Spicy peppers allow us to be creative and adventurous with our food. They prevent us
from eating bland meals. They also serve several purposes in cooking such as adding flavor
or aroma to enhance our taste buds with a kick of heat. But how spicy can peppers really
get? Some peppers are grown organically while others are genetically engineered. Whatever
the case may be, some of these peppers could get extremely hot! So today, we will be taking
a look at some of the hottest peppers in the world!
If you look at the back of a bottle of hot sauce, you may find its spiciness measured
in Scoville Heat Units. This is the standard unit for measuring levels of spiciness. American
pharmacist Wilbur Scoville invented the Scoville scale in 1912. Scoville created the scale
by way of his Scoville Organoleptic Test, which he used to measure a pepper's heat level.
The scale measures the amount of capsaicin which is the chemical compound that causes
spicy heat in a pepper and assigns it a number rating in Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). Just
to put it in perspective, bell peppers come in at 0 SHU, and the regular peppers that
we all can enjoy from time to time range anywhere between 0 to 50,000 SHU. Now, that we know
how the measuring system works, let’s look at the hottest peppers in the world!
Starting with 500,000 SHU, the Red Savina Habanero was selectively bred over generations
to produce larger and hotter pepper from the Caribbean Red Habanero. The selective breeding
of this habanero allowed it to hold the title of the World’s Hottest pepper for 12 years
straight from 1994 to 2006. To date that is the longest, any pepper has held the title.
The red Savina has a sweet, almost fruity taste and is one of the easiest super-hot
pepper varieties to grow!
The 7 pots were named after their ability to heat up 7 pots of stew! There are 100’s
of varieties created from crossing this breed with other peppers originating from Trinidad.
Some of these include 7 Pot Jonah, 7 Pot Yellow, 7 Pot Katie, 7 Pot Barrackpore, and countless
others. Rated number 9 on the list, the 7 pot Jonah has close to 1,000,000 SHU!
The 7 Pot Barrackpore is one of the hottest of the 7 Pot peppers also having around 1,000,000
SHU as well. It comes from the town of Chaguanas in Trinidad and Tobago. Named after their
ability to heat up 7 pots of stew, this particular pepper is great to grow for hot sauces and
powders because of its high yield, great flavor, and unrelenting heat!
Ghost Pepper is the super hot pepper that was the first to break the 1,000,000 Scoville
mark. Originating from Assam, India it held the World’s Hottest Pepper title for 4 years
from 2007-2011 until the Trinidad Scorpion ‘Butch T’ surpassed it in heat.
The Naga Viper held the record for the world’s hottest pepper at 1,349,000 Scoville Units
for a very short time and has since been beaten by 4 other peppers. It is a hybrid between
a Naga Morich, Ghost Pepper, and a Trinidad Scorpion created in the United Kingdom. Its
short reign has made it one of the rare and hard-to-find seeds.
Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T” is an insanely hot pepper with 1,463, 700 SHU. It was tested
in 2011 and held the title for the world’s hottest pepper for three years according to
the Guinness Book of World Records. It is indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago like many
others on this list.
The 7 Pot Primo is very distinctive with its long skinny “tail”. This pepper was created
by horticulturist Troy Primeaux from Louisiana. The 7 Pot Primo is a cross between a Naga
Morich and a Trinidad 7 Pot pepper and packs 1,469,000 SHU.
Currently, the 3rd hottest pepper in the world with 1,853,963 SHU, the 7 Pot Douglah, also
known as the Chocolate 7 Pod, is one of the rarest and hottest of the 7 pod strains from
Trinidad. Its skin is notably dark chocolate brown and somewhat pimpled. It starts off
green but matures to a rich dark color unique to the Douglah.
Coming in at number two with a whopping Scoville unit of 2,009,231, is the Trinidad Moruga
Scorpion. This pepper, like many others, is native to Trinidad. It is so hot that it can
wreak your stomach and completely burn your intestines inside out! If you ever want to
try it, do it at your own risk!
Coming in at number one, our current champion is the Carolina Reaper with 2,200,000 Scoville
heat units! Bred by ‘Smokin’ Ed Currie, the Carolina Reaper was certified as the world’s
hottest chili pepper by the Guinness World Records on 11 August 2017. The crossbreed
is between La Soufriere pepper from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and Naga pepper from
Pakistan and is named ‘Reaper’ due to the shape of its tail. It has been described
as having a fruity taste, with the initial bite being sweet and then immediately turning
to “molten lava”!
Now there may be some that even surpass the Carolina Reaper. Pepper X is currently being
tested and awaiting verification from the Guinness World Records committee. It claims
to have 3,180,000 SHU which is 1 million Scoville units hotter than the Carolina Reaper! Now
that would be mind-blowingly hot!
And there you have it! These are some of the hottest peppers in the world today! Have you
ever tried any of these? If not, would you ever try the hottest peppers? Let us know
down below! Also, hit like, share, and subscribe to our channel for more content ahead! Until
then, we’ll see you in the next one!