What Is The Hottest Sriracha Brand?

The sriracha hoopla is finally starting to die down, but that doesn't mean that the spicy garlic-kicked chile sauce's popularity is waning. It's finally beginning to claim its rightful place in the condiment pantheon alongside ketchup, mustard, and mayo, and the brand that was largely responsible for its stunning success, Huy Fong Foods, is still producing the top-selling variant in the U.S. But just like Heinz doesn't have a ketchup monopoly, Huy Fong isn't the only food company producing sriracha. Every version tastes slightly different, and some are also spicier than others. But which brand is spiciest of all? Cool Material conducted a taste test of nine popular sriracha brands, and ranked them by flavor as well as heat level. Here's the heat ranking they came up with, from least spicy to most spicy.

#9 Three Mountains
This was sweet and tangy, but didn't have much of a kick, if any.

#8 Sky Valley
This was mild and smoky, with just a small kick from cayenne and jalapenos.

#7 Sriraja Panich
This Thai sauce was very garlicky, with a small amount of heat coming through.

#6 Shark Brand
The tasters felt that this brand was "far too thin with too much back-end heat."

#5 Lee Kum Kee
This sauce was sweet and spicy.

#4 Pain is Good
Even though this brand's name might indicate that it's very spicy, it doesn't pack as much of a punch as the tasters were expecting.

#3 Huy Fong
The top-ranking sriracha in their taste test, the popular Huy Fong's sriracha  had "a beautiful showcase of peppers... with flavors that don't get lost in the heat."

#2 Crying Tiger
This sauce was too spicy for some, and while it had bright flavors the spiciness was overpowering.

#1 Kim Tu Thap
This smoky, thicker sriracha was also the spiciest of the bunch, but the heat was well-balanced; the brand placed second overall.