Luna Mercato BBQ Sauce --- FREE!!!

I got my box today. I was sooo excited. I will review it shortly AFTER I've cooked some meat with it!

nothing works better then protein with sauce!


My favorite creation has been shrimp wrapped in bacon and then glazed and tossed on a grill!

I received my package today and the kids were all too excited to try it out. I am from Kansas City originally and worked in BBQ restaurants in the beginning of my culinary career. I had the Blackberry BBQ sauce.

Bottling - The shape of the bottle suggests something different. I was concerned about clumping in the neck, but did not have that issue.

Labeling - I like the label and didn't over analyse. It is colorful and classy. I would say as a side note that at a glance on the shelf I wouldn't think it was a BBQ sauce.

Appearance and Aroma - Initial aroma was both fruity and smoky. I don't love the liquid smoke flavor, but it is what the general public expects. In looking at the sauce on the plate, there we small pieces of fruit and seeds as to be expected from Blackberries.

Flavor - (Cold) The initial flavor is sweet from both fruit and sugar (corn syrup), smoky and a little bit of spice. The after burn is of black pepper and it finishes very well. Unlike my fellow foodies, I had no after taste.
(Hot) The fruit chunks smooth out with heat. The fruit, smoke and fruit flavors were all more pronounced with the addition of heat. The finish when the sauce was heated was spicy or I should say the pepper bloomed.

This is a sauce I would purchase. My kids ages 13 and 11 both enjoyed the sauce and preferred the sauce served cold on hot food. Both asked if we could try some of the other flavors? I told them I would include it in my response, but didn't know. The sauce was very well received from our entire household.

The Banana Pepper Mustard - REALLY, REALLY GOOD!
My son (13) hates mustard and liked it. My daughter (11) loves mustard and liked it. Both my wife and I were going through different ways we could use it and look forward to having it on a roasted vegetable sandwich tomorrow night. My wife would like to know where we can buy the mustard?

Thanks for giving me the opportunity Brad!

Thanks for the review Kurt!

I Totally agree with how the flavors become really bold and beautiful when warmed.
It's even more appreciatitive that your kids enjoyed the sauce, as they are true critics, they never will lie about something they say is good and isn't. (only time kids won't lie, when it comes to food flavor, kiding!)

It's great to hear the whole household enjoyed the sauce and it wasn't selective.

I am also glad to hear you enjoyed the mustard, as you will find with both the bbq and the mustard, these are great with veggies and I have a lot of vegeterians that love this for like grill eggplant or something.

I am working on a vendor list for locations in Louisville for everything. It's by no means a large list, but I want to make sure I get them all and don't leave 1 vendor out. On a side note, you can always go into any location that carries Luna mercato spreads and ask for them to carry the products, most vendors are very receptive

Vendor Locations:

Kenny’s Banana Pepper Mustard:
- A Taste of Kentucky
- Nanz & Kraft Florist
- Lotsa Pasta International
- Liquor Barns (All Locations)

Luna Mercato BBQ Sauces (Blackberry, Blueberry, & Strawberry) & Gourmet Salsa
- Liquor Barns (All Locations)
- Paul’s Fruit Market (All Locations, some stores have 1-3 of the sauces and/or Salsa)
- Garden Gate Fruit Market
- Party Mart


Any place you find Luna Mercato Spreads (which is all over town), you can always talk to the owner/employee and demand (or ask nicely), that they get either 1 or all of the products in. Almost all of the locations that carry our spreads are very good vendors, they really listen to there customers and do not hesitate to get what you ask for.

Thanks so much, I'll be posting this again at the end of the reviews.

Blackberry BBQ sauce

Name and Bottling

I don't understand the brand/name Luna Mercato (Moon Market), doesn't scream sauces and dips to me. I did look up some Islamic flags today and there is a resemblance, but it doesn't bother me.

Taste and Appearance

Fantastic, but I get no hint of blackberry. The sauce is sweet, but I get no blackberry flavor. I had the wife taste it blindly and she didn't get blackberry, but enjoyed the flavor. My sauce was very smooth and had no fruit chunks at all, so production consistency could be an issue.

Overall

If the price is right, this is defiantly a sauce I would buy.

Banana Pepper Mustard

Loved it. Can't wait to smother a brat with it.

I mixed the mustard with the BBQ sauce to create a Carolina type sauce for turkey sandwiches and it worked out well.

Thanks for the sauces. I'll keep an eye out for all the Luna Mercato products.

I also received the Blackberry BBQ Sauce.

I thought the packaging was nice but I think the label could use a fifth color of some sort.
I thought the sauce was just OK. The predominant flavor up front to me was liquid smoke which I think threw everything else out of balance. I was also excepting something just a little sweeter. However the smokey flavor might appeal to those who don't cook or smoke on charcoal or hardwood. I also prefer a little thicker sauce if it's not vinegar based. It wasn't bad, but it wouldn't be my first choice if given one.

I also got the Banana Pepper Mustard.

