Let’s Burn With Brigands

***UPDATE*** – You can now burn right alongside me! I have the complete current (Season 3) Let’s Burn With Brigands lineup listed below for purchase. Check out the lineup!

Let’s Burn With Brigands is the hottest gaming show on YouTube!

Every week, Tony plays one of your favorite games through, but with one FIERY handicap: as he progresses through the game, he consumes progressively spicier hot sauces. The conditions for how often he eats these are dictated by certain conditions which are relevant to the game (lose a life, beat a level, etc.) and are chosen at random by spinning The Wheel of Death at the start of the game.

Whatever the wheel lands on sets the trigger rule(s) for that episode. Whenever it happens in the game, Tony consumes a hot sauce, going from innocuous stuff you’d find on your table at a restaurant to some of the most ungodly hot sauces ever created on this planet.

All of this is accompanied by 10 unique musical themes and visuals, one for each round!

On top of this, there’s frequently a Bonus Rule which, when seldomly triggered, results in bringing up the BONUS Wheel:

Here the possibilities range from taking a shot of any one of the sauces to playing a quick secondary game and meeting a certain requirement, otherwise taking a big shot of one of the worst sauces.

Altogether, this X factor means a new and unique experience with every game which amounts to a potentially huge handicap with some games being more straightforward and others… well if you’ve seen it then you know.

It’s gaming like you’ve never seen before!

Let’s Burn With Brigands Current Sauce Lineup

Below you’ll find each sauce featured in the current lineup of Let’s Burn With Brigands available for purchase so that you can now burn up right alongside me. Solidarity!

Note that some of these are affiliate links, meaning I’ll receive a very small percentage of any sales as a commission. This money will help me continue all things Let’s Play With Brigands. Also note that some of these are good deals on the sauces, others not so much, so just keep that in mind in advance. Either way, thank you for the support!

Season 3

The current season of Let’s Burn With Brigands is EASILY the hottest despite the early seemingly light Scoville reps. Time was I could coast through Rounds 1 to 5 without worrying about a serious challenge. Those days are gone, but not at the expense of flavor! Let’s take a look at the current sauces terrorizing me:

Round 1 – Formosa Jalapeno Hot Sauce (~1000 Scoville Units)

Somewhere between the consistency of guacamole and sour cream and with a tasty creamy jalapeno flavor, this is one of the few rounds which doesn’t create a noticeable burn as we start easy.


Round 2 – Palo Alto Firefighter’s Habanero Pepper Sauce (~2500 Scoville Units)

Palo Alto Firefighter’s Habanero Pepper Sauce tastes and has the consistency of Taco Bell’s Fire sauce… but better. Despite the XX label, it’s not too spicy.

palo alto fire fighters habanero pepper sauce

Round 3 – Floyd and Fred’s Key Lime Habanero Sauce (~3700 Scoville Units)

Let’s Burn With Brigands has taught me to respect any sauce maker who can combine a good flavor with heat. It’s even more impressive when they do something I’ve never experienced before, and Floyd and Fred’s Key Lime Habanero sauce is basically spicy lime juice. Maybe that’s not the best sell, but as someone who drank those lemon and lime juice containers straight as a kid, I love it. This one has a surprisingly strong kick which you don’t expect as you’d think the lime juice would neutralize the heat, but not the case.

floyd and fred's key lime habanero sauce

Round 4 – Secret Aardvark Habanero Hot Sauce (~5000 Scoville Units)

Despite this being three habanero based sauces in a row, they all taste COMPLETELY different. This is yet another sauce which artfully balances a strong amount of heat with a pleasing and unique flavor, though I will admit the habanero is stronger here than with the others.

secret aardvark habanero hot sauce

Round 5 – 7o8 7 Pot Citrus Hot Sauce (~7500 Scoville Units)

Despite the 7 out of 8, this one almost feels like a tiny respite before what’s to come. The citrus flavor hits first with almost a cinnamon type detour on the back end with a manageable amount of heat, though it holds back a bit initially and hits you harder later.

