Del Taco debuts blazing hot Del Inferno
April 28th, 2008, 3:15 am · 28 Comments · posted by Nancy Luna
Today, Southern California’s iconic taco chain, Del Taco, debuts its first new hot sauce in 15 years.
The blazing hot item is dubbed Del Inferno and is three times hotter than any hot sauces served at rival chains, Del Taco said. (Del Taco’s two other offerings are mild sauce and Del Scorcho.)
So, how does Del Taco know Inferno sizzles past its rivals?
The Mexican fast-food chain had Del Inferno tested against its competitors by Certified Laboratories. The New York-based food analysis company tested the competing sauces using the infamous Scoville scale, which measures the hotness or piquancy of a chili pepper.
Del Taco didn’t give the results, or list the names of the rival hot sauces that Del Inferno beat. But rest assured, Del Inferno is one hot mama, according to the chain’s marketing reps.
“There’s no doubt about it, Del Inferno will set your scalp ablaze,” said Mimi Somerman, chief marketing officer at Del Taco.
Always a skeptic, this hot sauce lover decided to give Del Inferno a try . (I got a few samples delivered to my office late Friday.)
Over the weekend, I grabbed a bag of chips, and asked my family to join me in a taste test.
First up, my husband, Brady: Terror filled his eyes when I described Del Inferno to him:
“My great fear with that kind of sauce is that it’ll be colonoscopy hot. It may not hurt going down, but it may hurt coming out.”
Needless to say, he had a small taste. And — without going into any gory details, his internal organs were fine the rest of the day.
Next, Hannah:
My daughter, 7, is starting to become a real salsa fan. She enjoys eating my dad’s scorching hot homemade salsa. She gave Del Inferno a taste with a c
hip: “It’s OK. It’s not so hot.”
Disclaimer: She didn’t lather up her chip.
I, on the other had, did. I squeezed half a packet of Del Inferno onto my tortilla chip.
It definitely had a bite to it.
Reality check: Many of these hot sauce packets aren’t real salsa. They often look — and taste — like spicy ketchup.
But, the one thing I noticed about Del Inferno is that it looked and tasted like a decent picante sauce. You could even see the flecks (shown, left) of chili peppers in the sauce, which added to its authenticity.
But you be the judge. Go taste it this week, and let me know what you think by taking my POLL:
Tuesday update: For another saucy viewpoint, checkout OCMEX blog. After reading the Maven’s exclusive on Del Inferno, blogger Christian tried the new hot sauce.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:19 am
I just happened to visit Del Taco last night and tried it instead of my usual Del Scorcho. It was hard to tell if it was any hotter than Del Scorcho, but it’s got a nice slow burn to it.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Glad Del Inferno passed the taste test at your house!
Del Taco wants to offer a free case of Del Inferno sauce to firefighters - the people who really know heat - to spice up their stationhouse meals. Firefighters can email publicrelations@deltaco.com with their station info and a free case will be on its way. This is for firefighters in every community!
And for those in the LA/OC area, the Del Inferno fire truck will be making the rounds soon, and if you haven’t already tried the hot stuff, you can get a taste of Del Inferno then. Check http://www.deltaco.com for truck stops.
Taco on!
April 28th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Nothing compares to my moms old chile de arbol hot sauce, now thats hot!!!..basically chiles from from plants naturally made and she adds a secret ingridient..i say its about 20 times hotter then del scorcho
April 28th, 2008 at 8:42 am
I’m sure that Nancy’s husbands fear may have been a little bit realized with more than one chip. In the 80’s Del Taco used to sell their traditional hot sauce by the bottle. Will Del Inferno be offered this way too?
April 28th, 2008 at 8:45 am
There is a place in Arcadia California called Taco Lita….they have the best hot sauce in the world…..look it up on the web if you don’t believe me…but this stuff is ok
April 28th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I gotta say, i like the hot sauce itself. especially ‘del scorcho’, but these names are so cheesy, i am often embarrased to ask for it. it like it better if i could as for mild, hot, or hottest.. not these cutesie gimmicky names.. and in spanish del infierno means from hell. i know its inferno, but pretty close. i dont care myself,i just think the names are lame.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Last week I was in a drive-thru and asked for the normal Scorcho for my breakfast burrito… the helpful worker said that they had, ’something new’ and told me about the Inferno… I figured why not!
About Me - I’m still a chili ‘heat’ wimp and can only get to a 3 (of 5) on a Thai scale before my eyebrows start to sweat, and have always thought that the Scorcho was a nice good burn for their food. (even if it did fade pretty quick)
I *was* expecting something a tad hotter, but didn’t get it. I had three packets to experiment with and it was pretty much all the same. (akin to Scorcho) It does have a nice flavor by itself but I didn’t see a real jump in the ‘heat’ scale. It did however have a good slow burn that lasted for a while, which I did enjoy.
I was sad however yesterday when I went again and was told they were out of stock… and it would be a while before they got more. *bummer*
Overall grades: Taste: A - Heat: B
I’ve found the roasted salsa at Las Barcas to be the best tasting so far, in case you’re wondering about the ‘ - ‘
Have fun.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I like it! More places need to have real hot sauce, not the spaghetti sauce a lot of places serve.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Hey, RFogg, Yes, you can buy Del Taco’s sauces directly from the company. Give us your email address and we’ll get in touch with you about an order. Taco On!
