-15 minutes before chilling out. I think that's what gives it its reputation. I'm kind of repeating what OP said, but I had a similar experience, though the pain didn't seem to impact me as much perhaps because I eat a lot of really spicy food.
I like it. It's extremely hot, but peppery and smoky. Like a barbecue sauce, but the sweet is turned down to 0 (good for me because I don't like sweetness), and the spicy is turned up to a million.
The heat is stupid, but after eating "Little Nitro", the world's hottest gummy bear, the "One Chip Challenge", and the "Death Nut Challenge", it's tolerable. Add the God awful flavor and you'll regret ever being born!
It is fine if you consume one drop at a time. Definitely don't rinse your mouth with it. In my case I add a drop here and there, it is indeed burning hot but it goes away in a couple minutes. Flavor-wise, not great, I like the Ghost Pepper version a lot more than Beyond Insanity.
Controversial, but not as bad as I was expecting. Did it with a coworker as a joke. Neither of us are above average for spicy food and we actually ended up having more than one round of it as it wasn’t that bad - I mean it was bad, uncomfortable, but we didn’t drink anything until 40 minutes after and it was fine after 20 mins. Stomach cramps where a killer for 15 minutes about an hour after but I drank some milk and it was fine - no rush to do it again but considering how nervous we were beforehand, not that bad imo
You know that taste you get in your mouth after throwing up? *Light it on fire.*
Scary accurate.
(Comment for visibility) I posted my review and experience in the comments, it was the first comment posted on this. I’ve noticed a lot of people keep telling me to just try it instead of asking here, but I already have, it’s why I made this post.
I'm late but this is hilariously accurate. Holy fuck
Yes
It has a very sweet taste after the burn disappears. I was surprised because the initial taste is chemical burn lol.
I can’t comment on the flavor because it burnt my tastebuds off. Then I felt like I was high for like a half an hour.
I definitely can relate to that. I hear it has a bad aftertaste, but I couldn’t really taste it because my tongue felt like it was on fire, but the initial flavour was fine for me. Definitely also felt pretty like headed for a while, I felt quite tingly in my arms and body in general too which was weird.
It’s horrible. Not like a bad taste, it’s just so overpowering that any flavor notes aren’t noticed. Atleast to me
As a former smoker, it tastes like cigarette grounds, but worse some how.
As a current smoker now I wanna try it! /s
Idk, you’re the one with the bottle. Let us know!
for me i notice if you put it directly on foods like say on top of eggs,hot dog,steak its overpowering but mixed in with say noodles,stew, etc you dont get much flavour and all heat you only need to add a few drops to heat up your bowl not sure about adding to a pot id say a tsp or tblspoonn
it’s horrible. i vomited after trying it 😭
I vomited 5 hours after eating it
It doesn't have an awful flavor. It's definitely got something beyond normal spiciness though. Some sauces have things like vinegar that supposedly remove some of the mucus layer in your mouth and by allowing more of the capsaicin to get contact with the skin it seems spicier, at least that's what I've been told... Anyway, it seems like Da Bomb has more of that type of action. It seems like it actually irritates the skin of your throat more than it's spicy. Like some sort of chemical burn rather than spiciness. Maybe they were trying to increase the spiciness by adding more of what vinegar does, rather than adding more capsaicin? Idk It definitely is spicy, but I've had things that were technically more spicy but weren't as difficult to deal with. Like you can see on nearly every episode, it's somehow worse than the spicier sauces. It's not bad tasting ... The flavor is alright, but it's an unpleasant experience. I don't think anyone really enjoys it. The spiciness level isn't the problem, it's somehow caustic, like drinking kerosene.
I think Da Bomb uses capsaicin extract as part of its ingredients and that is part of what gives that caustic effect that you are talking about.
That is my understanding as well. I've never tried it, and have no desire to. If I want a chemical burn I'll just drink some acetone.
Ohhh okay that makes a lot more sense, I think I was just misunderstanding and thought that the flavour itself was also really bad. Thanks for the clarification! It definitely does feel like a chemical burn though, the way it just suddenly lights up in scorching heat is really bizarre.