7o8 pot citrus hot sauce

Round 6 – Purple Hippo Prickly Pear and Scorpion Hot Sauce (~80000 Scoville Units)

The back half typically comes with a big spike, but the Scoville disparity has never climbed harder than this season as we go to Purple Hippo’s Prickly Pear and Scorpion hot sauce. I meant to avoid all traces of scorpion peppers in the actual lineup, but this one snuck through. Still, the prickly pear is up front and provides a kiwi or melon-like sweetness with just a little scorpion in the background to account for a lot of the heat. Not bad at all.

purple hippo hot sauce

Round 7 – Curry Fennel Fire with Carolina Reaper (~95000 Scoville Units)

Again, I’m very happy with the wonderfully diverse flavor array we get on this season of Let’s Burn With Brigands where the heat is prominent, but so is the flavor. The curry flavor is enveloped by some other spices which I have a hard time identifying but very much enjoy. The heat is considerable, particularly on the context of Let’s Burn… but it’s a fantastic balance.

curry fennel fire sauce

Round 8 – Lucky Dog Hell Hound Sauce (~120,000 Scoville Units)

“Hell Hound” is hot sauce maker Lucky Dog’s hottest sauce to date, but once again it’s not at the expense of flavor. Another excellent balance of (a lot of) heat with onion, garlic, a little vinegar and a bit of sweetness, as well.

lucky dog hell hound

Round 9 – Da’ Bomb Beyond Insanity Hot Sauce (~135,600 Scoville Units)

I’ve been curious about this one for years and years. I’m no longer curious. It ruins days, yes days plural. The flavor isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, I’ll give it that. But it ruins days. Just no.

da bomb beyond insanity

Round 10 – Melinda’s Ghost Pepper Sauce (~1 Million Scoville Units)

Melinda’s has been promoted to the top spot, though at this point, they’re all painful. It’s like asking you if you’d rather be shot or stabbed. Still arguably my favorite Let’s Burn With Brigands moment comes from the first couple of minutes of the first episode as I spun the bonus wheel which landed on a shot of this sauce. Not knowing any better and figuring, “Hey, I love hot sauce, how bad could it be?”, I consumed WAY too much sauce and it knocked me on my you know what. You can’t fake that moment is why I love it so much, but my god did it destroy my mouth and throat. This is insanely hot. Again, the Scovilles are a joke at this point; I don’t even know how you approximate it once you reach this plane. Tons and tons of heat for days which is all I’d use this for. The flavor isn’t the worst (again, it’s not scorpion pepper based), but it’s all about the heat.

melindas ghost pepper sauce

Round 11 (Formerly Mystery Sauce) – Blair’s Ultra Death Sauce (1.1 Million Million Scoville Units)

So a brief explanation. I told my buddy Sebby (shoutout to Sebby) that I was starting Let’s Burn With Brigands. After he understandably asked “WTF is Let’s Burn With Brigands” and I explained, I asked for sauce recommendations. He told me he’d think about it. No smile or any inkling that he had something up his sleeve. A couple of weeks or so later, he told me to expect a package with something (a sauce) for my stream. By that point I had finalized the lineup and had all of my sauces, so I got the idea to add a mystery sauce space to the bonus Wheel of Death. I gathered that whatever it is, it’s hot as hell, so I set this as Round 11. We’ve never landed on it, though, so I still have no idea what’s in that box; I probably should have increased the size of the space on the wheel. I’ll update this section when we finally discover this sauce’s identity.

UPDATE – Okay yeah it’s Blair’s Ultra Death Sauce. Despite the Scoville rating being lower than a couple other sauces, I think this is the hottest sauce I’ve ever tried. I’m talking a couple drops upended an entire episode and knocked me on my you know what. It even comes in a fun little coffin as packaging. Don’t get this, watch Let’s Burn With Brigands and pray this one never comes up for me again.

blairs ultra death sauce

Retired Sauces

Season 1

We update nearly the entire lineup each season, so let’s begin our look at the retired sauces by taking a look at the inaugural season of Let’s Burn With Brigands’ lineup.

