Chilli peppers on a black background

Eating the Hottest Hot Sauce in the World: The Source Hot Sauce

After watching a video of Nomadic Matt eating the hottest pepper in the world at Tears of Joy in Austin Texas, I decided I would be up for the challenge too. Matt’s reaction was priceless and it made a great video, so I stopped by this hot source shop on E. 6th Street recently to put my taste buds to the test.

tears of joy austin texas hot sauce

I would say I have an average tolerance of spicy food. When I was younger I never ate spicy things, but after traveling to countries like Indonesia and Thailand, I feel I have quickly become used to eating hot foods like curries and papaya salads!

But could I handle the hottest hot sauce in the world?

The shelves inside Tears of Joy are filled with rows and rows of hot sauces, and there is a Scoville unit scale on the wall to give you an idea of the various strengths. The sauces containing ghost chillis are very hot, but if you really want something that will knock your socks off, then you need to try a pure pepper extract.

hottest hot sauce in the world

The spiciest sauces in the store are kept in a coffin shaped box since they are so deadly! Of course I was seeking out the hottest product in the store- The Source hot sauce, which is a mindboggling 7.1 million Scoville units!

I was feeling a little apprehensive so I asked the guy working in the store how other people had reacted. He told me a girl screamed earlier that day, which didn’t make me feel any better!

I was starting to wonder if I had made a terrible mistake, but I wasn’t going to give up on the challenge! I had my friends Kyle and Jason with me for moral support and you can hear them laughing at me in the background during the video!

So I took a toothpick with a little blob of “The Source” hot sauce and rubbed some on my tongue, making sure to avoid my lips. This was the result!

As you can see in the video, I didn’t feel anything for a few seconds and then all of a sudden the heat started building! It was INSANELY hot! My eyes started watering and I couldn’t really concentrate on anything but the burning inside my mouth!

The whole experience lasted about 10 minutes and at some parts in the video I had difficulty speaking. Note to self: Water does not help, it only makes it worse! Luckily I was pointed in the direction of the ice cream place across the street.

The lovely gentleman who works there said:

“You been to Tears of Joy then? You’ll be wanting some vanilla ice cream.”

I asked him if people dash across the street from Tears of Joy on a regular basis, to which he replied, “Every day!” That must be great business for him.

I have to say it wasn’t as bad as I expected- one vanilla ice cream later and I was completely fine. I didn’t have an upset stomach and it didn’t burn when it came out the other end if you catch my drift! I only put a bit of the pepper extract on my tongue and I think you would have to actually ingest it in food for it to really do that.

Would I do it again? Yeah!

I feel like if I can handle that I can handle any heat, bring it on!

Would you try the hottest hot sauce in the world? What’s the spiciest thing you’ve tasted? Leave your comments below!

3 thoughts on “Eating the Hottest Hot Sauce in the World: The Source Hot Sauce”

  1. Hahah that looks so painful! I would definitely try it, but only just a pinch like you did. Do people actually eat this? Like by the spoon? Probably not right?

    1. No people don’t eat it by the spoon. Just a toothpick. Although there is a funny video on youtube of a guy who injected heaps of it into sushi and gave it to his girlfriend!!

  2. Nice reaction. I had a similar one when I ate the world’s spiciest soup (or at least that’s how I’ll reference it here). And unlike you, I consider myself to have a high tolerance for spice. The dinner wasn’t pretty, but made for a perfect opening chapter in my book, Misadventures in Southeast Asia. Interestingly enough, the soup was called “Medium Very Spicy.” There were three levels above that one.

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