Blair Lazar: to taste his sauce is to experience ‘pure heat’
Posted on 05/07/2005 7:07:19 PM PDT by saquin
"We live in an extreme world," explains Blair Lazar, a hot sauce creator. "And I make extreme foods.' In his hands is the hottest spice in the world, an ultra-refined version of chilli powder so fiery that customers must sign a waiver absolving him of any liability if they are foolish enough to try it.
Locked in a crystal flask sealed with wax and a tiny skull, Mr Lazar's mouth-blistering concoction is pure capsaicin - the chemical that lends habanero and jalapeno peppers their thermo nuclear heat.
Blair Lazar: to taste his sauce is to experience ‘pure heat’ His "16 Million Reserve", which is released to the public this week, is the holy grail of hot sauces, the hottest that chemistry can create.
It is 30 times hotter than the spiciest pepper, the Red Savina from Mexico, and 8,000 times stronger than Tabasco sauce. To put the tiniest speck on the tip of your tongue is to experience "pure heat", Mr Lazar says.
Although capsaicin does not actually burn - it fools your brain into thinking that you are in pain by stimulating nerve endings in your mouth - some medical experts believe that it could kill an asthmatic or hospitalise a user who touched his eyes or other sensitive parts of the anatomy.
Mr Lazar has trained his palate to endure the sensation, but he remembers the moment he dared to taste his "16 Million Reserve".
"The pain was exquisite," he said. "It was like having your tongue hit with a hammer. Man, it hurt. My tongue swelled up and it hurt like hell for days."
The eye-watering qualities of peppers are measured in internationally recognised Scoville units, developed by Wilbur Scoville, an American chemist who, in 1912, asked tasters to evaluate how many parts of sugar water it took to neutralise capsaicin heat.
Today, capsaicin content is measured in parts per million, using a process known as high-performance liquid chromatography; one part being equivalent to 15 Scoville units. Benign bell peppers rate zero Scoville units and the Red Savina entered Guinness World Records at 570,000 units.
Pure capsaicin, meanwhile, has a heat score of 16 million units - inspiring the name for Mr Lazar's latest creation. Each of the 999 limited-edition bottles, priced at $199 (£105), contains just a few crystals. The powder is so strong, however, that Mr Lazar estimates that it would have to be dissolved in 250,000 gallons of water before it could no longer be tasted.
His career as a hot sauce creator began when he found that the best way to clear drunks out of his seaside bar was to give them free chicken wings dipped in an eye-watering home-made hot sauce.
Now he runs Extreme Foods in New Jersey, selling his existing range, including "Mega Death" and "Jersey Death", the latter, according to Mr Lazar, being the world's hottest usable condiment.
He keeps a fridge full of iced spring water in his office for those brave enough to try some. Most tasters sweat heavily and are unable to see for tears for up to half an hour.
It takes several tons of fresh peppers to produce 1lb of capsaicin for the 16 Million Reserve, and the work takes months. First, moisture is removed from the fresh peppers until a thick tar-like substance remains.
The means by which all further impurities are eliminated, leaving pure capsaicin powder, is a trade secret, but the work takes place in a laboratory where Mr Lazar and his team wear sealed suits with masks to avoid inhaling the dust.
Five years ago Mr Lazar created "2am Reserve" in honour of the hour at which he once closed his bar. It was hotter than any other chilli product on the market, measuring up to 900,000 Scoville units.
He then distilled even stronger chilli extracts, including the scorching "6am Reserve" at 10 million units. Most of the signed and numbered bottles of "16 Million Reserve" will be bought by aficionados known as chilli heads.
Buyers have to sign a disclaimer warning that any handling "must be under a controlled environment using protective gloves and safety eye wear".
"It shouldn't be used for flavour," says Mr Lazar. "The only function is its heat value." He prefers not to speculate on what might happen should anyone be foolish enough to down an entire bottle. Rinsing the mouth with milk is among the best remedies as the capsaicin binds to fat molecules; it will also dissolve in alcohol.
Internet sites such as the hot sauce weblog and sweatnspice.com have been abuzz with talk about this week's release, with many collectors planning to buy at least two bottles - one to display and the other to try.
But one chilli head who obtained an early sample dropped a single grain into a pan of tomato soup. After persuading his wife to try a spoonful, he reported that: "She threatened divorce once she could speak again.''
Blair Lazar: to taste his sauce is to experience ‘pure heat’
If anyone ever touches my wife of 36 years or my daughter of 26 years without her .... I'll fire up the Sig. Karen saya that I should have been a Marine. In retrospect... I think she is right. At least we agree on something. LOL. (We're still deeply in LOVE).
bttt
Yes, I know about Dave's Insanity Special Reserve. My sister gave a bottle to her hubby for Christmas a couple years ago. Comes in it's own wooden case, packed in straw. The label says "Do not use around pets or small children."
The directions expressly state that you are NEVER to use more than ONE DROP at a time.
I hope the defense department will requisition a pallet to use in Gitmo.
hihihihi
Emeril would love it-I watch him a lot and he always uses a ton of pepper type condiments on every dish it seems!
ping
I bought my boss, the Bomb: 8M scoville units. He collects these sauces.
He put a drop of that gift in a ten gallon pot, and it was unedible to me.
I hear you. I was sorting through habanero seeds without gloves a few years ago. I knew better, but since they had been out of the pepper and drying for months, I thought "what's the harm?" We were heading out to price Christmas trees, so I thought I would use the men's room before departing. I steadied my aim as men do. About fifteen minutes later, this 'sensation' starts to kick in around the groin area. It lasted several hours, and it was NOT pleasant! (All those in attendance were also in tears...from laughter, at my expense.) NEVER again.
No, the worst thing is for a man to forget to wash his hands BEFORE using the toilet!
http://www.tabasco.com/arts_pavilion/tv_ads/tabasco_mosquito_ad.cfm
The last is a very good suggestion. A drop will heat up a bowl of chili very nicely.
My wife's from Jamaica and she eats habaneros with most anything. Just chops most of a whole one into whatever and chows down. I can handle about 1/10000 of one in a well seasoned dish...
I am something of a chilihead.
Recently, I wanted to impress my new in-laws from India with my tolerance for hot stuff, so I bought a couple of bottles of "extreme" hot sauces. I picked "Da' Bomb Ground Zero" and "Mad Dog's Revenge", at 234,000 and 1 million scovilles respectively. I enjoy both of them, and I managed to impress my wife's family without sending them to the hospital.
Ground Zero has a very nice flavor, and both bottles cost under $10 each and should last for a year.
Blair's "16 Million Reserve" is a massive ripoff. They sell you less than two grams of fairly pure capsaicin in a fancy bottle.
You can buy POUNDS of pure industrial grade capsaicin from chemical supply houses for less than the $200 price tag of Blair's.
Pricewise, the best bargain for capsaicin is "Frostbite" hot sauce. The 5oz bottle has about ten grams of capsaicin dissolved in vinegar, and is available for about $8.
It is always a hoot to read the reviews of these extreme sauces over at http://www.firegirl.com/extreme.html
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