Hot One’s Classic Hot Sauce (~1800 Scoville Units | Formerly Round 1)

Hot One’s makes a variety of tasty hot sauces, and their Classic Hot Sauce is as good a place to start as any if you’re not sure. Once again, the heat is very mild, and it’s flavor-first.

hot one's classic hot sauce

Sriracha (~2200 Scoville Units | Formerly Round 2)

I’ve been downing Sriracha for 20 years now ever since I tried it on some Mac-N-Cheese back in the day (a delicious combo, btw). There’s a bit of heat here when you use too much, but an excellent chili sauce flavor.

sriracha

Tabasco (~3750 Scoville Units | Formerly Round 3)

Despite the face and the thousands of Scovilles jump, this isn’t too bad heat-wise. In fact it’s one of my favorite flavors out of the lineup. I haven’t used it much outside of the madness that is Let’s Burn With Brigands, but I recommend it.

tabasco

Heartbeat Pineapple Habanero (~12200 Scoville Units | Formerly Round 4)

Despite the face and the thousands of Scovilles jump, this isn’t too bad heat-wise. In fact it’s one of my favorite flavors out of the lineup. I haven’t used it much outside of the madness that is Let’s Burn With Brigands, but I recommend it.

heartbeat pineapple habanero

GOTCHU Extra Spicy Korean Hot Sauce (~15000 Scoville Units | Formerly Round 5)

I say it every week, but give this one a big shake before you open the cap as intended and it’s 1000 times better. Otherwise the vinegar separates from everything else and that’s all you’ll pour. Still, vinegar is the prevalent flavor in this one, and there’s a decent amount of heat. I kind of wish there was more of a blueberry flavor given the name and look, but still a good sauce.

gotchu extra spicy korean hot sauce

Ghost Pepper and Blueberry (~28000 Scoville Units | Formerly Round 5)

I say it every week, but give this one a big shake before you open the cap as intended and it’s 1000 times better. Otherwise the vinegar separates from everything else and that’s all you’ll pour. Still, vinegar is the prevalent flavor in this one, and there’s a decent amount of heat. I kind of wish there was more of a blueberry flavor given the name and look, but still a good sauce.

ghost pepper and blueberry

Pain 100% (~40600 Scoville Units | Formerly Round 6)

As I always say when we reach round 6, this is where the wheels start to fall off. I don’t know the science behind it, but I don’t understand how this is so much insanely hotter than anything before it. My best guess is the scovilles are BS, which is probably true to some degree regardless. It’s not my least favorite taste, but it just burns so bad going down it’s hard to say.

pain 100%

Buffalo Wild Wings Mango Habanero (~70000 Scoville Units | Formerly Round 8)

This is where I either know that scoville approximations are BS once again, OR they just hit people in different ways. I say this because I always think of round 8 as a bit of a reprieve and the one bright spot to look forward to in the back half/murderer’s row of the Let’s Burn lineup. It’s certainly got some heat to it, don’t get me wrong, and I made the mistake of breaking into a pack of Mango Habanero wings from BWW once on the drive home without a drink handy and paid the price. But this sauce is also a perfect example of how to balance flavor with heat, and I’m always here for it once the repurposed Round 8 theme song plays.

buffalo wild wings mango habanero

Elijah’s Xtreme Regret (~1 Million Scoville Units | Formerly Round 10)

This has a similar flavor to the Tabasco Scorpion sauce, and considering scorpion peppers are one of the main two sources in Elijah’s along with carolina reapers, it makes sense. In other words, I hate the flavor. It just doesn’t taste right. But again, with another sauce at somewhere over 1 million scoville units, who is talking about the flavor? Speaking of which and regarding which is hotter, this or Melinda’s, it’s hard for me to say. Like a child who burned their hand on a stove, I had a bad experience with Melinda early on compared to Elijah where I’ve understandably been more respectful. That said, more recently in an episode I took the largest dose of Elijah’s Xtreme Regret yet and it very much messed me up. Ultimately I’ve experienced the dark side of both sauces. All this to say, if you’re playing along at home, don’t say I didn’t warn you. And thanks for sticking with me!

elijahs xtreme regret

Season 2

Round 1 – Frank’s RedHot (~450 Scoville Units)

One of the few rounds I look forward to, we begin with lots of flavor and very little heat. I have no problems with Frank.

frank's redhot

Round 2 – Lottie’s Traditional Barbados Yellow Hot Pepper Sauce (~12500 Scoville Units)

There’s a ton of flavor and just a small bite of heat in this hot pepper and mustard based sauce. I could do without the pepper bits (it’s a texture thing), but matched with the right context this sauce is a winner.


