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QuickTake:
We crushed a lot of wings for this story — and stared down a lot of Scoville units, too.
Before I rate all 14 sauces at Hot Mama’s, my go-to wing spot in Eugene, I must confess one thing.
It concerns “kamikaze,” Hot Mama’s hottest sauce.
I’m not one to waste six wings — that’s Hot Mama’s minimum per flavor — even for a story.
So here’s what I did (and this is a pro tip for anyone equal parts curious and dreading the idea of eating half a dozen scorchers): Order plain unsauced wings and a side of kamikaze. We also added “inferno” and “hot,” the second- and third-hottest flavors.
Is it cheating? I don’t know. I don’t make the rules, nor do I follow them.
Hot Mama’s has a great foundation for trying every sauce flavor, with a solid drum-to-flat ratio, juicy meat, crispy skin and sauces (all homemade, by the way) that coat the wings beautifully. As in: No floppy wing drowning in sauce at this joint. Plus, they throw in an extra wing if one is on the smaller side.
Now, onto my favorites (and not-so-favorites).
My top five
Raspberry habanero
This wing is for folks who enjoy fruit-and-cheese pairings with a moderate amount of heat.
The spice level is fierce but not overwhelming, and the raspberry tempers it via a beautifully tart, cabernet-tinged sauce. A little sweet, a lotta heat. A nice dunk in chunky bleu cheese (I emphasize chunky here) also softens the blow.
Fun fact: One of Hot Mama’s staff members told us a habanero pepper’s heat level varies with the time of the season. Apparently they were brutally ripe this summer when I tried their mango habanero special. That’s all I’ll say about that.
Lemon pepper
I never crave lemon pepper, so for this snappy dry rub to be in the top five says something. So mouthwateringly sharp and bright, it was the only wing I didn’t dip in bleu cheese or ranch at least once.
Buffalo garlic
Another surprise top flavor. The flecks of garlic add such savory depth to buffalo’s typical vinegary tang. I didn’t notice the garlic as much until I tasted it side-by-side with the regular buffalo. A sensible upgrade to a classic wing flavor.
Asian honey mustard
Showered with sesame seeds, she’s saucy, a little spicy and equal parts tangy and savory. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a crowd favorite. It was also one of the first flavors I tried at Hot Mama’s, the day I knew I’d dine here again.
Jamaican jerk
The Jamaican jerk wing is reminiscent of backyard barbecues in the summer, when you walk down the street, take a deep inhale and think, “What is that?”
You can taste the herbs and allspice and garlic, the pleasant heat, the perfectly fried skin. I’m usually a sauce girl, but this and the lemon pepper may have converted me.
My bottom three
Barbecue
My ideal barbecue sauce is smoky, brown-sugary sweet and a little spicy. Hot Mama’s barbecue take was dominated by tomato paste. It wasn’t terrible, just not my preference. But nothing a little ranch couldn’t improve.
Thai peanut
A lot of people love this one, and as a fan of chicken satay, I thought I would, too. But I didn’t enjoy the thick, peanut buttery sauce. The gloopiness masked most of the heat and zip, so I livened it up with ranch.
Spiced maple bacon
This is for the folks who love chicken and waffles. Sweet from the maple syrup and studded with bacon bits, you’ll get sweet and salty bites throughout this sticky sauce. Again, I can see why people would love this one. But it wasn’t for me.
And then there were six
Garlic parmesan
If you take a long time to tell the server, “Stop” as they grate extra cheese on your pasta, this is the dry rub for you. Ain’t nothing wrong with a pile of parmesan atop six snappy fried wings. And I adored this one, but I prefer a little more tang and heat to my wings.
Chili lime cilantro
This dry rub carried a lovely zest from the citrus and herbs. I just found the lemon pepper ones more memorable, which again surprised me, as I am a cilantro fiend.
Buffalo
Similar to the chili lime cilantro, I liked the garlic version better, but Hot Mama’s plain buffalo still makes for a perfectly peppy wing.
Kamikaze, inferno, hot
Among Hot Mama’s three hottest sauces, I decided to get kamikaze over with first, arguing that going from the most to least Scoville heat units would be better. Rewarding even.
You can guess where this is going.
Kamikaze embodies the most misleading kind of heat, like the moment you’re in a car crash and are too full of adrenaline to notice the impending whiplash. The sauce started off bright and curiously (deceptively) lacking in capsaicin. Within minutes, however, my tongue was on the highway to hell in rush hour traffic.
It’s no wonder this saucy, slow-burn flavor earned its own challenge over the years (one napkin, nine dripping wings), leaving many contestants with a thousand-yard stare.
As with any “type-two” fun, kamikaze is worth experiencing once. Even when the primary flavor is the surface of the sun.
I followed the kamikaze with several French fry chases before moving on to the inferno. It has much more forward-facing heat. I liked that, since I prefer knowing how much pain I’ll be in right off the bat.
We made it to the final one: hot.
While still serious business, this sauce proved to be a punchy and pleasantly fruity reprieve to its spicier predecessors. I would get Hot Mama’s hot wings again — with an extra ramekin of bleu cheese.
Want to try all 14?
Hot Mama’s
420 W. 13th Ave., Eugene
Open every day, including a weekday Happy Hour from 3 to 5 p.m.
