Pear

Pear isn't a flavour you'd expect on a BBQ shelf, and RUB HUB's pear range is honestly thin right now — one genuine standout, not a big lineup. Pear's been paired with heat and spice for centuries: Korean and Chinese cooks grate it raw into marinades to tenderise meat and soften chilli's sharp edge, while in Europe its sweetness and soft acidity made it the classic partner for rich pork and blue cheese. That same trick is at work here — a fruit sweet enough to calm serious heat without turning a sauce into cordial, built for curries, tacos and scrambled eggs, anywhere you want fire with a fruity top note instead of a straight burn.

Start with Uncle Mungo's Top Shelf, a 200ml hot sauce built on Carolina Reaper, ghost and bird's eye peppers, rated a genuine 13/10. Pear and mint are blended straight into the reaper mash, so the first thing you taste is a fruity-fresh top note before the layered burn lands. Made in Australia.

The genuine point of difference is technique, not range — real fruit softening extreme heat instead of sugar syrup, the trick thin "mild" sauces hide behind. Top Shelf has nowhere to hide: it's extreme, it's honest about it, and the pear makes the heat interesting, not just bearable.

Explore more: our apple and sweet collections.