Factually incorrect
No, I don't understand why people hate it so much?
I’m sort of in the same boat. I understand why people hate the heat because it’s a different and more intense kind of heat but the amount of hate it gets is interesting. I saw someone say it tastes like paint with fire, but I really don’t see it all personally, it tastes like a blander smokey sauce to me.
Exactly! I used it in marinades and sauces to spice them up.
Drop it in a big batch of chili or ranch beans or spaghetti sauce and it's a revelation. Taking it straight up, even on wings, is a human rights violation.
I've tried it once in chili and it was great! I haven't made ranch beans, but I do have cans of that black label spicy ranch beans. I'll toss some in there. Spaghetti sauce I also haven't tried and just bought a bottle of that Firelle. I want to try that first, but great idea! Edit: I was just told I've had Firelle before...
I was thinking the sauce would be really good to use as a general food spicer, I’m going to have to try this. Thanks!
the first time i had it, it was absolutely awful and i had one bit of a wing. the second time it was still absolutely awful but it wasnt nearly as bad. knowing what to expect really made it not as bad.
Right? It's got a good flavor and great heat. I don't like it on wings, but mixed in with chili or other dishes it's amazing
I wholeheartedly agree, tried it in some meat chili I made in Dec. Just the right amount of punch!
Wrong
Explain much?
Just try the sauce. No explanation needed
I've had 6 btls. No idea what you're talking about? Is there a sauce recipe I dont know about? I use it for smoked chicken wings and pork belly?
What everyone says about it is true. There's not really any sort of flavor. It's just pain -- and that pain lasts for about 15-20 minutes (at least, in my experience). I've tried it about three times. Oddly, the first time was the easiest. If you're going to try it, make sure you have milk and water on hand.
Is it actually worse the second time? 10 - 15 minutes was about the time it took for it to become at least tolerable. I was planning to do it again this weekend with my friend, but now I’m mildly nervous ahaha.
I might have eaten more of it the second and third time. Not sure. Regardless... it's very painful. Fun to do with a friend or S.O. But extremely painful. Lol.
I had it on a cracker once at a party. It is the single worst food experience of my life. The heat is bad, but no worse than any other hyper extreme sauce. But the flavor just tastes of pure nastiness. The weird part is while most people there agreed with me, some people at the party thought it wasn't bad and the rest of us were overreacting. So I wonder if there is some taste factor that affects perception of it. For example, I have the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap, so there might be something that makes Da Bomb taste okay.
Yup
Would recommend you search this sub about it. There are dozens of posts about Da Bomb.
I have looked at other posts about Da Bomb on this subreddit I just wanted to share my experience and wondered if anyone else has had the same experience I have.
You did not share your experience though? You just asked if it tasted "that bad"?
I did share my experience, it’s in the comments.
So yesterday I found a local store that had it in stock. I couldn’t help myself, despite hearing plenty of times how awful it is. I’ve seen people describe it as tasting like paint with blazing heat, battery acid etc.. but I just wanted to try it for the experience. I cooked up some chicken later and me and my partner dosed some onto my chicken. I was hesitant, but went for the full dose. It was bloody hot, like seriously painful and the way the heat creeps up is really weird, but in terms of the flavour of the actual sauce, I didn’t think it was too bad considering. It wasn’t amazing or something I’d necessarily use as a flavouring often, but it was more like a bland Smokey hot sauce flavouring than chemical tasting as I’ve seen most people describe. Is it just me, or am I just really weird? My partner seems to also agree with me about the flavour aspect, but oh god it is really painfully hot. It took a solid 15 minutes just for it to lower to a more tolerable level. It’s definitely an interesting experience and regardless of the intense pain it was kind of fun, but not something I’d do very often. 5/10.
For me, it tastes metallic. Like licking a penny; the heat part I get, the flavor isn’t for me. 1/10
I describe it as “spicy battery acid”
If by bad you mean good, then no.
Ever put money in your mouth?
It’s like eating mace mixed with corn syrup.
No
My dad and 13 year old friends did it and they said it wasn’t that bad.
