I tried all the sauces at Taco Bell and ranked them from worst to best

As part of my efforts to rank everything on Taco Bell's menu, I decided to try all the sauces because I wanted to know how they taste unfettered by a dish.

It's evidently not that common of an order because the guy at the pickup counter yelled out, "Are you sauce party?" when I walked in. Everyone else turned and stared.

First Impression: Eating plain sour cream is not something I'm known to do, but I'll do it for this.

Review: This is so good in stuff and so bad on its own.

It forced me to come to terms with the limitations of an isolated taste test — I made a note for future rankings.

First Impression: This is a sauce I don't really have an expectation for. I've had it in a few things and remember liking it, but I need help picking out the individual flavor profile of it.

Unlike with the sour cream, I'm looking forward to getting an isolated taste.

Review: Not bad, but it didn't really taste like anything. It's almost like they started making a birria consomé (a sauce made with dried chilis) but quit.

It's not much of an addition, but I also don't mind having it.

First Impression: I like avocado and ranch — both are creamy enough to go well together.

Review: It was probably my least favorite of the ranches, actually because of the creaminess. Instead of complementing each other, these ingredients just felt one-note.

First Impression: Something looks sinister about this sauce. There's a powerful pepper smell, and the color undulates like a low-burning ember.

I hope it's spicy.

Review: I didn't feel like the spice was present. Ultimately, it was a case of fire and water colliding and canceling each other out.

I could see the small, subtle flavor working well with most dishes, but I wouldn't pick this to eat with chips.

First Impression: The classic — this is going to be my control sauce.

Review: Just about anything could be improved by nacho-cheese sauce. The one downside is how bad it gets when it's cold, which happens quickly.

First Impression: I don't feel great about this one because Taco Bell doesn't put guac on its dishes. But I'm going in with an open mind.

Hopefully, it's excellent, and they're just trying to save a buck by not including it in anything.

Review: I was pleasantly surprised by how solid this was. There was a good amount of lime flavor.

I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this and a supermarket guac.

First Impression: It certainly smells like ranch.

I've never had a spicy ranch, so I don't know what it should taste like. I'm just excited to try it.

Review: I could see this working well on a Chalupa. The spice was a slow burn, but the ranch offered a cooling force.

I think this is what the jalapeño sauce was trying to do, but this is much better.

First Impression: I really like chipotle sauce. It's the first thing I go for at Chipotle.

This may not be as good as Tabasco's flavor, but I'm hoping for something close.

Review: I liked it quite a bit. Like the spicy ranch, there was a slow burn, but it was creamy and layered.

The chipotle sauce was my favorite, but only because I don't like ranch as much as some people. If you consider yourself a ranch head, choose that one instead.