April 28th, 2008 at 10:21 am
I just made a quick check and couldn’t find on the official site any mention of the truck stops. will go back and look some more though . . .
April 28th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Christian - the truck stop info will go up within the next week….
April 28th, 2008 at 10:29 am
This just in from Taco Bell: The chain offers three types of hot sauce packets: mild, fire and hot. No comment on Del Taco’s Del Inferno…
Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch said the mild and hot flavors are the most popular….the chain hands out 2 billion packets a year.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Okay, got it.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Im too embarassed to ask for the Inferno, thats just as bad as asking for a Ruttie Tootie Fresh and Fruity from Lenny’s
April 28th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Can’t wait to try it. I like Del Taco and I LOVE hot sauces!
April 28th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Chip, don’t ask for it. Just take some. Or say, “The hottest sauce you’ve got, please.”
Joe, it’s apples and oranges comparing packeted hot sauce to salsa from a salsa bar. Just two different things.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I LOVE the names of Scorcho and Inferno. I also love me some Del! I am a OC girl living in NYC and miss my Del dearly. I can’t wait to have a chance to try the Inferno - I hope I don’t have to wait until my next scheduled trip in August!!!!
April 28th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Thanks Christian for the info, your the bestest. Will try and get sauce sometime this week to try. I also like how Del Taco has the 1/2 pound Red or Green burritos sence Taco Bell took them off there menu.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
[…] seen this story in a couple of other media outlets, but this article on the Fast Food Maven blog sums it up better than any of the other sources. We here at the Hot Zone Online sorta doubt this new […]
April 29th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I love Del Taco’s new Inferno sauce. It’s pretty much the best hot sauce out there at a fast food joint. It tastes good and has a nice little burn to it. I used to love the Jalapeno Hot Sauce at El Pollo Loco but the Del Inferno is much better. Besides Del Taco lets you take all the sauce you need unlike El Pollo who gives you maybe 2 packets of the jalapeno sauce that they keep behind the counter. I got all my coworkers hooked on Inferno. It’s a hit!
April 29th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
It’s muy bien! Finally, a sauce that’s a little hot without that gel-like consistency of the Del Scorcho.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I am going to named my first born Burnie Inferno!
April 29th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I can’t wait to try this! The hotter the better.
At my local Thai restaurant, they normally have mild, medium or hot. They created a special designation for me: Hot+++
I’m glad Del Taco did this. Taco Bell’s has their Fire sauce for about a decade and Del Scorcho is no match for it.
No matter how hot it is, it probably won’t be hot enough for me. But I’ve accepted this and compensate with quanity. Three of the hottest sauces for burritos, two for tacos.
I do enjoy Del’s terminology. I alway ask for the “Macho Sized Drink” rather than an extra large.
I’m looking forward to trying out Inerno this weekend.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I am a Scorcho fan and could not believe it was insulted with the name of ‘medium’ on the redesigned packet. Oh well. As long as they don’t mess with the recipe I will continue to be a Scorcho fan because Scorcho has a great flavor. I am also a case buyer (you can get 1800 packets of goodness to put on everything like your eggs, add to soups, squeeze it onto your hamburger, drown your fries in it with a squirt of lime and dash of salt…..mmmm ).
I tried the Inferno. Good slow burn on the back of the throat, pain on the tongue and swollen stinging lips. But here is what bugs me. I ask
at the drive-thru for ‘lot’s of inferno” and they only toss me a couple packets “because it is hot” WELLLL YAAAAAA! That is why I want more of it! Why so stingy with the sauce?
May 5th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
This is great sauce! I definitely buy that it’s at least 2 times hotter than Taco Bell’s Fire Sauce.
I went to Del planning to comapre the two sauces: Del Inferno on the first taco, Fire on the second.
I took one bite of the Inferno taco and knew immediately who the winner was. By the time I got to my Fire Sauce taco, my mouth was burning so much from the Inferno, I got no sting TB’s sauce at all!
This is quite a bit hotter than I expected from a fast food chain, which normally caters to middle-of-the-road tastes. I guarantee Inferno is going to be hotter than 80% of diners can handle.
This gets us back to bottling the sauce. I bet you Mo Hotta Mo Betta (a web site where you can get dangerously hot sauce) would sell these bottles.
I took a handful of packets with me and used them this morning on my Taco Bell breakfast. I’d be willing to walk in with a Del Taco bottle.
BTW, I’d visit Del more often if it was convenient. The nearest one to me is a 20 minute drive and in the next county. The “Five Cities” area of San Luis Obispo County is a natural fit for a Del. Lots of hungry off-roaders from Pismo Beach. The city of San Luis Obispo has lots of college kids but the city doesn’t allow drive-thrus.
Del Taco, you have a great sauce!
May 19th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
This stuff is great! Its cool that they went to the ancho for the base. Very innovative.
To the guys comparing to restaurants…. Del Taco is fast food guys,keep some perspective. Del Taco is giving us gold at copper prices. Thank you DEL for putting in a lot of work on something that the majority of your customers don’t want. The minority salutes you.
Del Taco, Bouquet Canyon, Santa Clarita CA is the best DEL Ive been to IMO
May 30th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Actually I like there green sauce.
It would have been exellent to see a spicy HOT green sauce in packs. though Del Inferno is good.
June 16th, 2008 at 8:42 am
del inferno tastes like taco sauce its seems like maybe 2000 sco