6x4 H.A.C.A Hot Sauce

Combine all dry ingredients except the bay leaves and cloves into a sauce pan then add the honey, apricot preserves, tomato paste and the Anejo rum (you can substitute the Bacardi Anejo for any darker aged rum if you need to). Mix together thoroughly then add all the vinegars reserving ½ Cup of the white vinegar. Whisk together to completely incorporate. Add the cloves and bay leaves then bring up to a slow boil, stirring occasionally.

When you reach a boil, turn heat down to low, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Then turn off heat and let sit to cool for 1 hour.

After an hour, remove the bay leaves and cloves then process the sauce in a blender until it is completely smooth. Rinse the sauce pan out to remove any remaining sauce as you will re-use it. Strain sauce back into the saucepan using a fine strainer. Sauce will be fairly thick due to the powdered ingredients and apricot pulp so use a large spoon to work the sauce through the strainer. Discard whatever pulp may be left in the strainer.

Add the reserved ½ Cup of white vinegar to the sauce to thin it and stir. Cover and just let sit for 1 hour to cool sufficiently to bottle.

After the hour is up the sauce should be cool enough to bottle. The sauce will be slightly thick and rich brown. Use container(s) of your choice to bottle. Put in the refrigerator for 2 – 4 weeks to age before use to allow sauce to develop. The longer it ages the better the sauce will be.