I thought the package was the perfect size and I liked the label.
I thought this was a much better product. I thought the flavor was very balanced with nothing overwhelming the other ingredients. It's wasn't as spicy hot as I thought it would be and surprisingly a little sweet. The only thing I didn't like about it was I also though that this could be a lot thicker. It ran down my forearms while I was enjoying it on my grilled burger for dinner last night. Other than that, you hit a home run with this stuff!

Thanks again for the opportunity to try your products. I'll be sure to look for them when food shopping.

Ok...so tried it with chicken tonight. Here's my review:

I received the blueberry sauce. I was really surprised to have received a full size bottle. Thank you for that. I liked the bottle shape. The sauce had no problem flowing out of the small neck. It "looks" like a bbq sauce, a deep blue-brown color than could have happened with blueberry. It had alot of "specks" in it, but most sauces with spices do so it's appearance did not turn me off. When I opened the bottle, the predominant smell was of liquid smoke with a hint of sweet fruitiness. I tried it straight out of the bottle on a spoon and on a piece of bread. It wasn't an unpleasant taste, but didn't scream bbq to me. It had a very sweet fruity taste. I tried it after it had sit in the fridge for awhile, and it was even sweeter tasting....almost dessert topping like. In fact, the bf said he'd like to try it on ice cream. I tried it tonight on chicken. It burns easily. It's taste is GREATLY improved by heating it. I enjoyed it, but again it didn't scream bbq to me. I don't know how it would be on other meats, but will probably try it if the bf doesn't eat it on something like ice cream before I can get to it.

I am disappointted to see that the very first ingredient is blueberry jelly. I personally don't see jelly being in bbq sauce.

The label does NOT appeal to me or the bf. It's very dark except for the odd blue that the crescent moon is in. It does not "jump" against the dark sauce. The multiple fonts are distracting.

I also received the Gourmet Salsa. I LOVE salsa, but I did not care for this product at all. I actually have three different flavors of fresh salsa in my fridge right now ranging from sweet onion to fiery hot. I eat salsa on EVERYTHING, including fish, chicken, and baked potatoes. This sauce had an odd flavor that lingered. It also was sweet, but not in a sugary way. I tried it both on a spoon and with chips. For the straightforward ingredients of tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, onion, corn syrup, jalepenos, vinergar, salt and spices it had no predominant flavor of any of them. It had a lovely look in the jar, but (to me) looked like bbq sauce (smooth with spice specks) more than a salsa (should be chunky). I could not place the taste until my bf said it reminded him of the "special sauce" that Steak and Shake uses in their 3-way chili (on spaghetti). In fact, he put some on spaghetti and RAVED about it. It also didn't designate any "heat level" that I'm used to seeing on salsa jars. It is definitely MILD in heat level.

I'd like to thank you for the oppurtunity to try both products!!!
I'm also extremely jealous of you that got the mustard!!!!

I also received the Gourmet Salsa. For the straightforward ingredients of tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, onion, corn syrup, jalepenos, vinergar, salt and spices it had no predominant flavor of any of them.

Corn syrup in salsa screams, don't buy me.

Thank you, Brad. I received the blueberry (or as I like to call it "blubrey") BBQ sauce and Gourmet Salsa today. Been out of town for 2 days so it was a welcome porch package, and I instantly dunked a freshly washed finger into both on the fly - bottle for the sauce, mason jar for the salsa. No reports yet (except that I'll probably sit somewhere in Trisha's camp on the salsa unless I come up with "non-salsa" approach to it as a recipe ingredient, and I'm a little burnt out on cumin as the catch all for south of the border adaptations). I've really enjoyed reading the other reviews on here and promise to do my best to avoid letting them impact my jugdement - we all have our preferences and seeds from a sauce with fruit on the label would NOT disturb me. However, that being said, in my finger dunk test, I didn't note much "blubrey", but that could have something to do with the road food I had leading up to it. I'll do something interesting in the kitchen within a week and follow up on this thread when I'm feeling all talky and know-it-all. Thanks again for my welcome home present (beat the hell out of 2 stinky litter boxes).

Thanks, Brad! I got my package yesterday as well, blueberry barbecue sauce and gourmet salsa. I have tasted the barbecue sauce but not yet the salsa. I need to get some tortilla chips! The thing is, I had Robert fix me some barbecue chicken with the sauce and I didn't like the way he prepared it so I want to taste it again, prepared different, before I blame the result on the sauce itself. My initial reaction to tasting it straight out of the jar is: too much smoke flavor and not screaming blueberry enough. It almost seemed like the result of squeezing blueberries into a traditional barbecue sauce instead of creating a whole new product that is really centered around the blueberries and their flavor. That's all I will say for now. I just wanted to put a little something on here so I wouldn't be a slacker. Review subject to change after my second tasting!

Update: I had some more bbq chicken with the blueberry barbecue sauce, and my opinion didn't really change.

Flavor: The flavors that stand out to me are smoke and pepper. I was disappointed that the blueberry wasn't a more prominent flavor, because I love blueberries.

Consistency: I found that the overall consistency of the sauce was a little odd for me, sort of like applesauce. During cooking, it almost kind of pulled away from the meat rather than sticking to it and caramelizing well. I'm having a really hard time figuring out a way to put it in words, but I didn't get the same sticky, caramel-ey consistency after cooking that I usually enjoy. It just kind of sat on top of the meat.

