Reviewed: Feb. 20, 2009

Made this for a chili cook off. I stayed with the recipe except I went with 1 1/2 cups of coffee, extra hot sauce and drained the beans. I cut the sugar down to 1/8 cup and still found it a little too sweet. Next time will try the all hamburger thing, a couple more habaneros and some more hot sauce. I love mine with a kick. I won the best overall chili with this recipe...but will definitely go for more kick next time. It's a good starting point to add your own tweaks!

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Sunshine S

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Visalia, California, USA

Living In: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

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Reviewed: Feb. 20, 2009

This recipe scared me at first, strong coffee, dark beer...just follow the recipe, you will be surprised! This is the BEST Chili I've ever had.

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Linda Paloma

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Reviewed: Feb. 19, 2009

This was my first chili-making experience. I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I substituted the habanero pepper with scotch bonnet, used fresh tomatoes instead of canned, and used one can of black beans; two cans of kidney. I also used an entire pound of Italian sausage. This chili is goooooddd! Following the order of recipe exactly was a bit of a pain (four tablespoons of oil divided and such). Also, next time I think I'll just put the chilies in directly. I thought cooking them separately was kind of pointless (and generated extra dirty dishes). The chili wasn't as hot as I expected, but that's probably because I wussed out and took most of the seeds out of the peppers.

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YAHAIRAC

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: New York, New York, USA

Living In: Miami Shores, Florida, USA

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Reviewed: Feb. 17, 2009

For my family it was too spicy and I didn't even add the habineros! I couldn't find the wasabi but that's okay since I'm not a huge fan. With some tweaking I'd make it again.

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FlowerGal

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Feb. 15, 2009

Well Done!!! This is the best chili we've ever had. Thanks for sharing...

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crystalcooks

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Reviewed: Feb. 14, 2009

I have to give this chili 5 stars because I just WON A CHILI CONTEST! How I made it mine: Homegrown canned peeled tomatoes, and a home-brewed Porter beer. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS WONDERFUL RECIPE!!!

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Germican

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Reviewed: Feb. 12, 2009

I followed the recipe except the habinaro pepper and I used a slow cooker. I thought it was good and would have rated it 4+ stars, especially since I was able to try it reheated from being in the fridge, however I got the lowest score in our chili cook-off! Kind of a downer after putting over 1 hour of prep. time into it. In my opinion, it was better after being reheated. Hope your luck is better than mine, which it should be by looking at the other reviews. Maybe I should blame my judges ;) The consolation prize was a bottle of Tums (which I didn't need)!

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boylerf

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Reviewed: Feb. 11, 2009

Fabulous.. didn't have the sausage/hot peppers to add but the flavors and seasonings are OUT OF THIS WORLD.. gets better with age. This is the only recipe I will USE from now on.

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outdoorsgirl

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Feb. 9, 2009

Made this and brought it into our bi-weekly chili rotation at work. It killed, everyone loved it. Perfect amount of heat mixed with the flavor from the beer and coffee. I had to substitute 2 jalapenos for 1 serrano as I couldn't find any in the grocery store. I did take 2 pieces of advice from previous reviewers and drained most of the fat after browning the meat. I also threw all the peppers into a food processor instead of sauteing them, turned out great.

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kvd98

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Reviewed: Feb. 8, 2009

This chili rocks!! I did tone down the pepper situation cause i gotta toddler. I used chipolte pepper instead of cayenne because chipolte adds a smokey flavor. Also, I used ground deer instead of ground beef. This recipe is now my offical chili recipe!!!

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JLESTER1

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Richlands, Virginia, USA

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Reviewed: Feb. 8, 2009

This chili had a very interesting and distinct flavor. It was very yummy. I left out the coffee (because I didn't have any) and I used ground turkey. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly.

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k861084

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Vincennes, Indiana, USA

Living In: Austin, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: Feb. 6, 2009

This chili was very flavorful. We doubled the cumin, cayenne and coriander it didn't seem like enough. It turned out very good and we will make it again!

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BrookeB

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Blair, Nebraska, USA

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Reviewed: Feb. 5, 2009

Wonderful!

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Joan

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Reviewed: Feb. 5, 2009

I have won several chili cookoffs with this little gem. I stick to the recipe mostly, but I do usually omit the habaneros and sometimes substitue a can or two of great northern white beans for the kidney beans just because I find them more tender. I used a smoked porter for the beer the first time but lately have just been using a standard red ale with a drop of liquid smoke mixed in. I find the flavor to be almost identical. Also I don't saute' the peppers, I just puree them and mix it in. I have yet to meet anyone who does not love this chili.

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Three-Two

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Feb. 2, 2009

All I can say is, WOW- this is the best chili I have ever made! I did leave out the habenero as I couldn't find any in the store, but added 2 extra serrano peppers and 3 jalepeno's. It was also the hottest chili I have ever made, but it was very tasty- the heat was not overpowering like it can be sometimes. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Well worth the effort- as long as you like HOT chili!

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cheriturn

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Reviewed: Feb. 2, 2009

This is amazing. We made it without meat, just added an extra can of beans, and brought it to my church's chili night, where it won first prize.

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incessantsteph

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Feb. 1, 2009

Wonderful. The only thing I did differently was that I doubled the hamburger (no sausage in the freezer) and left out the spicy peppers (I can't do real spicy) and added a sweet pepper. My husband and I ate it all week and enjoyed it very much. My husband loves spicy and I thought maybe he'd add to it, but said it was wonderful as is.

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BIGRED227

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Reviewed: Jan. 31, 2009

Best chili recipe I've ever had! Made 12 servings for a chili cook-off, and it was a hit. Chili seems to be one of those things with a flexible recipe so we rounded up for most of the ingredients. This recipe is already pretty spicy, so it doesn't need more than 4 peppers(Anaheim, Serrano, habanero) for 8 servings - more over powers the other great flavours. Otherwise, fantastic. Would definitely make it again.

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MechMatt

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Reviewed: Jan. 31, 2009

Was kind of disappointed after reading all the reviews. I followed the recipe exactly, but it didn't taste much different than other chilis I have made. Good, but not really worth the extra ingredients and time.

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Marlene Paquet

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Reviewed: Jan. 30, 2009

My mom passed on a tomato-based chili recipe that I would have sworn was the` best chili ever.... until I tasted this recipe. Since my family and I disagree on the spiciness of the recipe, next time I will use less chilis, but the actual flavor... mmmmmmmmmm. I even forwarded this recipe to my girlfriend, who's husband is a chili "connousieur" and even he raved about this recipe.

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