Review: Heinz's Flavor Tour Sauces Offer A World Of Yum

The fine folks at Heinz have a large catalog of flavorful sauces and condiments, and are always looking to expand its portfolio to meet with the ever expanding palate of the public. In 2023, the brand tried out six new ones in a limited-run series called "Sauces Drops," and a year later deemed two of them — Black Garlic flavored Ranch and Harissa flavored Aioli — worthy of an encore. For its latest saucy venture — the "Flavor Tour" — it tested out 14 new and different flavors with consumers, before narrowing it down to three, now ready for a long shelf-life. In 2025, Heinz is hoping Korean-Inspired Sweet & Tangy BBQ, Mexican-Inspired Street Corn, and Thai-Inspired Sweet Chili will hit that sweet spot for dippers, marinades, and glazers.

In a press release, Angie Madigan, Vice President, Taste Elevation Marketing at The Kraft Heinz Company said, "Americans are hungry for condiments that offer globally inspired flavor and versatility at an accessible price point, and we saw an opportunity for HEINZ, a beloved and trusted brand, to inspire fun new ways for people to enjoy their favorite foods." She added, "Leveraging our expertise in creating some of the world's most beloved sauces, we designed the Flavor Tour line as the ultimate solution for these fans."

So, are these three new sauces that are a part of Heinz's Flavor Tour postcard perfect, or a tourist trap worthy of zero stars on Tripadvisor? The Takeout squirted several helpings of each flavor to find out where the truth lies.

Recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

There are three flavors in the Heinz Flavor Tour series: Korean-Inspired Sweet & Tangy BBQ, Mexican-Inspired Street Corn, and Thai-Inspired Sweet Chili. They are currently rolling into nationwide stores in February 2025, and are permanent additions to the Heinz condiment line-up, for the time being.

They will be available only in the United States, and can be purchased in-store and online, at popular retailers, grocery stores, and convenience stores. They may also be available to order for delivery. Each flavor comes in a 10-fluid ounce bottle, and the suggested retail price of each bottle is $4.39. Price may vary per retailer. The sauces are sold at room temperature, and based on their expiration dates, are good for at least four and a half months.

The Korean-Inspired Sweet & Tangy BBQ is the darkest sauce of the trio, and with a blackened burgundy color, doesn't look all that dissimilar from McDonald's own winning Tangy BBQ sauce. Despite its darkness, plenty of the light and even black seasonings buried within were able to visibly shine through. This one's smell wasn't easily gleaned. It landed somewhere between rice wine vinegar and soy sauce, with a hint of lime.

The sauce itself appeared very runny and fluid. After having trouble figuring out its smell, a taste of it proved to be even more perplexing. Nothing exactly stood out to my palate, and, after looking at its lengthy list of ingredients, felt like a mishmash of Asian sauces that came together to form no clear identity. Without a signature flavor I could cling on to (is it a pungent-vinegary plumb sauce?), or even really enjoy, my mouth focused elsewhere  and looked at those textured seasoning pieces found within the sauce.

The Korean-Inspired Sweet & Tangy BBQ is made up of vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, doenjang, honey, seasoned rice wine vinegar, corn starting, corn syrup, salt, modified tapioca starch, and gochujang, which consists partially of red chili pepper powder, pear purée concentrate, salted sake, onion, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and paprika. It also contains less than 2% of apple juice concentrate, fermented rice extract, pears, garlic, onion purée, mushroom, spice, toasted sesame oil, garlic purée, onion, and potassium sobrate and sodium benzoate. It contains the allergens soy, wheat, and sesame.

The serving size is 1 tablespoon. That's good for 35 calories, 350 milligrams of sodium, 7 grams of total carbohydrates, 5 grams of total sugars, 5 grams of added sugars, and 1 gram of protein.

The Mexican-Inspired Street had the look of Thousand Island Dressing, with a lighter shade of orange. In lieu of relish chunks, instead, this sauce was outfitted with green season flakes, and smaller red ones. It had a strong, but lovely smell — like a lightly spiced mayonnaise.

A first taste had a nice creaminess to it, where the seasonings sort of give off the vibe of Doritos Cool Ranch and then finished off with a bit of pep. It was not all that spicy, but popped with a smokiness that had a nice little zing to it. It added up to a taste that did almost mimic the flavor of lathered up elotes/street corn.