Overall: While I love your spreads and dips, I wouldn't purchase this barbecue sauce. Sorry!

I am trying to comment on everyone but I hope I don’t leave to much out, I’m just now getting to this in my OFFICE, hence the lateness and more then likely, less sense of my wording.

JustinHammond

It’s good to hear you enjoyed the sauce and would be tempted to buy under conditions.
Thanks for the review! I am not sure where the production consistency could be an issue? I don’t think anyone has reported chunks in there blackberry? I may be wrong.


Dan Thomas

Thanks for the review also!!

On the banana pepper mustard, it’s good to hear you enjoyed it and I totally agree on the thickness, we saw this problem after the last batch and are going to use some xanthan gum on the next round, although we aren’t going to make it rubber mustard next time either though

TrishaW

You shouldn’t be surprised at the full bottle, I wouldn’t dare cheat you nor want to leave anyone to think that the sauce I give you is altered from what anyone is going to grab from on the shelf. Very interesting to see it be described as a desert topping, but then again, I’ve heard some crazy and bizarre things people do with food. I’m sorry to hear about your ingredients reading, I can understand your point and obviously, it’s one of those things that is really outside the realm, and is not easy to grasp.

I’m so sorry to hear bout the salsa experience, I personally love the salsa as it really gives me a good bold tomato flavor. I even honestly think it’s chunkier then at least half the salsa’s out there. I am sure you noticed it’s not watered down, and doesn’t run off your chip like most of the salsa out there. I didn’t know many bottled salsa can be compared to fresh salsa, they in my opinion are two totally different categories.


Jackie R

Good nickname for the sauce, “blubrey” . I look forward to your reviews and good to see you make sure to not let previous post alter your opinion. It was amazing when I did my marketing studying (marketing major at EKU), the way you could alter someones opinion in focus groups, even how surveys are restaurants etc can be altered even from the 1-5 rating to make you choose a certain way more often. Once again, I look forward to your reviews.


Laura T

Thanks for your input and joining the group. I look forward to your review as well.





When I created the BBQ Sauce, I looked down the specialty shelf’s at grocery stores, I saw dozen and dozens of BBQ Sauce, but they all kept repeating the same thing to me, from the label and bottle look, to the ingredients and flavor profile. So I wanted to somehow infuse some fruit flavor but keep the great bbq base of tomatoes etc. That’s where these bbq’s came about. I feel they are a tad bit sweet with a mild fruit flavor (any more could just turn you off or make your cheeks pucker). Then I wanted you to witness some smokiness and following by a pinch of spice. Obviously, smokiness is not made for everyone, nor is fruit, nor is spice, nor can all 3 make customers happy. I realized this product was not for everyone, or for even many, but I wanted it to be selective and few fetched.

When the salsa came about, I kept looking at all the bottled salsa out there, and there were so many variations of products, all that had 1 good thing about them, but rarely any that combined all of the essentials I look for. I wanted a salsa to be truly gourmet, 1 salsa I could pick up on a chip and not have to worry about it falling off my chip or being runny. The salsa I made was something to be thick, and chunky, but have a beautiful and bold tomato flavor (Naturally!!!) that you could enjoy. Yes, it is on the sweeter side compared to people who enjoy a fresh diced salsa that can only be refrigerated, but It was an appeal I felt was voided that many people love.



Lastly, I truly admire everyones honesty. With any product, people should read honest reviews about what they may have an interest in, I am not discourage by any of this and I have taken into consideration some of the reviews as they really can help me better the company and my product.I am really shocked to see the quick reviews, It's greatly appreciated but by no means obligated! I will post on here soon when we begin doing some tastings in Louisville, I would love to meet anyone and everyone even people that didn’t review that would love to still sample some product.

sorry 2 miss out on the test marketing
sounds like some tasty stuff

JustinHammond

I am not sure where the production consistency could be an issue? I don’t think anyone has reported chunks in there blackberry? I may be wrong.

I had the Blackberry BBQ sauce.

In looking at the sauce on the plate, there we small pieces of fruit and seeds as to be expected from Blackberries.

The fruit chunks smooth out with heat.

Thanks, I guess I forgot about the previous review, I meant to go back and look before posting that but 11 PM told me not to.

I assure you theres no product consistancy although thanks for pointing it out, one person can sauce the sauce is extremely spicy, the other not, a lot is left to personal interpretation.

I feel very very confident in product consistancy.

Looking forward to rest of the reviews.

Thanks, I guess I forgot about the previous review, I meant to go back and look before posting that but 11 PM told me not to.

I assure you theres no product consistancy although thanks for pointing it out, one person can sauce the sauce is extremely spicy, the other not, a lot is left to personal interpretation.

I feel very very confident in product consistancy.

Looking forward to rest of the reviews.

Brad,

I wasn't meaning taste wise, just chunky vs smooth. It really doesn't matter to me, as long as it tastes the same. It is going on some grilled chicken thighs tonight.