The Taste Bud: Lola’s Salsas, Hot Sauces Bring Big Flavor, Spice

That reaper salsa is nearly as hot as it looks and every bit as delicious. Photos by Kevin Gibson

I remember back in the 1980s when Chi-Chi’s, a Mexican chain, brought salsa and chips to my hometown of Clarksville, Ind. Until that point, Mexican food there was mostly limited to Taco Bell or (superior) Taco Tico. But there were no — COMPLIMENTARY, mind you — chips and salsa on the tables.

Fast forward 35 years or so, and salsa is still prevalent, if a bit played out. I mean, once grocery store shelves started stocking salsa, it was a free-for-all. At first. But as time crept by, I noticed more and more that these grocery store salsa products made by Frito Lay and whatnot were preservative-ridden and increasingly mediocre. In recent years, I have tended to ignore salsa by the jar; I either get it at a restaurant or make it fresh myself. And when I do take a chance, I am usually disappointed.

And then came Lola’s Fine Salsas. I was sent some samples of this previously-unknown-to-me product and was skeptical, so say the least. But I gave it a shot, focusing on two flavors in particular: Hatch Chili and Sweet Corn Salsa and Sweet Reaper. Let’s just say, this isn’t the stuff I usually grab at the grocery store. In fact, Lola’s might have reignited my curiosity in salsa-in-a-jar.

Lola’s is a family-run company using family recipes of hot sauce and salsas, plus other products. But the hot sauce came first, per the story behind how the products and recipes came to be, and that is probably why, while I was tasting these salsas, I kept thinking, “This is almost like a hot sauce.”

I started by trying the Hatch Chili and Sweet Corn Salsa, which right on the label tells you that it’s a “medium” spice salsa. Thinner than expected, a consistency more like a sauce, and it was also spicier. The spice was eye-opener No. 1, because so much of the jar salsa that I have tried that claims to be “medium” or even “hot” is severely lacking in the heat department, having probably been engineered for blander palates.

And this one was also bursting with natural hatch chile flavor, with just a hint of light sweetness from the corn. I found myself unable to stop dunking my white corn tortillas in the stuff, but I decided not to go too overboard. A few days later, I made some fajitas-style chicken tacos to put the Hatch Chili and Sweet Corn to the food pairing test, and it passed with flying colors, complementing the chicken, peppers and onions nicely. I bet it would be perfect for any white fish such as mahi mahi, too. Also? Bright, fresh and a bit citrusy, it’s also nice paired with a margarita.

Then I tried the Sweet Reaper salsa — another winner. And yes, this one packs some heat, thanks to the natural fire of Carolina Reaper peppers. However, the heat is more manageable than you might think, and most importantly the salsa manages to showcase the distinctive flavor of the pepper without torching the palate, not always an easy task when dealing with peppers this hot (Reapers come in at about 1.64 million Scoville Units.)

Somewhat basic, but tasty enough to tease other varieties like Trinidad Scorpion and Ghost Pepper.

This salsa was thicker, with a consistency a bit more like grocery store salsa, but without that weird presence of what seems to be preservatives — this tastes freshly-made somehow. It offers lovely smoky notes that help balance the heat of the reapers and also a bit of tangy sweetness from tomatoes, a key ingredient here. And the sauce is so strikingly red in color that it almost seems to be … well, glowing. Pepper heads will love it, although the average consumer may need to take this one in very small doses. But it is high quality, regardless. Another one great for casual dipping, but I bet the Sweet Reaper would be a nice topper for carne asada or carnitas.

And these salsas are 100% natural, plant-based, gluten free, and GMO free. And? It’s affordably priced. Sauces and salsas on the Lola’s online store typically are priced at $5.99. And there are other creative salsa varieties, such as Bacon and Sweet Corn, Sweet and Spicy Mango and traditional Mild.

I also tried the Lola’s Original hot sauce, one of many varieties available. The sauces seem to be designed to focus on a single pepper, which as a hot sauce lover I appreciate (and often replicate when I make my own sauces at home). The sample I got was the Cayenne, and it lived up to expectations — but don’t think Lola’s is a lot like, say, Frank’s Hot Sauce.

While basic, traditional hot sauce brands like Tabasco tend to be thin and vinegar-heavy, the Lola’s sauce is thick and full of natural flavor. A thumbs up that makes me want to try some of the other varieties, such as Ghost Pepper, Trinidad Scorpion and Carolina Reaper — and there’s also a Family Reserve that blends multiple peppers and comes with the tag, “Very Hot.” Yeah, I might be treating myself to a bottle of that.

I only wish I’d been in on this Lola’s secret sooner.