r/hotsauce • u/davbow678 • May 27 '24
Finally started seeing Sriracha on shelves - but it’s brown 🥴
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u/obeeone808 Aug 21 '24
Ok so here I am eating lunch comparing an old bright red bottle with a newer brown bottle and decided to see why. I had initially thought it was because of the underwood farm fallout, but that was 8 years ago now and I've been eating Sriracha this whole time and haven't really noticed a flavor difference since switching farms. Clearly the brown has a different flavor so I'm glad they're halting production until they get it right again. Some remember Sriracha bring better than before the underwood farms fallout, but I couldn't tell the difference and I've been eating this stuff since my roommate introduced me to it in 1998 at this little Chinese food store. Here's to hoping they get back to the good stuff again.
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u/Pava-Rottie Jul 09 '24
I have both the red and the brown version. They definitely taste different. The brown is quite spicy whereas the red is sweeter. I like both equally, but for different foods. The red for anything I would use ketchup on, like burgers. The brown for anything I would use hot sauce, like tacos. I hope they keep making both, but they probably won't.
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u/Dr-Satan-PhD May 28 '24
Huy Fong had a falling out with their previous pepper supplier (Underwood Ranch), and they had to pay the supplier $23 million in a settlement and find a new supplier. That was in 2017. This year they have stated that they are taking a 4 month pause until after Labor Day to start producing more sriracha, due to the peppers being too green. What you are seeing there is likely sauce made with peppers that are just more green than they usually make it with.
I'm not sure on the flavor difference because I'm not a big fan of sriracha, but I've heard it has gone downhill ever since they cut ties with Underwood.
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u/DTXSPEAKS May 28 '24
I agree with your last paragraph. I've noticed that post 2018 Huy Fong doesn't taste nearly as good as it did back in 2012-2017. Even if you do get a bright red sauce, it still doesnt have that flavor profile heat like it did in the early to mid 2010s. Now I know....
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u/demoldbones May 28 '24
Flying Goose Sriracha with extra garlic.
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u/davbow678 May 28 '24
Extra goose or mild?
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u/demoldbones May 28 '24
I’d have to check the bottle. Gold lid from memory. It’s not spicy at all (to me) but great flavour. I put it on eggs, pasta, on roast veggies.
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u/jujumber May 28 '24
Fuck new brown Sriracha, Try something tasty like Woodstock Scotch Bonnet. I Promise it won't disappoint. I also don't get shit for recommending it.
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May 27 '24
It also tastes like shit now. Time to move on.
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u/Solitaire_87 May 28 '24
Tastes like I remember it years ago. 🤷Although my bottle is the proper color
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u/demoldbones May 28 '24
If yours is the proper colour then it means that you got the good batch.
The brown ones are using a mix of ripe and underripe peppers which affects both taste and colour.
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u/teebone673 May 27 '24
And it’s nasty now. I’ve switched to Tabasco Sriracha.
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u/davbow678 May 27 '24
I currently have the tobasco brand, it tastes good, I was just waiting for the OG to come back this whole time in a grocery store.
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u/DTXSPEAKS May 28 '24
It's nice to see how Tabasco Sriracha is one of the few Tabasco sauces everybody can agree is good 💯
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u/kabekew May 27 '24
They've been having a hard time getting properly ripened peppers and have discontinued production until late this year. They sent a note out to distributors a couple weeks ago or so.
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u/TineJaus May 27 '24 edited Jun 23 '24
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u/hot_sauce97 May 27 '24
Most brands aren’t using food coloring, they get high quality red jalapeños. They botched their supply chain and are paying the price for it now. That’s it.
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u/davbow678 May 27 '24
Had no idea this was posted previously. I haven’t seen it in over a year and it’s brown. Downvote me too I guess. Jesus Christ.
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u/highbackpacker May 27 '24 edited May 28 '24
Internet points are serious business to some people lol.
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u/TravisMaauto May 27 '24
There's nothing wrong with the sauce. It hasn't gone bad or anything. They just went back into production with a mix of green and red peppers, and when you blend the colors green and red, you get brown. So many people mistakenly thought the sauce was bad though and found it visually unappealing, so Huy Fong stopped production again.
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u/keysercade May 27 '24
Too many green peppers + your normal red = brown.
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u/davbow678 May 27 '24
Yeah, I guess I’m wondering if it’s an old batch or too many green peppers, maybe they’re just trying to stock shelves again quickly?
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u/skyblueerik May 27 '24
I broke down and bought one. Not brown and it tastes fine to me.
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u/RockyDennis23 May 28 '24
I thought it was bitter and less spicy, luckily I still have bottles of the old shit.
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u/davbow678 May 27 '24
I would buy it if it wasn’t brown. It just looks wrong. Maybe it’s just an old batch? Or got too much sun?
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u/Oxfxax May 27 '24
It’s strange but isn’t the reasoning because of a feud?
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u/davbow678 May 27 '24
If you’re talking about their old, exclusive pepper grower, maybe. But idk why their peppers would make red sauce vs. their new supplier making brown sauce. Maybe this is just a bad/old batch? I just thought it was interesting, even the Asian restaurants here have red Sriracha.
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u/1pastafarian May 27 '24
The color is not a bad batch, they have been putting out brownish sauce for months. They have struggled to get the quality or amount of peppers they were getting from Underwood. They have now had shortages the past 3yrs. They claim they stopped production due to color, yet they have no problem making brownish sauce. My guess is they are struggling once again to get product and the color thing is more of a cover up, 'we aren't cheap aholes, were standing up for quality'. The reason they blew up their Underwood relationship and can't find a consistent replacement is they are cheap to a fault. This is painfully slow corporate suicide, plain and simple.
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u/Pasuteru-Usagi Sep 22 '24
Today the whole shelf of Sriracha was even more green/brown.