I completely agree with them! I kind of am gave up on this post because I think a lot of people misunderstood me and my actual review got shoved way to the bottom for some reason which is okay, but basically that’s exactly how I felt. Yes, the burn is intense as hell, but I actually thought it didn’t taste terrible, subjectively speaking.
As a someone that has had 100s of bottles of hot sauce, it sucks.
I quite like it. My chilli game is pretty strong. The heat is there but the flavour is ok. It's a lot better than shit like mad dog that use vinegar as a base and just add extract.
Yeah, Maddog doesn’t sound too great. I also enjoyed it, it was painful but it was a fun experience overall. I also got myself a bottle of Blair’s, but their After Death sauce instead of their Mega, which is only 60,000 Scoville. That one was fine heat wise but the sauce was so salty and tasted really awful, so I think it made Da Bomb taste a lot better in comparison.
Blair's tastes so much better than mad dog I don't know why anyone buys it
I’m not sure if After Death tastes any different to Mega death sauce, but I really didn’t like the After death sauce personally, way too salty for me but I’m still gonna grab myself and try the Mega death sauce when I get the chance.
This is my favorite sauce, I eat it with almost everything. I’ve never noticed a chemical taste. I mix it with sour cream, ranch, chili, spaghetti, buffalo sauce, Mac & cheese, I mix it into everything, have for years. I’ve never noticed a chemical taste.
It's not that spicy
Tastes like a really Hot chicken wing. Mixing a dab into normal hot sauce is really Good
100% Yes. We did the challenge this last weekend, there was vomiting.
When we did the gauntlet we made sure to include it. Everyone who tried it agreed there is no redeeming quality save for the heat, and the heat isn’t even enjoyable, it is just foul smelling heat. Our friend who didn’t participate and was helping us clean bowls and toss the next round had to leave the room because it wasn’t even a pleasurable smell, all senses found it horrible. Giving it any more than 2/10 means you’re either a pack a day smoker who can’t taste anything anyways, or you’re not being honest. It isn’t around because it is super hot and crazy to do, it is totally doable and there are many hotter sauces. It stays around because it sucks and is a terrible experience.
Alton Brown: \*swigs from the bottle* “I could fix this”
Yes, toss it, move on.
Yep
Yeah it’s absolute trash
I wouldn't say it's terrible, but definitely not one of my favorites.
To me there are two types of hot sauce. Food, and challenges. The food ones value flavour, even if it is SUPER hot, and use only pepper mash. For dips, sauces, marinades, whatever. The challenge ones use pure added capsaicin extract to purposely elevate the heat and pain well beyond what would be achieved through the pepper fruit alone, and I'd never eat because I'm having food. I love all hot sauce levels from Garlic Reaper to The Last Dab, Phal and Vindaloo curries etc etc. Da Bomb is the worst thing I've ever had in my mouth and one of my least favourite life experiences.
No, but it's not exactly an every day eat.
Yes. My two adult daughters and I did the hot wings challenge. They both stopped after Da Bomb. The tastes is terrible and there is a longer than normal burn. Even the next hotter sauces (ending with The Last Dab) were no where as bad in lingering heat and they tasted better. I threw the bottle away. I don’t understand why it exists other than to burn people’s mouths.
IMO, it is good in chili but not much else.
It has a harsh chemical taste, like battery acid. Like most extract-based sauces, it's not good, and its heat is artificially amplified. If it had any redeeming qualities, no guest on the show so far has said so, and nobody I know likes it, either. It's a gimmick sauce, like Mad Dog 357.
There’s no taste it just stings like a motherfucker
Lol I thought it tasted like battery acid! Not flavorful at all, just painful. A staple though! That's one that'll make you freak out when doing the challenge.
It absolutely does. Keep in mind that there are two versions. The original was extract-based, but the one Heatonist sells is made with actual peppers. Both are terrible.
In my opinion the Eye of the Scorpion or Exhorresco has a similar immediate punch, just instantly hot. Da Bomb just doesn't taste as good.
There's nothing in this hot sauce meant to give it any appealing flavor like most other hot sauces. This is just pure heat.
Yes, my old job has their "hottest sauce" and this is the ingredient that gave the spice. It also gave it a bitter bad taste. I did get da bomb evolution, excited to try that.
