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The Mac Weekly

The Student News Site of Macalester College

The Mac Weekly

The Student News Site of Macalester College

The Mac Weekly

A subjective spice ranking of the sauces at Buffalo Wild Wings

By Kate Rhodes, Sara Ludewig and Sydney Keiler

Are you stuck in a rut when it comes to choosing what sauce you want at Buffalo Wild Wings? Have you always wondered what it would be like to try every flavor of sauce? Well so did we. After four years at Mac, we decided it was time to finally do a full test of all the sauces (excluding the dry rubs) that BDubs had to offer. We tried each and every flavor, took “notes” and ranked the spiciness according to a completely arbitrary scale. Spice scale: 0: No worries here – 10: Yikes! Thats hot!

Sweet BBQ

Our Spice Rating: -0.5/10

Sara Ludewig: Just barbeque sauce but barely any sauce on these.

Sydney Keiler: Little sauce and even less taste.

Kate Rhodes: Where is the sauce, though? What was there was creamy, but this wee nugget was obviously looking for some more sauce to swim in.

Teriyaki

Our Spice Rating: 0.5/10

SL: Sticky soy sauce. I don’t like this one. Not much flavor beyond salt and soy.

SK: Strong flavor that I disliked.

KR: Something was off here… weird flavor. Not a fan.

Bourbon Honey Mustard

Our Spice Rating: 1/10

SL: Gross. Cloyingly sweet. Fake honey mustard flavor. The ranch is nice because it masks the flavor.

SK: So sweet, tasted like candied chicken.

KR: Overwhelming flavor of mustard, where you at honey? A little sour, but not in a nice tart way.

Mild

Our Spice Rating: 3.17/10

SL: Yum! Plain buffalo sauce. Great with ranch.

SK: Not very mild, pretty much the same as medium.

KR: I LOVE buffalo wings, and although there wasn’t much sauce, the flavor was mmmh mmmh good.

Parmesan Garlic

Our Spice Rating: 2/10

SL: So good! Garlicky more than parmesan. Flavorful and not too spicy.

SK: Very very garlicky. Taste like an Olive Garden. Not what I would associate with wings.

KR: Far more savory than what I was expecting. Tasted like a chicken version of a pizza crust. Perfect fine, but not my favorite.

Honey BBQ

Our Spice Rating: 1.6/10

SL: Barbecue flavor is good. Sweet and mild. Pairs nicely with the ranch.

SK: Smoky and not that much sauce.

KR: Not spicy at all! Good barbecue flavor, much more subdued than Sweet BBQ.

Medium

Our Spice Rating: 4.6/10

SL: Mild wings but with more sauce. Buffalo sauce but spicier. I like these more than Mild, but they’ll probably make my stomach hurt more.

SK: Delicious, tangy, pretty hot… possibly my heat threshold.

KR: This is my go to nugget sauce. It is not painfully spicy, but definitely has a little kick.

Asian Zing

Our Spice Rating: 5/10

SL: Tastes like sweet and sour sauce with tons of red pepper flakes. Too sweet and no spice beyond red pepper.

SK: More glaze-y than saucey. Would not eat again.

KR: Not overtly hot, but the spice that is there is long lasting. Not a huge fan of how sweet it is.

Caribbean Jerk

Our Spice Rating: 6.3/10

SL: Tastes odd. Can’t place the flavor. Unique. Spice hits late. Would not order again.

SK: Very gingery, lots of mouth heat. Much blander than I was expecting.

KR: I haven’t had jerk chicken before so I don’t know how this would rank up heat wise.

Hot BBQ

Our Spice Rating: 7/10

SL: Doesn’t have flavor, just spice. Getting pretty spicy. Not sweet like normal Barbecue, just spicy.

SK: Taste like BBQ sauce, with a little bit of spice. Should not be listed this high on the spicy scale.

KR: Hot hot hot. Long lasting burning heat. Some good, low-key pain for sure. Would not want to eat more than one. This was the point in trying all the wings where I was left in pain… not a good sign of what was to come.

Thai Curry

Our Spice Rating: 5/10

SL: Doesn’t taste like Thai curry but I like it! Very peppery flavor. Tastes good with ranch. Yum!

SK: Not a sauce or a dry rub, more of a flavoring. So tasty! Possibly my new favorite wing.

KR: Delicious, lingering heat. I liked how it was slightly saltier than the rest of the sauces we have had so far.

Hot

Our Spice Rating: 8.2/10

SL: Lots and lots of sauce. Painful! It hurts going down. I’m sweating. Lingering spiciness.

SK: Painful, but tasty. My mouth hurts and I am sweating. The color is too vibrant. Painful, but never really spicy.

KR: Is it spicy or does it just hurt my mouth? Great buffalo sauce but but too hot for my taste. I may have almost cried. I may or may not have eaten the blue cheese sauce with a spoon.

Mango Habanero

Our Spice Rating: 9.6/10

SL: Gross. Starts sweet and then becomes painful. It feels like it’s choking you. Painfully spicy. I’m crying.

SK: I have never eaten anything this spicy. The spice is not fading. My tongue is on fire, but it is not in my throat. My lips don’t sting, but my tongue is in excruciating pain. And the flavor sucks.

KR: Syrupy sweet in an unpleasant way. The burn at the back of my throat was absolutely terrible. Even a few minutes after eating it the pain kept coming back. Gave me a stomach ache almost immediately.

Note: Our waitress told us that past this point the sauces would leave us without being able to taste anything for a month. She then proceeded to ask us if we were “prepared to cry tonight.”

Wild

Our Spice Rating: 9/10.

SL: Just a spicier version of Hot. Much better than Mango Habanero.

SK: Hot, but not as hot as Mango Habanero.

KR: I didn’t rate it or write notes. But I can tell you it was wild.

Blazin’

Our Spice Rating: 11.3/10

SL: Horrible. So painful. Never ever again.

SK: Sweating, crying, burning forever and my nose was running. Is this what hell feels like?

KR: Yeah, this was dreadful.

What is your favorite sauce from Buffalo Wild Wing? How spicy do you go?

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