The primary ingredient to any hot sauce is dried chili pepper that's usually combined with a vinegar base. Most of the hot sauces on the market, however, are blended with a variety of other aromatics and spices, sometimes even aged in barrels, to develop unique flavor combinations. The best hot sauces tend to highlight the quality of the pepper being used while also bringing in a lot of complexity from added ingredients. Once you’re confident in the amount of heat you can handle, all that’s left to do is explore and experiment! Here’s what you need to know about some of the globe’s most popular hot sauces, and the best ways to use them to make any dish pop. Louisiana-Style We’ve been hearing about Zab’s — which makes an Original and St. Augustine sauce — for years. Both kinds are in this tasting set, and both are favorites of pro cooks and Strategist staffers alike for their well-balanced mix of heat and vinegar. White Bark Workwear owner Charlie Pennes says neither is too spicy, which lends to their versatility.

Mexican-style hot sauces have a similar thin consistency to Louisiana-style, but use sparing amounts of vinegar (or none at all). They’re typically made from a combination of chipotle, habanero, jalepeno and pequin chilies. Cholula is the brand you’ll most often see at Mexican restaurants,Flavor: Anyone who's lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the last several decades is familiar with Inner Beauty, the hot sauce made famous at Chris Schlesinger's East Coast Grill. His original recipe, which blends mustard with habanero peppers, molasses, Chardonnay wine, honey, and a whole slew of tropical fruit juices, is the kind of thing you'd come up with only in an expanded mental state. Throughout my childhood, my dad kept a bottle of Inner Beauty in our fridge door at all times, so I was saddened to hear that the sauce was being discontinued. Though hot sauce preferences are personal, I'm pretty open to all styles. All except stunt sauces, that is—you know, sauces that are primarily designed to test your machismo. For Diehl, the ultimate test is how a sauce works on an egg sandwich, but she also likes to use them as a culinary shortcut. “My jalapeño, tequila and lime sauce on avocado makes an instant salsa, and the scotch bonnet and ginger deepens any soup.” And how about Chaimberg’s tip for mild hot sauces? “There is one called The Classic – chile de arbol, organic apple cider vinegar, turmeric and a little garlic – that makes a great low-calorie dressing,” he says. I would drizzle that on a salad any day. Where to use it: Mixed into rice or noodle dishes like shrimp pad Thai, in sauces like the glaze on these Sweet Sriracha Wings, stirred into any soup, or drizzled over everything from mac and cheese to omelets. Mix a little with some mayo to make a delicious Sriracha mayo sauce that acts as a delicious spread on sandwiches or dip for French fries. Chili Garlic

You’ll probably recognize a Louisiana-style hot sauce most commonly as Tabasco or Red Hot, a thin, slightly salty sauce that can be used either as a condiment or a cooking ingredient. It’s typically a simple combination of chili peppers, vinegar and salt, pureed, though some styles go one step further and ferment the pureed product. Tabasco’s versatility and relative mildness on the hot sauce scale make it a great entry-level sauce to try if you’re first tempting your heat-seeking taste buds. Somewhat of a cousin to Sriracha, chili garlic sauce uses many of the same ingredients, but is chunkier, slightly spicier and has a fresh punch of garlic. It typically contains hot red chili peppers, garlic, white vinegar and a bit of salt—but uses much less, if any, sugar, as opposed to Sriracha. Chili garlic sauce can certainly be used as a condiment, too, but it’s best used while cooking.There are, at least what feels like, an infinite number of hot sauces out there: hard-to-find regional varieties, specialty bottles that pride themselves on being almost too hot to eat, super-small-batch ones sold at your local farmers’ market. Given the sheer quantity of options, to make an all-encompassing list would be an impossible feat. Instead, consider this a well-rounded curation of some deeply beloved classics and more unusual varieties recommended by chefs, recipe developers, and the Strategist staff. (There are also a number of celebrity endorsements culled from our “ What I Can’t Live Without” archive.) Where to use it: Give a little heat to soups and stews, add a splash to taco dip (or just plain tacos), stir into Spanish rice or drizzle over eggs, potatoes or roasted veggies. Sriracha