Dragon In The Clouds Hot Sauce Review
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Pepper Geek takes part in various affiliate programs. This means that purchases through our links may result in a commission for us.
About Dragon In The Clouds
Dragon in the Clouds hot sauce is the brainchild of two Goliaths; one from the hot sauce world, and one from the marketing world. First We Feast joined forces with 88Rising to create a very unique and bizarre hot sauce.
It comes in a tiny, 4 oz bottle, and that’s all you’ll need to get the most out of this hot sauce. In this article, I’ll share a review of Dragon in the Clouds, with an overall flavor and value score.
Note: This sauce is no longer available for sale.
- Heat: 4.5/5 – It’s very spicy, use with caution!
- Flavor: 2/5 – Intense, bizarre flavor, spicy fruit loops?
- Value: 2/5 – The bottle isn’t cheap, but the sauce should last awhile
- Overall rating: 2/5 – Unfortunately, not our favorite
Is Dragon In The Clouds Any Good?
This sauce is certainly not for the faint of heart. Even highly spice-tolerant folks may struggle with this hot sauce. The tiny bottle is the first sign that the heat is going to be strong. One look at the ingredients and your suspicions are confirmed: This sauce is very hot.
Flavor
- Intense citrus flavor hits hard (bitter orange)
- Szechuan peppercorns add a tangy, almost medicinal funk
- Ghost peppers are ingredient #1 – just sayin’
Put It On…
- Fish
- Add to marinades
- Use a dab to add heat to a tamer recipe
We have established that this sauce is spicy, but how about the flavor? Is it usable on actual food, or is it just another gimmick?
Well, the flavor is powerful. Many of the super spicy hot sauces out there will give you all the heat with no flavor. In the case of Dragon in the Clouds, the flavor is strong, but it is also strange…
I’m not sure the flavor will be for everyone, especially if you’re not a fan of citrus. The orange flavor is the most prominent, and when paired with yuzu, the sauce almost becomes an orange concentrate, with some super-hot peppers added in later. The orange flavor is also less sweet, and more bitter, like eating the rind of the orange rather than the juicy flesh.
I could barely taste the garlic and mustard, while the szechuan peppercorns did give their signature numbing sensation.
To put it simply, Dragon in the Clouds is extremely spicy, bitter, very orange-y, and tough to pair with typical foods. This means it isn’t for everyone (especially considering the price), but if that sounds like your thing, go for it.
Consistency
Our bottle of Dragon in the Clouds was relatively thin, pouring very easily from the small spout. However, after watching another review of the sauce on YouTube, it seemed much thicker than ours. Perhaps different batches of the sauce varied slightly in thickness.
I can really only speak for the bottle we received, and ours was thin and almost runny, which can make it a bit tough to meter out. Given the tiny size and the high heat, it would benefit from being a bit thicker.
Dragon In The Clouds Scoville & Spiciness
Dragon in the Clouds is very spicy, certainly among the hottest sauces we have reviewed. It is clearly meant to be eaten in small amounts, given the bottle’s small size and powerful flavor.
There is no available Scoville rating for the sauce, however, if we had to guess, it is likely around the 1,000,000 SHU mark. Given that the primary ingredient is Ghost Peppers, this estimate should hold true. It also hits harder on the palate than most, with an almost immediate burn that lasts and lasts.
This Scoville rating is just an estimate, but to keep it simple, the sauce is really hot. If you’re familiar with ghost peppers, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Is Dragon In The Clouds Worth It?
This was a tough one. We have tried and loved many sauces from Hot Ones, from Los Calientes to The Last Dab. We expected great things, but we have to settle on a 2/5 rating due to the high cost and the bizarre, bitter flavor and usability.
Kudos to First We Feast for making something truly unique, and we will continue to try this sauce on different foods going forward. Who knows, maybe it is the perfect sauce for…oysters, or something.
It would be nice if 88nightmarket would list the sauce somewhere on the site so you can purchase it. I tried Amazon, but with no success. Any suggestions
I absolutely cannot handle hot sauce. But I have grown to love this one. I found it to be great on… get ready for it… Top Ramen. The flavor is very unique, but like anything I got used to it and it’s fantastic. Cheers
I like to taste a dab or two of a sauce on its own to get an initial profile.
The flavor of the sauce itself is not good in my opinion. Like you mentioned, almost like diving deep into the rind of an orange. I understand that’s probably the yuzu presence. But, it’s not great on its own.
It is not for everyone. And those that actually do like the flavor in itself, more power to you.
Really loved how hot it was and getting that numbing sensation from the peppercorns. But, that’s the only redeeming quality I see in the sauce itself.
Perhaps using it sparingly in a dish would make me like it more. Just need to figure out what food or dish that would be.
It didn’t occur to me that the flavor would be such a strange factor for some people, but since you mention it I now realize how unusual it is. Lucky for me I loved every aspect of the unusualness. To me the flavor of this sauce is the best feature, because it’s off-the-charts hotter than sauces I normally enjoy. I will never eat a sauce I love this much as slowly as this one (for fear of spontaneously combusting).
This sauce is absolutely delicious. The yuzu and szechuan mix are unique and add a ton of flavor. 8/10.
Glad you’re loving it!
What you’re tasting and describing as “weird” is the Japanese yuzu. As someone being familiar with lots of Asian hot sauces and recipes from the Koreas down to Indonesia that integrate a citrus element(usually lemon zest). It’s a high citrus flavor. Dragon in the Clouds was extremely hot, as I put way too much on a slice of cheese pizza. The consistency of the sauce changes if you get it hot versus if you refrigerate it(not advisable). People may complain of the price, but you really don’t need to use very much at all to get its strong heat and flavor.
Would totally agree. Took my first taste unprepared for how hot it was going to be. Can definitely taste the orange. Hits almost instantly with heat, no sweet warm up moments.