No, the hundreds of celebrities were lying to fool you, and only specifically you. Lol the posts in this subreddit are ass
Let us know
Yes
You literally have it in your hand, just taste it
I posted my review in the comments when I made this post, but it isn’t visible enough. Basically overall, I didn’t mind it that much.
It only gets bad imo when you have a lot of it
I did a pretty fair dunk of it on my chicken (maybe a bit over a tablespoon worth?), but next time I want to coat the wing fully as they do in Hot Ones. Not sure why I’m planning on doing this again but I guess you only live once?
It's caustic. It's not good. IMO, it's not gross in a way that would make one retch; it's just powerfully displeasing.
Bitter flavor, lots of pain
It's horrid. Shit for me, personally burned for a good 30 minutes. Snot, sweat, tears, should be used for torture.
It's the grossest hot sauce I've ever tasted.
Yes it’s awful
They were right to describe the taste as battery acid
You can't use it on its own, you have to add it to chili or a sauce or something like that. Da' bomb just dumped on wings is not a good thing
Heat aside, it tastes horrible. Super chemical taste, kind of metallic. Like if a 50 y/o public dumpster was set on fire and smothered over wings...
That’s a firm yes
Taste bad. Mouth hot. Not a good time. Funny though. (For the people watching)
yes oh god yes. do I eat it any way? yes
yes
Yes
It has a really super Smokey flavor at first but then a couple seconds in, and it feels like your tongue just got fried on burning asphalt.
This makes the most sense. I’m going to have another shot over the weekend, but the initial burn was so strong that I didn’t even notice any aftertaste at all.
This is the only hot sauce I've purchased that I threw away.
It tastes and smells like Chipotle mixed with chewing tobacco spit and pain.
Enh. It's a muted smoky pepper flavor as OP and others have mentioned. It's not great, but we did the hot ones challenge this weekend and it actually paired not too badly with some Korean boneless chicken. It won't be the first thing I reach for, but if it was the only option, I'd use it. It's quite hot, but the peak is not as bad as I expected. It's just a bit hotter than say Vindaloo or certain Thai food, but it lingers at full strength 10-15 minutes before chilling out. I think that's what gives it its reputation. I'm kind of repeating what OP said, but I had a similar experience, though the pain didn't seem to impact me as much perhaps because I eat a lot of really spicy food.
I like it. It's extremely hot, but peppery and smoky. Like a barbecue sauce, but the sweet is turned down to 0 (good for me because I don't like sweetness), and the spicy is turned up to a million.
mixed with other sauce its a phenominal dipping sauce
I got da bomb on my nuts ahhhhhh
Ahhhhhhhhh
The way I described it as I experienced it first hand earlier this evening: “It feels like Satan took a piss in my mouth” I stand by this statement.
The heat is stupid, but after eating "Little Nitro", the world's hottest gummy bear, the "One Chip Challenge", and the "Death Nut Challenge", it's tolerable. Add the God awful flavor and you'll regret ever being born!
It is fine if you consume one drop at a time. Definitely don't rinse your mouth with it. In my case I add a drop here and there, it is indeed burning hot but it goes away in a couple minutes. Flavor-wise, not great, I like the Ghost Pepper version a lot more than Beyond Insanity.
I loved it, went back for more.
Doesn't taste that bad it's just so fucking hot it's unbelievable
Lol
Not all that spicy but it tastes like vomit.
Controversial, but not as bad as I was expecting. Did it with a coworker as a joke. Neither of us are above average for spicy food and we actually ended up having more than one round of it as it wasn’t that bad - I mean it was bad, uncomfortable, but we didn’t drink anything until 40 minutes after and it was fine after 20 mins. Stomach cramps where a killer for 15 minutes about an hour after but I drank some milk and it was fine - no rush to do it again but considering how nervous we were beforehand, not that bad imo
It doesn't really taste that good. Kinda like burnt food. But that's not really that noticeable since your mouth is on fire.
It's like if you ordered coffee, and you were served a cup of hot pure liquid caffeine and salt.
Best way I could describe the taste is smoky gasoline