Round 3 – Anchor Bar Medium Wing Sauce (~18000 Scoville Units)

Another sauce which would be a lot better on food rather than dosing it as part of LBWB, this is the first and only buffalo sauce we’ve featured to date. Just a touch of heat, very creamy, and it comes out fast!


Round 4 – Tears of the Sun Hot Sauce (~25000 Scoville Units)

A middling light amount of heat delivered through a fruity blend of peaches, pineapple, mango, papaya, ginger, lemon, and more, the Tears of the Sun from High River Sauces doesn’t stand out but is enjoyable enough.


Round 5 – Fat Cat Strawberry Serrano (~30000 Scoville Units)

Let’s Burn With Brigands aside, I wanted to try this sauce in general. The branding for these sauces is always on point, but the flavor of this one is just as unique. Blending ripened strawberries and spicy serrano peppers, there’s admittedly very little heat in this one, but everyone knows it doesn’t get real until Round 6. Plus if that combination sounds appealing to you then you’ll love it.


Round 6 – Bee Sting Honey n’ Habanero Pepper Sauce (~40000 Scoville Units)

We’re likely overshooting the Scovilles on this one, but like if you liked strawberries I said you’d enjoy the aforementioned Serrano, if honey and habanero sounds like a delightful combination, you’ll love the Bee Sting Honey n’ Habanero Pepper Sauce. Spoiler, it comes out slower than most hot sauces but faster than honey despite having a consistency like honey.


Round 7 – Tabasco Scorpion (~50000 Scoville Units)

I can’t help but always feeling like I’ve been betrayed by an old friend come round 7. I’ve loved traditional Tabasco my entire life, and when I decided to do Let’s Burn With Brigands, I knew I had to work in this new scorpion pepper based flavor. If nothing else, I discovered that scorpion peppers taste awful, at least as far as I’m concerned. I’d rather drink water with the same amount of heat in its place, but some folks have told me they swear by the flavor, so maybe it’s me.

tabasco scorpion

Round 8 – Papa Boi Caribbean Scotch Bonnet Hot Sauce (~200,000 Scoville Units)

Papa Boi is no slouch, but it’s nothing compared to the subjective heat of the two sauces it’s wedged between in Scorpion Tabasco and Melinda’s Ghost Pepper sauce.


Round 9 – Melinda’s Ghost Pepper (~1 Million Scoville Units)

Still arguably my favorite Let’s Burn With Brigands moment comes from the first couple of minutes of the first episode as I spun the bonus wheel which landed on a shot of this sauce. Not knowing any better and figuring, “Hey, I love hot sauce, how bad could it be?”, I consumed WAY too much sauce and it knocked me on my you know what. You can’t fake that moment is why I love it so much, but my god did it destroy my mouth and throat. This is insanely hot. I know it’s a huge jump between the previous 70000 and the 1 million+ of this, but when you get above 100k, it’s all pretty rough. I don’t even know how you approximate it at that point. Tons of heat which is all I’d use this for. The flavor isn’t the worst (again, it’s not scorpion pepper based), but it’s all about the heat.

melinda's ghost pepper

Round 10 – Ass in the ER (~2 Million Scoville Units)

I hate, I’m using the word HATE here, Scorpion peppers. While acknowledging that it’s a divisive flavor, to me it’s nasty to the point that I created a dedicated wheel to punish myself for not having better motor skills to avoid in Season 3 of Let’s Burn With Brigands. While delivering a flavor that I liken to having a chapped mouth with heat that feels like you’ve been stung by said scorpion in the back of your throat, it doesn’t get any worse for me. Awful flavor. Awful heat.

Submit a Sauce

Got a sauce you’d like me to try?

Since I’ve begun Let’s Burn With Brigands, I’ve had a handful of very kind viewers who expressed interest in sauces they’d like to send me/for me to try.

While I’m not set up to receive sauces from viewers, I’ll happily accept an E-Gift card from HeatHotSauce.com to tony@letsplaywithbrigands.com along with a note regarding the sauce you’d like me to try and I’ll pick it up and try it in the next episode.

Virtually any hot sauce under the sun is available on there, and it’s my preferred way of accepting hot sauce donations from viewers.

Thank you!