The Mexican-Inspired Street Corn counts as its ingredients — soybean oil, water, vinegar, pasteurized milk, sugar, enzyme modified egg yolks, egg yolks, chipotle chili peppers, and contains less than 2% of salt, nonfat dry milk, garlic powder, modified food starch, spices, dried onions, lactic acid, lime juice concentrate, xanthan gum, mustard flour, natural smoke flavor, butter, sodium phosphates, corn powder, cultures, enzymes, natural flavor, smoked paprika, jalapeño peppers, citric acid, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate and calcium disodium EDTA, to protect flavor. It contains the allergens milk and egg.

A single serving size is 2 tablespoons. That nets 110 calories, 11 grams of total fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 270 milligrams of sodium, 3 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of total sugars, 1 gram of added sugars, 1 gram of protein, and 1 microgram of Vitamin D.

The Sweet Chili sauce had a rust color to it, and a consistency that looked like a sloshy jam. It too revealed numerous seasonings in its physical make-up, including very tiny, yet soothing looking trapped bubbles. Its smell was super-alluring, with notes of ginger, sugar, and spices bringing pleasurable aromas to my nostrils.

Taking a direct spoonful of this pasty sauce brought about an amazing confluence of flavors, where the garlic and sriracha (which is named after a place in Thailand) were the ones making the most noise. Other peppery and sweetened flavors made lighter, but equally important impacts, to even out those stronger traits. After several more spoonful, my gums were enlivened with a lovely freshness the sauce left behind, and that I was happy to have had linger around.

Thai-Inspired Sweet Chili consists of tomato purée, sugar, water, vinegar, ginger purée, honey, garlic purée, modified food starch, seasoned rice vinegar, sriracha sauce, toasted sesame oil, and contains less than 2% or soy sauce, salt, red bell pepper purée, dried onions, dried garlic, lime juice concentrate, molasses, tamarind extract, dried red bell peppers, phosphoric acid, spice, natural flavor, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate to protect flavor. It contains the allergens sesame, wheat, and soy.

A single serving size is 2 tablespoons. That is good for .5 grams of total fat, 240 milligrams of sodium, 13 grams of total carbohydrates, 10 grams of total sugars, and 10 grams of added sugars.

After trying the sauces all by their lonesome, I took a break, refrigerated them, and then returned for further tasting with dinner. On the menu for this evening happened to be hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, and corn. I used all these items to see how the sauces either enhanced, complemented, or perhaps detracted from them.

No matter what I used in conjunction with the sticky Korean-Inspired Sweet & Tangy BBQ, nothing seemed to actually stick. It's all encompassing, and odd taste didn't serve itself well, nor any kind of food it touched. I'm not sure this one should have its passport renewed. Perhaps replace it with some sort of variation of what Kikkoman does so well with its Sweet Soy Glaze.

Out of the remaining two, it was almost too hard to decide which was better. It's like picking a favorite child. Facts are facts — they are both excellent and highly recommended sauces. The Thai-Inspired Sweet Chili was so great, I actually went into my fridge and tossed out the Trader Joe's equivalent that now was no longer needed (it was also almost empty anyway). I look forward to pouring this onto chicken, egg rolls, and julienned cucumber and carrot salads. However, in the end, my heart belonged to the Mexican-Inspired Street Corn, which worked a magic deliciousness with whatever it was paired up with — burger, dogs, romaine lettuce, and really well with Fritos. The ultimate test was pouring it onto an ear of corn, which amazingly did add some "street" cred to it, with far less effort and mess. All I can say is olé!

The fine folks at Heinz provided me with a bottle of each of the three Flavor Tour flavors: Korean-Inspired Sweet & Tangy BBQ, Mexican-Inspired Street Corn, and Thai-Inspired Sweet Chili. All three were initially taste tested at room temperature, by itself, and then with some Fritos. The sauce bottles were then refrigerated and tasted again at a later point, and then in conjunction with a variety of foods.

The three sauces were taste tested by me and one other person. Their opinions and notes were taken into consideration, but ultimately this review was based on my ultimate experience with the three sauces. The criteria for this chew and review were taste, smell, texture, appearance, uniqueness, ability to capture the flavor it set it to, overall lovability, and the likelihood of buying another bottle of it in the future. The short answer is... stamp your condiment passports for Mexico and Thailand, and take a pass on Korea.

With apologies to Guy Fieri, what flavor town is up next on a future Flavor Tour, Heinz? I vote for British-Inspired Coronation Chicken.