Hot Takes for the Holidays, The Top Spice Products You Need To Try This Festive Season
It’s that time of year again (possibly my favourite time of year). Time for my Spicy Gift Guide. Now three years in and I’m still on the hunt for hot gifts to stuff stockings and give Kris Kringle a tingle. I’m the guy who always has a bottle of hot sauce secreted about his person and has absolutely no shame in whipping it out in public when I’m in the mood.
But this year, I’m feeling extra spicy. So, for the first time… 2025’s guide is not all about the sauces or the gifting. In fact, there’s only one sauce in the list, and a few un-giftable, fridge-required but still totally delicious finds. Shock, horror!
I’m still chasing the holy grail: heat and flavour, but over a combination of different spicy products that work perfectly across the festive season, from breakfast to buffets, and everything in between. I’m over gimmicky spice that forgets to taste good, and I’m not afraid to hold back, so let’s get into it!
Yumello & Tracklements
Yumello & Tracklements Fresh Chilli Jam Peanut Butter
As well as being a chilli lover, I am also a peanut butter aficionado, so I was very excited to try this one. Heat, sweet and nutty go together well. Alas, no heat at all, and it delivered a very odd flavour. Admittedly, the first thing I did was to raw dog it with just the spoon. However, I wanted to give Yumello and Tracklements another chance because the rest of their ranges are awesome, so I used it in one of my favourite peanut butter recipes: fish fingers, plastic cheese and peanut butter mayo with sweet chilli jam. This is where it SLAPPED! A lesson from me to you: cook with it, don’t raw dog.
£4.99, 215g, Yumello
Gran Luchito
Gran Luchito Jalapeño & Cumin Medium Taco Seasoning
Who doesn’t love to cheat in the kitchen? Gran Luchito is a superb shortcut without compromise, so I was excited to try this flavourful blend. They sent a few options to try, but I opted for flavour over warmth and was very pleased I did. I cooked up fish tacos, and this seasoning delivered flavour that was light, airy, and with some warmth. Good blend of heat (just a tip of the lip tingler) and light spices with a big flavour. I had a mate at uni who used to save the ‘dust’ from a well-known and much crapper brand (let’s call it Young El Mexico City) and use it on everything…if he had discovered this, he’d have lost his tiny student mind!!
£1.60, 28g, Tesco
All Dressed Up
All Dressed Up Spicy Harissa
All Dressed Up is doing some amazing things for dressings. Flavour in a hurry to be applied to pretty much anything. I opted to use the dressing on a light salad, and it brought the party: nice and sweet, deep and earthy with a spicy after tone that took me by surprise. I really enjoyed the flavour and didn’t expect it to deliver heat at all—but it definitely proved me wrong—well played. This is something that I see working well across lots of dishes, and this is NOT going to last long in my cupboard.
£5.99, 250ml, All Dressed Up Dressings
Pelagonia
Pelagonia Hot Aviar
I don’t think I’ve had another product from Macedonia before, but, based on this one, I’ve been missing out! This is a beautifully concocted roasted red pepper and aubergine spread that needs to be part of your next picky-tea (or Mezze if you’re not from the North). It’s creamy, soft and sweet with a nice depth of flavour followed by a lovely slow build of heat. I wouldn’t describe it as overly hot, but it definitely has a good warmth and amazing taste. It recommends eating with eggs, cheese or on sandwiches, which I can really see working. Such a superb Macedonian addition to the cupboard.
£3.75, 314g, Waitrose
Anu Cuisine
Anu Cuisine Chatpata Chutney Hummus
Anu Cuisine is a super early-stage business, so I was absolutely made up to have some products to try for this year’s guide. I was very kindly sent a range of hummus, but the Chatpata Chutney Hummus was the star of the show. It’s super sweet from dates and tangy tamarind, but the roasted spices bring everything together. This is definitely a flavour > heat scenario, but trust me… just try it, and I guarantee you won’t be able to stop yourself from buying on repeat.
£5.89, 150g, The Grocery, Hoxton
The Korean Pantry
The Korean Pantry Gochugaru Chilli Oil
Wow. I love this. I’m a big fan of chilli oil, and when I find a good one, I put it on everything…but they weren’t all made the same, and when I have a bad one, I feel like a small piece of my soul crumbles away. This one, though…wow! It’s not the hottest on the market, but it has a good lip tingling, throat-strangling warmth. What makes this special, however? The sesame seeds. Sure, it separates, but mix it up and that nutty depth sings. More please.
£7.50, 250ml, Korean Pantry
Honey Heaven
Honey Heaven Organic Hot Honey Infused with Scotch Bonnet
OK, this. This is the one. Hot honey is a fad. I’m sorry, but it’s doing well and kudos to the awesome brands out there that are leading the charge, but it’s a storm in a teacup. Maybe it will stick and be in the tail end of retailers’ ranges for a few years longer, but the boom will go with a whimper, not a bang.
Having said that…if they all tasted like this one, I’d be eating my words more greedily than the spoonfuls of this that I was already shovelling into my mouth. The heat was perfect for me. I love a scotch bonnet chilli, it’s a fruity chilli but packs a punch and is rounded out with a beautiful sweetness.
£12, 300g, Honey Heaven
Ramsbury
Ramsbury Hot Honey Vodka
I’m not a vodka drinker. I think those that drink it neat with oversized ice cubes look cool AF, but that just isn’t me. However, I embraced this experience, and it embraced me back. I went all out and put my bottle in the freezer to acclimatise for a few hours and then enjoyed a neat shot in my most appropriate-looking glass. And what I was rewarded with: a subtly sweet, smooth and warm drink that hit all the right notes. I could imagine myself sitting by a log fire overlooking a Wordsworth-worthy scene in the Lakes with a few too many schlurps of this.
£33, 70cl | 38% ABV, Ramsbury
Pure Chilli No.5
Pure Chilli No.5
First thing to say: she fancy. In a world where ‘overpackaging’ is a sin, this one you’ll turn a blind eye to. It’s stunning. It’s beautifully unnecessary, and it builds suspense like a good horror film. But… the sauce did not bang. I got tomato, vinegar and a decent amount of heat, but definitely at the expense of flavour. The guys asked me which I’d like to try, and I said, “Make me cry”. It was the hottest of the lot, but my eyes stayed bone dry. The anticipation? Sky high. The payoff? All mouth, no trousers. It would make a superb gift for the chilli head in your life because the look and feel of it is incredible, unbeatable in fact, but the delivery isn’t all that, for me, at least.
£15, 100ml, Chilli No 5